I hate how timid I am

I was actually asked to write a piece for a local magazine. The pay was nice, so even though they changed a lot of my text, I liked it and approved the edits. Even found photos for them. Today I asked about the status of the piece. I wrote it in April. The reply I got was they think it’ll be better for a spring issue. They said they’ll confirm in January. Do you think I should request payment now? I can live without for now but I was looking forward to that pay. I’m annoyed they waited until I asked to even tell me this much.