You Put a Move on My Heart 2

By Diamond Johnson

After four years, the secret is out. Jarvis finally knows about the son that Shonte concealed from him. Family and friends are in shock about this newest revelation, but the none more than Mr. Jarvis Banks. The loyalty that he was sure Shonte had for him is thrown out the window in light of her betrayal. What will happen between Shonte and Jarvis now that he knows he can’t trust her? Will Jarvis be able to forgive Shonte or will her actions force him to move on?

While Jarvis and Shonte are taking a temporary break from each other, he meets the sexy Malaya Brown. Malaya is beautiful, probably what any man would want in a woman, but she has secrets too, and her obsession with Jarvis could have tragic consequences.

Sex, lies and enemies abound as Shonte and Jarvis deal with the fallout from their choices. The twists and turns in part two will leave you breathless. Take a ride with the star crossed lovers to see if they get their chance at happily ever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leo Sullivan Presents
• Release date: Jul 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781946789709

Book preview

1

Jarvis Banks

Iwas a businessman now, and for some reason, the first spot that I wanted to stop at was my sister’s house. I remember back in the days when I was selling drugs and up to no good, I think La’shay used to worry about a nigga’s wellbeing more than our mama. Don’t get me wrong, my mama was very much concerned about me, it’s just that La’shay and I were so close, to the point that she was scared that I would end up in prison, or worse, dead.

When La’shay was at my court hearing eight years ago and she heard the judge give me my sentence, her cries were so damn loud that I swear it felt like the walls in the courtroom were shaking. At that time, I didn’t even have the balls to face my sister. I felt like I had failed her, even though I was sent away to prison for some shit that I know I didn’t do.

It took La’shay some time, but within months she had somehow found her backbone, and every Saturday and Monday she came to check up on her big brother. We talked on the phone just about every day. In those daily conversations and visits, she would always stress to me the importance of thinking about my future and what my plans were when I got out of prison.

It really wasn’t until my fourth, maybe fifth, year in that bitch that I knew for a fact that prison wasn’t where I wanted to spend the rest of my life, which is why I’m so proud of myself for having this business. I needed something positive to do right now with my life. If not, I might revert to my old habits and it wouldn’t be too long before I ended up right back in prison.

With all of that being said, I was on my way to La’shay’s to tell her the good news. I parked the car in the guest section of her apartment complex. When I got out of the car, I removed my suit jacket and closed the door behind me. Jogging up the steps, I made my way to her apartment door and knocked on it. I could hear a lot of movement and talking going on inside, so I figured that La’shay might have had company.

A few seconds later, the door swung open and what looked like a mini version of myself came and opened the door for me. All of a sudden, I felt like I was looking at a younger picture of myself like the one my mother has in the living room at her house. Only thing different was that this little boy had long ass hair like how Shonte used to have when she was younger.

Well, hey, who do we have here? I asked, looking into the little boy’s eyes.

I’m Javari. Who are you? he asked, sizing my ass up and down as my tall frame loomed over his.

At that moment, I could feel the heat rising in my body, and I got that feeling like I used to when I was about to fuckin’ kill somebody. I looked across the room at Shonte and guilt was written all over her face, as well as my sister’s.

Who is this, Shonte? I asked her.

I already knew the truth, but I wanted her to come out of her mouth and tell me herself. As I asked her the question, I closed the door behind me and eased my way over to her. Shonte already knew what the fuck was up, which is why she tried to run, but I grabbed her hoodie and yanked her body roughly into mine, not caring if I hurt her ass in the process. Shit, she couldn’t be hurting half as bad as I was right now.

I said, who the fuck is this little boy, Shonte?

I shook her body because she still wasn’t answering me. She was looking at me like she had just seen a ghost or some shit.

That’s your son, she said, voice barely audible, but loud enough for me to hear, and loud enough to make me draw my hand back and slap the shit out of her.

I wasn’t by any means a woman beater. In fact, my ol’ girl would probably slap the fuck out of me if she knew that I was going around hitting females. But damn, this wasn’t just any female. This was my first fuckin’ love. Someone who I was willing to stand in front of and take a fuckin’ bullet if someone was gunning for her. I would literally take off my right damn arm and give it to Shonte if she needed it. And this is how the fuck she comes around and repays me?

Jarvis, stop! Don’t hit her like that! Javari, go in the room! my sister said to the little boy.

He hesitated at first, and then he went on back. Shonte lay on the floor, screaming and crying her ass off from that slap that she had just taken from me. I honestly didn’t know if I felt bad about slapping her.

So, this is what the fuck y’all do, right? If I never would have brought my ass over here, when the fuck were you going to tell me I had a son, Shonte? You had so many fuckin’ opportunities to say some shit to a nigga, and you chose not to! You know how many fuckin’ times I had your ass alone and you could have confessed that shit? Why the fuck do I have to walk in here and see a little nigga standing before me that looks just like my ass?

She had yet to answer any of the questions I had just asked her, and her ignoring me was slowly pissing me off. Answer me, dammit! I barked, so fuckin’ mad that I turned around and punched a hole in the wall.

I could hear Shonte behind me wheezing and holding her chest.

Go get her asthma pump, I told La’shay, and she went into Shonte’s purse to get her pump, since we knew that’s where she kept it.

Shonte’s asthma wasn’t extreme, but she did make sure to keep her pump on her at all times, especially for moments like this. I allowed her to do what she had to do, while I looked on. As mad as I was, I still loved the hell out of this woman, which is why I wasn’t about to sit here and watch her have a damn asthma attack. Once she finished doing what she had to do, she sat with her knees drawn up and her head resting against them, softly crying. Any time Shonte cried, that shit would pull at my heart, but honestly, at this moment I could give two fucks about her crying.

Listen to me and listen to me good! Whatever the fuck you and I had going on, that shit is fuckin’ dead! When I was younger, my dad took care of Shay and I, so I plan on doing the same thing for my son. I don’t feel like I have to be with his lying ass mama to do that either. I don’t even want to say shit to your ass because each time I look at those crocodile tears, I want to slap the shit out of your ass again for lying. With that being said, don’t call me, call my mama and she’ll relay the message! I said and then walked out the door.

I honestly didn’t have shit to say to my sister either. At the end of the day, I was her blood, so her loyalty should have been to me. La’shay and Shonte were so fuckin’ close, to the point that they were going around hiding shit like this from people, and the only thing that it would do was hurt them in the end. This wasn’t a fuckin’ game, man. This was a child that we were talking about. A child that I had missed out on so much of his life already, and now I had to make up for lost time.

Damn, when Shonte used to come and visit me while I was locked up, we would go in the back and fuck. I just assumed she was on some form of birth control because she never said shit about me pulling out, even though I probably wouldn’t have done so anyway. I meant what I said to Shonte back there, though. She might as well stay with the nigga that she already has because I didn’t want her lying ass anymore.

It didn’t even hit me until I got into my car that she had that nigga around my son, having him play daddy to my seed. I swear I wanted to make a U-turn and drive my ass back over there and slap her again for being so damn stupid. Shonte knew me better than anybody else, so why she felt the need to try a nigga like that was beyond me. What’s fucked up is that she even got my sister involved in the lie, making me doubt my own blood’s loyalty to me.

I promise, I would have respected Shonte more, had she come right out and told me the first time that she saw me when I came home. The fact that I had to find the shit out on my own, like literally just walk in on her, that was enough for me to come to the conclusion that I couldn’t trust that woman. It was a wrap between her and I, for good this time.

---

Later that night

He got to be at least four years old because she stopped coming down to visit me in my fourth year. Ma, I just don’t understand how she could hide something like this for so long. The more I think about it, the more I’m hating her ass, I vented to my ol’ girl as I sat at the island in her kitchen nursing a glass on Hennessy. I needed something to calm my fuckin’ nerves, and Hennessy was the best stress reliever of them all.

I’m mad too, Jarvis! Shonte nor La’shay ever mentioned anything to me about the two of you having a child together! They know that I don’t play those games, hiding secrets and shit, which is why they never told me in the first place! Jarvis, I understand your frustration. Four years is a long ass time to go without knowing about your son, or without being there for him. The only reasonable explanation that I can come up with that would justify the shit that Shonte did is the fact that she didn’t want you locked away worrying about her and the baby. You were already in there stressed, worrying about us already, then to add on top of that a newborn baby? my mother said.

I looked at her ass like she was crazy. Was she trying to take Shonte’s side?

Ma, if anything, that would have been an eye opener for my ass! That little boy would have been my motivation while I was in there, and I would have been in that bitch counting down the days until I could get back to him. I didn’t expect Shonte to be bringing him down to the prison, I wouldn’t even want her doing all that. A picture was good enough for me! Letting me hear his voice and him hear mine would have been all the motivation I needed while in there! Man, just the whole idea of knowing that I had a son waiting on me when I got back would have been perfect, I said.

I’m sorry, baby. I really am. I can only imagine what you’re going through right now, but all I know is that Shonte loves you. That girl has always loved your ass, even when you treated her like shit! You two don’t have to be together to raise Javari, which is what you told her. But that is the mother of your child, so you have to always respect her. Meaning, you can’t go around putting your hands on her. Trust me, kids see everything, even when we feel they aren’t watching. This was your first time coming into contact with your son, and his first impression of you is that you raised your hand and slapped the shit out of his mama! You think that little boy is going to want to be around you, Jarvis? You got to fix this shit because you already missed out on four years, you shouldn’t have to miss any more, my mother said, trying to talk some sense into me.

I still didn’t regret hitting Shonte. She deserved that shit. She’s lucky I loved her, because most niggas would have probably done worse. I’m not going to lie though, on the brighter side, I was happy that she named our son after my father. I mean, it was the least that her lying ass could do.

2

Shonte Howard

Ileft my baby over at La’shay’s house, drove home fast as hell, and got my ass right in the bed. That was two days ago, and I was still in the same spot, in the same clothes and everything. On top of that, Chad was true to his word and had moved all of his shit out of the house. I was shocked because Chad and I argued all the time and he always threatened to leave, but once things would cool off after a few hours, he would still be here.

Something was different with Chad, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. The way Chad talked to me the other day like I was some bitch off of the street was a major shocker for me. He looked at me with straight malice in his eyes, and the love that he once had for me, I no longer saw it. The way Chad had described me, referring to me as a compulsive liar and a nasty ass bitch had me second guessing myself. I was fuckin’ embarrassed that he would even think of me that way. I tried so fuckin’ hard to act like I no longer loved Jarvis or that I wasn’t in love with him, but I wasn’t doing anything but lying to myself, and ended up hurting my fiancé in the end.

I kept replaying what Chad had told me about the fact that I needed to watch the people who I associated with, and I couldn’t help but wonder who the hell he was talking about. I knew for a fact that he wasn’t referring to La’shay because the loyalty that she has for me is through the roof. Her ass held the biggest fuckin’ secret of all time from her brother, just out of loyalty. Now that the secret is out, I felt so damn bad for bringing La’shay in on my mess because now Jarvis is pissed at her too.

Only reason I ended up telling La’shay in the first place is that there are never any secrets between us, and I wouldn’t have been able to go through a whole day without her finding out about Javari. Not only that, La’shay has a spare key to my