Now You Wanna Come Back 3

by Anna Black

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

Follow the lives of four couples facing infidelity, tragedy, and trauma, leaving us to wonder: What would you withstand for love?
Rayshon and Leila have been through it all—and survived it. Stronger than ever, they stand together and take on the challenges of raising Karen’s son, a lovecrazed teenager, all while Leila takes on a new business venture, which Rayshon has come to regret.
Devon yearns for love. After hurting Leila, a failed marriage with Christa, and an affair with Janelle, Devon is now ready to have someone he can call his own. But does he look for love in the wrong place? Alicia Green is sexy, single, and catches his eye. He finds himself falling for her, only to find out that Alicia has secrets that may send Devon running away from love.
Kerry and Janiece are proud new parents, and all is well until he hires Robin, a sexy young assistant who is interested in more than her secretarial duties. But, as they say, how you get him is how you will lose him, and Janiece feels that her marriage could be in jeopardy because her husband refuses to see Robin for who she is.
Julian and Kennedy are still the power couple that works hard and plays hard and are still madly in love. But then tragedy hits home. Kennedy gets a call saying her dad has suffered a heart attack, and his death reveals a family secret that Kennedy must find a way to move on from.

Release date: May 30, 2023

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

Devon stood and peered out the window of his condo, wondering how he went from being happily married to Leila to cheating on her with his coworker Michelle. Then he’d moved on to marry Christa, his next mistake, because he was still in love with Leila when he said, “I do,” leading to another divorce. Then Janelle was the one, he’d thought, and he finally fell in love again, only to find out that she was married with two kids. He was starting to admit that he was lonely and wanted to find love again.

Leila was happily married to Rayshon, living in bliss, and his ex, Michelle, ended up marrying another partner at their office. She was pregnant with her first kid, and all the exes he cared for were married except him. Christa had recently announced her engagement to Isaiah, and he figured Janelle’s husband forgave her, too. There he was, alone with no one.

All he had going great for himself was his fantastic career and his 14-year-old daughter, Deja. She, at the moment, was driving him crazy. She was ready to date, but he, Leila, and Rayshon had all decided she had to wait until she was 15. She had less than two months before she’d turn 15, and because of some boy at her school named West, she was begging for them to bend the rules. He thought about it for a moment, but when he met the pimpled-faced lad, he swore that there was pure lust in his eyes. He was damn near Devon’s height, with long cornrows in his Puerto Rican waves, and his light eyes looked like Honey Nut Cheerios. He wore colorful braces. When he spoke with a baritone voice as deep as Devon’s, bending the rules was a fuck no.

He wanted to change it to 18 at that moment. Still, they had already said 15. Plus, young West was an honor roll student in the same advanced classes as Deja, and he didn’t have his pants hanging off his narrow ass. West may have been a good kid, but Deja would have to wait two months before she got his permission to go on a one-on-one date with him. They allowed group gatherings and outings, but they were solid at 15. On May 15, Devon would stop monitoring Deja’s every move and start to look for a love of his own.

He had become so consumed with fatherhood and trying to keep his one and only daughter boyfriend free that he was allowing his life to pass him by. He chuckled lightly at the thought of dating again, and then he went to his wet bar and fixed a drink. After a couple of sips, he went for his phone and called Leila.

“Hey, Devon,” she answered on the fourth ring.

“Hey, Lei, what’s going on?”

“Nothing too much, just waiting for your child to come home.”

“Oh, so she isn’t there. I’ve called her phone five times, and it goes straight to voicemail. I thought she was on restriction again.”

“No, but she will be if her ass does not walk into this house in the next five minutes. She was told to be home by nine, and I am trying to give her the benefit, Devon, but your daughter is trying my patience. She will end up in a body cast if she doesn’t get her act together. I mean, all she ever talks about is that damn West, and she thinks we are going to change our minds about fifteen, but she is dead wrong,” Leila vented.

“I agree one hundred percent, Lei. Where is she anyway this late on a school night?” he asked.

“She went to the mall with her li’l friend Destiny.”

“Okay, just have her call me as soon as she gets home. I wanted to let her know that my boss is having his daughter for the weekend and wants us to join him for a little while for a father-daughter night. Ever since I took Deja over for dinner that one time, his daughter keeps asking him about her,” he said and finished the whiskey in his glass.

“I’ll let her know, Devon, but how I feel right now, she may be on restriction until her damn birthday. I am tired of fussing about the damn curfew. Nine means nine,” Leila spat.

“I hear you, because I am tired of this dead-ass phone excuse. I got her ass a portable charger for moments like this. Getting her voicemail is a damn problem.”

“Oh, here she is now. Do you wanna talk to her?”

“Yeah, put her ass on,” Devon said with irritation. He understood that she was a teen, but she had to be more responsible than she had been lately.

“Here, it’s your dad,” he heard Leila say before Deja came on the line.

“Hi, Daddy,” Deja chirped.

“Hello, D.J. What have your mother and I told you about missing curfew, and where in the hell is your portable charger?” Devon asked, trying to keep his voice from roaring into the phone. “I told you that I wasn’t having the ‘my phone died’ madness from you, Deja, and I am losing my tolerance for this wack-ass behavior!”

“Dad, I forgot it, I swear. I was rushing because Destiny’s mom was outside blowing her horn like a madwoman, so I rushed out and forgot it.”

“Okay. Forget again and I promise you I’ll forget to make your cell phone payment.”

“Yes, sir,” she said sadly.

Devon continued to fuss her ear off for the next five minutes about being responsible and doing better. Then he sprang the news on her about going to his boss’s house that weekend.

“Awww, please don’t make me go. Eeeeeewwwww, she is so weird, Dad, and I don’t want to hang with her. She doesn’t even know who BTS is, so please don’t torture me.”

“First, you will not call Ryan weird because you guys don’t like the same things. That is not how we raised you. Have you thought about sharing some of the things you like and letting her show you some of the things she likes? She is a lovely girl, and you know her dad’s place is new for her. Since her parents divorced, she has to be with him on an entirely different side of town with zero friends, so think of others, Deja, and try to be nice.”

“This is so unfair,” she mumbled.

“And so is life. You are like two seconds from being grounded for coming home late, so do your dad a favor and drop the attitude, because you are going,” Devon said.

“Yes, sir,” she said sadly.

Seconds later, Leila was back on. “Yeah, Devon,” she said.

“Look, I don’t know what is going on with our daughter, but she is going to have to straighten her shit up, Leila. Missing curfew and keeping her head down in all those damn gadgets is not what I want her constantly focused on. And this little attitude she has found, she needs to lose that shit quickly because I’m not raising a damn idiot.”

“I hear you, Devon. I will talk to her.”

“Yeah, because she doesn’t want to live with me, because I’d shut all that shit completely down.”

Leila laughed lightly. “Whatever, man, you are all talk. Deja will be fine. It’s just teenage shit.”

“Whatever, I have to go.”

“For what? You finally got a hot date or something?” she teased.

He chuckled. “Nah, I’m gonna chill around the house, get caught up on some work.”

“Devon, that is all you do now. How about you at least come over and have a few drinks with us? You haven’t been with anybody since that married chick, Janelle. I mean, even Christa is engaged. When are you going to find a woman, old man?”

“Oh, so you are monitoring my love life now?”

“No, but Ray and I agree that you should get back out there. Everyone I know has somebody but you.”

“Wow, thank you, Oprah. Tell your husband, Dr. Phil, that I am good. You two don’t have to worry about my love life, okay? I have work and a hormonal teen in love with some pretty boy named West Ortiz to concentrate on. Love is not on my to-do list,” he said.

“If you say so, Devon, and I must say bye now because not like you, sir, I’m getting some, and my sexy-ass husband just walked in the door,” she said, and Devon heard what sounded like a kiss. “Hey, baby, your food is in the warmer,” Leila said.

“Whatever, Lei, and tell Ray I said what’s up,” Devon said, going for another drink.

“Yo, ask Devon if he is up for Jay’s,” Devon heard Rayshon say. He figured she had him on speaker.

“Nah, I’m good, man.”

“You sure?” she asked.

“Yeah, we meeting up Sunday to go to the game, so I’m good. Later, Lei,” he said and then disconnected the call.

He refilled his glass and went to power on his laptop. While it powered up, he did a quick fridge check, but there was nothing he wanted to eat or cook. He opened his junk drawer, pulled out a menu, and ordered from a Chinese restaurant not too far from his place. He got to work, and then his phone rang. It made him jump because it was quiet other than the sounds of the keys on his laptop. He answered and gave the doorman permission to allow his delivery to come up. Within a couple of minutes, the man was at his door. He had cash on hand, so he paid and hurried to the kitchen after he had locked his front door. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks from his utensil drawer and decided to just eat from the containers. After three a.m., he finally shut his computer down and headed to bed.

After a long, hot shower, he was under the covers, his mind wide awake with thoughts of finding love again. He had messed up so horribly in the past that he hoped God would grant him another opportunity to have it. He wondered if he’d find someone to love him as deeply as Leila or care for him as much as Christa.

“God, I know I have a terrible track record regarding love, marriage, and wives, but I am a better man. Forgive me for how stupid I was. If you give me another crack at this love thing, I will be the best man I can be. I’ll love the next one more and better than I loved Leila, Christa, and even Janelle. I’m ready,” he prayed, and then he finally drifted off to sleep.

“Hey, chica,” Leila said and stood to greet Christa.

“Hey, Leila.” Christa beamed. “I’d like you to meet Jaiden’s mom, Janiece, and this is her sister, Janelle,” Christa introduced them, and then they all took a seat.

“Nice to finally meet you, Janiece,” Leila said. Leila glanced at Janelle again and wondered where she knew her face from.

“Well, ladies, as you all know, my first wedding was small and rushed. However, I want this one to be grand,” Christa said, interrupting Leila’s examination of Janelle. “And as the saying goes, ‘What the bride wants, the bride gets,’” she said, and the ladies giggled.

“Yep, this is true,” Leila agreed, and the server approached. “Before all the wedding talk, let us order some drinks, ladies.” Everyone agreed, and they all ordered their cocktails. “Now that the drink orders are in, let’s get down to the wedding business,” Leila said and pulled out her tablet.

“Yes, and, Christa, whatever you do, please don’t choose purple as your color. That was our color,” Janiece said.

“Thanks for the advice, but I won’t. I mean, I want like a black-and-white color scheme.”

Janiece nodded and then went for the glass of water that the server had poured when he approached before taking their drink orders. “That sounds nice. I am sure Isaiah would like that. He is not hard to please,” Janiece added. “Plus, I can’t believe I am even going to be a part of my ex-husband’s wedding,” she said and swallowed.

“I got one better for you. I planned my ex-husband’s wedding when he married this chick,” Leila said, pointing to Christa.

“Hold on, Christa’s ex-husband is your ex-husband?” Janelle asked.

“Yes, we were both married to Devon.”

“Crazy, but I fell in love with Devon long after he and Leila were over. Unfortunately, that went to shit because I was so damn paranoid that he wanted her back,” she said, pointing at Leila. “I had not stopped to think for one second that Leila was happy with Rayshon and didn’t want his black ass back. Lord, shit was a mess back then,” Christa said as the server approached again, that time with a tray of goodies. He managed to put the right drink in front of the right person, and then they ordered some lunch. As soon as he vacated, they dove right back in.

“Devon, Devon, Devon,” Janiece repeated. “Why does that name sound so familiar?”

“Because I had an affair with him,” Janelle spoke up, and it was like the table went still.

Leila’s mouth opened. “I knew I recognized you. You are that Janelle,” Leila said.

“Yes, I am,” Janelle confessed.

“Well, damn, all y’all done rode Devon’s dick,” Janiece joked, and the ladies laughed loudly.

“Well, I guess you can say we all have,” Janelle said, taking a sip of her drink.

“Shit, I’ma keep it real. That was some good dick, baby,” Christa said.

“Hey, Isaiah got the good D too, baby,” Janiece said.

Christa’s head nodded up and down. “Indeed, in-fucking-deed, and I know you got K.P. and y’all all happy and shit, but, Jai, how did you walk away from it, girl?” Christa inquired.

Janiece took a sip, and the girls all got quiet. “It was just that my heart ached for K.P. more. I mean, Isaiah is a great man, a damn good father, and he was an awesome husband. Isaiah came into my life to help me walk away from a toxic situation at that time with Kerry and Kimberly. I mean, those days were rough. I don’t know, Christa. When I thought Isaiah had died, K.P. was on time to help me through it all, and we reconnected. We bonded, and what can I say? I fell so deeply in love with him all over again. When Isaiah came home, I was so sad that I had given my heart back to K.P. I tried to return to what we had, but K.P. held my heart prisoner. I decided that I would rather leave and give him another chance at love than stay and resent him and live a lie, and then when he met you, I was like thank you, God.

“I was so happy when he found you, Christa, and I am glad that your sexy, beautiful, gorgeous ass came along when you did,” she said, and they all laughed. Her words were heartfelt, Leila thought, listening to her reference to Christa being sexy, and they lightened the mood.

“Well, I do what I can,” Christa teased. “Plus, it was so easy to fall for him. I mean, you’ve all seen him. Isaiah is the epitome of fine, and the dick—oh, Lord—the dick,” Christa said, raising her hands in praise.

“We get it, Christa, damn,” Leila said. “This is so crazy. We have this whole entire soap opera past,” Leila said.

“Yes, indeed, and I am grateful that my husband found it in his heart to forgive me. I mean, I enjoyed my fling with Devon, but I knew that shit was wrong. I was so stuck on Gregory cheating and knew I was right, but I was dead fucking wrong.”

“Gregory is a damn good man, and I love my brother-in-law for staying with your ass. I mean, I told you to shut that shit down,” Janiece added.

“You did, but my mind was set, and when I met Devon, shit, Leila and Christa know what it is,” Janelle said and sipped her drink.

“Oooohhhhhhh, honey, we do, we do,” Christa said, and they all laughed. They returned to wedding planning and agreed that they should get together more outside of wedding stuff.

Leila drove home sober as hell, laughing to herself about the conversations she and the girls had shared. She needed to hit the wine fridge as soon as she got home because although the cocktails were delicious, they were weak. They all had their spin on the men they had once been with or were still with, and Leila knew she may have made two new girlfriends.

Leila walked in and wondered where everybody was. She knew Deja was going to Devon’s, but she didn’t expect Ray and the kids not to be at home. Of course, Rayshon hardly ever got home early. She put everything down on the kitchen island and went for the wine cooler. She was exhausted with all of Christa’s wedding ideas, and although the budget was grand and she had more time to plan, she hoped she could pull it all off.

After she poured a glass and swallowed some of the golden contents, she realized she had messages that she had not checked. She went to the counter where the flashing light irritated her, and pressed play. The first couple of messages were from bullshit-ass scammers. She wondered how telemarketing still even existed in this day and age. She just quickly deleted them. By the fifth message, her hand stilled when she heard the familiar voice of one of her daughter’s teachers.

“Hi, Mrs. Johnson. This is Alicia Gray, Deja’s English teacher. I am calling because the school year is ending soon, and Deja is not doing as well as before. I am not sure what is going on or where things went left, but if she doesn’t get back to normal, she may fail my class or finish with the lowest grade since the year began. Can we meet on Tuesday at twelve forty-five so we can figure out what is best for her going forward?”

Leila instantly got an attitude. She was angry that her daughter was doing the most. She was even more annoyed when her calendar revealed she was unavailable at the time her teacher requested. She had an appointment at the florist with Christa. Although Christa wasn’t paying her as much as she was worth, she was a friend to her, so she grabbed her phone and dialed Devon.

After a couple of rings, it went straight to his voicemail, and then she hung up, not bothering to leave a message. She figured he’d see her missed call and then call her back when he was free. She grumbled a few profane words from her lips, and then she headed over to the family room to take a load off. Before her next swallow of golden stress reliever, the chime of the alarm system sounded off. Her family was home, and she hoped that Rayshon had fed them because she was in no mood to cook, and there was also nothing quick to make.

“Hey, baby,” her husband said gleefully as she stood. He tossed his keys onto the counter, and she made her way over to him to greet him properly. The kids barely spoke as they raced upstairs with their bags, and Leila did not stop them.

She gave him a few soft pecks and asked, “Where were you guys?”

“At the mall shopping for Shon. He has outgrown all of his damn sneakers. On top of that, RJ and Rave also wanted a new pair. I just dropped a grip on six pairs of the latest kicks, according to the jobless humans that we take care of daily,” he said.

“Well, Shon is growing faster than a weed. He is only five now and damn near taller than RJ,” Leila added.

“I know, right? Whoever Karen’s donor was had to be big and tall, because she was petite as hell.”

Leila gave him a look. “I don’t need to be reminded of how petite the other woman was, Rayshon,” she said, going for more wine.

He walked up behind her, embraced her, and then kissed her neck. “Baby, don’t even get all up in yo’ feelings over that shit. You know it’s always been you.”

She tilted her head over to the side and allowed him access to plant more kisses, and she smiled. “I know,” she whispered. Through it all, she knew in her heart that her husband adored her.

“I love you, woman,” he added.

“I love you too, man,” she said, and he held her tighter. She then remembered the call from Deja’s teacher. “Baby, I need a huge favor. Deja’s teacher called about her grade slipping and wants to meet me on Tuesday at twelve forty-five, but I will be with Christa. Can you swing that for me?” she asked.

“No can do, love. You know Tuesday is just like a Monday for me. Tuesdays are impossible, especially at this late notice,” he said, releasing his embrace. He went to the fridge and grabbed a beer.

“I know, but I just thought I’d ask. I’m sure Devon can do it, but he didn’t answer earlier when I called. I just don’t know what is going on with D.J. nowadays.”

“West is what’s going on,” Ray said.

“Oh, my Lord, if I hear that kid’s name one more time, I will scream.”

“It is her first love or crush, or whatever the kids call it nowadays. I mean, I don’t want to be that dad, but I am just not ready for our baby girl to be kissing and grinding and shit,” Ray said, leaning back against the counter.

“Neither do I, but we can’t just lock her in her room. I mean, what can we do? We said fifteen, and we can’t go back on our word, but her decline in school is gonna make me overturn that decision. I mean, why are her grades falling?” Leila said, and her kids came into the kitchen.

“Mommy, can we have a slice of cake?” RJ asked.

“Sure,” she said and then paused. “Wait, we must figure out dinner before cake, son.”

“We already had our dinner, Ma. We went to Beggar’s Pizza,” Shon announced.

Leila shot Rayshon a look. “Oh, you did, huh?”

“Yes, ma’am, we did,” Raven confirmed.

“And y’all didn’t think to bring me a slice of my favorite pizza?” she asked, going for the cabinet. She grabbed a few saucers and went for the cake.

“Well, Daddy said you were having dinner with Auntie Christa before he ate the last two slices,” RJ spilled.

Leila watched her husband put a hand on his forehead and move his head from side to side. His kids had ratted him out, and she laughed.

“Y’all talk too much. Didn’t I say in the truck on the way home not to tell Mommy where we went?” Ray said playfully, putting Shon into a chokehold.

“It’s cool, traitors. I did eat with Auntie Christa, and we had Portillo’s!” she spat and then stuck out her tongue to taunt them.

Leila gave them pieces of her homemade red velvet cake and chatted with them about everything. When they were done and instructed to go up and bathe, she and Rayshon we. . .