You just couldn’t stop yourself.
You knew that what you were about to do would get you into trouble. You’d never be able to talk your way out of the mess, even though you’d to try. Getting caught was a high probability, losing everything was a danger.
But you just couldn’t stop yourself.
In the new book “Darius Jones” by Mary B. Morrison, (c.2010, Dafina. $24/$29.45 Canada. 257 pages-plus extras) a young b-baller has everything he could ever want: a beautiful wife, a great career, and a healthy child. Can he stop his life from crashing?
Darius Jones loved his wife, Fancy. He loved her curvy body, the fullness of her lips; he even loved it when she got mad at him. Fancy was his life. So when a white truck forced their vehicle into traffic and Fancy was badly hurt, Darius didn’t know where to turn. He called his mother, Jada.
Although Jada adored her son, his drama wasn’t foremost in her mind. Jada was engaged to Grant who said he loved her, but she thought he was lying.
Her hunch was confirmed when Grant’s ex-woman, Honey, showed up pregnant, big as a barrel.
In front of Jada, Grant asked whose baby it was and Honey confirmed that he was going to be a daddy. So Jada called her assistant, Bambi, for help.
Back in first grade, Bambi was a fat kid who practically invited abuse from peers and her parents. The only person who was nice to her was her classmate, Darius Jones.
For the rest of her life, Bambi loved Darius. She followed his career, had a body pillow made to look exactly like him, and she fantasized what it would be like to be Mrs. Darius Jones. But first, she had to get rid of Fancy and Darius’ little brat, DJ. So Bambi called Ashlee–Darius’ baby mama.
When Ashlee became pregnant, she figured it would keep Darius by her side, but that didn’t work. Now she was stuck with a kid she didn’t want, but she couldn’t give him to his daddy, either. If she did that, Darius might never come back to her.
Darius was sitting in a hospital room, hoping Fancy would come back to consciousness. Who would want to kill his wife? Better question: Why?
More like a soap opera than a novel, “Darius Jones” could just as well have been called “Darius Jones and a Half-a-Dozen Other People.” That’s because author Mary B. Morrison completes two series here by bringing “together the main characters from both …”
That wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t result in a mish-mash of drama that won’t make sense unless you’ve read all twelve of the previous novels. Even so, the characters in this book are mostly unlikeable, nasty, disrespectful people in unbelievable situations, and I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes while reading.
I suppose, if you’ve read the other books, closure might be appreciated. If you’ve never read the Soulmates Dissipate or Honey Diaries series, though, and you’re thinking of reading “Darius Jones,” stop yourself.
