Mind Games

The sequel to Momma, Please Forgive Me! explores the after effects of how a woman, who has been separated from her family for over ten years, comes back into society and tries to live a normal and happy life. However, there are many twists and turns in this story as she tries to be the perfect mother to her now teenage children. This story explores the daily lives of how La Vonne's children treat her and how their classmates treat them after finding out the hidden truth of what their mother did and why she has been out of their lives for so long. Throughout this book, La Vonne tries to figure out if her husband, Jonathan, whom she killed over 10 years ago for abusing her is still alive, or if her mind is just playing games.

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Mind Games on CD
For those of you who don't have time to read, or find yourself always stuck in traffic, now you can hear author TOI MOORE read her book, MIND GAMES, from page to page. ORDER YOUR CD set of "MIND GAMES" today.

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LINKS FOR DOWNLOADABLE READERS - MIND GAMES


Barnes & Nobel Nook Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mind-games-toi-moore/1006187482?ean=2940011805721

Amazon Kindle Link: http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Games-ebook/dp/B0043RSD0A/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1350052058&sr=8-25&keywords=toi+moore





"I am pleased to see that you're continuing to write about issues people care about in your new book, 'Mind Games.' By taking the "road less traveled" in your previous work, 'Momma, Please Forgive Me!' you have set and raised the standard for our young writers."

Bernard C. Parks / Councilmember - former LAPD Chief of Police



"In Mind Games, Toi Moore once again takes her personal pain and converts it into the world's gain. In a world filled with coping and giving up, Toi chooses once again, hope and healing."

John Bryant / Founder, Chairman & CEO of Operation Hope, Inc.



"You'll be immediately caught up in the suspense of this intense and beautifully crafted story."

Synthia Saint James / Arist, Illustrator, Author & Songwriter



"Toi Moore is a self-motivated, intelligent woman who paints a startling realistic picture of domestic abuse. Her new book, "Mind Games," picks up where her first book, "Momma, Please Forgive Me!" left off. It's another hard-to-put-down story."

Jackie Kallen / The First Lady of Boxing - The World's Most Successful Female Boxing Manager



"Mind Games is a GREAT book! I love the story! It's never predicitable. I also love the dialog you give your characters. People will not want to put it down."

Michele Mc Dowell - Avid Reader



"Toi Moore, a newly self-published author, is very confident." Author compared to E. Lynn Harris and Omar Tyree on self-publishing efforts.

Renee Simms - EUR Headlines



BOOK EXCERPT - MIND GAMES - CHAPTER ONE


"Oh shit! La Vonne, La Vonne!" Jay yelled as he opened the door of his black BMW and ran toward La Vonne. She was lying on the wet grass next to the grave site of her twins. She had fainted and Jay didn't know why. "La Vonne, wake up! Wake up!" He yelled as he lifted her head, kneeling beside her. He gently shook her limp body as he tried to revive her. The night was dark, cold and windy. A setting that would make the perfect mystery story come to life. "What happened? Where am I?" She said, as she slowly looked around confused.

"What happened?" Jay asked and explained what he saw, "One minute you were on your knees praying. Then you stood up while looking at the grave site. After that I looked up and you were laying on the ground passed out. Are you feeling alright?" He was confused and concerned as to why she reacted in such a strange way.

"I think so. What happened? Why am I on the ground?" she asked.

"You must have fainted." Jay was holding her cold body in his arms, trying to console her while she laid helplessly against his warm body. La Vonne was a petite, light-skinned woman who had a well-proportioned figure. While in prison, her shapely body attracted many of the male guards. It even got Jay's attention, without her knowing.

La Vonne was still confused as she looked around the dark woody area. Suddenly she became agitated and broke away from the safety and warmth of his arms. "Where is he? Where did he go?" She looked around petrified.

"Where is who?" Jay said. He was trying to see who she was searching for. "I don't see anybody. Who do you think you saw?"

"It was Jonathan."

"It was who?" Jay was totally blown away by her comment.

"It was Jonathan! I know it was! I saw him standing right there, behind that weeping willow tree!" She pointed as they both looked toward the large tree that stood in the darkness about five feet away.

Jay helped La Vonne stand up. "Can you stand by yourself?"

"Yes, I'm fine." she pushed him away, dusting herself off.

Not wanting to lose La Vonne's trust, Jay found it hard to believe her theory, but attempted the impossible. "Okay, stay right here. Let me check around," he whispered. He picked up the flashlight that she had taken from the car in order to view the darkened spot and walked toward the tree. He slowly looked around to see what she was talking about. He shouted as he walked back toward her direction, "I don't see anyone. I think you're just tired. You've had a very long day. Maybe you just saw the shadow of the tree or some leaves fall and assumed it was a man. Come on, let me take you back to your mom's house so you can get a good nights rest."

La Vonne became hysterical. "I know what I saw, it was Jonathan standing right there smiling at me! He was wearing a dark trench coat with a dark fedora brimmed hat on his head. He had a single red rose in his hand and said, "Welcome home La Vonne, I've been waiting for you." La Vonne snatched the flashlight out of Jay's hand and ran toward the exact spot of where she saw Jonathan and looked around herself. "I know I saw him. I just know I saw him. He was standing right here!" Hysterically, La Vonne pointed to the very spot she thought she saw Jonathan. The very same man she had just spent ten years in prison for killing.

La Vonne suddenly began crying and walked toward Jay. He held her tight in his arms and again, attempted to console her. "It's alright. Everything is going to be alright. Come on, let me take you back home. All you need is a good nights sleep and you'll feel much better tomorrow, I promise. I'm sure that after spending ten years in prison can make anyone believe that even shadows are real. So come on, let me take you home." They walked toward the car that was parked down a small hill from the grave site.

After hearing Jay's comment, she was beginning to doubt herself and what she saw. "Okay, but I could have sworn I saw him standing right over there beside that tree. Then again, I don't know what I saw. Maybe I'm seeing things. Maybe I'm just losing my mind. Like you said, its been a long time since I've seen anything outside of prison walls. So it could have been anything. It could have been a shadow like you said. I guess my mind is just playing games on me." But I could have sworn he was standing over there, she thinks.

Today was the first day La Vonne had come home from prison. She had spent the last ten years of her life in the Hallsworth, Louisiana State Prison for killing her husband Jonathan for abusing her and her children. Before coming to the grave site, she had been in good spirits after the welcome home party her mother, Gloria, gave to her that was shared with family and neighborhood friends. However, La Vonne still felt empty because she was not allowed to say her final goodbyes to the twin babies she lost on that dreadful night, due to Jonathan's rage, and the fact that she was locked away for his murder.

Before they got into the car, she looked again to the spot where she thought she saw Jonathan and noticed something laying on the ground. She immediately ran toward the object, leaving Jay behind. "Wait a minute, what's this?" After reaching the very spot, she noticed a freshly cut red rose. She picked it up and held it high in the air so Jay could see it. "See, this is what he had in his hand. This is what I saw him holding, this red rose right here!" She carefully examined the rose and smelled it to make sure it was real.

Jay walked over to La Vonne and looked at the rose more closely. "Yes, this is a red rose. But La Vonne, this is a grave site. I'm sure someone just dropped it on the ground, or maybe the wind blew it over here. I don't know, but I sure don't think it came from Jonathan." He was beginning to also question her strange behavior, but kept those thoughts to himself. La Vonne became agitated, "Don't you believe me? This is the red rose Jonathan had in his hand when he smiled and spoke to me while standing behind that tree!" Her voice calmed down and trembled, "Jay, you have to believe me. You can't just think I'm tired or losing my mind. You just can't! Come on, let's look around.

I don't think my mind has gotten the best of me this soon. I'm too happy for anything like that to happen. Let's look some more, he has to be around here somewhere. I'm sure he didn't get away that fast. He's probably watching us right now. Come on, let's look again, but this time let's look more carefully."

La Vonne started looking around the immediate area. Jay followed her closely, searching for any sign that would lead to Jonathan, or a sign that would solve her dilemma. However, after looking for over fifteen minutes in the dark, cold cemetery, with the small dimly lit flashlight, no one was found. The entire area consisted of Jay and herself, the grave markers, and the many trees that surrounded the gloomy, moonlit area.

After searching, La Vonne became weary and wanted to leave. "Come on, maybe it was my mind just playing games on me. I have to accept that Jonathan is dead. I killed him. I saw him laying on my living room floor bleeding from the gunshot wound in his chest. I know he's dead. I know he is!" She fell to her knees on the wet ground and began crying as she thought back to that dreadful night.

Ten years previous, an abusive fight began when Jonathan, La Vonne's husband, beat her until her body became weak, badly bruised and bloody. After several years of putting up with his abuse, La Vonne knew she could no longer take anymore. After their eight-year old son, Jonathan Jr., tried to stop the fight, Jonathan Sr. hit him in the face causing his nose to bleed. While watching the blood that ran down the face of her son, and the tears her six-year-old daughter shed from watching the fight caused her to lose it.

As La Vonne gained enough strength from her weakened and bruised body, she saw Jonathan on the couch. He was sleeping peacefully while wearing a smile of contentment. The look on his face, the pains that came from her body, the tears from her daughter, and the blood and tears that ran down the face of her son played over and over in her mind, making it harder to handle. So she slowly crawled to the couch, where she reached for the shotgun that laid hidden away from their children. She rose to her feet and shot him in the chest. The powerful force of the gun caused him to fall off the couch, onto the floor. As he lay on the floor bleeding to death, La Vonne ran out the house and down the street screaming as loud as she could. Later, after she was arrested, she sat handcuffed in the back of a police car, watching her children cry, knowing they didn't understand what was going on. Their tears admitted that they wanted her to return to protect them from the confusion. It was at that point that she regretted her act. It was also at that point that she felt a sense of relief by knowing that Jonathan would never hurt them again. As she slowly rode away in the police car, she wondered if his death was worth the pain and suffering she would experience in prison locked away from her children.

After crying for five minutes, Jay put his arm around La Vonne, helped her up and quietly walked her back to his car. As he pulled away to take her back to her mother's house, she sat in silence, constantly looking out the window. Her mind was totally focused to the sight of the weeping willow tree with hopes of seeing Jonathan re-appear. La Vonne could hardly move. She never took her eyes off that tree, or released the red rose she found that was tightly clinched in her hand. The rose served as proof that her experience was real. It also seemed to have power, a negative power she hoped she would never relive. However, through it all, she tried to assure herself that Jonathan's presence was only a figment of her imagination and that her mind was just playing games with her.

As Jay continued the drive to take her home, La Vonne remained quiet while totally glued to the darkness of the night. After being incarcerated for over ten years and finally being released, this was a night when she should have been the happiest. However, she was feeling totally depressed. All she could do was focus on the negative things that happened in her life. Her mind would not let her escape the fact that she killed a human being, even though she had been abused for years. Her mind took her back to the days she spent with Jonathan, as his oversized body towered her petite frame, causing her to become helpless to his violent attacks. His mental and physical abuse damaged her self-esteem and pride. However, her guilt of killing Jonathan was embedded so deep within her soul that she lived with her guilt every night when she went to sleep.





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