All That and a Bag of Chips

by Darrien Lee

  Bryan grabbed some peanuts and said, “He’s right, man. You might as well get used to it. It’s our job to screen Venice’s friends. Jarvis caught hell for a long time, but he’s cool now.”

  Venice hollered, “Hey! Nobody’s going to check anybody out tonight.”

  Tate opened his beer and said, “Be quiet, girl, and let grown men handle their business.”

  Venice jumped up in disgust. “I don’t believe this. Bryan, you need to get your boys.”

  Bryan got up to adjust the lights. “Sit down, girl, and don’t tell me to get them. I’ve never been able to control them anyway. You know how this works.”

  Gator said, “Craig, don’t get us wrong. When you look at it, Venice, being the only girl besides Crimson and my two babies, has about five daddies. We’ve always been like that with her. My girls are gonna catch the same hell when they get old enough.”

  Craig said, “I understand. I’m glad Venice has people looking out for her. I’m looking out for her also.”

  Venice was sitting on the sofa listening to them discuss her like she wasn’t even in the room.

  Tate said, “We’re always going to be in Venice’s corner. It never hurts to have reinforcements.”

  Venice stood up and said, “I don’t believe you guys. Stop!”

  Bryan hugged Venice around her neck. “Hush, girl! We have to get that business out of the way. Okay, Venice?”

  The guys all laughed.

  Craig joined in and said, “I was kind of expecting this from you, Bryan, being on your turf. But, I didn’t expect you to have a posse.”

  Venice didn’t find their little game funny anymore. She figured she had out grown all of that when she left high school. Bryan and his friends always tried to intimidate the guys she dated. Craig saw that Venice was a little upset, but he knew she was fighting a losing battle with them. He probably would’ve done the same if he had been much older than Bernice.

  Venice got up and stormed up the stairs. Bryan asked, “Where are you going?”

  She didn’t answer him. She just continued up the stairs, pissed off.

  Bryan laughed and turned to Craig. “Man, she’s pissed! But, she’ll be all right.”

  Tate added, “She should be used to it by now.”

  Craig smiled. “I’ll go check on her.”

  When Craig got upstairs, Venice was in the kitchen slamming things around and fixing a sandwich. She leered at him and asked, “Do you want one?”

  “No thanks. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. They’re a trip! I’m starting to get sick of their intimidation games. They practically had me in tears on prom night and thought it was funny. Jarvis quit paying any attention and started retaliating against them. They started respecting Jarvis more, so they eased up on him. After that, they started looking out for him. Through it all, I knew they really liked him. That’s why they did it. I’m sorry they treated you like that.”

  “Venice, they didn’t mean anything by it.”

  Venice took a Coke out the fridge, slammed the door, and said, “They knew what they were doing. They were testing you to see how you would handle yourself.”

  Craig handed her a paper towel. “How do you think I did?”

  “Fine and I’m glad you didn’t let those fools rattle you. I think you surprised them. I’ve dated some guys who never took me out after my brothers and his silly friends got a hold on them. I really love those guys, but sometimes they can go too far. You wouldn’t believe what they gave me for graduation.”

  Craig sat down and asked, “What?”

  “Well, Bryan bought my car for me, Tate paid for my senior trip to the Bahamas and Gator, bless his heart, bought me some mutual funds and told me not to touch them except for an emergency.

  Craig said, “I wish I had friends in high places. That was cool.”

  “I guess. I still hate it when they do what they do.”

  Craig laughed and said, “Come on back down and watch the game with us.”

  “I might come back in a while. I’m going up to look in on Crimson and holler at Sinclair.”

  Craig got up from the table, gave her a hug, and told her that he’d see her downstairs. Venice sat in the kitchen and finished her sandwich. She could hear that the game had started. The fellows were hollering on every play.

  Venice finished eating and went upstairs. Sinclair was on the phone with some friends. Venice knocked on her door and heard her say, “Come in.”

  Sinclair told the person on the phone to hold on. Venice stuck her head in and said, “I’m sorry. I just came up to look in on Crimson.”

  “No problem. I’ll see you in the morning and, Venice; it’s good to see you. Goodnight.”

  Venice told her goodnight and closed the door. Venice made her way down the hall to Crimson’s room. She eased in and saw that her room was as neat as a pin. Sinclair had Crimson’s Sunday dress laid out. It was red trimmed in white satin. Crimson had kicked the covers off, so Venice covered her back up and gave her a kiss.

  When Venice came back downstairs, she went into Bryan’s office to use his phone. Even though Jarvis had a game that night, she wanted to leave a message on his voice mail.

  “Hey, baby. It’s me. I’m sorry about freaking out earlier. I’m glad you called me. I hope you had a good game tonight. I’m heading back to school tomorrow and I’ll call when I get in.” She paused for a moment and then added, “Jarvis…Baby…I do love you. Goodnight.”

  Venice made her way back downstairs to the noise. The game was in full swing and Galen was playing a good game. She wished Joshua would’ve been able to come by, but he had to go out of town for some type of training class. Sadly, he wouldn’t be back until the middle of the week. Venice would just have to catch up with him the next time.

  Venice found her a seat next to Craig.

  Gator asked, “You cool, baby girl?”

  Venice pulled a blanket over her and said, “I’m all right.”

  Craig leaned over and whispered, “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m used to them.”

  They continued to watch the game and Galen made two touchdowns. Bryan called their dad to see if he was watching the game and to make sure that he was fine. They talked for a few minutes before hanging up.

  After a while, Venice fell asleep leaning against Craig’s chest.

  Bryan laughed and said, “Craig, you might need to wake Venice up and tell her to go to bed.”

  Craig chuckled and said, “All right.”

  Craig woke Venice up and helped her up from the sofa. He started to walk her to the bedroom. When she looked around, Bryan and his friends all had smirks on their faces.

  Gator said, “Oh, hell no! I know Bryan ain’t letting ya’ll sleep in the same room.”

  Tate said, “Bryan must really like you, Craig, cause ain’t no way in hell I would let you in there!”

  Venice went around the room and gave all of them a hug and kiss. “Cut it out!” As she walked away, she said, “I love you guys! Goodnight!” Then she gave all of them the middle finger salute.

  They burst out laughing as Craig closed the door behind them. Venice lay across the bed. Craig covered her body with his and asked if she needed any help undressing.

  Smiling naughtily, she answered, “Don’t start anything unless you’re willing to finish it.”

  They could hear Tate holler out, “Craig, you’ve been in there long enough!”

  Craig ignored the remark, stroked Venice’s face, and brought his lips to hers. Venice welcomed his mouth, pulling him tighter to her. He dipped his head and kissed the curve of her neck down to her nipples, which were protruding through her T-shirt. He couldn’t help but play in the auburn highlights of her soft hair.

  Finally, he sat up on the bed and smiled. “You’re killing me, girl. I want you so bad. Get some sleep. We have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow. I’ll be back in a little while.”

  “I’ll try to wait up for you.”

  “Okay.
”

  Craig kissed her on the cheek and closed the door behind him as he left the room.

  After the game was over and everyone was gone to their prospective places for the night, Craig returned to the room and loved Venice as hard as he could without waking up the house. Tears were shed, love was confessed, and guilt set in. He wanted this woman in his life, but was she willing to commit?

  Twenty-Nine

  Sunday morning, they hurriedly dressed and went on their way to church. It had that down home appeal where everybody knew each other. The service was going along great. The Taylor family took up a full pew. Little did the Taylors know, Venice and Craig had a surprise in store for the entire family. When it came to the part in the program for the song of preparation before the sermon, the music started to play and Craig got up from the pew and stood next to the pianist. Everyone in the Taylor family was stunned, except for Venice. Her dad was at church for the first time in a long time. Sometimes it takes something like a near death experience to wake people up. What happened to her dad scared him. More so than when he was a policeman. At least then he could control the situation a little bit. Venice had asked Craig if he would sing her dad’s favorite song if she were able to work it out with the choir director. It was an old spiritual that her dad had always loved since he was a young man. Needless to say, Craig did the song justice. His high tenor voice brought the congregation to their feet, shouting joy and praise. Venice found herself a little overcome by the message in the song. Mr. Taylor was visibly grateful for the gift from his daughter and her new love. It was a good service.

  After returning to the Taylors for dinner, the men gathered in the den to watch football. Mrs. Taylor had completed dinner except for the cornbread. Once it was ready, the family sat down and had dinner. Venice and Craig had to leave. They wanted to get back to campus before ten o’clock at the latest. Venice knew Craig was still tired from the football party the night before. She offered to drive back to give him an opportunity to catch up on his sleep. He accepted her offer without argument. It was going to be a lengthy drive, so they didn’t waste any time with dinner and then said their good-byes. Craig thanked the family for their hospitality and told them that he hoped to see them again soon. As Venice and Craig pulled out, the Taylors stood in the driveway and waved goodbye until they were out of sight.

  Before they could the reach the interstate, Craig was fast asleep. Venice decided to put in some music to help with the drive. She wanted something with a fast tempo because she was little tired herself. After about four hours, she stopped to stretch her legs and to gas up. Craig went on a bathroom break. The last two hours or so went by pretty fast. It wasn’t long before they were back on campus. Venice did about eighty miles an hour all the way back.

  When they reached the dorm, she put the truck in park, leaned back, and let out a sigh. “Finally.”

  Craig got Venice’s bag and walked her to the room. As they walked, she thanked him again for taking her to see her father. When they walked in the room, Monique was lying in the bed watching TV.

  She rose up and said, “Welcome back, roomy! Hey, Craig.”

  “Hello, Monique.”

  Craig put Venice’s bags down next to the bed and told them he was going to head on to the house.

  Venice said, “Make sure you call when you get home so I’ll know you made it.”

  They exchanged many hugs and kisses and he headed home.

  Monique said, “Girl, your other man has already called to see if you were back. He really has it bad for you.”

  Venice sat on the bed and reached for the phone. “We go a ways back, Monique.”

  Monique started painting her toenails, then asked, “What about Craig?”

  Venice dialed Jarvis and responded, “I love him also, Monique.”

  The phone rung on the other end and Jarvis’ answering service picked up.

  “Hey, Jarvis, I’m sorry I missed your call. I’m just letting you know that I’m back at school. Call me when you get this message. Bye.”

  Venice hung up and said, “Monique, I’m tired. We’ll talk about this some other time. Cool?”

  “Cool. I know you’re tired.”

  Venice called her parents to let them know she made it back, then called it an evening.

  When Craig got home, Bernice was there. She welcomed him back with a hug and asked, “Did you have a good time?”

  “It was really nice. You’d like Venice’s family and her dad is doing much better now. I think she’s convinced since she’s seen him for herself.”

  “That’s good. I’m glad you took her. I can understand how she felt. Oh! I almost forgot. Make sure you check your messages. Your phone has been ringing off the wall.”

  Craig sifted through the mail, then went into his room and threw his bags on the floor. He plopped down on the bed and pushed the button to check his messages. He went through his messages until he came to a message from one of the fraternities on campus. They were calling Craig to let him know that he’d been selected for their fall line. He was somewhat surprised because he had heard they were not going to have a line. The big brothers left instructions for him to meet with them that night in a designated point. He was happy with the news, but also saddened since that meant he wouldn’t be able to go home with Venice for Thanksgiving. Craig picked up the phone to call Venice with the news. He knew she wouldn’t be happy. He’d never mentioned to her that he’d interviewed to pledge. He wasn’t sure how Venice would take the news.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, sexy. I called to let you know I made it in.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “Venice, I know I didn’t tell you before, but I interviewed to pledge Tau Nu Fraternity and when I got in tonight, there was a message calling me on line tonight.”

  “Tonight! I didn’t even know you were interested in fraternities.”

  “I know and I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I’m not going to get to go home with you for Thanksgiving.”

  Venice was noticeably upset. “I wished you would’ve told me Craig. Look, go do what you need to do. I’m tired and I’m going to bed. Good luck with your pledging.”

  Before he could say another word, she hung up the phone.

  Craig didn’t want to go on line while Venice was upset with him. He had to talk to her.

  Monique knew Venice was pissed, so she said, “Girl, don’t unpack tonight. You can do that tomorrow. Do you want to go get something to eat?”

  “Thanks, but I’m not hungry.”

  “Well, if I were you, I’d take a shower and crash.”

  “I think that’s what I’m going to do. That was Craig calling to tell me that he pledged Tau Nu Fraternity and they’re pulling the line tonight. He didn’t even tell me that he was considering pledging. Well, that ends him going home with me for Thanksgiving.”

  “Don’t sweat it, girl. I’m surprised he hasn’t pledged before now. You might be pledging one day yourself. I’ll make sure you don’t get lonely over the next few weeks. We’re gonna party! You’ve been hanging with Craig so much, I don’t get to kick it with you.”

  “I know, Monique. We’re gonna hang, okay?”

  “Deal. Now go get yourself chilled out and I’m glad your dad’s feeling better.”

  “Thanks.”

  Venice entered the bathroom, turned the shower on, and just let it run over her tired body for what seemed like eternity. Afterwards, she went back into the room, crawled under her covers, and fell asleep within ten minutes. Monique smiled and continued to change stations looking for something to watch.

  A few hours later, Venice was awakened by a soft, yet strong touch. She opened her eyes to find Craig sitting on her bed.

  “What are you doing here? Where’s Monique?”

  “She let me in and gave us some privacy. I needed to see you before I do this.”

  Venice rose up and sarcastically said, “How thoughtful.”

  “Baby, don’t be mad. It’s going t
o be hard enough not seeing you for the next few weeks. Do you still love me?”

  Venice pulled the covers back, sat next to him, and laid her head against his chest. “Yes, I still love you. I just don’t like you right now.”

  Craig slid his arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap. Venice put her arms around his neck and looked into the eyes she would undoubtedly miss. She licked her lips as he pulled her to him, taking her sweet lips to his.

  Venice moaned as he ran his hands over her soft, firm thighs. Knowing they could not be this way for several weeks, Venice undressed and welcomed him into her bed. Craig ran his finger down the front of her chest. Her nipples responded immediately to his touch. He raised her shirt over her head and stared at her remarkable body. She took his hand, placed it against her breasts, and kissed him slowly.

  Craig kissed Venice senseless, taking her breath away as usual. He eagerly removed his clothes and kissed her body from top to bottom.

  She said, “Craig, you’re beautiful baby.”

  “You’re the one who’s gorgeous and I love you so much. I’d never hurt you.”

  “Just love me, Craig.”

  She arched her fragrant and tender body into his as their bodies ignited into a fiery passion. Venice wrapped her legs around his waist to give him the best access to her loving. His muscular frame entered her body continuously, savoring every moan and whimper she released. He lost control of his senses as their tongues shared the sweet nectar of their mouths. Craig tried to get as deep as he could, leaving her in tears, sore and exhausted. She didn’t want to release her grip from his body, but it was time for him to go.

  After a quick shower, Craig took Venice into his arms once more and kissed her thoroughly and completely. Finally, as he was leaving the room, he said, “I love you, Taylor, and I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

  Venice’s throat ached, but she was able to say, “I love you, too. Be careful.”

  The next day when Venice got out of class, she met Galen in the student lounge and caught him up on the activities of the weekend. She also informed Galen that Craig was now on the Tau Nu pledge line.