All That and a Bag of Chips (25 page)

They agreed and finally pulled off from the hotel.

She knew this was the end of her wonderful week with Craig. She'd be returning to the campus and he'd be starting his co-op training again on Tuesday. They knew they wouldn't get to see each other often, but Venice was hoping to see Craig as much as time would allow. She again contemplated inviting him home for Thanksgiving.

As Venice packed her belongings and helped him clean up the house, she asked, “Craig, if you don't have any plans for Thanksgiving, I'd like to invite you to go home with me to meet my family.”

Craig stopped making the bed and answered, “I'd like that. Thanks for inviting me. Look, Venice, you don't have to go back to campus today. Why don't you stay?”

“Thanks, baby, but I've been here all week. Plus, we both need to get some sleep for our classes in the morning. If I stay, I probably won't let you get any sleep.”

“I'm not going to get any sleep anyway because my bed will be empty and cold.”

“Craig, I'll be back next weekend. I really need to spend some time in my room before my dad pays me a visit.”

He reluctantly accepted her argument so she took her suitcase out into the garage to put it in his truck. Craig followed behind her and locked up the house so he could drive her back to campus. When they reached the dorm, Craig walked Venice to the room only to find Monique MIA.

After he sat her bags down, he hugged her. “I'm going to miss waking up next to you.” “Me, too.”

Craig stared at her for a moment and then took Venice's face in his hands and kissed her ever so tenderly. Exiting the room, he asked if she wanted to catch a movie. She walked him to the elevator and agreed on the spot to hook up with him later.

Before she could get back in the door, the phone was ringing. She grabbed for it. “Hello?”

“Hey, Niecy.”

Venice sat down on the bed, exhaled, and said, “Hi, Jarvis.”

“Look, Venice, I know I may have over reacted a little the other day.”

“What do you mean, a little?”

“Sweetheart, I don't want to argue. I'm trying to apologize to you. This is hard for me because I feel like I had every right to be pissed off at you. Maybe I handled it wrong, but I meant every word I said. I don't like what's going on and I don't know how much longer I can deal with it. I want to be with you so bad and I hope you still want to be with me.”

“My feelings for you are the same, but I like Craig's company and he's nice. I enjoy his company and you can't expect me to sit in my room and not socialize.”

“I didn't say I expect you to do that, Niecy. I do expect you not to give up
my
stuff to the first brotha who smiled at you.”

“What do you want me to do, Jarvis? Huh? Let me ask you something. Are you still a Michigan virgin? Well, are you?”

He calmly responded, “Are you asking me if I've been with anybody?”

“You know that's what I mean!”

“Once, but I also take a lot of cold showers because it's
you
that I want.”

Venice selfishly became sick to her stomach, realizing that he'd sleep with someone else. She could now relate to how Jarvis was feeling.

“Are you seeing anyone now, Jarvis?”

“No, I want you and only you. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“What do you expect me to do, Jarvis?”

“Just pull up, Niecy. I've been trying to reach you all week so I know you've been with him. I don't want you giving it up to him anymore.”

“Jarvis…”

“If I can, you can.”

“Jarvis, I'll be up to visit you soon so we can talk.”

“That will be nice. I need to see you.”

“I'll call you back a little later, all right?”

He was silent on the other end and finally said, “Okay.”

She hung up the phone, unpacked, and settled back into her room.

Hours later, Venice decided to go for a walk and found a bench overlooking the courtyard. Her cell phone rang and when he answered it was Joshua.

“Hey, Josh, what's up?”

“You tell me. I just got through talking to your boy.”

“What did he say?”

“He's worried about ya'll. So…what happened?”

Venice closed the book that she was reading. “We talked about our situation. He said he wasn't sharing me.”

Joshua chuckled. “Yeah, he gave me an uncensored version. So, what's up? What are you going to do?”

“I'm not going to do anything right now.”

“I told you he wasn't going to deal with this situation long. You knew that.”

“Well, why was he acting cool about it in the beginning?”

“That was for your sake! Look, Niecy, you know Jarvis is emotional when it comes to you. Do what you have to do. It'll work out.”

“All right, Joshua. I know you're tired from the trip. Get some rest and I'll talk to you later. Thanks for coming.”

“You bet. Take care.”

Venice got back into the groove of dorm life. Staying with Craig those few days spoiled her. Monique seemed happy to have her back in the dorm. It was Monday morning, time to get to class. The alarm clock went off, awaking both women to early morning grumbling.

Monique said, “Venice, what time will you be through with classes today?”

Venice pulled the covers over her head. “Not until eleven. Why?”

“I wanted to know if you felt like going shopping. There's a new store that opened up in the outlet mall, and I want to check it out. Are you game?”

Venice thought for a moment as she got out of bed, gathering her belongings to go take a shower. “I guess so. Do you want to meet in the courtyard?”

“Cool! I'll pick you up after class.”

Venice went into the bathroom to get ready for class.

The day went on as usual. When her classes ended, Venice walked to the courtyard and waited for Monique to pick her up. Some Greeks were practicing their steps loudly nearby in preparation for an upcoming step show. Someone came up behind her and put their hands over her eyes. She reached up and pulled them down and turned to see Galen and Sidney.

“What's up, baby girl?”

“Hey, Galen. Hey, Sidney.”

Sidney asked, “Venice, what ya doing?”

“Waiting on Monique to pick me up. What are you guys up to?”

Galen replied, “Not much. We're headed to the house for a minute. I have practice later on.”

Sidney sat down beside Venice. “Girl, his tail is coming over to get some leftovers with his greedy butt.”

“You know I'm a growing boy. Anyway, somebody's got to eat it.”

Venice glanced at Sidney and asked, “What kind of leftovers?”

Sidney pulled out her sunglasses. The sun was kicking. “I still have a tray of luncheon meat, Buffalo wings, and cheese and
crackers. My girls went in and bought the food for us to nibble on. Do you want to come by and get some? You know you're welcome.”

“No, not today. Maybe tomorrow.”

“So…how are you and Craig doing? I heard my baby sister was about to kick some ass at the party the other night.”

Sidney punched Galen's arm and asked, “Venice, is it true? Chanelle told me Craig's ex had her hands all over him and then she put her finger in your face.”

“It's true, but I handled it.”

Sidney gave Venice a high-five. “You go, girl!”

“Venice, I don't think Momma and Daddy would like for you to get kicked out of school for fighting. You'd better be careful.”

“It's over, Galen.”

“Okay.” Galen looked at his watch. “Let's go, Sid. I want to get a nap in before practice. See you, Venice, and tell Craig hello.”

“I will. See you later.”

Once again, Venice sat there alone waiting for Monique to arrive. She positioned her sunglasses on her face, crossed her legs, and read her book. Craig kissed Venice on the neck after sneaking up behind her.

He climbed over the bench and said, “What are you reading?

“Biology. I'm waiting on Monique. Where are you headed?”

“I wanted to see you before I head down the road for the week.”

“Well, you see me. Now what?”

Craig looked over Venice's shoulder and saw some of Miranda's friends staring at them. Craig pulled Venice to him and planted a long, wet kiss on her. He jumped down off the bench, pulled Venice along with him, and said, “Come on. Let's go.”

As they walked past the women, Craig stopped and said, “Hey, Andrea. Where have you been hiding?”

“I've been around. How's Miranda?”

“I wouldn't know. Venice, this is Andrea and Trish and this is my sweetheart, Venice.”

Both parties went through the formalities.

Craig asked Andrea if he could talk to her for a second. She got up off the bench and walked over to the side with him. Craig put his arm around her shoulder and said, “Andrea, I don't know what kind of games Miranda has put you and your posse up to, but if I
hear anything about you guys picking with Venice, you're not going to like me very much. So my advice to you and your crew is to back off. Miranda had her chance and she screwed that up. Do you understand where I'm coming from?”

Andrea said, “I hear you.”

Craig said, “No, I asked you if you understand where I'm coming from?'

She rolled her eyes and replied, “Yes, Craig.”

“Cool.”

As they rejoined the others, he said, “Ladies, have a nice afternoon!”

He put his arms around Venice's waist as they headed toward the parking lot. As they walked, some girls passed them and said, “Hey, Craig!!”

“Hello, ladies!”

Venice said, “It seems you're a wanted man.”

He grinned. “Just being friendly. Baby, you have nothing to worry about.”

When they reached his truck, she saw that he had his luggage inside. “Let me give you a ride back to the dorm.” She didn't respond. “Venice, is everything okay?”

“Couldn't be better, except for the fact that I'm not going to see you for a few days.”

“Don't remind me.”

As he drove across campus, he rubbed her thigh. “I should kidnap you and take you with me.”

“Believe me, it wouldn't be against my will. Maybe one week I can go with you.”

His dark brown eyes penetrated hers. “That would be real nice.” Once they reached her dorm, he walked her to the room. Venice put her arm around his neck and gave him a slow, passionate kiss. The heat rose in her body. “I'm really going to miss your luscious lips.”

“I'm going to miss more than that from you, baby.”

He ran his thumb along her bottom lip, gazing into her saddened eyes.

“Well, let me get out of here. The sooner I leave, the sooner I'll get back to you.”

As he got up, Venice stood in front of him, resting her head against his chest. He ran his hand up and down her back to soothe her. “I'll be back before you know it.”

Venice hugged him tightly and solemnly said, “Call me when you get in.”

Craig pulled her closer to his broad chest, pressing her firmly against him. “You bet. I'll call you the moment I get to my room.”

He stared at her for a moment, then lowered his mouth onto her quivering lips. That was when the tears began to run down her soft cheeks. He finally raised his lips from hers and wiped her tears away with his hand. Venice opened the door for him and watched him walk down the hall to the elevator. She closed the door and thought what a long week it was going to be. She hoped hanging out with Chanelle and Monique would help pass the time.

T
uesday, Craig finally got the call he'd been waiting on. He was in his office when the secretary told him that he had a call from Bryan Taylor. He closed the office door and picked up the phone. “Hello, Bryan. How are you?”

“I'm fine. What's up? Is Venice okay?”

“She's fine. Chanelle thought I should talk to you regarding a dream Venice had one night last week.”

Bryan was instantly concerned. “What happened?”

Craig explained that he wasn't sure if it was a dream or if something had really happened to Venice. He told Bryan that Venice cried out hysterically in her sleep.

“Bryan, she was saying don't hurt me. Let me go. The rest was mumbling. When I woke her up, she was crying and she didn't know why. When I asked her about it, she said she couldn't remember the dream. I know you and Venice are very close. That's when I asked Chanelle. I didn't want to worry Galen. Chanelle said I had better talk to you about.”

Bryan took a deep breath. “I knew this would eventually come up, but I didn't expect to have to deal with this so soon. What I'm about to tell you is something Venice wouldn't want her friends to know. Anyway, a couple of years ago, there was this guy at her school she was friends with. They did a lot of studying together. He'd come over to her house and she'd been to his house also. Well, one day, she went over to his house and the guy snapped or something and pulled a knife on her with the intention of raping her. It just so happened, Jarvis stopped by to talk to her since he knew she was over at his house studying. When Jarvis got there, he heard Venice begging and crying. He kicked the door in and beat the guy up pretty bad, putting
him in the hospital. The police came and arrested the guy.

Afterwards, several other girls came forward and said the guy had actually raped them. The police arrested him on about three counts of rape and assault. Venice was a little traumatized from the incident for a while. We believe she sometimes has flashbacks when she's under stress. Now you understand why we're extra protective of her and why Jarvis is so close to her. Venice was bonded to Jarvis. That incident sealed it even more. I was out of town when it happened and I felt so helpless. When I came home, Gator and Tate were talking about having the guy taken out. It was a bad situation for all of us. Let me know if it happens again. She may need to speak to her counselors again. I appreciate you looking out for her and getting in touch with me.”