All That and a Bag of Chips (43 page)

When they arrived, they did exchange their gifts. She'd bought him a leather jacket that she knew he'd been admiring. He was very excited and surprised to get it. He bought her two outfits she'd been eyeing. Chanelle helped him since Chanelle knew what Venice had been shopping for.

After they talked and thanked each other for their gifts, Venice decided to go ahead and take her shower. Her feet were hurting and she wanted to get out of her clothes. When she came out of the bathroom, music was playing and Jarvis was standing there grinning. As she came closer, he held out his hand and asked her to dance with him. She was wearing a silky, gold spaghetti-strapped nightgown and she accepted without hesitation. Toward the end of the song, Jarvis pulled something from his pinky finger.

“Give me your hand, Venice.”

“What are you doing?”

He brushed her lips with his and slid a large marquis cut diamond
ring onto her finger. Venice's legs gave out on her and she dropped to the bed, stunned. She stared at her hand, then up into his nervous, desire-filled eyes.

He calmly said, “Venice, I've loved you since the first day I laid eyes on you. I don't want to live my life another day without you. Please, please be my wife again. I love you more than life itself.”

“Jarvis, I-I love you too, but….”

“Baby, I don't want to wait until we graduate. I want to get back together now.”

Venice was surprised with his statement. “You mean to tell me that you want to get married, now?”

He laid back on the bed and said, “Yeah, what's wrong with that?”

Venice closed her eyes briefly. “Jarvis, you know I love you, but I'm seeing someone else and I have feelings for him also.”

“You've only known him a few months, but we've been together for four years. There's no way you can compare the two.”

“It has nothing to do with the length of time, baby. It has to do with our feelings. Things are a little different now. We're on two different ends of the country and we barely get to see each other.”

“Venice, I understand where you're coming from, but I still want you to marry me.”

She stared at the ring, then at him, and asked, “Are you really serious about this?”

He brought his lips within inches of hers and asked, “Do I look like I'm joking?” Before Venice could answer, Jarvis covered her lips with a long, tender kiss. After breaking apart, Venice got up and walked across the room, admiring the ring. “I'm speechless.”

He walked up behind her, put his arms around her waist, and lovingly kissed the back of her neck.

“Are you asking me to marry you because you want to marry me or are you asking me just to get me away from Craig?”

Jarvis turned her to him and said, “You know I've always wanted to be with you. You also know that I've always been in love. I'll admit the situation with Craig has shaken me pretty bad, but I don't want to go back to school without you. I can tell you've wandered away from me a little, but I feel like we still love each other enough to do this. If you need some time to think it over, I'm willing to wait.
You're the only one I want. There's not much else I can say to convince you.”

“What about Dawson?”

He smiled, gave her a kiss on her neck, and said, “I just know everything will work out.”

She leaned back against his chest.

Now what the hell am I going to do?
”

“I've been holding onto this ring for a couple of months now. I didn't know when the time would be right to give it to you. Something told me tonight was the night. I think that's why I went so crazy about Michael earlier. I guess I was nervous.”

Venice did love this man and she'd been married to him once before. It shouldn't have be hard to say ‘yes' again, but it was. Craig was new in her life, and she didn't want to hurt him as if he'd never meant anything to her. She loved him, too.

They spent the reminder of the night reminding each other why they loved the other so much. The heat their bodies generated was enough to engulf them in flames. After many hours of making love, Venice fell asleep nestled in Jarvis' arms, still dazed on the events of the night. Looking at his satisfied face as he slept, she had no idea what she was going to do.

She whispered, “I love you, Jarvis.”

Jarvis didn't hear Venice but stirred after she gave him butterfly kisses on his lips and neck. Molding her sore body closer against his, she eventually fell asleep.

I
t was Christmas Eve morning and Jarvis was awakened by Venice throwing up in the bathroom. He ran into the bathroom and asked, “What's wrong, Niecy?”

“I don't know. It must be nerves and this sinus headache is killing me.”

He got her a cold towel and placed it on her head as he held her in his lap.

“Thanks. That feels nice.”

Jarvis gently wiped Venice's face with the cold towel. “Come get back into bed. I'll get you some 7-up and sinus medicine.”

Jarvis helped her back into bed and as he walked out of the room, he leaned back in and asked, “You're not pregnant, are you?”

“No!”

Venice knew it was only nerves. She wasn't pregnant because she'd just come off her period. The 7-up helped settle her stomach slightly. She was still worried about breaking the news to Craig. He was important to her and she didn't want to give him up. He'd been a wonderful lover and great friend over the past few months.

Venice woke up a few hours later and felt a hundred percent better. It was still snowing when Jarvis drove her home.

When they walked in, Mrs. Taylor grabbed Venice's hand to look at her ring and asked, “So what's the verdict?”

Venice looked at her mom in shock. “You knew about this?”

She said, “Oh yes! He asked us if he could propose to you the other day.”

Venice shook her head in disbelief and went upstairs. Her mother turned to Jarvis and asked again, “What did she say?”

“Nothing yet. I don't know if she wants to do it. She's not feeling well and she was throwing up earlier. I think she's just nervous about Craig and all.”

Mrs. Taylor looked concerned and asked, “Lord, she's not pregnant, is she?” Jarvis was hanging up their coats and said, “I asked her and she said she just came off her period.”

Venice's mother asked Jarvis to wait in the den. She was partial to Jarvis while her husband liked both Jarvis and Craig. Mrs. Taylor followed Venice upstairs and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

When her mother entered, Venice was unpacking her bag. Mrs. Taylor asked, “Are you feeling all right, baby?”

Venice looked at her and said, “Yes and no, Momma! I'm not pregnant.”

Her mother sat on the bed and said, “Girl, don't put words into my mouth and watch your tone.”

“I'm sorry, Momma. I'm just tired. I can't believe you and Daddy knew what Jarvis was planning. I just don't know what to do. I love him, but I also have strong feelings for Craig. How could I possibly tell him about this?”

Venice was holding up her left hand displaying her ring. Her mother told her to come sit next to her.

She then said, “Baby, if you love Jarvis and you know he loves you, then you should be together. I like Craig and he seems to be a nice young man. He cares about you and I know you care for him. But, if you're in love with Craig, you need to take your time with this. There's no rush. You guys are only nineteen and have college to finish. I'm sorry I helped create the problem when we made you get a divorce. Look, sweetheart, whatever you decide to do, your father and I will stand by you.”

Venice hugged her mother. “Thanks, Momma.”

After their mother left the room, Bryan angrily barged in and said, “Venice, you've got to be out of your damn mind if you're considering doing this! You just started college? Did you let Jarvis intimidate you into doing something you're not ready to do? I could kick his ass for trying this right now. You know why's he's doing this. Look, baby girl, don't get me wrong. I like Jarvis a lot and I know how you feel about him. But, you need to chill on this issue. Once you turn
twenty-one and finish college, I might be willing to look at this in a different light.”

Venice was quiet as Bryan continued to pace the room lecturing her.

Finally she said, “Bryan you don't have to go off on me. I know how old I am and I'm not stupid! I'm not going to do anything I don't want to do, okay? I haven't given Jarvis an answer anyway because of Craig.”

He walked over to her, put his hand on her shoulder, and said, “Venice, I just don't want to see you mess up your life.”

“Thanks and I'll think about everything you've said.”

About that time, Jarvis knocked on the door. When he walked in, Bryan stood up and sternly said, “Come by my house sometime today. I want to talk to you. Got it?”

Jarvis started playing with Venice's stuffed animals and said, “No problem, Bryan. I'll be by.”

Bryan just stared at him and told Venice that he would see her later and to remember what they talked about. Venice went over to the window and watched Bryan pull out of the driveway.

Jarvis jumped on the bed beside her. “What was that all about?”

“Us.”

“I guess he wants to have a man-to-man talk with me.”

Venice didn't respond. She just crawled back on her bed and fluffed her pillows.

Jarvis asked, “So, are you going to marry me or what?”

“Jarvis, I just can't….”

At that time, they heard Mrs. Taylor call out. They both ran downstairs and found her crying at the kitchen table. Mr. Taylor was on the phone. Venice and Jarvis could both see that something was terribly wrong.

Venice felt sick to her stomach. She just knew something had happened to Galen. When her dad hung up the phone, he said, “Guys, Joshua's been in an car accident and it doesn't look good.”

That's all Venice heard before everything went dark. The next thing she knew, her parents and Jarvis were standing over her on the sofa.

“What happened?”

Her mom responded, “Venice, you fainted. We need to get to the hospital. Can you sit up?”

Venice remembered and screamed, “Joshua!!”

They found Joshua's family in the waiting room. Venice had pulled herself together for only a moment. When she saw Michael's worried face, she broke down again. He hugged her tightly as she stood cradled in his arms, crying. Cynthia, Joshua's girlfriend, was sitting there staring into space. Joshua's mother was in the room with him; so was the minister of their church. Venice asked Michael through tears, “Is he going to be all right?”

Michael attempted to sound confident when he said, “We're not sure, V, but I think you'd better see him.”

Venice continued to cry.

Michael grabbed her and said, “Venice, you can't go in there upset. You've got to pull yourself together. Joshua needs you right now!”

Venice tried her best to get herself together. Michael prepared her for what she was about to see. He told her that Joshua was hooked up to a lot of tubes and that he was swollen and didn't look like himself. When she entered the room with him and walked over, their mother looked up at Venice with tears in her eyes. When Venice looked at Joshua, she became nauseated and nearly fainted. Michael steadied her. Joshua's mother got up, hugged her, and then they both left to give Venice some privacy with Joshua. It was hard for Venice not to break down, seeing him so messed up. Michael was right. Joshua didn't look like himself and she wasn't prepared for what she was looking at.

Venice sat down next to him and rubbed his arm. “Joshua, what are you doing laid up in this bed? You know you have no business in this hospital.”

All she could hear were the noises of the machines, which were helping him breath and monitoring his heart and other functions.

“Boy! Don't you know it's Christmas Eve! I haven't even given you my gift yet.” She wiped some tears away, held up her left hand to reveal her engagement ring, and said, “Jarvis proposed to me. He wants to get married on New Year's Eve. I just can't consider it without talking to you. You need to get better so you can help me out. Otherwise, I can't go through with it. I need your advice on what to
do because I don't have a clue because of Craig. You've held all my secrets for me for years and I can't trust them with anyone else, so get your ass out of this bed. Do you hear me! You'd better be fighting, Joshua! I love you!”

Venice couldn't take it anymore. She was starting to lose it. She stood up, leaned over, gave him a kiss, and hurried out the door.

When Venice reached the hallway, Michael was standing by the door talking to Jarvis. She stood there for a moment and just collapsed. Joshua was in a coma and Venice was devastated. Jarvis was trying to be there for her, but it was hard. Joshua was his boy and he also had to find the courage to go see him. Michael and Jarvis buried their differences. It was sad that it took a tragedy like this for them to settle things. It was a Christmas Eve to be remembered.

It was a restless night and the snow was still falling but tapering off. There were about six inches on the ground. It was hard to tell there was a crisis going on inside room 321. About four a.m., Venice woke up and found everyone asleep. She went inside Joshua's room and found a nurse checking on him. She sat down, held his hand, and began to stroke it. Joshua's mother had fallen asleep in the chair on the other side of his bed.

Venice began to softly whisper to Joshua so she wouldn't wake his mother. As tears streamed down Venice's face, she saw Joshua move his finger. She whispered again into his ear. Once again, Joshua moved his finger. Venice went over and excitedly woke up Joshua's mother, who ran over to watch as Venice did it again.

They called for the doctor who came in and checked on Joshua. The doctor said it appeared that Joshua was going to be okay, but he wasn't completely out of the woods. It was going to be some time before Joshua would be off the critical list. They were going to have to make sure there wasn't any permanent damage. Venice hugged Joshua's mother and left to tell everybody else the news.