All That and a Bag of Chips (12 page)

“Jarvis!”

“I'm here, baby. You'll never belong to anyone except me, Niecy.”

She wrapped her legs around this man who was built like a black god.

“Venice! Baby!”

She clung to him tightly as his body shook with spasms and collapsed, taking her mouth and tongue into his. She shuddered hard beneath him as she moaned his name. He had released two months of frustration and loneliness on her and it was the most overwhelming feeling he had ever felt. Hot tears ran out of Venice's eyes

Jarvis looked at her and asked, “Are you okay?”

She nodded as her body shuddered again.

“You know I still love the hell out of you, don't you?” Jarvis asked lovingly.

“Yes, I know. I still feel the same way, too, baby.”

He lay across her as she massaged his neck and back. She stared at the ceiling. “You're still tense, Jarvis.”

Jarvis rose up on his elbow. “Have you slept with him, Niecy?”

“Huh?”

“You heard me. Have you given it up to him?”

“I don't want to talk about him right now, Jarvis.”

“It's obvious. Your body wasn't tight at all.”

Venice was silent for a moment. “Why would even ask me that?”

“To see if you'd tell me the truth.”

“I love you, Jarvis.”

“I love you, too, Niecy.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

“Have you told him about us yet?”

“Which part?”

“You know, the main thing.”

“No, why does everyone think I should tell him?”

“Who else said you should?”

“Galen did. They're friends.”

Jarvis sighed. “Venice, I just think he has a right to know that we were married and that we still have strong feelings for each other.”

“He knows I still have strong feelings for you. He just doesn't know we used to be married.”

“Does he know about the baby?”

“No! Look, Jarvis, I don't feel like talking about that right now.”

Tears were glistening in Venice's eyes as she fought to hold them back.

“Where does he stand in your life, Niecy?”

“He knows I hold him close to my heart. He's a special friend.”

“I see,” Jarvis stated sarcastically. “Don't you think you need to tell him the whole truth?”

“I'm not ready to share my loss with him right now. I still ache for our baby.”

“I feel like I'm losing you. I can't stand the thought of you being away from me. I lost my baby and I'll be damn if I lose you, too.”

Jarvis turned on his back and stared at the ceiling.

“Jarvis, don't you go get sad on me now. I'm still hurting just as much as you are. I wanted your baby so bad, but God knew best. It wasn't our time.”

Jarvis asked, “So, do you still think we should've gotten a divorce?”

“If we hadn't, we would've probably ended up committing adultery against each other. You know our mothers didn't put that pressure on us for nothing. I think they were worried about it happening more than we were. We're nineteen years old and freshmen in college. I think what we did was for the best. At least for now.”

He leaned over and grazed his lips against hers tenderly. “As far as I'm concerned, you're still my wife and will always be my wife. I still don't see what the big problem is. We're together right now. This proves it can work. It could've been arranged for us to at least be together on the weekends when I wasn't on the road.”

“Possibly, but we didn't need to take any chances. I did meet someone and he's nice. I don't want to cause any hard feelings between us.”

Jarvis stroked her thigh. “I can't help the way I feel. I still think we can make it work. We've been together too long and I'm not looking to meet anyone new. I haven't met anyone up here so far that I could get into seriously. The few I have met are ‘tricks.' I think they're only interested because they heard the NFL is scouting me. I think they see dollar signs. Niecy, I hate to admit it, but I don't want to cause any problems for you. I'm not happy that you've met someone to spend time with. I just hope this doesn't backfire on me. I also hope that when we graduate, I'll be able to put that wedding ring back on your finger.”

Venice looked at her hand. She was wearing it as a thumb ring. Jarvis wore his on a gold chain around his neck.

She placed her hand on his cheek. “Me, too, Sweetie. Hey, I'm hungry.”

Jarvis looked at his watch. “Let's get out of here and get a bite to eat. I have to be at practice in a little while.”

They took their shower together, just like old times, and headed out to get some food.

J
arvis took Venice on campus and introduced her to several of his new friends while they were on their way to one of the on-campus restaurants. One of the girls Jarvis had dated came over and Venice politely shook her hand. Jarvis didn't hold his tongue about introducing Venice as his girl. He'd told all the women he dated up front that he wasn't looking for a serious relationship. He made it clear that he just wanted to date casually. This made them curious to see the woman who had her name tattooed on his arm and his heart. Upon first look, the young lady rolled her eyes. She especially noticed how Jarvis couldn't keep his hands off Venice. She realized her chances of getting with him were impossible.

Jarvis knew he had to stay beware of gold-digging hoochies. Bryan told Venice that the NFL was probably going to try and draft Jarvis before he finished college, possibly in the first draft. This meant he'd probably be an instant millionaire as long as he stayed healthy and didn't get hurt. Venice never saw him as a golden opportunity. She was in love with him before he became a football star. She loved him because he was outspoken, fun, sexy, attractive, and intelligent. Jarvis knew his potential for wealth and it was hard for him to trust any one other than the women who sincerely loved him: his mother, his sister, and Venice.

After they finished their meal, Jarvis took Venice back to the hotel and told her that he'd see her after practice.

Venice said, “Hurry back and, if you're a good boy, I'll have something special for you.”

Jarvis laughed. “All right, I'm going to hold you to that.”

“Cool, I'm going to call Galen and give him the phone number in case he needs to contact me.”

“I'll see you in a few hours. Do you want the car?”

“No! I don't know my way around and I don't want to get lost.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm sure.”

Before he left, he pulled her to him. “Venice, I'm sorry that I'm so selfish when it comes to you. I hate the thought of you giving my stuff to some other man. I have to accept that for now, but I don't like it. I hope you don't have any regrets about coming up here later on.”

Venice put her arms around his waist. “I'm a big girl, Jarvis. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself.” She gave him a possessive kiss. “Drive carefully.”

Jarvis patted her on the butt. “See you shortly.”

Venice collapsed on the bed after he left the room. “Damn!”

Venice called Galen and gave him the phone number. He asked her about Jarvis and the campus. She told him that she was having a good time.

Galen asked, “Are you up there messing around with Jarvis, girl?”

“None of your business! Don't start with me, Galen!”

“I don't even know why I asked. I know you are.”

“Has Craig called you by any chance?”

“Yes, he called and asked me who you went to visit.”

Venice raised up off the bed and nervously asked, “What did you tell him?”

“I told him you went to visit your ex-husband.”

Venice screamed, “No you didn't, Galen!”

“Yes, I did! You should've told him the truth by now!”

Venice's voice started cracking. “Why'd you tell him anything, Galen?”

He started laughing. “I'm just playing with you, girl! Craig hasn't called me.”

Venice started trembling with anger. “I can't stand your black ass!”

She slammed the phone down and burst into tears. A few minutes later, the phone rang. When she answered it, Galen said, “Dang, girl, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to flip out on me. But that should show you that you don't need to be sleeping around with two men. Somebody's going to get hurt. You need to
make up your mind what you're going to do. I know you and Jarvis were married and all, but Jarvis isn't at Dawson. You'll probably get to see him maybe once every couple of months. At least you can see Craig almost on a daily basis. Look, I'm not telling you what to do, but I just think you need to give yourself a chance to meet other people. Just think about what I'm saying. Okay? I'm your brother and I don't want to have to get involved. I'm just afraid that if Craig finds out about you and Jarvis the wrong way, he'll go off. I couldn't blame him, but the whole situation can be avoided. You need to go ahead and tell him the truth. If he still wants to be with you, then fine. If he doesn't, then work things out with Jarvis. It's simple, Venice. This way, you don't leave anyone in the dark. You've already told Jarvis about Craig. That was a step in the right direction. Now finish it up.”

Venice listened and said, “Okay, Galen, I'll talk to you later.”

She hung up the phone and laid down to take a nap. She had a lot to think about and it gave her a migraine. Somehow, she was finally able to go to sleep.

Venice didn't realize how exhausted she was. She was awakened later by Jarvis' soft kisses on her face and his manly scent. She was sore and exhausted and didn't even hear him enter the room.

“Hey, baby. What time is it?”

“Midnight. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back. After practice, we had to go over some film and some more plays. By then it was nine-thirty and curfew check is at ten o'clock. We heard rumors that the coaches were going to do a double check tonight, but we didn't know what time. Well, they did check again at eleven-thirty. I'm sorry I didn't call.”

“It's okay. I was asleep anyway.”

Jarvis sat up on the bed. “Are you okay? You don't look like you feel well.”

“I'm fine. Galen called and pissed me off, that's all.”

Jarvis took off his sweats and asked, “What's wrong with him?”

“I don't want to talk about it right now. Come here.”

He got underneath the covers and Venice turned to him, rubbing his face. “I love you and I've decided that I'm going to tell Craig everything about us when I get back to school. If he doesn't want to hang out with me, then it'll be his loss.”

“It
will
be his loss. Look Venice, are you telling him because you're ready to tell him or because you're listening to everyone else?”

“I need to do this. I don't want him to find out from someone else. That'll only make things worst.”

“Okay, Venice. You do what you feel like you need to do. Now, where's my surprise?”

She whispered into his ear. “Take your clothes off.”

He smiled and knew exactly what she was about to do. She gave him one of her famous full body massages like she used to give him every night after football practice. Afterwards, feeling relaxed from her touch, Jarvis couldn't help but make love to her once again. Venice enjoyed every inch of him and as he worked her over so completely, she felt like she would pass out. He made her body throb from head to toe. It was going to be a long night. This had to be true love.

She snuggled up to him the rest of the night, feeling like she wanted to stay. But she realized it would be short-lived. She fantasized about the many nights she'd fallen asleep just like that when they were married. Venice was very excited about the homecoming activities in the morning and could barely wait.

Have I made a mistake? But how in the hell could I make a long distance relationship work? But, I love the hell out of this man and what about Craig?”

These thoughts fought in her mind for hours and after her mind was totally exhausted, she fell asleep.

 

The night was short.
Jarvis woke Venice up so they could attend the parade. After they arrived on campus, he found some of his teammates and introduced Venice. They attended just about every activity taking place. Venice bought a lot of souvenirs to take back to her friends. They spent the entire day enjoying each other's company. The game was going to start in a few hours and Venice and Jarvis felt like they should head back to the hotel for a nap. They'd sampled a lot of food and were both stuffed.

Jarvis' parents were also in town and Venice was going to be riding to the game with them. They'd be going out afterwards and Jarvis wanted Venice to meet him in the tunnel of the stadium after the game.

Venice sat with Jarvis' parents to help cheer him on. Portia, his sister, didn't get to come, but Jarvis promised her that she'd get to come next year. Jarvis' dad was also a former college running back and he constantly gave Jarvis advice on his game. His parents were excited to see Venice there to support their son. They knew in their hearts that Venice and Jarvis couldn't stand to be apart from each other. They loved Venice like their own daughter. They knew she was good for him and the decision to have them divorce was hard on everyone, but necessary.

As expected, it was going to be a victory party. Jarvis had an exceptionally good game. He rushed for over a hundred yards and Venice could tell the fans of the college had welcomed him with open arms. They were chanting his name and Venice could hear women sitting around her discussing how they wanted to hook up with him. Venice had no idea it was like that. She felt a little jealous and threatened.

After the horn sounded the end of the game and the players congratulated each other on the field, Venice made her way down to the fence surrounding the field. She waited to see if Jarvis still wanted her to meet him in the tunnel. There were a large number of other women hanging around. Venice hoped they were waiting for their significant others and not Jarvis. As the players ran toward the tunnel, Venice searched for Jarvis in the crowd. She finally saw him over on the sideline talking to reporters. He spotted her and waved his helmet up in the air. Once he'd completed his interview, he walked over and some of the women started calling his name trying to get him to talk to them. Jarvis paused for a moment to thank them for congratulating him, but didn't stop to talk to them. He continued toward Venice and his parents. When he got to Venice, he climbed up on the bench and kissed her. “Well, how did I do?”