All That and a Bag of Chips

by Darrien Lee

  As soon as she hung up the phone, it rang again.

  Craig was on the other line. “Where are you?”

  “Can’t you say hello first? Well, if you must know, I’m in the company of a very handsome young man.”

  Craig’s voice was filled with curiosity. “Who?”

  Venice and Tim both fell out laughing. “I’m with my other man.”

  “Quit playing, Venice. Who’s with you?”

  “Tim is giving me a ride back to the dorm because my “freak-a-zoid” roommate wasn’t ready to go.”

  “Let me holler at Tim for a second.”

  “Why?”

  Craig said sternly, “Give the man the phone, Venice!”

  Venice giggled and gave Tim the phone. He looked surprised. “What’s up Craig?”

  The conversation went on and on with Tim describing that Venice was buzzing.

  Venice stared at him and hollered out, “I’m not drunk!”

  Tim said, “Man, she’s messed up!”

  There was a pause in their conversation, then Tim said, “All right, peace!”

  Tim laughed and handed the phone back to Venice.

  “Hello?”

  “What time is your first class?”

  “Ten o’clock. Why?”

  “Because I told Tim to bring your drunk tail over here. That’s why.”

  Venice had this “No you didn’t” look on her face, but could not help but blush. “Well, I guess that’s that, huh?”

  Craig didn’t appreciate her sarcastic tone. “Venice, I’m going to look over your sarcasm because I know it’s the liquor talking. I’ll see you in a minute.”

  Venice hung up the phone and leered at Tim. “Can you believe that shit? I mean Craig’s my boo, but damn!”

  “You know you like that shit, Venice. That man didn’t mean anything by it. He’s just looking out for your ass. You women always make a big deal out of nothing.”

  “You just drive. Hell, when did you get your Ph.D. in relationships?”

  Tim laughed as he turned onto Craig’s street. When he pulled into the driveway, they could see Craig sitting on the steps sipping on a soda. It was about two-fifteen.

  Craig came out to the car to greet them. Tim got out the car, shook Craig’s hand, and dropped the hint that Venice was trippin’ about the way he handled her.

  Venice laughed at Tim. “Thanks for the ride. How much do I owe you?”

  She gave him a hug and kiss.

  Tim said, “Go on somewhere, girl! I’ll see you in class and you better not skip it.”

  Craig was standing there looking at Venice. She was obviously drunk.

  She said her good-byes to Tim again, then walked over to Craig and put her arms around him. “Hey, baby! You sure are looking fine as hell!”

  He softly said, “Go on inside, Venice.”

  She giggled. “You hurry up and get your butt in here. I’ve got something for you.”

  Venice left them standing in the driveway and she entered the house. Craig shook his head and Tim burst out laughing.

  Craig grinned. “Man, that ain’t funny. She’s trippin’.”

  Tim continued to laugh. “I know you’re going to have fun tonight.”

  “Go ‘head on with that, man. I’m not messing with her tonight.”

  Tim got into the car and said, “Yeah, right! You know drunk sex is the bomb. The freak comes out in them.”

  Craig waved him off and chuckled. “Whatever. Thanks again for driving her over.”

  Venice came out of the bathroom and sat on the bed and kicked her shoes off as Craig entered the house. She turned over and laid down on the bed.

  Craig sat down next to her and angrily said, “Venice, have you lost your mind? You better not ever drink like that when you’re out again! The next thing you know, somebody’s going to try and push up on you or something and make me have to hurt them.”

  He turned her over to face him and addressed her sternly. “Don’t do it again!”

  Venice gazed up at him. “Okay. I’m sorry, baby. Just make the room stop spinning.”

  “Your butt’s going to be sick as hell in the morning. That’s what you get.”

  Venice was buzzing so much all she could do was mumble.

  Craig calmed slightly and looked her up and down. “You look really nice in your dress.”

  “Thanks.”

  He leaned over and began to unzip it for her. Venice rose up and straddled his lap. He held her there and they just stared at each other. She put her arms around his neck and gave him a soft kiss. He rubbed her hips, pulling her closer to him, kissing her on the neck and chest.

  She moaned and said, “M-m-m-m, that feels so good.”

  He finished unzipping her dress and said, “Venice, you’d better get some sleep. You’re going to be hung over in the morning.”

  She ran her hand up his thigh. “Sleep is the last thing I’m thinking about right now.”

  “Venice, you’re gonna make yourself sick if you keep on.”

  “Damn, Craig! What’s up? Do you want to do this or what?”

  “Venice, chill, okay?”

  Venice got off of his lap and hollered, “You make me sick!”

  He jokingly said, “Alcoholic!”

  Venice pointed her finger at him. “I hate you.”

  He laughed at her and said, “I love you, too.”

  He knew that she was drunk so he did his best to overlook it. At that point, Venice jumped up and ran into the bathroom and threw up. Craig sat there for a minute laughing, then he went in to help her out. After she finished getting sick, he helped her shower and then put her into bed. Venice fell asleep almost instantly. Craig hung her dress up, got into bed, and held onto her the rest of the night

  Twenty-One

  On Friday morning, Craig quickly got up and headed for the shower when the alarm went off. Venice felt like she’d just gone to sleep and was still out of it.

  Craig said, “Come on, Venice. Get up. It’s eight o’clock and you have a ten o’clock class.”

  Venice grumbled. “I’m not going!”

  She pulled the covers over her head but Craig pulled them right back off. “Oh, yes you are! You’re not going to skip class today. Now get up!”

  Venice had never been a morning person, so she stumbled her way into the bathroom feeling extremely sick.

  Craig teased her. “I thought you could hang with the big dogs. I guess this means you’re not going to party tonight.”

  Venice shouted back, “Leave me alone!”

  Craig laughed and said, “I told you, you shouldn’t have been drinking.”

  By the time Venice exited the bathroom, Craig was already dressed. She started putting on her clothes and lashed out at him. “I can’t stand you.”

  Craig just laughed and replied, “Don’t get mad at me. It’s not my fault. You shouldn’t have been drinking.”

  Venice licked her tongue out at him and put on a pair of jeans, a large sweater, and her Nikes. She topped everything off with a Dawson University baseball hat.

  “Let’s go!” Venice told Craig in a grumpy tone.

  Craig laughed because Venice would undoubtedly be sick all day. As they walked to the garage, he said, “If you can’t hang…”

  Venice gave him another nasty look, pulled the cap down on her head, and put on her sunglasses. They climbed into the truck and headed for campus.

  After they got there and got out of the truck, Craig asked, “Girl, are you going to make it?”

  “Just give me a second. I’ll be okay.”

  About that time, Venice ran toward some bushes and threw up again. Craig laughed and got some paper towels out of his truck so that she could wipe her face.

  He asked her again, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

  Venice was still throwing up and when it seemed like it was over, he said, “That’s it, Venice. Let me take you to your room so you can go lie down.”

  “Hold up a minute. I’ll be
fine. I have to go to this class.”

  “You can’t sit in class like this.”

  “I need to at least stay for roll call. I’ll get to lie down when I get out. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  Craig laughed and asked, “Are you sure? You look terrible.”

  “Quit laughing. I’ll make it. Just walk me to my room so I can get my bag.”

  He walked her to the room and waited while she gathered her books. Venice almost toppled to the floor. Craig caught her before she fell and said, “Okay, Venice, that’s it. Get in the bed and you better not get up until I come back. Understand?”

  “Yeah,” she replied reluctantly, collapsing on her comforter. Craig pushed a garbage can over to her bed, in case she felt sick again. He closed the curtains and left quietly.

  When the campus clock chimed two o’clock, Venice woke up, not remembering how she got to her room. She had to lay there for a while before it came back to her. She hadn’t heard from Chanelle and was a little worried. She’d promised that she was going to contact Venice after she took the home test. After going to the bathroom, the room began to spin again. She checked her answering machine. Most of the messages were for Monique. Venice decided to call Chanelle’s room, but there was no answer.

  “Now where in the world could she be?”

  About then, her pager went off. It was an unknown telephone number. Venice called the number back.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Venice,” Chanelle responded from the other end.

  “What took you so long to get in touch with me? You said you were going to page me after you took the test.”

  “Well, after I took the test, it was neither positive or negative. So, Spoonie’s uncle has a friend who works at a medical lab. We went down there so I could take a blood test.”

  “Great! So what happened?”

  “I’m not pregnant!”

  “Thank God! Are they sure?”

  “They’re sure. The technician told me to go to the doctor for a checkup since I’m regular every month.”

  “I’m happy for you, girl. Did Spoonie go with you?”

  “Yes, he stayed right with me. I also called Jeremy and told him that we need to chill. I feel so much better now.”

  “So are you and Spoonie all right?”

  “Venice, he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I was surprised about how compassionate he was. He never acted as if he wanted to run from this. He also apologized to me for being so careless. He told me that he wanted to continue to see me. I enjoy his company very much and I want to be with him. I think that if things would’ve turned out differently, he still would be there for me.”

  “Girlfriend, I’m so happy for you. You take care of yourself because you have some needed rest to catch up on. Tell Spoonie hello for me.”

  “Are you going to any of the parties tonight?”

  “Hell no! I’m still sick from last night. Craig was pissed because I drank too much. I couldn’t even make it to class, I’m so hung over. I’m waiting on him to come back and pick me up to go back over to his house. I’m sick as a dog!”

  “I hope you feel better. I’m going to let you go. Take care.”

  “You, too. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Venice hung up and fell onto her bed. She looked around the room and could see that Monique did make it back last night. It was strange to see her dress thrown on the floor. She was a neat person and it was unusual to see her treat her clothes that way. Venice figured that she must’ve been too drunk to hang it up. Venice turned over and drifted back off to sleep.

  Galen was at football practice wondering why he hadn’t talked to his sister or seen her in a few days. He realized that she was in good hands, but needed confirmation for himself. It would be around five o’clock before he would have the opportunity to call her. That was when the football team went on their dinner break so he’d have to wait. As the team continued to scrimmage, you could hear the band’s music in the air. It wasn’t long before the coach blew his whistle to let the players know it was dinner time.

  Galen was one of the first players to make it to the locker room. He dialed Venice’s number. As he waited, he finally heard a sleepy voice say, “Hello?”

  “Hey, girl, you napping?”

  “Yeah, Galen. What’s up?”

  “Can’t you call a brotha sometime? You seem to be hanging with Craig so much, you’ve put me down.”

  “There you go assuming. For your information, I went to the frat party last night with Chanelle and Monique. So… I didn’t get in until about two-fifteen. Didn’t you go over to Craig’s for the card party?”

  “Nah… I couldn’t make it this time. Did you take care of the anniversary flowers?”

  “Yes, I called Sinclair the other day and she’s going to get some red and white roses and you owe me half. I had to give that skank my credit card number before she’d do it. I can’t wait to tell Bryan!”

  “Don’t go starting nothing between them. I’ll talk to Sinclair. She responds better to me. Look, call me sometime, page me, or something. I almost forgot you were going to school here. Anyway, Sidney wants to borrow some type of suit for an interview. I’m going to feed my face and I’ll talk to you later. Peace out!”

  Venice hung up the phone. Somehow, she’d been able to hide her sickness from Galen but she still had a major headache. She turned over and went back to sleep.

  Venice woke up after hearing movement in the room. She opened her eyes and saw Monique sitting on the bed. Venice sat up and turned on the light. “Monique, are you okay?”

  Monique was crying. Venice slowly got out of bed and sat next to her. “What’s wrong, Monique?”

  Monique refused to answer. She just hugged Venice and started sobbing hysterically. Venice was getting nervous so she let Monique get her cry on. After a few minutes, Venice tried again.

  She calmly asked, “Monique, what’s wrong?”

  Monique got up, grabbed a Kleenex from the dresser, and sat back down. “Venice, last night after the party, I gave these two friends a ride back to campus. Before we got back, they wanted to get something to eat. One of them suggested that we go eat in one of their rooms. I agreed since I went in on the food. But when we got to the room, they started messing with me. You know I’d had a little to drink so I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  Venice was starting to get pissed because she sensed something bad had happened.

  Monique went on to say, “Anyway, one of them started kissing on me and rubbing up against me. They pushed me down on the bed and before I knew it, they’d taken my underwear off and were-were…”

  Monique burst out sobbing again.

  Venice asked, “Monique, what did they do to you?”

  “They raped me, Venice…both of them. They made me do things to them and they said if I didn’t, they were going to get some more guys to come join in.”

  Venice’s hangover seemed to disappear instantly after hearing this. She was shocked and angry. She jumped up and said, “Son of a bitch! They raped you! Oh, hell no! I’m calling the police and campus security!”

  Monique jumped up to stop her. “No! It’s my fault. I was drinking when I wasn’t supposed to and I went up to their room on my own.”

  “I don’t give a damn! They made you do something you didn’t want to do!”

  “Venice, it’s my word against theirs. Leave it alone please. I’ll know next time. I was stupid.”

  Venice hugged her and said, “You weren’t stupid, Monique. You were too trusting. I’m here for you. You let me know what you want to do and I’ll stick by you. Okay? You make sure you point them out to me the next time you see them. You hear me?”

  Monique agreed and laid her head on Venice’s shoulder. Venice patted her back and was finally able to get her to sleep.

  Twenty-Two

  Venice was still upset, but decided to try and find the suit Sidney wanted. She couldn’t help but feel sick to her stomach over what ha
ppened to Monique. Her headache was coming back, but she felt like she should do something. Whoever did that to her should have to pay.

  Monique woke up and Venice asked, “Hey, girl, are you okay?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “I wonder if it’s going to be cold at the parade?”

  “Everyone I talked to said it’s usually cold in the morning and gets hotter as the day goes on.”

  Venice pulled out a beautiful black suit.

  Monique asked, “Are you wearing that tomorrow?”

  “No, Sidney wants to borrow it for an interview.”

  Monique came over to inspect the suit. “That’s a nice suit. Too bad we’re not the same size.”

  The two laughed and then the telephone rang.

  Venice was glad to see Monique laughing but she knew she was still hurting inside. Monique answered it and realized it was Craig calling for Venice.

  Venice told him she’d see him later and hung up the phone.

  “Monique, I’m going over to Craig’s. Are you going to be all right?”

  “I’ll be fine. You go ahead.”

  “Are you sure, because I don’t mind staying here with you.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I need some time to think anyway.”

  Venice went over and put her arm around Monique’s shoulder. “If you need me or want to talk, you know where to find me. I don’t care what time. Pick up the phone and call.”

  “I will. Thanks, Venice.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “What did you do to that man? He can’t stand for you to be out of his sight one minute. He must be addicted to the coochie.”

  Venice giggled. “Monique, don’t make me laugh. My head still hurts. You’re so nasty. But for real, girl, are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

  “I’m sure. But thanks for offering. So I guess this means you’ll be going to the parade with your piece instead of me?”

  “If you want me to go with you, I’ll come back early in the morning. I can tell Craig to just meet me there.”

  “No, don’t do that. I’ll find you guys. Okay?”

  “Okay. Peace out!”

  Venice went to take her shower so that she could meet Craig.