All That and a Bag of Chips

by Darrien Lee

  “I’ll try, Bennett.”

  They finally thanked each other properly and, sure enough, Craig couldn’t keep his word. Neither could Venice. It was going to be embarrassing to face Bernice, knowing she probably heard all the moans of pleasure coming from his bedroom. Sleep over took them hours later as they held each other into the night.

  Thirty-Five

  Later the next evening, Craig invited some of the guys over for a card game. Venice decided she would chill out in his room and catch up on her reading. She was excited about their Christmas Party taking place the next night. Craig told her it was a tradition carried down from their parents.

  Venice helped Craig make snacks for the card game. The menu consisted of nachos and cheese, Buffalo wings, peanuts, and chicken salad sandwiches. The first to arrive was Spoonie, who gave Venice a big hug and kiss. He joined them in the kitchen, telling them that he’d spoken to Chanelle twice a day since she went home for the holidays. To make himself useful, he answered the door when Skeeter arrived. Craig went in to greet him and reintroduced him to Venice.

  Skeeter stood there looking Venice up and down like she was a plate of food. Venice felt a little uncomfortable when he did this and Craig noticed it.

  He pushed Skeeter and said, “Man, stop that and go on downstairs and set up the table.” Skeeter laughed, still looking at Venice, and said, “You don’t have to push, but you’re a lucky man!”

  Spoonie heard Skeeter and really didn’t care for his attitude either, but tolerated him. Craig had told Spoonie that he grew up with Skeeter. They were like night and day. Finally the last of the card players arrived: J.T. Bernice had to work and this gave him a good opportunity to get in on the card game. They played with nothing higher than a dollar, which kept the game pretty even. As they began, Venice set the snacks up on the table in the rec room on the bar and went back upstairs.

  After she left the room, Skeeter said, “Craig, I know you’re tearing that ass up. She is too fine! Don’t let me catch you snoozing.”

  “Shut up, Skeeter, and play your hand.”

  Skeeter said, “Nah, man. Is it as sweet as it looks?”

  Craig sternly said, “I said, shut up!”

  Skeeter laughed. “Punk.”

  Spoonie looked at Skeeter and just shook his head. He couldn’t understand how Craig was still friends with him.

  While the card game was taking place, Venice decided to go upstairs and work out a little in the spare bedroom. Bear hopped on the bed and laid down while she jogged on the treadmill. Venice had really spoiled him since she ‘d been there, but Craig was trying to make him a vicious guard dog. She turned up the music, an upbeat tempo, to help her keep the rhythm going. After running for about fifteen minutes, she worked out on the weights. She ended up spending about an hour working out. Her shirt was sweaty down the front and her legs were sore along with some other body parts. She hadn’t worked out in a few weeks, but she wanted to get back into the routine.

  She completed her workout and grabbed the towel to wipe her face as she headed back downstairs. She ran right into Skeeter at the bottom of the stairs. He looked her up and down and said, “What have you been doing with sweat all over you like that?”

  He lifted his hand as if he were going to touch the front of her shirt. Venice pushed past him and said, “Working out.”

  Skeeter headed toward the kitchen, shook his head, and said, “That’s a damn shame!” Venice and Bear proceeded to the bedroom where she made sure she closed the door. She didn’t like Skeeter very much. He made her uncomfortable.

  Once Skeeter returned to the rec room with more snacks, Craig asked, “Did you find everything all right?”

  “What I did find was your old lady. She’s a fine piece of ass!”

  Craig looked at him and angrily said, “Watch your damn mouth, Skeeter!”

  “My bad! I’m sorry, bro.”

  Spoonie looked up at Craig, knowing his patience had worn thin. J.T. just sat there staring at his cards.

  When Craig threw his cards in, he decided to go check on Venice. “I’m out! I’ll be back.”

  Skeeter hollered out, “If you need any help, give me a holler!”

  Craig ignored him, ran up the stairs, and entered the bedroom. Venice jumped up off the bed in surprise. When she saw it was Craig, she relaxed.

  “What are you jumping for?”

  “What are you’re talking about?”

  Craig came over and sat down next to her. “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting strange.”

  Venice stood up and grabbed her cosmetic bag and towel. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Craig grabbed her by the arm and said, “Venice!”

  “It’s just that your friend, Skeeter, makes me a little uncomfortable.”

  Gritting his teeth, he asked, “What did he do?”

  Venice tried to keep Craig calm by answering, “Nothing! He just stares at me like he has x-ray vision or something. He makes me feel naked, the perverted way he looks at me.”

  “I’ll talk to him.”

  “No, Craig! Leave it alone! That’ll only make it worse. I’ll just ignore him.”

  “Hell with that! I’ve been knowing that fool all my life and when he gets out of line, I’m going to get him straight!”

  The last thing she wanted to do was come between Craig and his friends. He walked out of the room and hollered for Skeeter to come upstairs. Venice was embarrassed and went into the kitchen to get a soda. A few minutes later, they walked into the kitchen.

  Skeeter said, “What’s up, partner?”

  “Venice told me that you’ve been giving her some looks that make her kind of uncomfortable. I want it to stop. Now! I also want you to stop with the comments. You got it!” Skeeter turned to Venice and said, “I’m sorry. Venice, I didn’t mean any harm. You’re just so fine I couldn’t help but to check you out. That’s just how I am. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

  Venice didn’t respond. She just drank her soda and looked the other way.

  Craig said, “That’s cool, Skeeter, but just chill. Okay? I don’t want her feeling like that around you or any of my friends.”

  “I’m sorry, Venice.”

  Venice turned to look at him and said, “Okay.”

  Skeeter said, “Now that we got that taken care of, let me get back to kicking your butt.”

  “Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.”

  “See ya, Venice.”

  “See ya.”

  Craig pulled her against his body firmly and said, “Venice, don’t you ever try to keep anything like that from me again. You hear me?”

  “Okay. I’m sorry.”

  He gave her a quick peck on the lips, then jokingly told her that she was funky and needed to take a shower. She threw her towel at him as he ran out of the kitchen and back downstairs to the card game.

  Venice took her shower and called Chanelle to tell her what went on. She also mentioned that her sweetie was also playing cards. Venice told her she’d be home Tuesday evening and about the diamond earrings. They talked more about their plans for the three-week vacation. Chanelle was happy because they could hang out together.

  Chanelle said, “I saw your other man yesterday. We talked for a minute and all he could talk about was you. Girl, that fool loves your tail. He said he can’t wait until you get home.”

  “Damn! Chanelle, what am I going to do? I mean, Jarvis is the only man I’ve every loved until now. Craig is so irresistible! I love both of them, but I don’t deserve to be with either one of them.”

  “Yes, you do. It’ll work out.”

  “I hope you’re right. I’ll see you in a few days.”

  Venice decided to light all the candles, put on the headphones, and listen to some music as she laid in bed. The music put her into a deep, relaxing sleep. She was awakened later when Craig took the headphones off her ears. She opened her eyes slightly, turned over, and went back to sleep.

  Craig
blew out the candles and left the room again. Venice didn’t notice the time, but it must’ve been at least midnight. Little did she know, everyone had already left. Craig didn’t want to play cards long because he knew he had errands to run for the party the next day. Venice didn’t even realize that Craig had slid back into bed until she felt his arm around her waist as he snuggled up to her. He buried his face into her neck and within minutes he was snoring.

  It was six o’clock when the first guest arrived. Craig and Spoonie were already dressed and had the music playing in the rec room. Venice took her time getting dressed. She had on this beautiful, red velvet dress that Craig had not seen. It was form-fitting and showed every curve she that had. The back of the dress was open with about five wide straps going across the back attached with rhinestone buttons. She had on red suede pumps to match. Her hair was blown straight and hung loosely around her face. Bernice was going to wear a straight, black velvet, quarter-length dress. The top part was black satin. She had her hair up in a French roll, with cascading curls dangling in front of her eye.

  Venice put the finishing touches on her makeup. Craig entered the room and his breath caught in his throat. “When did you get that dress?”

  “Today. What’s wrong with it?”

  Craig shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong with it. It’s just…sexy.”

  His dark gaze fell upon hers and they read each other’s mind.

  “Bennett!”

  Craig laughed, looking her up and down. “I thought I knew every curve your body had. I was wrong.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  “Crazy about you.”

  Their eyes met each other lovingly.

  “Venice, look in that drawer and see if any CDs are in there, please.”

  She opened the drawer, moved some things around, and came across a snapshot. Venice pulled the picture out and saw that it was a picture of Craig, Joshua, and a group of guys at a party. Her back was to him as she studied the picture. Craig wasn’t paying attention since he was looking for CDs on the other side of the room. Her eyes widened when she noticed Craig sitting in a chair with what looked like a large-breasted stripper straddling his lap. On the picture, Craig had his tongue out pretending he was going to lick the woman’s breast. The woman had her arms around his neck and she was half-naked. Venice looked at the other guys in the picture and was angry to see Joshua also enjoying it. She didn’t recognize the other faces. Since Joshua was in the picture, she knew it was taken during homecoming week. When she finally came to her senses, she turned and asked, “What is this?”

  When Craig saw what she had, he dropped his head for a moment and said, “It’s nothing. That was the party I took Joshua to. We were just messing around.”

  Venice waved the picture in his face angrily and said, “This doesn’t look like nothing to me!”

  She threw the picture at him and left the room, slamming the door behind her and rushed upstairs past Bernice who was coming down the stairs at that same moment. She stopped as Craig came out of the room to follow Venice.

  Bernice stopped him, made him go back inside his room, and asked, “What have you done now, little brother?”

  Craig sat down on the bed and replied, “Venice found this picture of us at Skeeter’s friend’s party messing around.”

  Bernice took the picture out his hand to look at it. “My dear brother. First of all, why would you want something like that sitting on your lap? Secondly, why would you let somebody take of picture of you? And lastly, since they took the picture and you know you’re in a relationship, why would you keep the picture where Venice might find it?” Bernice shook her head at Craig’s stupidity and said, “That girl is pissed and I don’t blame her! Those women are nasty! You didn’t…?”

  “No! I was just messing around for the camera.”

  Bernice gave the picture back to him and said, “I don’t know how you’re going to get out of this one. If I found a picture of J.T. like this, I’d go off too! You need to go find Venice and talk to her.”

  Craig sat on the bed a while longer after Bernice went to join their guests. He had to figure out what he was going to do to make it up to her. He checked the kitchen, the front porch, garage, and several other rooms, but couldn’t find her. He went downstairs and asked Spoonie if he’d seen her.

  He replied, “No. What’s up?”

  “She found that picture from that party with the stripper on my lap.”

  Spoonie kind of laughed and said, “Oh man! Is she pissed??”

  “You should’ve seen her face. She went off, then threw the picture at me before she left the room.”

  “Do you want me to talk to her?”

  Craig surveyed the room and responded, “No, but thanks. I’ve got to fix this on my own. I don’t know where she went.”

  Venice had gone up to the attic to see about Bear. She was hurt, but she now knew how Craig must’ve felt when she told him about her rendezvous with Jarvis. It must’ve hurt a lot worse than what she was feeling. Venice was beginning to think she might’ve overreacted. She decided to go on down to the party and be sociable for Bernice’s sake.

  When Venice finally made her way downstairs, there were about fifteen to twenty-five people already there. Half of them were men and some had brought dates. But when Venice entered in that red dress, all eyes were on her. Jealously immediately settled in the pit of Craig’s stomach when he saw how the men were drooling over her.

  Before Venice could take three steps into the room, someone asked her to dance. The song was slow and Craig couldn’t pour drinks for trying to watch where the man’s hands were. Once the song was over, she made her way over to Bernice.

  Bernice whispered, “Are you okay?”

  “No, but I will be.”

  “Venice, I know how you feel. I talked to Craig and told him how insensitive that picture was. I don’t want to get in the middle of this with you guys but, if you want to talk, let me know. I know you’re crazy about him and I know he’s crazy about you. So, don’t let it ruin what you two have together.”

  “Thanks, Bernice.”

  One of Bernice’s friends came over for Bernice to introduce him to Venice. He was the one she’d just finished dancing with. Bernice made the introduction, then walked off to speak with other guests.

  The handsome young man smiled and asked, “So…Venice…are you having a good time? Can I get you something to drink?”

  Venice looked into his hungry eyes and said, “Yes, I’ll take a glass of soda.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  As he walked off, he looked her up and down as if she were good enough to eat.

  Craig, still watching from across the room, yelled out, “Spoonie! Man, look how dude’s checking her out.”

  “Chill, Craig.”

  When the young man arrived at the bar, he said, “I’ll take a scotch and water and a glass of soda.”

  Spoonie poured the drinks as Craig folded him arms across his chest angrily, watching the guy grope Venice with his eyes.

  “Thanks, man! Hey, do you guys believe in love at first sight?”

  Spoonie responded, “For some people.”

  “Exactly! I think I just found my future wife.”

  Craig unfolded his arms and started toward the guy. Spoonie discreetly grabbed his arm. He looked up at Craig and slowly walked away.

  Craig said, “I’m going over to talk to her.”

  “Wait! Let her cool off a little longer, man.”

  The young man, Victor, brought Venice the soda and he continued to talk to her occasionally, touching her on the back or arm. Craig walked off furiously and asked Bernice who he was. Bernice told Craig that he was one of J.T.’s friends from work.

  Bernice asked, “Why do you want to know?”

  “Because he can’t seem to keep his hands to himself.”

  Bernice gazed through the crowd and saw that Venice was talking to him. Bernice turned to Craig and said, “You better not start nothing up i
n here. She’s not doing anything but talking to him. She can’t help it that she’s noticeable in that dress. It’s killing you, ain’t it baby?”

  Craig just stood there staring with a crazed look in his eyes.

  “Why don’t you go over and ask her to dance? She’s probably waiting on you to ask her. I’m sure she’s cooled down now.”

  “I will in a minute.”

  Craig went back over to the bar. As he made his way through the crowd, their eyes met for a brief moment. Venice turned away and Victor asked her for another dance.

  Craig started to get more restless. He needed to talk to Venice and he wanted to talk to her right then. When the dance was over, Craig went over and interrupted their conversation. He took Venice’s hand into his and asked if she could help him in the kitchen for a moment. Venice excused herself from Victor and Craig led her through the crowd. Craig followed her upstairs, admiring her beautiful body as her hips swayed when she walked. Desire and anger rose in his body simultaneously.

  Why did she let him touch her like that!

  Once in the kitchen, Craig asked, “Venice, what is it going to take to make you believe the picture is innocent? I didn’t do anything with that woman. What is it going to take for me to make it up to you? We were just messing around at that party. If I had done anything wrong, don’t you think Joshua would’ve told you?”

  Venice stood there leaning against the counter with her arms folded, listening to his explanation but staring at the floor. Craig went on to say how much he loved her and wouldn’t hurt her. Venice turned away and checked on the chicken wings in the oven. Seeing her bend over at the stove hit him like a brick wall. He had to touch her and let her know she was the only one for him.

  When he tried to put his arms around her waist, she stepped back, threw her arms upward, and said, “Craig, don’t!”

  She started arranging the chicken wings on the tray. Craig slammed his cup down on the counter and said angrily, “Oh! I can’t touch you now? It looks like you’re letting whoever your new friend is touch you, but I can’t. You’re going off on me about a damn picture! That doesn’t make any sense!” Then out of nowhere, he hollered, “At least I didn’t sleep around behind your back.”