Faces of the Game (7 page)

Illegible

They woke up the next morning once again in each other’s arms, “good morning” Chelle rolled over and said as soon as she woke up.  Chip woke up and hugged her tight, “good morning” he responded.  He sat there for a few moments and then asked her to get up.  She lifted up and he rolled out of bed.  Once he was awake, he went to brush his teeth and then he went into the kitchen to fix breakfast.  Well not actually fix breakfast, but he poured a bowl of cereal and gave Chelle the selection of choices.  She asked for Cinnamon Toast Crunch, he ate Pops.  After they ate cereal, Chip went back into the kitchen to put the bowls in the sink.  He got back into bed with Chelle and snuggled under her as she flipped through the channels on the plasma television that hung on the wall.  They watched a re-run of CSI Miami, and Chip rolled a blunt.  Soon after he started smoking, Chelle grabbed her book and picked up where she left off.  At around 1:30, they got in the shower and got dressed.  Chip put on a black-tee with a pair of jeans and a pair of Jordan’s, Chelle put on a tan sweat suit with teal writing on it and a pair of Timberlands.  “Dallas and San Antonio play today, I know I’m going to hit big.”  Chip said as he rubbed his hands together.  “How much do you think I should put on the game?”  He asked.  “I don’t know Chip I don’t have anything to do with that.”  Chelle said rolling her eyes and realizing that he had a serious gambling problem.  They walked down the steps and into the garage to get into the Cadillac, Chip let the garage door up and turned on the radio.  “Find a CD to put in.”  He said as he looked both ways before leaving out of the driveway.  She decided to listen to Jay Z, so she popped the CD in and they cruised through the neighborhood.  “If I put two stacks on the game I win 6 G’s, but if I only put 1 G on the game I only win three thousand; so what do you think I should do?”  He asked her thinking hard and trying to figure it out.  “I think you should go get a job.”  Chelle said in a sarcastic tone as she turned up the music.  He chuckled and shook his head and kept driving.  About fifteen minutes went by and they were pulling up at the Bookie, “I will be right back” he said as he parked and hopped out.  Chelle just shook her head and looked up at the sky
this nigga is crazy, how can you put that much money on a freaking basketball game.
  Before she could even get her thoughts out, he was hopping back into the car.  “Let’s go to Charlotte” he said as he fastened his seatbelt.  “Okay, for what?”  Chelle wanted to know.  Just then his phone rang, it was Kiki, from observing her actions from the past few days he figured that Chelle would be perfectly quiet when he was on the phone, so he answered since Kiki had been blowing him up all day and he hadn’t answered.  “What crazy?”  He said as if he was aggravated, she was so loud that Chelle heard her on the other end.  “I am so over you! Somebody told me they just saw you riding with some girl in the car, I hate you!”  She screamed into the receiver, “Is that all?”  He asked nonchalantly.  “Chip, why do you do me like this?”  She wanted to know as if her feelings were hurt.  “Like what, I don’t understand?”  He responded with sarcastic tone.  “You know what, y’all can have each other I am done.”  With that she hung up.  “Who was that Chip?”  Chelle asked as soon as he got off the phone just to learn his expression when he lies.  “This crazy chick.”  He responded and shook his head.  “I guess I will be the crazy chick one of these days when you do me the same way.”  Chelle said shaking her head, “you ain’t shit” she said mocking Kiki and laughing.  They were riding down Martin Luther King Jr. Drive when they saw someone being arrested at the apartments across from the Philly Steak and Cheese place, the beauty supply store and the laundry mat.  “Damn, I know they are mad.”  Chip said trying to get a glimpse of who it was.  He kept driving, they passed the scene and were approaching the BP gas station, where there were five police cars with their blue lights flashing, the store clerk outside explaining something to the police and a crack head putting her two cents worth of information in.  “They just got robbed or something” Chelle said shaking her head.  They both stared at the gas station until they completely passed it, they continued riding down MLK and they approached Winston Salem State University’s campus.  The campus looked almost empty since the students were still out for the winter break.  “I wonder what it would have been like if I had came to school here” Chelle said to Chip, as he turned to get on Highway 52 South, he looked at her and said, “you’re good where you at, don’t you like A&T?”  “I love it, but I just wonder what things would have been like if I didn’t go to school in Greensboro.”  She said knowing that if she had stayed too close to home that she would have never gotten focused.  Chelle attended North Carolina A&T State University which was roughly thirty to forty minutes away from Winston Salem, not too close but not far at all which was perfect sometimes.  “You probably wouldn’t have been focused, and we can’t have no dummies jumping off, you way too cool for that bae.”  He said.  “Whatever little dude, you never told me where we’re going.”  Chelle said as they switched lanes and rode through the South Side of Winston.  “Chill, don’t you trust me to show you a good time?”  He asked her hoping he could hold out and surprise her for an evening of fun.  “Yeah, but I still want to know what were doing” she said in a repetitive tone insinuating that she wasn’t going to ask too many more times.  “It’s a surprise” he said smiling at her.  “Oh, okay” she said now anxious to know what the surprise was, wondering if it was an exclusive restaurant, a concert that had slipped her mind, or a nice pool hall, she couldn’t figure it out, so she just chilled like he said and she enjoyed the rest of her ride.  About forty-five minutes later, they were pulling into Concord Mills.  Chelle had dozed off, she felt the car as it slowed down and approached the exit so she yawned, stretched her arms out, rubbed her eyes and sat up.  She looked around and saw where they were, “What’s up sleepy head” Chip said poking her in the side.  “Stop that tickles” she said moving his hand and chuckling a little, he could tell that she hadn’t got her whole nap out.  He parked at the Off Saks 5
th
Avenue entrance, and she slowly rose up putting her hoodie on and grabbing her handbag.  “Come on slow poke” he said poking her again in her side, she jumped and shoved his hand away with a smirk on her face.  They walked through the doors of Saks, and she instantly saw a black leather Gucci bag that caught her eye.  She didn’t say anything about it, she just admired it as she walked pass.  Of course she led the way, right to the shoes.  “Look at these rain boots Chip, do you like them?”  She asked.  “Yeah they’re alright” he responded not too thrilled.  She loved them, they were black with a tan trim right above the sole and they were perfect for the rain, she tried on a size 6 and they were a perfect fit.  She went over to the umbrellas and got one to match her Burberry galoshes and she went to the check-out counter.  “And your total is $182.35” the cashier said as she bagged the items.  “Debit or Credit?”  “Debit” Chelle responded.  “Swipe your card” the cashier said pointing to the machine in front of her.  As they finished the transaction, Chelle asked Chip what he wanted to do.  “Let’s go to Foot Action right quick” Chip said grabbing his jeans so they wouldn’t sag so much.  “Tighten up your belt” Chelle said aggravated.  Chip tightened up his belt and looked at her as if to say you are so exaggerate at times.  They went into Foot Action and he requested a pair of Jordan’s in a size 11.  They were in and out in no time, like always with him.  “I know you want to go in Guess” he said.  “You think you know, but you have no idea” she said joking with him.  They went into Guess and she instantly hit the sweat suits.  She grabbed a brown one and a navy blue one, “you can never have too many of these” she said nudging Chip in the side.  She walked to the register and asked the cashier to hold the items while she continued to look.  She went back to the shoes and she didn’t see anything she liked, so she went to the coats and saw a plaid wool pea-coat that she had to have.  She grabbed a medium and walked to the register. Chip followed her to the register to pay for the items.  “Oh, do I have permission to pay for this?”  He asked her.  “Yeah, but I got it” she said once again pulling out her debit card and purchasing the clothes.  “Somebody just got a bonus check” Chip said joking.  “Na, I just let you pay for too much all the time, I’m trying to give you a break you better enjoy it while it lasts” she said reassuring him that she could spend his money just as easy.  “I’m done” Chelle said “Me too” he replied, so they walked back to the car and put their things in the trunk.  They got into the car and Chip drove around to Dave and Busters.  “Have you ever been here?”  He asked her.  “No, but I have wanted to come here forever” she said excited.  “Yeah, me too I never been here either” he said ready to have fun.  They sat down to eat first, and they got a few drinks too.  “This is our new spot, I like it already” Chelle said as they continued to eat.  “Yeah, me too” Chip responded smiling.  After eating, they went to shoot pool for an hour or so, then they went to bowl a couple of games and they ended the date by playing arcade games.  They had a wonderful time they played all night long, they ordered a few drinks here and there and they left full, tipsy and happy.  Chip thought to himself and tried to get his thoughts together, he was falling hard for Chelle and he didn’t want to fall this hard.  He never imagined that he would like someone as much as he was beginning to like her and he wondered if she liked him as much.  He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and he made the final decision that if it was the last thing he did, he was going to marry her.  Chelle shared the same feelings, but there was one thing that she wished he would change and that is the fact that he didn’t have a job.  She just didn’t understand why he wanted to live an illegal lifestyle.  Gambling, gaming, pushing, dropping, whatever he was doing; she wasn’t pleased or enthused.  She knew that she could get him to love her unconditionally, that wasn’t the issue but now she had to figure out how to convince him to get a job.  Although she was beginning to like him more and more each moment, she knew that there was a mystery that she had to solve about him so that they could get past that point.  She reminded herself that Vae’ seriously hates him and she didn’t say why either because it wasn’t that serious or because it was too serious and Vae’ didn’t want to spoil Chelle’s groove. They hit 85 North and headed back to his house to lie down from a long day of fun and when they got back, they both snatched their clothes off and dove into the bed.  They said their prayers, told each other good night and were fast asleep.

                                                      ***

“I can’t believe I have to go back to school tomorrow” Chelle said rolling over to see that Chip wasn’t in the bed.  “Chip” she yelled into the hallway, but no answer.  She got up and peeked into the bathroom, he wasn’t there so she walked around the house checking in every room and closet hoping he was playing hide and seek with her.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t there he had gone without telling her that he was leaving.  She thought that was pretty strange so she decided to pick up her cell phone and call.  He didn’t answer the cell phone either, so she decided to take a long hot bath and relax before she panicked.  As she ran her bath water, she decided to listen to some music so she went into the garage downstairs and got her Destiny’s Child CD out of the CD case.  She went back into the room, shut the door and put the CD into the Play Station.  Once she found the song she was looking for, the bath tub was full and she took her underclothes off and stepped into the bath leaving the door open to the bathroom.  She sang the song as she lathered up her wash cloth.  “Six foot, dark skinned, damn baby you got me open, your heart is so big…” just as she got into the song, her phone rang, she almost busted her face trying to get out of the tub and answer the phone.  Without looking at the caller id, she hurried and answered.  As soon as she answered, the person on the other end hung up.  She looked at her call log to realize it was a private caller, so she shook her head and got back into the bath tub wondering why Chip still hadn’t called or sent a text message.  Three minutes later, she got another private call so instead of answering she just hit the ignore button and continued to bathe.  After lathering up and washing off a few times, she just sat in the bath tub soaking and relaxing.  She finally got out of the tub and dried off, she decided not to put on any perfume, so she put on baby lotion and got back into the bed for a few minutes just so she could cool off.  Just as she got up to put on some clothes, her phone rang again and she was fed up with this private caller so she braced herself to curse the person out.  To her surprise, the number wasn’t private this time but she still didn’t recognize the number.  She turned on her professional voice, “Hello” she said into the receiver hoping it was Chip.  “Where is he at?” a males voice responded.  “I’m sorry, you must have the wrong number” she said back still using a professional tone, and then she hung up.  She sat there and she started getting worried,
okay he hasn’t even called, some weirdo is calling asking where “he” is, and I have been getting private calls all day long.  What the fuck is going on and where the hell is Chip at?
  She thought to herself confused as hell and nervous all at the same time.  She decided to call the number back that had just called her, so she looked at her received calls pushed *67 to block her number and then she called.  “I’m sorry, but the number that you have dialed is no longer in service, please check the number and dial again”, an operator said after one ring.  Her body got numb instantly, she was now afraid to go outside of the house yet afraid to stay in there by herself.  She called Chip praying he would answer, but he didn’t.  She started breathing hard as if she had run up and down the steps five times or more.  She called Ash and told her what was going on, “Okay Chelle calm down” Ash said trying to think of what to say next.  “Girl, he is probably taking care of business right now, and maybe the guy really had the wrong number, the private calls girl that could have been anyone from a bill collector, to some sideline hoe; just chill out he will call you” she reassured Chelle.  “Okay, whatever will you come over here for a while?”  Chelle asked Ash knowing she would. “Yeah, give me about thirty minutes” “Okay girl hurry up” with that, they hung up.  Chelle fell back on the bed and remembered that she still didn’t have on any clothes, she grabbed a white tee shirt from his dresser and put it on.  She climbed back into the bed, paused the Play Station and turned on the television.  She decided to watch Lifetime, a good movie was on so she sat and watched that, although she couldn’t get into the movie it was something to do until she heard from him.  Thirty minutes later Ash rang the door bell, “what the hell took you so long?” Chelle said joking and happy Ash had come over.  “Girl please, you better be glad I came over here” Ash said laughing.  “Girl, where could he be?”  Chelle said with a concerned look on her face.  “Just take a moment to pray, he’s probably alright you would know if he wasn’t, trust me” Ash said trying to comfort her friend.  They both sat there silent for a few moments, Chelle did what Ash suggested and took a few moments to send up a special prayer for Chip.  “Girl I don’t want to go anywhere until I hear something from him, anything could be going on” Chelle said still confused about the private phone calls and the guy asking where “he” was.  Five times out of ten the guy had the wrong number, but the private calls made it all too strange.  Chelle was going to worry herself sick if she didn’t get her mind off of the situation.  “Girl, let’s go get some lunch it’s almost three o’ clock and you still have on a night shirt.”  “I just got out of the shower, I just don’t want to leave I will cook us some lunch.”  “I want an appetizer, meal and desert so let’s go to ummm, Friday’s” Ash suggested.  “No, you go ahead, I am going to stay here a little longer; maybe we can go out for dinner later on tonight.”  “I am not leaving you in here by yourself, you are confused and afraid that could be dangerous” Ash said trying to add humor into the conversation.  “Shut-up, I will be alright you know how I get when I am worried”.  Chelle got up and went into the kitchen to thaw out a pack of chicken wings.  She scanned the refrigerator and saw a bag of salad, so she decided to put the wings on the grill outside and make salad to go with them.  “You want some grilled wings and salad?”  She asked Ash as she walked into the living room.  “Yeah, that’s fine” Ash said wishing Chip would call Chelle before she had a heart attack.  “Chelle it’s cold outside, are you sure you feel like grilling those wings?”  “Yeah, I will be alright once I light the grill” Chelle went into the bedroom and put on one of her new sweat suits, a pair of socks and her Jordan flip flops.  She threw her hair into a ball and went back into the kitchen.  She grabbed a few lemons out of the refrigerator and began rolling them on the counter to soften them.  Once the lemons were a little softer, she boiled them for about eight minutes just to kill time and to make sure they were good and soft before making the lemonade.  She went in the living room and sat on the sofa next to the one Ash was sitting on.  “What are you watching?”  Chelle asked as the commercials were playing.  “Girl something on Oxygen, it’s a movie I don’t know what it’s about yet”.  “I can’t believe he just left like that without saying a word, he didn’t answer or call me back” Chelle said as a tear rolled down her cheek.  “I know you are not crying” Ash said chuckling a little.  “Whatever, don’t act like you are so hard you would shed a tear or two also” Chelle said wiping her tear away.  “Dang, it’s almost five o’ clock, that nigga better hurry up before I snap on him too” Ash said running her fingers through her hair.  Chelle went back into the kitchen and took the lemons out of the pot.  She cut them into two, squeezed as much juice out as she could and got the rest out with a spoon.  She poured just enough sugar into the pitcher as well and she ran some hot water in it to dissolve the sugar better.  Once she stirred the sugar and juice, she ran cold water in the pitcher and filled it up; she stirred it again and sat it in the freezer.  The chicken had thawed out enough, so she ran warm water in the sink and washed it off with the warm water and salt.  Once she washed the chicken off she seasoned it and went outside on the balcony to light the grill.  It took her a few minutes to get the grill going because the wind was blowing a little, but she finally got it lit.  A few minutes later, she put the chicken on the grill and came back in to sit down for a few minutes.  “Girl, I am about to lose it” Chelle started before Ash shushed her, “this is the good part, hold on” Ash said to let Chelle know that she wasn’t trying to be rude.  Chelle went back into the kitchen, she couldn’t even look at the television long enough to know what was going on in the movie.  She grabbed all the lemons she had squeezed and threw them in the trash; she wiped the counter top off with a wet dish cloth and poured out the water that was in the pot.  She went back outside to flip the wings over.  She came back inside and got the salad out put it in a bowl, cut up some turkey meat put it on top of the salad, put sunflower seeds over it and sat it in the middle of glass table that sat in the kitchen.  She went back outside to flip the wings again and went back inside to set the table.  She got two plates out, two bowls, some forks and glasses, just then her phone rang.  She ran into the bedroom just to find out that it wasn’t him again.  It was her cousin Vae, “What’s up bitch?” Vae said into the phone.  “Hey” Chelle said in a monotone.  “What the hell is wrong with you?”  Vae asked.  “Nothing” “whatever, where are you at?”  “Chip’s house” “Oh can you talk?” “Yeah bitch, what is it?”  Chelle said aggravated that Vae was trying to play her like she couldn’t talk around him.  “Girl why did Sug’s baby mama just call me talking about they were engaged, and she asked me how long we been talking and how old was I, have we ever had sex girl the whole nine”.  “What did you say?”  Chelle asked.  “I told the bitch to ask him and to never call my phone again asking questions about her so called fiancé, that bitch started going off about how she tried to confront me woman to woman and blah blah; girl I hung up in that bitches face”  Vae said sort of hyped up but pissed off.  “So, did you ask him about it?”  “Girl that mother fucker said that the bitch is lying, they don’t even talk like that and she is crazy
.”  “Oh man, that’s what they all say just watch that ass, and make him pay for her playing on your phone; you know the Christian Louboutin red bottom shoe collection is out”  “girl and you know I have to get me a pair, I know all of them are bad”  “Yep, but I will call you so we can finish this conversation later, make that nigga pay for your feelings”  “Alight girl, bye” Vae said and hung up the phone.  Chelle went back outside with a pan to put the chicken on, she let the grill go out and went back inside.  “Ash, come eat” she yelled into the living room as she got out the ranch salad dressing, the lemonade and the glasses.  “Umm look at you trying to cook”  “Trying? Child I am the best cook on the North side right now!”  Chelle said laughing.  They both fixed their plates and begin eating.  The food was so good, Chelle forgot about Chip for a good five minutes.  The salad was delicious, the chicken was mouthwatering and the lemonade was out of this world.  “Girl, you should have gone to cooking school” Ash said trying not to talk with her mouth full.  “I know right” Chelle said knowing her food was delicious.  “Who was that on the phone?”  Ash asked.  “Girl Vae, telling me about this boy”.  “Oh what time are you going back to Greensboro?”  “I guess at about 9:30, why?”  “Just asking, I know you start back classes tomorrow” Ash said, reminding Chelle just in case she had forgotten.  “I know girl, I hope Chip knows that I am not staying here until he gets back; if he’s not back by nine I will see him later”  Chelle said hoping he would walk in at any minute.  “I know that’s right, school comes first at all times” Ash agreed with her.  They continued to eat their food and chit chat for a while longer.  “I’m going to leave the dishes in the sink so he will know that two people ate, he is going to go crazy trying to figure out who the hell was in his house” Chelle said laughing.  “Heck yeah, then he going to blow your phone up while you are in class trying to learn”.  “Girl, and I am not going to answer the phone; pay back is so fun” Chelle said laughing.  She decided to leave right after they ate, put the dishes in the sink and put the lemonade in the refrigerator.  “Girl, I think I am about to leave right now” Chelle said now hoping that he wouldn’t come back anytime soon.  She decided to leave her clothes there, she would get that later.  She got her cell phone, the charger, her keys and her bag and she and Ash went into the garage.  Luckily there was an extra garage opener in the garage, so she grabbed it opened the garage door and hopped into her car.  Ash got into her car, she pulled off and Chelle pulled out right behind her letting the garage door back down after she pulled out.  She was paranoid that she would pass him on the way out his neighborhood and he would convince her to come back, but the whole way home she didn’t see him once.  As worried as she was, she knew that if something had happened she would have known, so now she was mad.