Ties That Bind (8 page)

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Authors: Brenda Jackson

BOOK: Ties That Bind
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“What about your boyfriend? The one who's a law student at Howard?”
She sighed, beginning to get upset. She didn't appreciate him trying to weasel his way out of this. “I haven't seen Ross since the beginning of school. In fact the last time we were together was at a Labor Day cookout his grandparents gave. And not only that, but Ross thinks I'm still a virgin.”
“A virgin? How in the hell can he think that?”
Angela frowned. “Ross has no reason to think otherwise. In the year we've dated, we have only kissed once or twice. His grandmother wants a prim and proper young lady for her grandson, and I'm doing my best to play the part.”
Dean Hightower thought of all the not so prim and proper things she had done with him. “You must be some damn good actress.”
She smiled. “I am.” And her best part was yet to come. Some way she would get Ross out of the picture and become available for Randolph. She knew Julia Fuller had hopes and dreams of Randolph and Lena Weaver becoming an item, but Angela had no intention of letting Lena or any other woman have Randolph. And how she would get Ross out of the picture was something she needed to work on. She would need a valid reason to break things off with him. And it would have to be a reason his grandmother would accept, and feel so badly about that she would then consider the best solution would be to match her up with Randolph.
Her best friend Kathy Taylor, who was attending Howard, was keeping tabs on Ross's activities. So far Kathy hadn't reported anything that Angela could use as an excuse to end things between them. According to Kathy, Ross was studying too hard to become involved with anyone. But Kathy had told her some disturbing news that Randolph was spending a lot of time with a girl on campus—and it wasn't Lena Weaver.
“You know what you're going to have to do, don't you, Angela?”
Dean Hightower's question reeled her thoughts back to the issue at hand.
She knew, but decided to play dumb. “No, sir. What will I have to do?”
“Get an abortion. I have a friend who can handle it. She has a good reputation. She can do it as early as next week and by the time you go home for the holidays you'll be good as new.”
“Will I miss any of my classes?”
“Yes, but don't worry about them. I'll handle things with your professors.”
Angela nodded, knowing that he would. His future, like hers, was at stake. “And what about other babies? Will having this abortion stop me from having other babies in the future?”
“No, you'll be able to have other children.”
She nodded, satisfied. “All right, Dean Hightower, please make all the arrangements.”
“You haven't mentioned your condition to anyone, have you?”
There was no reason to let him know that she had called and told Kathy. The two of them had been best friends for life and didn't have any secrets from each other. “No, I've told no one.”
 
Howard University
Everyone on campus was excited about going home for Christmas although more and more troops were being sent to Vietnam each day. Three days before she was to leave for home, Jenna got a call from her mother telling her that Jeremy, the guy who had been her boyfriend in high school, had gotten killed in Vietnam. Jenna took the news hard. She had known Jeremy most of her life and even before they had gotten serious, they had been good friends. His family was in the process of making funeral arrangements and had called her parents, wanting her to know. After talking to her mother, tears Jenna couldn't contain rolled down her face. After they had graduated Jeremy had gone to California to escape the injustices of the South but he hadn't been able to escape the horrors of Vietnam.
She had been so upset over the news she had skipped her history
class and stayed in her dorm room and cried. She wished she could see Randolph but knew that he was in his important Business Law class. Deciding to go to the café for lunch she dressed and walked across campus, thinking how brokenhearted Jeremy's parents must be. He had been their only child and to make things worse, they had lost him right before Christmas.
She'd been sitting alone eating when Johnny Lane joined her. “I was hoping I would see you before I left,” he said. Then, after seeing her red puffy eyes, he asked with concern, “Hey, are you all right?”
She looked at him and smiled. She hadn't seen him in a while and had recently asked Leigh about him. Leigh was in several of Johnny's classes and had mentioned he was not attending class like he should. It had come as surprising news. Johnny was smart as a whip and had always taken his studies seriously.
“I'm fine,” she said softly, fighting back more tears. “My mom called earlier to tell me a good friend of mine was killed in Vietnam. My heart aches for his family. He was their only child.”
Johnny nodded and handed her his handkerchief as more tears fell from her eyes.
She accepted his handkerchief. “Thanks. I'm sorry for falling apart like this but Jeremy was a very special friend. We dated our junior and senior years of high school.” After a few more sniffs she looked up at Johnny and asked, “How have you been? I haven't seen you around lately.”
He nodded. He always considered Jenna a good friend. “I've been around but not for long. I've decided not to return after the holidays.”
His news came as a shock to Jenna and she looked at him, stunned. Like her, he was a junior with only one year of school left. “You aren't coming back? Why?”
He smiled warmly at her. “Because I can't live a lie anymore, Jenna. I can't continue to go to class every day when there is so much injustice in the world. I'm tired of being judged by the color of my skin. I'm tired of being told I'm not good enough when my ancestors are the ones who built this country. Yet they think I
am
good enough to send to the jungles in some godforsaken country to fight a war. I'm sick and
tired of it.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I called and told my parents this morning and they're upset. My father even told me not to come home.”
Jenna reached out and took his hand in hers. “What will you do, Johnny? Where will you go?”
He looked across the table at her and gave her one of his ever-loving flirtatious smiles. “I've decided to join to Black Panther Party. They need more black men who understand and support their cause.”
Jenna's hold on Johnny's hand tightened as she remembered some of the things Randolph had told her about that organization. “Oh, Johnny, are you sure that's what you want to do?” Just that morning there had been an article in the papers about the Black Panther Party and their involvement in the killing of policemen in Los Angles. A number of the leaders had been brought in for questioning.
“Don't believe everything you read, Jenna. Slandering the party is the white man's way of discrediting an institution they feel threatened by. But it won't work. We will rise and be supreme and people will see there is such a thing as black power.”
Jenna shook her head, knowing Johnny believed everything he was saying and that there was no way she would be able to get through to him. More tears began filling her eyes. “Oh, Johnny, please take care of yourself and no matter what you do or where you go, remember that I'll always be your friend. If you ever need me for anything, please let me know. I'll be just a phone call away.”
“Thanks, Jenna, and I'm going to remember that. Just keep me in your prayers.”
She smiled through her tears. “I will, every night. I promise.”
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Then he stood and walked out the door. A part of Jenna felt she was losing another good friend, just like she had Jeremy. She couldn't help but wonder when she would see Johnny again, if ever. She cried as she left the café and began walking back to her dorm.
She cried for a country that was letting some of its people down—the black people—people who had always loved it but wanted the same thing the next man had, equal rights and equal opportunities.
And then she cried for a country that was losing a lot of its men—future leaders of tomorrow—every minute and every hour to a senseless war. She wondered when it would end; the injustices, the hating, the killing and the fighting.
A light blanket of snow covered practically everything and Jenna noticed a number of people she passed pulling their coats tighter around them to ward off the cold. But a part of her didn't feel the cold because that moment, her entire body felt totally numb and empty inside.
“Everyone, I'd like you to meet Randolph Fuller.”
The first thing Randolph noticed about Jenna's parents was that they seemed genuinely friendly. What he noticed about her three younger brothers was that they seemed very protective of their sister. As Jenna made the introductions, Randolph discovered that the tallest of the brothers, the one who stood toe-to-toe with him, was sixteen-year-old Jarvis. The fourteen-year-old twins were Jason and Jared.
“So you're Randolph Fuller? I've heard quite a lot about you, young man,” Jenna's father said, giving him a firm handshake. He was tall with a muscular build.
“Yes, sir.” Although Randolph felt he was under the man's microscopic gaze, he had a feeling that John Haywood was a fair person. He also got that same impression from Jenna's mom who immediately made him feel welcome.
“I hope you don't mind sharing a room with my sons,” Mrs. Haywood said softly, smiling at him.
“No, ma'am, I don't mind at all.”
That evening at dinner he and Mr. Haywood got into several conversations and Randolph discovered that a lot of John Haywood's views on the Vietnam War and the civil rights sit-ins and marches
were identical to his. They were both hoping President Johnson would soon pull the troops out of Vietnam and both believed the Black Panther Party would do more harm than good to the civil rights movement.
“You're doing the right thing by staying in school to avoid the draft,” Mr. Haywood said to him as Randolph loaded another helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate. He thought Jenna's mom was a great cook and thought the students at the school where she worked were fortunate to have her preparing their meals.
“I'm hoping by the time I finish law school the war will be over. In fact I'm hoping it's over before my brother finishes law school next year. I wouldn't want him involved in it, either.”
“We've gotten ourselves into a big mess,” John Haywood said, after taking a generous sip of iced tea. “I hope Johnson knows what he's doing.”
Dinner had been delicious and Randolph had eaten every mouthful. He didn't hesitate to tell Mrs. Haywood just how much he had enjoyed the meal, especially her apple pie.
The older woman smiled. “Since you liked it so much, the next time I bake one I'm going to put an extra one in the oven for you and ship it to Jenna.”
Randolph smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Haywood.” A part of him knew she would keep her promise.
After spending time with Jenna's parents, he knew they believed in the three H's—honor, honesty and hard work. Now he understood Jenna's dedication to doing well in school and always wanting to do the right thing. She was raised in a family that expected no less.
He wondered how things would have been for him and Ross had their parents lived. One thing was for certain, his father would have stood up to Grandmother Julia like Randolph was doing. His grandmother Julia had told him more than once that he was definitely his father's son. Randolph knew Ross was their father's son, too. He just hadn't found anything he wanted badly enough to fight for yet. But if that time ever came, Randolph had no doubt Ross could and would hold his own with Julia Fuller.
He shuddered as he remembered his last conversation with her.
She would not admit to having anything to do with Jenna's student loan being turned down. But he knew he had rendered her speechless when he had told her that Jenna had come up with the money and would be returning to Howard.
Bright and early the next morning, after eating a delicious breakfast Mrs. Haywood had prepared, Randolph walked Jenna out to his grandparents' car. Opening the trunk he placed her suitcase and his overnight bag inside. He then walked around the car and opened her door for her. Jenna's father had left for work already but her mother had given him strict orders to drive carefully and had told Jenna to call and let them know when they had arrived safely.
Once inside the vehicle, before he placed the key in the ignition, he reached over and caressed Jenna's thigh, needing to touch her. Yesterday had been the first time he had seen her in the two weeks since they had left school for the holidays. He couldn't do what he had wanted to do upon first seeing her, which was to take her into his arms and kiss her. In fact, he hadn't been able to do anything with her, not even hold her hand. A shudder ran through him when he felt her tremble slightly beneath his touch. It was still there, that automatic reaction they always got whenever they touched or kissed.
They had driven several miles heading out of Knoxville when Randolph couldn't take it any longer and pulled the car off the highway onto the shoulder of the road. He reached across the seat and pulled Jenna into his arms.
The moment their mouths touched, sizzling sensations passed through both of their bodies as they engaged in a hot, tongue-thrusting, curl-your-toes, red-blooded kiss.
Moments later, the unexpected blast from a tractor trailer's horn broke them apart. Both leaned back against their seats, panting for breath.
“I needed that. I don't think I could have driven another mile without it.”
Jenna smiled. “And I don't think I could have let you driven another mile without doing it.”
Randolph grinned as he glanced over at her. She was wearing a
green dress, one a woman would probably wear to church on Sunday, and he knew she had done so to make a good impression on his grandparents. Her hair was neatly curled and she wore very little makeup if any at all, and her lips were still moist from their kiss. He wanted to lean over and get another taste of them. “You look good,” he said finally. “Every time I see you I think you get prettier and prettier.”
Her smile widened, pleased with his compliment. “Mr. Fuller, if you're fishing for brownie points you're definitely on the right road to getting them.”
Randolph laughed. “Speaking of roads, I guess I better get back onto this one if we're to make it to Glendale Shores in a reasonable time. Your parents and my grandparents expect us to arrive before dark.” He started the car again and rejoined traffic.
“Randolph?”
He took his eyes off the road for a quick second and glanced over at her. Her face appeared flush with heat and her eyes were filled with desire. “Yes, sweetheart, what is it?”
“You're going to behave yourself around your grandparents the same way you behaved around my parents, aren't you?”
His lips twitched into a smile. “Do you want me to?”
“No, not really but I think you should. I want your grandparents to like me. I don't want them to think I'm not a nice girl or anything like that.”
Randolph heard the nervousness in her voice and knew meeting his grandparents and making a good impression was important to her. “You
are
a nice girl and they will know it whether I behave or not. But I won't do anything to make you feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. Like your parents, my grandparents love each other very much. Gramma Mattie knows and understands how it is to be in love, Jenna. She knows just how important you are to me and because of that, you will be important to her as well. She knows I plan to marry you once I finish law school.”
He chuckled then. “She also knows me and knows it's going to be hard for me to keep my hands to myself around you, but she has assured your parents that you will be properly chaperoned and you
better believe she meant it. But … my grandparents have to go to sleep sometime.”
Jenna kept her gaze focused on Randolph as a thought came to her. She frowned. “You're not thinking of sneaking into my room when they are asleep, are you?”
He grinned at her. “Yeah, I was seriously thinking about it.”
“Oh, Randolph, please don't. What if they find out? What if you're caught? What will they think of me?”
When the car came to a stop at a traffic light, he reached over and cupped her chin with his hand. “They will think that you are the most beautiful woman in the world who has totally captured my heart. And I love you.” He leaned over and brushed her lips with his. “Relax. I promise to be on my best behavior for the next three days.”
“You promise?”
“Yes, I promise.” He smiled. What he wouldn't tell her was that her definition of “his best behavior” was totally different than his.
 
Jenna felt the beginnings of a nervous lump in her stomach when they caught the ferry over to Glendale Shores. Randolph hadn't said a lot about how his grandparents came to live on the sea island or how many other families lived there. Jenna knew from one of her history lessons that like Hilton Head, Glendale Shores was a sea island occupied since the late eighteen hundreds by free black men who formed a number of communities on the island. These communities consisted of farmers, fishermen, basketweavers and fishnet makers. Jenna also remembered that just like on Hilton Head, the Gullah culture was still preserved. The Gullah were a strong group of African-Americans, many of whom were born on the islands and spoke the Gullah dialect. However, unlike Hilton Head, which had been home to several thousand blacks since the end of the Civil War, Glendale Shores was an island once owned by a wealthy white plantation owner. He had willed the sea island to descendents of the slaves who had worked for him a number of years before his death.
When the ferry arrived at Glendale Shores, Jenna couldn't do anything but hold her breath when she found herself surrounded by the
peaceful beauty of nature. Everything on the remote island, every towering tree, every flowering plant, and every blade of green grass was painstakingly beautiful. And with a sweeping view of the Atlantic Ocean as the backdrop, it made a breathtaking picture.
Rolling down the car's window, Jenna breathed in the warm fragrances of flowers that were unknown to her, thinking that this had to be the most beautiful land on the East Coast. Sighing with pleasure she turned to Randolph. “How long have your grandparents lived on this island?”
Randolph smiled. He understood what she was going through. Glendale Shores always had the same affect on him whenever he returned after a lengthy absence. “My grandfather was born on this island. He brought my grandmother here when they married and the two of them have been here ever since. I remember my mother sharing stories with Ross and me about her days growing up here. In order to go to school she and her cousins would catch the ferry to Beaufort.”
He slowed the car down as he turned the corner onto the only road she saw, a long gravel road that ran the length of the ocean before winding into an area surrounded by underbrush, needle grass, palmettos and pine trees. “The island,” he continued saying, “was willed to the Denison family in the mid eighteen hundreds. For a while, during the Civil War, General Lee commanded all the islands along the coast of South Carolina. When a hurricane hit he and his troops moved inland to Savannah.”
“I think it's beautiful,” she said, her gaze returning to look out the car window. A part of her felt encompassed by nature as they drove through a dense and wooded area. “Do you have a lot of relatives living on the island?” she asked.
“No, right now the only ones living here are my grandparents and two of my grandfather's brothers and their wives. For a long time there was no electricity. Everything was done by primitive means. So when the young Denisons could escape to modern civilization, they did. Most of them moved to Savannah and Beaufort. This island is private and the Denison family wants to keep it that way.”
Glancing around at her surroundings once again, Jenna could
understand why. Suddenly she realized Randolph had turned off onto another road, this one with a surface that felt like hard clay. An uncontrollable fluttering began in the pit of her stomach, and a shiver of apprehension rippled up her spine as she began feeling nervous again about meeting his grandparents. Then the car stopped and she turned in her seat to look at Randolph. Without saying anything he leaned over and lowered his head, bringing his mouth to hers, and she immediately responded to his kiss. Unlike the other one, it was soft, tender and languid. The nervousness in her body was replaced by a sensuous sensation that started at her toes and began moving upward to the crown of her head.
Moments later, releasing a heavy sigh Randolph ended the kiss but placed tender nips around the corners of Jenna's mouth and bottom lip. “You don't have a thing to worry about,” he said huskily. “You're with me and like I told you before, they will love you,” he said, giving her a reassuring hug. He then pulled back and hooked a knuckle under her chin, prompting her to look at him. “I love you,” he said softly.
“And I love you,” she whispered back, remembering a time she hadn't wanted to get involved with him or anyone else. But he was such a wonderful person. She would never forget how he had graciously offered to loan her the money she needed to stay in school. That had meant a lot to her.
Randolph let go of her face then caught both of her hands in his. He tightened his hold on them. “Promise me something.”
“What?” she whispered, looking up at him.

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