Ties That Bind Page 8

  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.

  Six

  “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 thin
k 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.

  “Promise me that at night, if I come to your room, you won’t turn me away. All I’ll want to do is hold you in my arms and sleep with you that way, nothing more. Promise me.”

  Jenna started to tremble and as a defeated sigh broke forth from her lips she leaned forward and rested her forehead against Randolph’s. As of yet they had not gone all the way. A lot of nights while at school, they would study together in his room and occasionally would fall asleep in each other’s arms. She had felt such contentment and such peace whenever she was in his arms while he held her. As far as she was concerned, it was a profound experience of the rarest form, one she had missed the past couple of weeks they had been apart.

  With her forehead resti
ng against his, the warmth of his breath on her face seemed to derail her entire thought process. At the moment she didn’t want to think about the risk of his grandparents finding out. All she wanted to think about was finding a special time they could spend together. She pulled back and saw him gaze at her through the darkness of his eyes. She felt dizzy, light-headed and completely in love.

  She brushed her lips against his and said softly, “I promise.”

  Albany, New York

  Angela took a sip of her tea, very much aware that her parents were closely watching her and Ross, noting how they were interacting with one another. There was very little conversation between them at the dinner table. She preferred it that way, but from the look her mother was giving her, she knew she wanted things to be otherwise. Evidently it was time to prove to Ross that she was a great conversationalist.

  Sighing softly Angela took her mother’s cue and turned her full attention to Ross. “Are you looking forward to graduating in the spring?” she asked him.

  He looked up from his meal at her, as if surprised she had spoken, and smiled. Whether it was genuine or forced, she couldn’t tell.

  “Yes. This last year has been loaded with reports and essays to complete. None of my professors have shown any mercy.”

  She nodded. “I know what you mean. Things were pretty hectic at Bronson as well.”

  “Did Angela tell you she made straight As this semester, Ross?” Her father beamed proudly. “We’re so proud if her.”

  Ross’s smile widened. “Congratulations, Angela! That’s wonderful. I’m proud of you, too.”

  She nodded, smiling. “Thanks, Ross. It took a lot of hard work but the results were well worth it.” As she took another sip of her tea she wondered what Ross and her parents would think if they knew just what type of hard work it had taken. She was glad they would never, ever know.