following weekend to help get anything else she needed for her room, Chancey hated that her parents had to be out of town on business the weekend she was going away to college. She was not ready to take on the responsibility of moving herself into her new home.
She had parked her car by her new dormitory. After checking in, she began unloading her garment bags of clothes, when a six-foot-four, 260-pound, paper-sack-brown gentleman with the most perfect smile she had ever seen walked up to her, introduced himself, and offered to help carry her things to her room. Chancey was embarrassed that this handsome, overly friendly stranger was offering his assistance to her, a freshman who looked a mess. She was wearing long blue jean shorts and an oversized T-shirt that read wright family reunion. Her shoulder-length brown hair was pulled back into a thick, bushy ponytail, and because it was past time for a relaxer, it looked pretty shabby. She also had on the same glasses that she’d been wearing since she was a freshman in high school. Her tennis shoes were run-over, and, to top things off, her knees and elbows were ashy. However, Chancey was a natural beauty and required little maintenance to look good with her light-brown complexion, striking features, and full lips. Her eyelashes were long, so she didn’t need mascara, and her eyebrows were thick and well-shaped.
Although not dressed with the intention of meeting her future husband, she knew that if she unloaded her car by herself, she would never be unpacked in time to get a quick tour of the campus before it got too dark, so she took him up on the offer. While unpacking Chancey’s car, she and Don talked as if they had known each other all of their lives. When they finished, he gave her a tour of the campus, treated her to ice cream, kissed her on the forehead, and made her promise that she would not consider seeing any other guy on campus until she gave herself a chance to get to know him better. She promised. And from that day forward they either spent time together or talked on the phone every day.
In fact, they had just spent the weekend together, and she had the opportunity to see his parents again. Emitt and Glenda Robinson had come for the weekend, and Chancey went to Don’s football banquet with them. Don won two awards: the Coaches’ Award and MVP. Afterward the four of them celebrated by going to a nice bar and grill for appetizers and drinks. Don and Emitt spent most of the time talking about Don’s football career, while Chancey and Glenda talked about current events and made plans to go on a shopping spree during Chancey’s next visit to Louisiana with Don. His parents were always pleasant, and they really seemed to like Chancey. It was also obvious they cared about their son’s future and well-being.
Sunday morning, Chancey and Don met his parents at their hotel. They had a pleasant breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, during which they confirmed plans for her to come with Don to Louisiana for a long weekend, right after spring semester finals. Don’s father promised to have an itinerary to ensure an enjoyable stay. His wife looked at him and laughed. “We’ll believe that when we see it.”
“Chancey, don’t pay her no mind,” Emitt said. “I’m gonna type an itinerary on the computer, and we’ll be ready to have a ball when you get there.”
“Emitt and his computer . . . Since he bought that thing he spends hours at a time on it. I have no clue how it works, but he tracks our expenses on it, and that Internet—”
“There’s a lot of good information on the Internet, honey. I made our plane reservations to come here over the Internet, remember?” he interrupted. He then turned to Chancey. “I’ll have the itinerary all typed up, and I’ll use the Internet to see what events will be going on during the weekend you’ll be visiting.”
“Okay!” Chancey said. She enjoyed spending time with Don’s parents because it gave her
A.L. Jambor, Lenore Butler