http://penastory.com/2016/02/24/much-ado-about-valentine/

It’s February 14th again and love is in the air. I should be expecting gifts, a long phone call or at least a text; I’m getting none of that. I have no VAL. Last year’s Val’s day was quite different for me. The bestie came over, we got our nails done (in red, of course!), we had a delicious Valentine cake and we spent most of the night at a party. Well I can’t say I was happy on that day, Hector didn’t call or text.

Hector had been my Val for as long as I can remember, although we never spent Val’s day together. He was the perfect val. He’d call as early as possible on Val’s day telling how much he loved me, promise me a book of my choice as my gift (he was a scholar) and sometimes he’d even send money just for Val’s day chills. So all the while I was with bestie last Val’s – at the salon, the party, in the hostel – my heart was with Hector. Every single smile or cheery thing I did that day was fake, very fake and superficial. I was sad and dying on the inside and bestie knew. She knew it was because of Hector but she didn’t say anything, I guess she didn’t want me to start crying again.

See the thing is I woke up on that Saturday, the 14th of February, just like every other Saturday. Bestie was still sleeping. I got up leaving her on the bed and went to the bathroom to wash my face. Next I went to the sitting room to watch TV and that’s when I remembered………. the whole place was literally upside down with pictures of Hector everywhere. I did that the previous day when I was going crazy……. Seeing the pictures I began to remember the events of the previous day and tears started rolling down my eyes, my knees buckled beneath me and I fell to the ground. I picked up his picture, held the frame tightly to my chest as if to hug him one last time but all i felt was wood not Hector. Then I screamed and cried, and screamed again and again and again…… I must have woken bestie because she came from behind me and hugged me tight whilst stroking my hair she kept saying ”its okay”. Then I screamed again and I didn’t stop till my throat was dry and I felt weak, So, yeah, I spent most of my morning crying. I wished I didn’t wake up that morning or the morning of the previous day which happened to be Friday the 13th. I’d heard about Friday the 13th being an evil day on which bad things happened but I’m not superstitious so I never really took it serious. Besides, nothing bad had ever happened to me on any Friday the 13th.

When folklore became reality to me I was dazed, the evil of the day had already occurred before I woke up to say my morning prayer ( not that I pray every morning, but I always made sure to pray on all Friday the 13ths). My Ma woke me that morning and asked me to hug her. I was really sleepy so I hugged her reluctantly and she said ” hug me tighter” and I’m like **sigh, this woman but anyway I held her as tight as my sleepy self could then she whispered in my ear ”Grandpa just died now”
————————————————————————————————————————————— Yeah that’s how I went blank, then a sharp pain in my chest jerked me from my blank state, next I felt myself falling but my Ma grabbed me quickly and tried to help me stand on my own two feet. That’s all I can remember before I went crazy that day.

That’s why Hector didn’t call on vals day or should I say Grandpa Hector…… I never thought he’d leave me so suddenly. I’d planned to buy Chimamanda’s ‘Half of a yellow Sun’ for him as promised – that was supposed to be the first time I’d get him something for Valentine’s. At 91 his love for books had not diminished. After reading ‘The Purple Hibiscus’, he wanted more of Chimamanda’s books. I’d seen the next at least nine years of his life in my mind’s eye and I had planned to make it as memorable as possible and then let go when he clocked 100 but 91 was his limit. I didn’t get a chance to blow his mind with my 9 year plan. I’m not sure he knew how much I loved him……

So this me now, a year later sandwiched between all my biochemistry materials preparing for tomorrow’s exam and trying as much as possible to ignore the significance of today.

What’s Valentine’s day without a Val?

Source: PenAStory www.penastory.com