Everything was wrong
She had made a mistake. She wouldn’t repeat such again.
CHAPTER 8
VALENTINE
T
ina kept up a strong front after that day. She had run home and cried till the pillows were soaking wet. She called Charlie later that night, sniffing as she spoke into the phone.
“Hello Charlie”
“Hi Tina, what’s up?” he answered.
Tina paused for a while; she didn’t know what to say. She could feel the tears welling up again. She was about telling Charlie everything. It would have been amidst tears and wailing but she would have.
“Hey Tina, how are you?”
Tina was surprised to hear that voice. That was Ronda. She hadn’t expected Ronda to be with him till this time. Tina couldn’t tell Ronda. Charlie was still her closest friend and despite the new friends, she still saw herself, Charlie and David as a triangle. Now David was threatening to break it and only Charlie could know. She put up a strong voice and spoke into the receiver.
“I’m fine. Just wanted to know if ………” Tina didn’t know what to say.
“If what Tina?” Charlie asked.
This is getting awkward.
Tina cut the line and put her phone under her pillow. She had to console herself. She did and the crying stopped that night.
She went early to school the next day. She didn’t go to Charlie’s place as she always did; she called him to meet her in school. She had History that day. The project’s deadline was the next week and she and David had not gotten anywhere. When the class ended she saw David walking out, his bag pack slung in a cross over his shoulder.
“David, David, wait up.” She shouted.
He looked back before stepping out. Tina saw a lack of surety in his eyes. She wondered if he was scared she would bring up something awkward.
“Hey.” she said when she met him outside the class.
“We have to finish our assignment. Let’s meet at Charlie’s place, after school.” she said.
He looked surprised, shocked was a better description. He looked like he didn’t expect her to say something like that. Tina realized he expected her to still be hurt, to show the susceptibility she showed the day before.
“You are going to wait a very long time for that.” she thought.
He recovered well. He smiled his famous smile and nodded his head.
“Yeah, let’s meet there after school. We can go together, from the parking lot.” he suggested.
“Yeah we can. I have a class, we’ll see during lunch break.” she said, walking away from him.
The rest of the day was uneventful. They met after school at Charlie’s place and did some good work on the assignment. Charlie added some ideas to help furnish their presentation. They went there, everyday for the rest of the week to finish their work.
*******
Tina thought she was done with crushes, done with her crush on David to be particular. It did rear up its ugly head but in a way, she never could have imagined.
It all started one day at lunch.
I kicked it off at lunch.
It was the first day in February and everywhere was already buzzing with the Valentine fever. Tina planned to stay at home all through Valentine’s day, she would sleep all through.
“Why wouldn’t you come?” Charlie asked.
“It’s going to be too depressing.” Tina replied. She was shameless about her lack of dating. The others looked at her like she was a goat with a unicorn’s horn; David just looked with an expression she couldn’t read.
“What do you mean by too depressing? We are going to spend the day together.” Ronda said.
Ronda was removing the onions from Charlie’s sandwich. She did it every day before he ate his sandwiches or burgers. Charlie was about eating when he saw something had stained his pants so he bent to remove it.
She knows Charlie doesn’t like onions and she makes sure she gets them out. She really likes this guy.
“We should.” Maxine added. Her voice was cold and her tone accusing. Tina wondered if she was hearing things that weren’t there.
“I don’t have any date per se. I think I’ll fare better at home.” Tina replied.
“What if you have a date? Would you come?” David said.
Tina was surprised he spoke on this matter. He used words sparingly with her ever since that day. He never spoke on issues like this. Tina didn’t know if surprise registered on her face but she saw it register on Maxine’s. Maxine looked back at David. Tina couldn’t read the look on her face, she just saw her hair. She had rolled it into eager bouncing curls. She saw the curls shake then stop then shake again. Maxine had said something to David only David had heard. Tina looked to see if Charlie or Ronda noticed it but she saw Ronda had bent to help scrape off whatever was on Charlie’s pants. Maxine turned back to her and her expression was serene once again. She tried to look at David but Maxine and her curls blocked her view.
Tina replied David, though she still couldn’t see him.
“It would be a waste if I didn’t then.” Tina replied.
“What would be a waste?” Charlie asked, free of the nuisance that held his attention ransom.
He had picked up his sandwich, eager to bite into the salad snuggling between the brown loaves. Tina saw a small white strip hanging to the upper loaf. It was an onion. She looked at Ronda who was piercing the nylon top of a drink with a sharp-tipped straw. Tina wondered how what Ronda’s reaction would be if she picked out the onion from the sandwich before Charlie ate it. She left him to eat it and watched as it disappeared between his vacillating lips.
“David asked if I would come if I had a date.” Tina said, filling him in.
Charlie looked like he wanted to reply but there was too much food in his mouth. Ronda was also giving him a look that had “Table manners” written all over it. He chewed and swallowed, taking time to take a sip of water before he spoke.
“I could get you a date.” he said, his eyes bright with the idea. Tina chuckled and saw Ronda and David doing the same, only Maxine didn’t.
“You couldn’t get yourself a date if your life depended on it Charlie.” Ronda said. Tina saw the brown spot in her eyes dance sideways as she spoke.
Charlie had a look of confident bemusement on his face.
“I’d have had no problems with a date, if you didn’t cut away my charms.” Charlie replied.
“You mean charms as in voodoo right, not charm.” David said, a small smile spreading his cheeks.
He didn’t seem concerned that Maxine didn’t look happy. He looked quite happy in spite of it.
“Yes, I mean charms.” Charlie replied before looking at David with feigned anger.
“I do know what you mean though. And I have charm. I’m still with Ronda, which has to count.” he replied.
Tina could see he was pleased with himself. Ronda replied him first, wiping the smirk off his face.
“That doesn’t count Charlie. We are together in spite of it rather than because of it.” Ronda replied.
Her comment was cheeky and caused everyone to have a good laugh. Only Charlie didn’t look amused.
“I was talking about my curls anyways.” Charlie replied, not yet defeated.
“I can get you a date Tina, trust your bestie.” Charlie said.
Tina didn’t care for a date. She just wanted Valentine’s day to come and go.
The next day Tina got to school with Charlie and Ronda. She went to her locker and was about to open it when she noticed a note squeezed between the locked door and the frame. It was white, a small stripped piece of paper torn from a book. She opened it. She felt small tremors in her chest before she opened it.
You do not see me, but I see you.
I have always seen you.
I have always wanted to tell you.
How I like you.
Will you be my Val?
The handwriting was strange and scrawny. The writer tr
ied very hard to make sure the note couldn’t be traced to him. Tina wondered about what Charlie said.
“This is Charlie playing tricks.” she said to herself, pocketing the note to be shown to her friends during lunch break.
“It’s you Charlie.” Maxine said.
She spoke first after they were all showed the note. She was accusing him but Tina saw shaking in her eyes. She saw something there.
Was that doubt?
“I know it’ll be difficult to believe given all I said the last time. But this isn’t me. It’s someone else.” Charlie replied.
Tina saw Ronda draw closer to Charlie. Tina wondered if there was any space between their snuggling bodies, she didn’t even know it was possible for her to draw closer until she saw her do it.
Ronda spoke into Charlie’s ear; it was something about the note Tina was sure. She saw Charlie move his head back and shake it.
“It wasn’t me, Ron.” he said out loud.
He looked honest. He looked like it really wasn’t him. Tina was about to believe him when she had a rethink.
If it wasn’t Charlie, who else could it be?
Ronda didn’t look like she did it. Maxine didn’t engage in such games. And David, it couldn’t be him.
“Who else could it be but you?” Tina cried out, her eyes carrying an assurance that she wasn’t feeling.
“Tina, I am telling you it wasn’t me. You have an admirer somehow somewhere.” Charlie replied.
Tina shivered at the thought. She had never seen herself as someone to be admired. She saw herself as Tina, plain and simple, Tina who kept a tight clique and was good at Sciences. Tina liked guys who would never like her back.
She looked at David. He was eating his nails, slicing the top bit off his middle fingernail. He looked up and noticed her. He stopped and smiled, making Tina turn her gaze away from him.
David never chewed his nails. He was developing bad habits.
There were notes every day till two days before Valentine. She saw one in the middle of her note. She saw two others squeezed between her locker door and the frame. Tina became very vigilant; she wanted to find the person who was dropping off those notes.
After closing hours, two days to Valentine, Tina told Charlie and David to wait with her. She wanted them to lurk around after school. She wanted to watch her locker, there wasn’t anywhere else the note would be dropped. They spread themselves. Tina could see the outline of Charlie behind the rows of lockers, David was out of sight. After about 30 minutes, David called her phone.
“Hi, David.” she whispered.
“Are you sure it’s going to go down today? We’ve been here for quite long.” he said, his voice a tiny whisper.
“Maybe he isn’t planning to put it today.” she said.
“Then let’s get out of here. The school is empty and it’s getting spooky.” David said.
She was trying to call Charlie, signaling to him but he didn’t see her. Then she placed a call to him. His phone was still ringing when she saw David walk across the room to her locker. Taking that as a sign that the watch was over, she came out of her hiding place too. David turned back to face her, a small note flapped in his hands.
“Is that another one?” she asked.
“Yes.” he answered.
Tina saw Charlie come out of his hiding place. His face carried a drowsiness and he looked like he wanted to sleep or he was just waking up. Tina fought off the urge to make a jest of him.
Another note had just been found.
This one had different wordings.
Two days till Lovers’ day
Be my own you still may
At the appointed time
Your gaze will meet mine
Your greatest admirer
Tina couldn’t believe the guy had managed to drop a note in her locker despite her vigilance. She was sure she had checked her locker before they started watching. This made her unsure she had checked it well. There was only one way the note would get there and that was before their watch.
The next day at lunch, Tina showed the note to Maxine and Ronda. That was where it all broke down. Maxine on reading it turned back and faced David. Her voice was hot with emotion as she spoke, her gaze dared him to deny.
“This was you David.” she said.
David looked shocked. His gaze was cold, his voice as serious as Tina had ever heard it.
“No Maxine, this wasn’t me. That’s a very odd way of accusing me.” David answered.
“You still like her, don’t deny it.” Maxine said.
She had stood up and was facing him with a combative pose. She looked like she was ready to jump on David. Tina was now sure of all the tension she thought she had seen between them in the days that had passed.
“She’s my friend Maxine.” David answered her looking very cool, his voice was controlled and calm. “There’s no way you don’t like your friend Maxine, that’s not how it works.”
“You know what I mean David.” Maxine answered.
“Behave yourself Maxine, you are making a fool of both of us.” he replied.
Tina looked at Charlie. She saw he was staring with his mouth agape. His hand was entwined with Ronda’s hand.
Is that an automatic reaction now?
“You did it David. Look into my eyes, stare into my eyes and tell me you didn’t do it.” Maxine said.
Her curls were bouncing nonstop now. Her head shook with the agitation she must have been feeling. David snuck closer to her standing form and looked into her eyes.
“I didn’t do it.” he replied. His eyes were serious, holding her gaze without a flicker. He looked as if he was saying the truth. Tina looked at Charlie and Ronda, she saw they believed David. They had turned back to look at Maxine like she had gone bonkers.
Only Tina knew David well. David was lying. If David had been telling the truth he would have had his lazy smile that didn’t manage to turn his mouth off. David had looked serious all through, David never reacted like that. She stared at David and caught his gaze already on her. Her eyes asked him, pleaded with him to tell her. His gaze on her had no conviction. It was as if she could see him now, see his thoughts and everything he had done in the past month. He couldn’t hold her gaze long; he looked down before turning to look at the others.
“David, both of us know it is you. We have had several fights over this.” Maxine said.
She was packing her stuff into her bag. She looked like she was leaving. Tina looked around to see other students staring at them. Most of them had heard Maxine’s accusation.
“There is no difference between you and the rest of them.” she said, her voice dripped with annoyance and dislike.
“Wait Maxine, sit and let us solve this issue.” Charlie said. His eyes were pleading, asking Maxine not to walk away. No one had ever walked away from their table. He looked at Maxine first before looking at David.
“David, tell her to stay.” Charlie asked.
“Stay Maxine, stay let us talk about this.” David said.
“There’s nothing to talk about David. Nothing at all and you know it. This is not the first time we have discussed this.” Maxine said.
She turned her sideways. She gave David one last angry look before she walked away. Her shoes made a slapping sound as they struck the tiled floor. David didn’t look so ruffled; he looked as if he had expected this.
“Go after her man.” Charlie told him, he was still watching her walk away.
“Yeah.” Ronda said.
“No Charlie. She has made this claim too many times. I am tired of defending myself.” he answered.
Ronda stood up and started walking towards Maxine’s departing figure. Then she turned back as if she remembered something, she turned to the table and looked at Charlie.
“Aren’t you coming Charlie?” she said.
Charlie jumped off the bench and closed his lunch back.
“Of course, look after our bags guys.”
He left with Rond
a, going to see if they could bring Maxine back. When they had gotten a good distance away, Tina looked at David. Her eyes said what she wanted to say even before they became words.
“It was you.”
It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t an accusation. It was a statement of fact and utmost assurance. David didn’t look as if he was willing to argue.
“Yes.” he replied.
“Why?” she asked.
“You were the one who pushed me off remember. You told me you had a girlfriend. Or did you forget that this past week?” she asked.
“I can explain.” he said.
“Well, start.” Tina said.
She saw Charlie and Ronda on their way back to the table. She signaled to David and focused on her food.
“She has gone home.” Ronda said after she sat down.
“Will you go to her see her?” Charlie asked David.
“No, I have another appointment to meet up with.” He answered, his gaze rested on Tina while he said that.
“He’s coming to my place this afternoon.” Tina thought to herself.
“Is something up between two of you?” Charlie asked.
He was concerned, that much was clear. Just as he speaking the bell went off, David picked his bag and gestured to the rest.
“We have class. Don’t worry about that Curly.” he said leaving the table first.
CHAPTER 9
ANOTHER EVENING IN HER ROOM
I
t was past 6 that evening when David showed up at her place. Tina heard the door shut downstairs.
“Good evening Mrs. Jordan.” David spoke in a conversational tone but his voice carried up the stairs to meet Tina. She heard her mom register surprise in her voice.
“David, this is a pleasant surprise. It’s been quite a while since I have laid my eyes on you. How are you?” she asked.
“I am great ma.” he answered.
“Is Tina …. Is she in?” he asked.
Tina wondered why he stammered the first time.
“She’s upstairs. She might be sleeping though, just go check.” Mrs. Jordan told him.
After All This Time: What She Wished Page 5