It’s Valentine’s Day and Love is in the Air!

A short story by Pat Omanu

It was two weeks to Valentine’s Day and I had promised to send a love story to my sister’s magazine as part of its Valentine’s Day special issue, but I was bored and, in that state, I am unable to write. As the deadline neared and her ‘how far?’ text messages kept coming, I went in search of my friend, Bonaventure, who forever told endless stories, in the hope that he might tell a story that could get me going. 

I went to his room but he wasn’t there. I decided to go to the female hostel as I knew he was quite popular with the ladies and had many female friends when I saw him walking towards me. 

“Bonaventure!” I called out. “I’ve been looking for you”. 

“And now you’ve found me.” 

“Indeed. Well, it’s February and they say love is in the air and as you’re full of stories, I wonder what love story you’ve been telling?” 

He raised his brows and then laughed. “Why are you wondering if I’m telling love stories?”

I told him of my promise to my sister and the difficulty was I having coming up with a story. He shrugged and said his stories were drawn from experience and so if he told me a story it was likely to be too deep and mixed-up for a magazine meant for teenagers.

Bonaventure was my last hope so I pressed him. “Why don’t you tell me the story, I’ll tone it down and put it together for the magazine.” 

He smiled. “You’ll tone it down and put it together?” 

“Yes.”

He rubbed his forehead, bowed his head and then looked up to the sky. “You’ll tone it down, put it together. Tone it down, put it together,” he repeated tugging at tiny strands of hair on his chin which represented a beard he was starting to grow. After God knows how many ‘tone it downs and put it togethers’ he cleared his throat and said “Jac and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jac fell down and broke Jac’s crown and Jill came tumbling after.” 

I waited to hear more but that was all he said. “I know that nursery rhyme,” I said. “Now tell me the story.” 

“That’s the story, and what a great love story it is. Jac and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. A pail; not two. So, they must have been holding it together, with Jac’s hand stroking Jill’s occasionally. Jac takes the pail from Jill, holds her round her waist and draw her close. Her body relaxes; she smiles and looks up at Jac. Jac’s head comes down and they kiss. The path they are on is littered with stones and Jac trips over a half-buried boulder, staggers forward, falls, forehead hitting another half-buried boulder. Jill rushes and helps Jac up and they make their way down the hill.” Bonaventure paused and I just gaped. 

“Now don’t let me down. Put it together nicely, end it with a twist.” And then he just walked away. 

A week passed and I still had no story, so I called my sister and told her not to expect anything from me and moved on to trying to finish two outstanding essays I had. Some days later, on my way to hand in my essays, I heard Bonaventure calling me and turned to see him with his friend, Jude, who was getting on his motorcycle. “How’s the story coming on?” he asked. 

“Very well. I’m almost done.” 

“Good, good, good. Don’t forget the twist,”

“I won’t” 

“Jude and I are going to Eletu Hiiill to fetch water,” He said emphasising hill. 

“Ok,” I replied and wondered what I was supposed to do with that bit of information. I was about to walk away when I saw that Bonaventure was looking intently at me, as I wondered why, I noticed his hand surreptitiously caress Jude’s back. He leaned forward with his eyes still fixed on me and whispered to Jude. His lips seemed to brush Jude’s ear or perhaps he kissed it. Jude laughed and they sped off. 

I was upset. What on earth was going on that I didn’t know? I called Lateef, who always knew all there was to know on campus, and invited him to my room for some beer. As we sat down drinking, I listened to all the gossip and then I bluntly asked if Bonaventure and Jude were gay. 

Lateef tried not to choke with laughter. “You try getting any lady they set their eyes on to look in your direction and you will know how gay they are.” I said nothing. 

“What makes you think they are gay, anyway?” 

“Well Bonaventure told me he was going with Jude to Eletu Hill to fetch water.” 

“And that makes them gay? Jude has a bike; everybody goes with him to Eletu Hill to fetch water.” 

That much was true and I should have just shut my mouth up but instead I said Bonaventure had told me about Jack and Jill and I repeated the rhyme. 

“Why was he reciting Jack and Jill to you?” 

“Oh, I had asked him to tell me a love story and –” 

“You begged him for a love story?” Lateef cut in and two things immediately struck. He had changed my “asked” to “begged” and he was moving away from me. 

I sighed and was going to ask him what the matter was but he walked swiftly to the door and left taking my last can of beer with him. 
Bonaventure came to my room on the morning of Valentine’s Day waving my sister’s magazine. “There’s no story here. What happened to ‘I’ll put it together’?” 

“Nothing.” 

“Nothing?” He sat down and stretched out his legs. “That’s a shame, I tell you a story, tell you to give it a twist and you come up nothing. That’s really a shame”

I didn’t answer. I was still upset and after Lateef’s visit, confused. Bonaventure looked at me eyebrows raised, expecting me to say something so I told him of Lateef’s visit and asked him what all the caressing and kissing with Jude was all about.

“You opened your mouth to ask Lateef if I am gay?” Bonaventure said trying to sound serious but hilarity got the better of him and he couldn’t control himself, he bent over and laughed so hard that tears formed in his eyes. 

“The ‘caressing’ and ‘kissing’, that was the twist to the Jack and Jill story,” he said as his laughter subsided. “Where has your imagination gone? I said Jac and Jill went up the hill, you took Jac to be J-a-c-k, Jack but it’s J-a-c Jac a plausible short form for Jacqueline.” 

I stared at him. “Yeah, my imagination has gone,” I said

“Cheer up! It’s Valentine’s Day and love is in the air, whatever that love might be.”