On the 14th of February 2020, I closed from work and entered my favourite barbering shop. There was this Barber I always allowed to touch my hair because he was that good. When I get there and there are fifty people in line waiting for him, I will be the fifty-first person in line. He noticed me and called me “Customer.” His name was Phillip. We exchanged contact so I could call anytime I was going there.

When I got there that evening, the place was almost empty so I sat down and he started working on my hair. I was dozing when I heard his phone calling. He checked who was calling, chuckled and put the phone down. A little over four minutes later, another call came through. He checked and put down the phone again. When the call came through the third time I said, “Just answer. I can wait. There’s no problem at all.”

He picked up the phone and the first thing he said was, “Mansa, so don’t you know how to stop when the person you’re calling isn’t answering? I’m busy. I will call you later.” The lady said something I didn’t hear but Philip responded, “Oh so you called me because of Valentine? I don’t have the money to buy you anything. We can do love every day not only today.”

After saying that, he chuckled and hung up the call. He extended the conversation to me; “Bra, you see women? It’s Valentine’s Day ooo. She won’t give me anything but expecting me to give her something. I don’t have it. Two years ago, she did the same thing and this year too.” I asked him, “So two years ago what did you get her?” He responded, “Nothing. Me? Do I have money?”

When he was done, I paid and left. Minutes later, I came back to the shop to see him dozing in his chair. I woke him up and gave him the package I had in my hand. I said, “Go and give it to her. Make her happy. Women love gifts.” He looked at the package and asked, “Everything?” I answered, “Blow her mind. Make it the best Valentine’s Day she has ever experienced.”

His eyes welled up with tears. I tapped him and said, “It’s the month of love. Show her you love her.”

Early the next morning, he called to say thank you. I asked how it went and he said, “When I gave it to her she didn’t want to take it. She asked if I’d rob a bank. But finally, she did. She posted it on her status. She called all her friends to tell them about it. She behaved like a child and I enjoyed watching her.”

When Covid happened, the barbering shop became a dangerous place to be so I stopped visiting. Along the line, I had someone close to my place who was equally good so for a long while I didn’t visit Philip’s shop. Somewhere in 2021, I passed by to have my favourite barber work on my hair. The guy I met there told me, “Philip? He didn’t come here again after he got married. He has his own shop now.”

The Story Of My Worst Valentine

“Wow,” I said. I call him; “Philip, I heard you’ve left us because you got married. He laughed. “Boss it’s not like that ooo. Mansa got us a new shop so we put things together and started our own after marriage. That’s why.”

I was happy for them, how their love story ended and how well they were doing. I remembered that Val’s day and what I did and told myself, “It wasn’t in vain. Look at them now.”  

—Eben

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