VALENTINE takes his coffee black. To remind himself that certain things in life are meant to be tasted, or experienced and accepted, as bitter. He kids himself with that philosophy, and has even posted something to that effect in one of his Facebook posts.
But in truth, he likes the idea of coffee without sugar and creamer because he enjoys sweets and cakes a lot. He reasons that if he skips the sugar and milk in his coffee, he can have all the sugar and milk he wants in his cakes and pastries. Flippantly, he often jokes that Filipinos like the 3-in-1 coffee because they are too poor to buy real coffee, real sugar, real creamer, and real bread.
That morning of October 2, he got out of bed pretty late because he engaged Luke Paclibar in a marathon texting via Facebook Messenger while lying down. When Luke blanked out after his last question, Valentine got up to brush his teeth and wash his face in the second floor bathroom before coming down to the kitchen to prepare his Starbucks Pumpkin Spice coffee.
He still had half a plate of a three-day old blueberry cheesecake in the fridge so he took it out, played some Zen Peace spa music, and had a reflective morning coffee in the counter height solid wood kitchen table just big enough for two.
And then, his phone rang. It was a Messenger video call from Luke@Me. And his heart stopped for a moment, but without much thought other than Love! Love! Love!, he accepted the call.
Luke apologized for not replying soon enough, and explained that his phone battery died on him. He said that he sensed something special about Valentine, and what they were talking about, so he decided to call.
Valentine felt his hair suddenly grew a few inches longer. He smiled, pleased. And pleased to high heavens because Luke did not disappoint on camera. He is decidedly cute, pleasant and gentle sounding, and although Valentine thought he used a filter of some sort, Luke is certified movie star gorgeous.
And they just talked comfortably like they have already known each other for a while. Sure, there were the usual getting-to-know-you questions like the number of siblings, parentâs age and professions, educational background, coping strategies and livelihood since the pandemic began, and so on.
But Luke took time to explain again his partner of ten years. He didnât name the person, but he admitted that it was a transvestite who now owns a beauty parlor in Talisay City.
Valentine marked this tranny Bella because he believes that a good writer must always be able to name things. Specificity elevates a work of literature from being mediocre to brilliant, from being ordinary to memorable, from being tentative to being sure, authoritative, and Godlike. The devil is in the detail. God is in the detail! Why, he has often asked young writers, why settle for coffee and cake when you can say Pumpkin Spice-flavored Starbucks coffee and New York-styled cheesecake with blueberry topping? He has argued so many times in the past that if creative or imaginative writing is world-making, why not create the world for the readers? Why leave so many questions, so much of the imagination work to the readers?
Luke kept on referring to his ex as ââyong dati koâ (my previous, not my precious). Valentine would always change the subject of the sentence to Bella in his mind. And he also assigned Bella the gender pronoun she.
Bella was four years older than Luke. She met Luke when he was just in senior high, and his family had fallen into hard times. Valentine imagined a chupit situation â a rite of passage fad in the Philippines in beginning of the millennium, before all the wampipti and wampayb tricks of todayâs Gen Zâwhere a gay beautician would cut the hair of adolescent boys in exchange for a blowjob and banana cue money.
But it wasnât like that, Luke explained. When she was younger, Bella was a pageant gay, a beauty queen who did the gay beauty search circuit in the whole Eastern Visayas down to the barangay and purok level, and earned enough from the gigs to support Luke in his studies.
Bella must have been a great beauty, and a real hard worker, Valentine imagined, for her to send Luke to four years of college until he finished a degree in Business Administration.
And to make sure that Valentine understood that the arrangement was mutually beneficial, Luke narrated how he supported Bella after he graduated and started working as sales clerk in a local department store. How he helped Bella, already 27, transition to become a parlor beautician and stylist.
Luke was honest about living in together with Bella in the last three years of their ten-year affair. He chronicled how the relationship grew, and eventually soured. How, in the end, he became a battered partner. (While also admitting that in his younger, more impulsive days, he had physically hurt Bella, too.) He recounted everything including how, finally, Bella cheated on him with a much younger, fresher, newer boy.
Bella cheated on him, Luke reported, but he still wanted to fix things and make the relationship work for them. Thatâs what Luke told Valentine.
And Valentine felt some truth in what Luke had been saying. In fact, he admired Luke at this point. Loved him. Adored him. He wanted to hug Luke. Kiss him. Tell him, I wish I was âyour previous.â
They were looking into each otherâs tearful eyes. It was a video call that was most emotional. If there was love between them at that moment, it was mainly because Luke was trying to be honest, was trying to show his vulnerability; and Valentine was just too impressed, and too willing to believe and love an honest and vulnerable man like Luke.
When Luke told Valentine that it was Bella who decided to leave (or perhaps more correctly, Valentine thought, to send him away), and that she has happily moved on now with her new boy toy, Valentine felt a sadness for Luke. And he only wanted Luke to find the greater gift that fate has destined for him. And he meant him â Valentine himself.
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(You may also follow this story on Wattpad under the account of @PeterSolisNery.)/PN
