Silence ruled the entire house with drops of coldness, anxiety and crumbles of detest.
Palemo, ever since they came back, hadn't talked to Valentine or even looked her in the eyes. Valentine felt like she had committed the worst sin in the world.
She was wrong to harbour the thoughts of her father understanding her. For Palemo, there was nothing to understand, but he wouldn't hear her out though.
Valentine would cook and call for him, but he wouldn't eat, he had as well, been starving himself.
The afternoon came with sudden dregs of sunlight which shot arrows of sunlight and warmth inside the living room.
Valentine was cuddled up on one of the sofa chairs, thinking about how she was going to handle the current blows of life. Life was about to take her father away from her.
"Did I really make a mistake? …" Soliloquized Valentine. Seemed to be a better way to keep her sanity. "What have I done?" She sobbed.
"No, there was no way I would kneel and beg Josef !" She defended herself from herself.
"What do you think you are Valentine? Your father is just a mechanic and you're nothing, absolutely nothing and you got the chance to attend the most prestigious college in Greece, and one of the the top best in all of Europe and you just blew it up just because of Pride, where did you even get that pride? Where? You should be ashamed of yourself"
She muttered against herself, following closely what her mind was letting out. Her mind became to Judge her and her heart ached the more.
That was when she understood that even the strongest of humans sometimes gets broken to their knees, sometimes one need to go down below their standards, below what they believe in, to get what they wanted.
The door opened with a little cricky noise and she rubbed her face of tears with the palm of her hands hastily. Tears had already drawn character lines along her red cheek and her reddened eyes had made sure of it.
Palemo came through to the sitting room and had his hand pick Television remote. He settled down on the other side of the chair, away from Valentine, and fixed his gaze at the tuning television.
Valentine's gaze rested at him while her mind ran helter picking up possible words and sentences to spill out along the thoughts path.
Even when she had everything to say, she found herself looking for words to say to her father.
“I should let him be” she thought. But the moment had been poisoned by enough silence. She forced her mouth open and a few words fell out from her lips.
"Patera why won't you talk to me?" She asked. Palemo uptuned the television's volume at once.
Valentine was pained but she had decided to face that pain and see where it would lead.
Palemo was her father after all, if he was going to leave hee, then she better start planning herself on time.
"Patera? Please hear me out?" Her soft voice was curly and cool.
"Is not as easy as you think…" she sighed.
"I'm sorry that I failed you, but is time to move on. What has happened, has happened, we do not have control over it…"
"Shut up, Valentine! …" Palemo raged, shaking Valentine. "It's not as easy as I think? What exactly isn't as easy as I think? Asking for what you want?! Huh!? Sorry that you failed me huh!? You failed yourself you brat! You are a complete failure yourself! —"
"Patera!?" If she could stop the words from hitting her so hard, she would. But why were the words too heavy and painful?
She could burst out in tears any time. It was the first time Palemo had been harsh to her, to the extent of tearing her heart apart with cruel and harsh words.
"Stop calling me that! …" He snarled.
And when she couldn't hold it back anymore, streams of hot tears flowed down through her eyes. She parted her shaky lips and the words "Mr Keftedakia?" Slipped out.
"Time to move on? Just hear yourself say all these, move on you say, I should move on after waiting for eighteen years? Yeah? We do not have control over it? What happened to you? You suddenly got deaf and dumb!? All you had to do was beg Josef ! That was all…"
"He did that on purpose… It was all his plan" she muttered, burying her face in between her thighs.
"Who cares! Do I look like I care about whatever it is that was going on between you two? All you had to do was go to Liege College and be in good terms with everyone! Especially Jame—" he cut himself there.
Valentine raised her head looking at him. She couldn't believe what he had just said. Why must she be in good terms with Josef? "What are you talking about?" She asked with her faint tone.
Palemo looked gravely at her and sat back down without saying another word. She stood and trudged out of the sitting room, stopping after a few steps away.
"I have seen fathers abandon their daughters. Let me know whenever you are ready to abandon me…" she strengthened her voice.
"Also let me know the truth about my mother, because you have never said anything reasonable to me"
Palemo opened his mouth to say something, but Valentine walked out to her room and locked the door. A girl can only be a little girl for a long time.
It dawned on him that she was growing, and still not the little girl he had been with all her life.
****
"Why are you all looking through my phone?" He picked up the phone from the couch and once his eyes met what they were looking at.
They all let out a surpressed laughter and he shamefully walked back to his chair, keeping his phone away from him. They continued giggling non stop.
"Not funny…" he scoffed.
"No, is not. Is just funny" Hector laughed. Attracting a chorus.
Ruby sat beside him and wondered what they were laughing about. So he slipped the phone near to him and clicked on the phone at it's rear.
He nearly exclaimed "wow" to his hearing. He looked at the others and they nodded their heads simultaneously.
Josef went to sit beside him and threw his arm over his shoulder with a smiling face.
"Have you come to mock me well enough?" Achilles asked.
"No, mate" surpressing his laughter wasn't good enough, so he bursted out and they all joined in a chorus.
"Okay, okay. Guys, keep it at a minimum. Let's hear from the horses mouth, shall we?"
"Mmmm" they agreed with a nod.
"So, Achilles, you have got a girl, a—"
"A big fat girl!" Hector laughed.
"Hey! Hey watch it…" they tackled him.
"He never says anything good" Nicholas hissed.
"My bad" he rolled his eyes. "Like we are meant to say anything good?"
"As I was saying, so you have a girlfriend and you didn't want to tell us…"
"She is not my girlfriend, Josef " he replied abruptly in defense.
Josef chuckled. "Hey, don't play me…" he looked at the others.
"What did we see again?"
"A big fat girl in bikini"