A Picture’s Worth, Pt. 1 of 3

Sometime during the holidays I was reminded of this story and I figured I’d share because, well, that’s what I do. I believe I’ve alluded to this before, but when it comes to gifts, I try to be thoughtful because I’d much rather give and receive something that took more effort than money to get. I live for that smile on someone’s face when they get something they truly wanted and reflect who they are.

A few winters back I was kinda-sorta seeing this girl named April. We hung out a lot and had no titles but I was definitely feeling her because we had similar interests and goals, and always had great conversations. Christmas was rolling around and since she was someone I thought highly of I figured I’d get her a gift. My holiday list is usually reserved solely for family, so it definitely meant something that she wasn’t getting bah humbugged.

When it came to her gift, I had the perfect idea. April was a huge movie buff and her all-time favorite film was The Color Purple. I figured it’d be dope if I got her a blown up poster of the film, so I hit the Net and started searching. I came across a few on eBay, but they weren’t in the best shape and then I spotted a mint-conditioned one. I can’t remember the exact price, but I’m sure it was no more than $40 with shipping and handling. I made my bid, won and had it delivered to my office a few days later.

As promised, the poster was in perfect condition and I was sure April was going to love it but I wondered if giving her a rolled up poster in a Jiffy tube was the most romantic thing I could do. That’s when I got the idea to get it framed. In theory this sounded dope, but since this wasn’t my girl, there was no way I was gonna play myself and pay some crazy amount to get it done. If the estimates was too high, she was just gonna have to get it framed herself. Sorry.

Lucky for her, though, I found a spot near my job that did framework relatively cheap so I went ahead and had them hook it up.
About three days later the poster was ready and I called April to tell her I had a Christmas present for her. She squealed with excitement at the mere mention of a “surprise” and I beamed from ear to ear over the phone like a giddy schoolboy.

“So what did you get me,” she asked excitedly.

“Now if I tell you what kind of surprise would that be?”

“Can I at least get a clue?”

“All you need to know is that you’re gonna love it. So when can I come over to give it to you?”

“You want to come to my house? Why can’t I just get it after work or something?”

“Well, it’s actually a bit bulky so I figured it’d be better if I brought it to your crib rather than having you lug it on the train by yourself.”

“Okay, well I leave for Atlanta on Wednesday to see my mom for the holidays. I get back on Sunday so I guess sometime next week.”

“Okay, no problem. You’re off next week, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. Well, I’m working half of next week and it’s here at my job, so I can swing by with it after work like Monday or Tuesday.”

“Okay, Monday is fine. I have a, uh, meeting around two but I should be back home way before you get off work.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let me get back to work and I’ll call you later tonight.”

“Okay, bye.”

Sunday came and April calls to let me know she made it back in to town safely. We agreed that I’ll call her in the morning to confirm everything and then let her know when I was getting off work so she’ll know when to expect me.

Due to the holidays, it was a relatively slow day at the office and it looked like I was actually going to get off at six o’clock so I gave April a ring at about 5:30 but didn’t get an answer. I figured she was still in her meeting or on the train so I left her a message and told her that I was getting off on time. Six o’clock came and still no call back so I rang her again, but once again got no answer. I bullshitted around the office for another half an hour before finally deciding to just head out.

I called April one last time before leaving and got her voicemail once again. Since she said she would be done with her meeting way before six I figured in the time it would take for me to get around her way she should be home. So I left a message and texted her to say I was on my way. I grabbed the framed poster, which was neatly wrapped up in brown packing paper and secured with twine, and lugged it on to the train. Luckily I got a space by the end of the car so I could prop up the poster and not worry about it getting bumped by some ignoramus.

After transferring to another train at Atlantic, I finally made it to April’s stop. Once outside, I called her again and got her voice mail. I had only been to her house once, maybe twice, but I still knew what block she was on I just couldn’t remember her bell. She was probably in the bathroom or something and didn’t hear the phone, so I just made my way to her block hoping she’d answer the phone when I got out front. But when I got to April’s building I called once again and got no answer. I glanced up towards her fourth floor apartment I didn’t see any lights on, then I checked my cell, which read 7:40, and thought to myself, Damn, I hope everything is okay because she should’ve been home by now. Assuming she was a few minutes away, I shot her another text and just waited.

As a way to kill time, I called my boy Terrell to shoot the shit. After about 20 minutes of BSin in the cold, Terrell is like, “Damn, son, shortie still not there yet?”

“Nah, son, and I’m getting hungry.”

“That’s fucked up, yo. Just leave, man. We can grab some grub around my way.”

“I would but I got this big ass poster with me. I ain’t trying to carry this shit around with me all night and then all the way back to Queens just to then have to figure out how to get it back here.”

“Yeah, you’re right. So what you gonna do.”

“I dunno. Let me call her again, man, ’cause I ain’t trying to wait here all night. I just hope nothing happened to her.”

I called April again and once again got her voice mail. I left yet another message and shot her a frantic text: “Where U @? I’m outside UR crib.” Frustrated, worried, cold and hungry, I decided to double back to a Caribbean restaurant I passed on the way over here. I had planned to take April out to eat once I gave her the poster, but fuck that now, I was starving and at least I could kill some time by eating.

INTERLUDE
Okay, I know how you people hate the cliffhangers and multi-part posts but this one is hella long and I’m gonna stop it right here for now. Depending on the comments I may be nice and post Part 2 later today, but that’s only if y’all really want it. So speak your piece and democracy will prevail.

UPDATE: Here’s Part 2