His First Valentine

04 | best friend

Grayson 'Ace' Valentine III
[ wed, nov 2nd 12:32 PM ]
The Valentine Residence

Ace pulled into the driveway of his childhood home. Nothing about the four-story mansion had changed much from when he was a kid.

Not even the Thanksgiving wreath that appeared every year around this time, hanging on the front door.

He stayed in the car to finish his blunt, then searched for his spare house key in the centre console.

Standing on the mosaic tile floor in the foyer, he side-eyed the large family portrait photo that was taken a few years before he moved out.

"Moms!" He called out. "Ma, where you at?"

"Nigga, stop yelling!" Gwendolyn mean mugged him as she came down the stairs. "Damn."

At 18-years-old, she was the spitting image of her older brother; down to her height, temper, and tattoos.

She ran her acrylic nails through her red locs and crossed her arms once she stood in front of him.

If looks could kill, he'd definitely be on the floor.

"Fuck you lookin' at me like that for, Gwen?"

She narrowed her eyes into slits, "Where the fuck you been?"

"Who you talkin' to?" Ace twisted his face in a mean mug that matched his sister's. "Ain't I just see yo' ass for your birthday? Don't question me, bruh."

"Saw you for like five minutes in your damn car, bruh. It's been almost a month since you actually been here, A," she circled her finger around the house. "You can't just put that shit to the side sometimes?"

Ace tried to visit his family at least once a week, which should be easy enough because he made his own schedule.

What made it hard, was trying to show up when his father wasn't around.

They argued every time they were in the same room as each other, and it had been that way since he was a teenager. Ace couldn't control his anger whenever he saw him, so he avoided his dad altogether.

Just because his mom forgave him, didn't mean he had to.

Gwendolyn was only seven-years-old when the relationship between Ace and their father became strained.

It was hard to determine if the temper that she had developed was a personality trait gained from her brother, or if it was a side effect from what she witnessed between their parents while growing up.