#shortbites

“Silly girl,” she started muttering under her breath as she continued to pick at blackish caps of the bean sprouts in a basket which stood in the sink, “always so slow with homework, god only knows what she is going to do when she grows up. Think what? I am going to be here forever to take care of her meh?”

Rina flinched and gingerly stepped out of view as she waited for her best friend to join her lest she had to be heaped with more bitter tirades that evening. She scanned the area appreciatively. This narrow back street flanked by two rows of houses stood in between Banda Hilir and Melaka Raya reminded her of an old man’s almost toothless grin. Those empty crevices and cavities  and holes abandoned, provided hours of childish adventures and daredevil games she and Wei Wei constantly came up with.  This lane was old, most of its residents stayed on because it was what they had always known. The Malacca surrounding this lane was sprouting new looks but this lane just trudged on day after day, seemingly contented it its oblivion.

Rina heard Wei-Wei’s careful footsteps approaching and smiled expectantly.

“You better come back before 7, you understand me?” Wei-Wei’s mother stared threateningly at the two retreating figures.

Rina and Wei-wei walked in respectful silence for about 50 metres from the house then as if on cue, ran screaming towards their favourite spot, kicking up a cloud of dust with the rubber slippers and giggling hysterically as a cat asleep under an abandoned  car jumped out of its skin at their shrieks.

“You win Wei-Wei! Rina gasped out, clutching her tummy as she bent over, trying to recover from the mad sprint.

“You’re almost as fast as me now. Come, let’s get some assam. I have been thinking about it all day.” Wei-Wei licked her dried lips and gazed longingly at the pregnant pods of tamarind hanging from the low branches of the huge tree that bordered the lane. The biggest house on the lane stood right next to this looming tree and in between its weathered walls and the shades of the tree ran a broad and deep concrete rain drain. It was a daily ritual. Rina and Wei-Wei would collect enough tamarind pods in their pockets and climb down into this usually dry drain to contemplate on the day’s proposed games while sucking on the tamarind until their eyes squinted and their cheeks were sucked in into an almost permanent state.  It made them feel special, this drain did. Snug within its high walls, it made them invisible, invincible even.

“When did that happen?” Rina asked, looking at a conspicuously angry welt on the Wei-Wei’s calf.

“This afternoon. ‘Cause of the report card.”

Rina nodded understandingly, it was expected. Nothing Wei-Wei did was ever good enough for her mother. She noticed Wei-wei almost dry eyes. These days, the tears hardly came. Wei-Wei took to the beatings as she took to going to school or eating or breathing even!  Rina thought of her Pops, he would hardly even raise his voice at Rina. But then again, he did not have to, not with those eyes he glued on her when she was misbehaving.

“But Wei-Wei, teacher did say you would have been in first place if you did not fall sick all over your maths paper. Did you even tell her that?” Rina demanded as she sucked on her third pod of tamarind.

“It’s ok la Rina. She says if she does not beat me enough, I won’t take studies seriously. Then what will be I when I grow up?” Wei-Wei repeated mechanically.

Rina studied the old scars on Wei-Wei’s legs and seethed inside for her best friend. Once Amma had lost her head enough to beat Rina soundly with a clothes hangar. All because she and Wei-Wei had spent an extra hour outside playing. Pops did not speak to Amma the whole night and all Rina heard instead was Wei-wei’s knocking on the old corrugated tin back door, asking her mother to let her in.

“Did your father ever beat you?” Rina asked hesitatingly. This was one ground she was unsure about as Wei-Wei tended to clamp up whenever her father was mentioned.

Wei-Wei looked out above the drain, and reached for a broken branch and started toying with it. “No, “ she answered finally examining the branch with renewed interest.

“You know, in the two years since you moved here, I have never once seen your dad. Why’s that?” Rina asked trying to look nonchalant as she concentrated on getting the tamarind pulp out of a stubborn pod.

Wei-Wei stopped breathing for a while, then let out a heavy sigh.

“I don’t really know Rina. Mama says I am not to think about him or talk about him to anyone. Ever.”

Rina started. “You mean you’ve not seen him at all these two years?!”

“Well, not exactly.” She began hesitatingly. “I see him waiting outside of school sometimes but Mama warned me against that.  I am not to even let him spot me she says. So I slip out the back door on days like that or wait till I don’t see him outside anymore.” Wei-Wei shrugged, and looked away not wanting to meet Rina’s eyes but Rina noticed a sharp twitch in her friend’s shoulders.

Rina finally understood why Wei-Wei behaved so strangely sometimes in school, not wanting to walk home with her and choosing instead to loiter in the canteen. Her childish machinations conjured up images of Wei-Wei having a secret best fiend Rina wasn’t suppose to know about. But this? This wasn’t even a distant possibility in her mind.

Rina stood up and climbed out of the drain. She did not want Wei Wei seeing her cry. She felt a splitting ache in her temples and her throat went dry as she tried to imagine what it would be like if Amma kept her away from Pops. Nay, kept them both away from each other. Her Pops had been her whole world ever since she could remember. Doubtless Amma took care of her all the time, and she loved her mother. But with Pops, she felt a security that was complete and whole and though in her childish self inflicted nightmares, she tried imagining what life would be like without her parents, her Pops seem to always be in the background. Her life would end if ever her Pops went away, Rina decided resolutely. Having a child’s keen awareness of her surroundings, Rina sensed Amma’s grudging acceptance towards the almost sacred bond Rina and her Pops shared and she did feel sorry leaving Amma out at times.

With a sudden rush of fear, she recalled all those times she had seen Amma and Wei-Wei’s mother bend their heads over hushed whispers; and the funny look she’d see in Amma’s eyes after that. What could they be whispering about, she racked her brains frantically. Was Wei-Wei’s mother trying to convince Amma to keep Pops away from her as well? She shuddered uncontrollably for a few minutes and then resolved that she would not let that happen. She squared her shoulders and turned towards Wei-Wei, “Come, let’s play!”

A few weeks went by uneventfully, sprinkled with more childish games and a brand new litter of kittens from Blackie, their shared pet cat. One night, as Rina slept snugly between her parents in the queen size bed that stood next to the window, there was an urgent knock on their back door. Pops went to investigate as Amma trailed behind. She returned to the bed alone after a few minutes and shushed Rina back to sleep. In the dark, she heard muffled cries and  distant shouts but couldn’t make any of the words out. She lay rigid with fright and eventually tried to wriggle out but Amma’s arms kept her securely in place. After a few minutes, she shivered with trepidation as she heard the urgent wails of an ambulance headed unnervingly close to their house. She felt Amma flinch but remained in bed.

Eventually, she fell into a fitful sleep close to daybreak and it wasn’t very long after that Amma was jostling her awake. Bleary eyed, she climbed down from the bed and noticed Pop’s conspicuous absence.  The air in their small bedroom was thick with worry and unanswered questions but one look at Amma and she knew better than to rile her with questions. She got dressed and Amma held on to her hand firmly as she walked her to school – something Amma hadn’t done in nearly 2 years. Rina wanted to know why Wei Wei was skipping school but Amma’s steely face prevented any talk whatsoever.

Rina sat through school in a daze, from lack of sleep and from the burning questions in her mind. She wanted to call sick and return home but she knew better than to test Amma’s patience, who would naturally see right through her. As time went painfully and slowly on, Rina’s exasperation mounted and when the school bang finally rang, she ran out like a child possessed and reached home in record time.

She hurried through the back door, not bothering to latch it and ran upstairs. She almost cried with relief when she saw Pops lying propped up in bed, Amma sitting next to him. They were waiting for her.

Amma got up and led Rina to the bed where she sat facing her father. She noticed an angry bruise on his face and his bloodshot eyes. But his voice was strangely gentle when he spoke.

“Rina, we have some bad news for you,” he began slowly. Rina stared at him and then at Amma whose eyes were wet with tears and was quite close to shrieking.

“Yesterday, Wei-Wei’s father visited them. He was not supposed to as there is a restraining order against him.” Rina’s face registered a blank.

“It’s like this,” he tried hesitantly again, “Wei-wei’s parent have been divorced and her mother received full custody to the exclusion of the father. Meaning he was not allowed to ever visit either one of them again.”

“But why” Rina finally found her voice. She was a little relieved that this was about Wei Wei and not about her Pops so she settled a bit more and changed gears towards her best friend.

“Well,” he continued, throwing a glance at Amma, “he was a bad man. He use to beat  Wei-wei’s mother and he was also a convicted felon, for other crimes. So the court decided that in the best interest of Wei-Wei, her father should stay away. And that is when they moved to this lane. Wei-wei’s mother did not want her ex husband finding out where they lived because she knew he was still very angry with her and blames her for the decision of the court.”

Rina heart skipped a beat and she swallowed hard.

“However, he somehow found out where they lived and came by yesterday. He wanted to take Wei-Wei away and so there was a…. a scuffle. And Aunty had to be taken to the hospital.”

“And Wei Wei?” Rina croaked.

“She is fine but what we have to tell you is this. She has been taken away into state protective custody and will be relocated with some relatives. The police has advised them to return to Johor where they will have family members to support them in case he comes after them again.”

“And?” Rina asked, already knowing the answer.

“And so, you may not see Wei Wei for a long time now. They will be sending her straight to Johor after this. But we could go visit sometime ok darling?” Pops reached out, wincing in pain, and stroked her head.

“You must know that your friend is fine and that is all that matters,” Amma finally said. “Now please go take a shower and I will set the table for lunch.”

Rina stood up and shuffled to the adjoining bathroom, her mind numb. She could not bear to think about Wei Wei or Aunty but gruesome images kept flashing through her mind. She shut the thin plastic bathroom door behind her and sat against the door, trying to recollect her thoughts. She could hear Amma and Pops still talking outside.

“Chandran, I do not get it. How did that man find out where they lived?” Amma muffled voice came through the door.

“Achi,” Pops replied in low tones, “the police found a handwritten note in Chan’s pocket. They said it was a scrap torn from a school exercise book and the address was written in a child’s handwriting.”