Night To Remember

That night, Ben with his parents was sitting at the balcony. Talk about issues and share their thoughts. Enjoying good time together staring at the stars. The atmosphere was a bit cold and windy. But Ben loves it. Calm, cold, quiet, but deep inside, he felt so warmth. I have to continue in Malay because my English is so terrible. That is bad.

Sekali-sekala, tumpuan Ben terarah ke pelita minyak diesel yang hampir padam. Mungkin dah nak habis dieselnya. Malam itu tiada orang bertandang ke rumahnya walaupun baru raya ketiga. Dia melihat jam tangan, hampir jam sebelas. “I am disappointed with my daughter in law”, mama memecah keheningan malam. “She is being unfair to our family. Plus, she’s not even care about how I felt”. Mama memulakan kisah sedih rasa pilu.

Story Teller: Mama

Well, Mama bukan apa. Mama cuma dah lama pendam perasaan. Mama rasa perasaan mama dipermainkan. You know that we have one and only grandchildren. But im telling you this, start from Amaira lahir, until dia dah 2 tahun, Mama tak pernah dapat mandikan dia, tidur dengan dia, suapkan makanan kat dia. Kak Iwan kau tak pernah faham perasaan mama. Dahlah raya tahun ni langsung tak jejak kat rumah kita ni. Orang lain ada menantu, tapi pandai bergilir. Dan paling mama sedih is what, boleh dikatakan in 1 month, Amaira just dtg 3-4 days je kat sini. Is that fair? Salah ke kalau dia tinggalkan Amaira tu seminggu kat sini. From start until now, asyik mertua Amzi je yang jaga. Im so sad when I’m think about this. Pernah sekali tu Mama tegur dia supaya be fair. You know what happened? Her father called and scolded me sampai Mama menangis. Mama tak sangka Haji Sabullah boleh marah Mama. He should know better. Tanggungjawab Amzi tu terhadap keluarga kita. Haji Sabullah tak boleh masuk campur sebab dia dah lepaskan Kak Iwan tu jadi tanggungjawab Abg Amzi kau. Kalau Abg Amzi kau derhaka disebabkan Kak Iwan kau, memang mama takkan maafkan. Biar dia jumpa di akhirat. Selama ni dia memang seorang egois. Nevermind, what u did, you get back. Just wait for it.

Mama nampak begitu sedih. Tu namanya menantu hantu. Ego dan berlagak. Padahal semua orang benci. Semoga kau sedar Kak Iwan oii. Sekarang kau unfair dengan orang. Jangan tanya kenapa bila orang unfair dengan kau. “Be strong Mama, I will always be by your side no matter what”, said Dad. “Seriously, I felt the same way”, Dad added. “Tapi Daddy lagi sedih mengenangkan saudara-mara kita”.

Story Teller: Daddy

Mama dengan Ben realized tak, sejak dari raya pertama sampai lah harini, yang datang rumah kita ni semua sahabat dan saudara angkat je. Saudara kandung kita langsung tak datang. Every year, it is a must we went to their house, Pak Long John, Pak Cik Hard, Pak Lang Wahub. Semua kita datang. Tapi, diorang nak datang rumah kita susah sangat. Maybe sebab kita miskin tak? Did you still remember your engagement day? We came to their house and invite every single of them. But none of them turns up. Tapi bila kenduri anak dorang, Daddy datang awal tolong masakkan nasi, Ben tolong cuci pinggan, Mama tolong masak sampai kaki luka-luka. Tapi when it come to our turns, they let us down in a very disappointed way. So unfair! Bukan Daddy bagitahu last minute pun. 2 month before Daddy dah bagitahu. Alasan nya tak dapat cuti, tak ada driver. BullShit sungguh alasan tu. Tadi Daddy baca tweet si Erina, ada kat Bob Dickson katanya. Ceh, Bob Dickson kau boleh pergi, rumah aku yang lagi dekat ni kau tak boleh pergi. GPS rosak kot. Lupa jalan ke sini mungkin. Yelah, kami orang miskin. Lumrah memang orang miskin datang rumah orang kaya.

We agreed, for becoming Raya, we decided not to bermalam di kampong. Cukuplah menjengah Datuk. Orang tak sudi datang rumah kita, buat apa kita sibuk-sibuk buat muka tak malu. Saudara angkat kat sini lebih mengambil berat tentang kami. Daddy dan Mama pandang Ben. “What?” Ben said. “Well son, it is your turn” Mama said. Ben termenung melihat bintang. “I don’t have any serious problem”, he added. “But I always think about my friends”.

Story Teller: Ben

Ben memang ramai kawan. Dan Ben memang suka ramai kawan. Kawan ni macam kereta. When I drive so fast, I always scream and feel so alive. Seronoknya berkawan. Mama and Daddy tahu kan Ben kawan dengan semua orang. Baik ke jahat ke semua Ben kawan. Ada kawan Ben, selalu keluar masuk hospital mental HKL. Tapi Ben still kawan dia. Ada kawan Ben pernah merompak bersenjata. Tapi Ben still anggap kawan. Sebab bagi Ben, fungsi kawan ni bukan je menghiburkan kita, berada dengan kita waktu susah. Kawan juga berperanan untuk memperbatulkan kawan yang tak berapa betul. Kita tak akan terpengaruh dengan sifat buruk kalau kita ada jiwa yang bersih. Macam ikan kat laut. Kenapa masa ikan tu hidup, air garam sikit pun tak buat ikan tu rasa masin? Tapi bila ikan tu dah mati then kita letak garam, ikan tu jadi masin? You get what I mean? Yelah, sometimes, kita lebih dengar nasihat kawan dari nasihat parents kita. Because we knw, kawan advise kita dengan lebih tulus. Tapi Ben tak faham kenapa some friends, they getting away from us? Is it because we did not understand each other, anymore? Or is it because we did not trust each other anymore? Well people come and people go. People fight but it’s alright. That is the proof for us being human. Tapi tak apa lah. Ini lah dunia yang harus Ben tempuh. Cuma Ben harap, satu hari, kawan Ben tu pandang Ben, dan panggil Ben, kawan.

That night, Mama, Daddy and Ben was so relief. They shared their story with people they care. You guys/girls should try it as well. Let it out. Cry out loud. As human, that is the right way for us to release our burden, our stress. Oh not really release the burden, but gives us a moment for us to think the best way to carry our burden. And yes, my favorite quotes,

Heavy heart is like heavy cloud in the sky. Best relieve by letting of a little water.

Antoine Rivarol