Pakcik Mustahak

It's weekend. Yay! I brought back two books from school today. Have to read all of them and make a summary in the reading book. Well, I guess it's gonna be my homework for the weekend. Just that. Hurray! And we're sleeping over Qurratul's house today. Haven't seen Abang Rijal for quite some time too. Hurm, how is he? I wonder.

Umi came to pick us up at Mapa around 6 o'clock and we headed straight to Makcik Noriahs house. Aiman was already in his 'special-baby-chair' beside Umi in the car.

We took our things and put them at the usual room that we stay everytime we sleep over at Makcik Noriahs house. It's a big room, fit for the four of us.

It was dinner time so, we headed straight to the dining room. Makcik Noriah cooked again. It was nasi and some other Malaysian lauk. I don't really know the names though, because I only eat the rice with some soup. And I don't even know the name of the soup!

Makcik Noriah has 6 children, the oldest was Abang Rijal, then it was Sakinah, Syafiq, Qurratul, Atirah and Ahmad. Oh, and Makcik Noriahs husband, Pakcik Mustahak. Pakcik Mustahak hasn't come back yet, well, he was supposed to be here by now.

Since it was already late, we started to eat. Abang Rijal as always recited the doa before eating and we amiin the doa together. Everytime I eat at Makcik Noriahs house, I always stare at the poster that was hanging at the kitchen wall. It was a colored-picture of a baby that looked starved to death. And it reminded me of the other people at a different country were there is war and many starving people who had no food at all to eat. That was why I ate all of the rice on my dish without a single rice seen after I finished them all up.

When I've finished eating, I heard the rumbling of Pakcik Mustahak's Mercedes Engine and started to put away my dish in the sink. I wanted to get out of the dining room early to go brush my teeth. In Makcik Noriahs house, in their bathroom, there mirror was full of Dentist-approved stickers. Which made me want to brush my teeth as soon as possible because Pakcik Mustahak would check our teeth everyday after dinner. (well, that was why everyone was suppose to brush their teeth after dinner, including myself, eventhough I'm not a family member) Oh, sometimes I am afraid of Pakcik Mustahak, and I really don't know why. Well, maybe because he doesn't speak to me at all except when checking the condition of my teeth.

I had to have a glass of water before going to the bathroom, and unfortunately, Pakcik Mustahak had just came in.

"Oh, Pakcik Mustahak dah sampai!"

Everyone stopped eating and stared at me, including Pakcik Mustahak. I was clueless. And after a second everyone started to laugh.

"Kenapa?", I said.

"Bukan Pakcik Mustahak, Ateerah, tapi Pakcik Ishak."

Oh-my-god, I called Pakcik Ishak as Pakcik Mustahak all this time, so who was Pakcik Mustahak then?

"Jadi siapa Pakcik Mustahak?", I asked Umi.

"Tak pernah ada pun Pakcik Mustahak"

But, but I rememeber Umi mentioning Mustahak a lot of times, especially at home saying..

" Ini barang Mustahak, kena jaga elok2."

So I thought it was Qurratul's father's things. All of the things in the brown envelope was considered barang2 mustahak. Dear me, I was wrong all this time. And no one even corrected me before. Abang Rijal was still laughing, and the others too. Qurratul just smiled at me. Umi, Arif, and Aiman joined the laughter too. Plus, Pakcik Ishak.

I just had to get away from the place, so I ran up the stairs and went into the bathroom.



But, Pakcik Mustahak does sound nicer.

As days went by

"I don't want to go to school! I don't want to school! Umi, I want to stay at home!"

"Tak boleh, Ateerah kena pergi jugak. Nak tak nak Umi bawak jugak"

" It's assembly now and I don't want to come in late. After assembly would be the dentist check-up. I really don't want to go Umi!"

I really didn't want to go to school today. I was always like that. Sometimes I just wanted to stay at home. Alone. Watching Tv. The magic show was on and I liked watching the magician doing magic tricks. It was cool. And how he cut the woman in a rabbit costume. Funny, but she seem to be okay in the end.

Umi wrapped my coat around me and lead me outside holding my hand. The destination was school. "No way" I said to myself. I cried and cried and cried, trying to go back to our house. But Umi seem to have all the strength in the world and kept holding on.

We arrived quite late and as I thought, they were still at the assembly. I sat there, with my red eyes. Umi seem not to notice. Or pretended too.

After a while, Ms Holiday, my class teacher came in, and she was followed by my other classmates. Arif had gone to school earlier today, he went with John, our neighbour. I planned not to go, that was why this incident happened in the first place. Umi had a word with Ms Holiday, I wasn't suppose to hear their conversation so I sat quite far away. All of my friends teeth were red, they looked funny, I started to smile.

Umi came back and said that she had to go to work. She told me to go to MAPA right after school ends with Arif. Aiman was left with Mak Ana, who always take care of Aiman when Umi goes to work and nobody's at home. Ms Holiday came to me and smiled. She answered my curiosity by telling that the Dentist asked all the students to eat some red chewy thing that made their teeth purplish-red. They were suppose to practise a perfect teeth-brushing habit for the whole week. If, next week, their teeth were still red, it meant that they weren't brushing their teeth consistenly. I was scared witless. Brushing teeth wasn't the most exciting thing to do and meeting the Dentist was a whole lot worser.

" Gather 'round now..take your milk bottle and finish them up, after that put it in the bottle container as usual. We're going to have class in 10 minutes ", Ms Holiday said.

I took my bottle which had a tag with my name on it and finish it up as quick as possible and tried to find my closest friend in class, Leenoly. I wanted to tell her how I tried to follow the act of one of the wrestlers in the Gladiator Show; how I glide down the rope. By using a hanger and a rope tied from the cupboard to the bed, I managed to glide down.

Fortunately Umi wasn't there, so she didn't see it. I don't know her what her reaction would be if she knew, though. Umi wasn't mean, she's the best mother I have, well, she is my one and only mother after all. But, you know.. a mother has to be strict at times, and tell you to go to school eventhough you don't want to. Mother knows best after all, they always say.

"Where is she?", I thought to myself.

The Beginning

" Bila dah besar nanti nak beli apa untuk Umi?"

Arif : " Arif nak belikan Umi, kereta Mercedes, rumah banglo besar and skirt"

Ateerah : " hurm..Umi, kan perempuan, jadi Ateerah nak belikan umi baju and tudung banyak2. Nanti Umi boleh pakai lawa2 pergi kerja. hihi "

Aiman : " Bila Aiman besar, Aiman nak belikan Umi cincin Berlian, nak beli Mercedes jugak, yang ada driver, so Umi takyah nak drive jauh2 lagi. Nanti, bila Abg Arif, Kak Ateerah and Aiman besar, bila kitorg semua balik Malaysia nanti boleh jumpa ramai2 kat rumah kita kat Malaysia, then kalau jalan pergi mana2 boleh konvoi. Lumba siapa lagi laju kat highway."

This was our normal conversation before falling asleep on Umi's arm on the big bed right beside the heater. Arif would be lying on Umi's right arm and Aiman and I would be lying on Umi's left. It was always like that, the four of us together. Always.

As the first snow fell, Umi was holding a cup of Ahmed's tea in her hands. Oh yes, Umi's favourite tea which can only be found at Morrisons or at the Pakistan's Grocery down the road. Ryan Street, we lived there. Arif and Aiman were playing Sonic on Sega and as usual, I was playing with my barbie doll as the first snow fell.

Aiman was only a few months old when we first came to England, Arif and I were 5 and 4 years old. Everytime, when the first snow fell, we would all gather together, holding a cup of chocolate in our hands and stare outside the big window. Just watching the snow falling down. After the snow stops falling, we would grab our coats, find a box and slide down the small hill across Ryan Street. Only the three of us played, Umi would only watch. Making sure that we're safe.