Adik ni...

Ohh…. Yesterday was just awful… and kelakar at the same time.

Adik has problems with money. She doesn’t know how to use them satu, and she keeps losing them is another satu.

We never gave Abang money for school on account of his asthma. Colouring can trigger it, cheap food can trigger it.. Oh.. he wouldn’t be wheezing but he would start coughing. Plus when I first did a survey of the food the school canteen served, I only saw very, very oily fried ones. Fried fishballs, nuggets, fries..all looked soaked to the core with oil and very unappetizing. One glance and I knew it was fried early in the morning, at least 2 hours before recess.

Yuck.

But with Adik since she goes home very late, we have no choice but to give her money for lunch. She brought food from home for her mid-morning break and only buys food for lunch.

The trouble started there. When tanya makan apa, makan mee 8 kupang aje. So where is the rest of oyur RM 1.20 ? Tak dak. So the rest of the money makcik kantin ambik ka ? Kalau sekali dua yelah kot ramai so makcik kantin tak ingat mana yang bagi berapa, tapi kalau hari-hari, a bit suspect isn’t it ?

We tried teaching her, showing her but nothing seemed to work until DR’s son stepped in and helped her during recess. Thank you, darling. Baru we can see she brought some change from school, bersesuaian dengan makanan yang she claimed she bought.

Anyway, on a few occasions when we gave her extra for whatever, she comes home empty handed. “Duit hilang…” What lah….. Abang did that sometimes at her age. Heck, I even remember my siblings and I doing that when we were smaller, but not as frequent as she does !

That was why yesterday when Babah gave her RM4 extra to buy her school badges, I tucked in the money is her bag and her usual RM2 for lunch in her pocket. When we fetched them from their class late afternoon, Babah asked for her badges. And the problem started.

Her cheery face turned gloom. When asked, she didn’t answer. I hate that. I truly, dearly hate that. We repeatedly asked her but she remained shctoom. Abang meanwhile squirmed next to her.

As soon as we got home Babah told her, “Do not think about coming inside the house if you do not answer my question. Where is the money ?” I swear I have never seen a set of tighter lips. Therefore the 3 of us trooped in the house, and Babah banged the door shut, leaving his daughter with her locked lips outside the house.

Why oh why oh why you cannot answer one ? We checked her bags just in case if she bought stuffs with it but we found no evidence of that. Takkan hilang lagi ? I ran upstairs to pray and as soon as I finished praying the wind brought my son’s voice to my ears.

“So… makan baru 2 ringgit kan ? So sekarang ada tinggal lagi 4 ringgit….. Did you buy mee 4 pinggan for your friends ?”

“Takkk…. Tak de… I think my duit hilang masa saya bukak baju untuk pj…..”

Really ? Duit dalam baju RM 2 aje… yang 4 lagi tu kat dalam bag.

Kita orang bergilir-gilir confronted her that afternoon. Her “hilang” was so irritating because I believe dia belanja kawan. Memang tabiat dia. If dia bawak bekal, mesti cukup untuk 2-3 orang. I don’t mind but please tell me the truth ! Bibik tak senang hati, mundar-mundir depan pintu. Sometimes I hear her pujuk-pujuk my daughter.

Once when I opened the door I found her lying on the padded bench, tears streaming down her face. “Are you ready to talk ?” She shook her head. Gila wei….

Finally after azan Maghrib, I opened the door. She was at Bibik’s tingkap drinking water and eating biscuits. Hai lah Bibik ni… I asked the million dollars question again and this is her story. “RM 2 hilang masa saya tukar baju untuk pj. Lepas tu saya makan RM 2….” Okay that is RM 4 where is the other RM 2 ? “Hilang….” I just don’t understand it. How is it possible to lose money twice in a day, at the rate of at least once a week ? So I sent her to bed without dinner.

“Nanti lapar ini…..” Bibik bebel sorang-sorang. I just closed my eyes and ignored her. Don’t think lah I am that kejam Bibik wei….

I made carbonara that night. When everything is on the table, I fixed a plate and gave it to Abang. “Send this to your sister. But don’t tell her it’s from me. Tell her you secretly sneaked this to her…. Without me knowing…..”

Abang nodded his head although he looked a bit lost. Babah said he saw Abang kissing Adik’s forehead a few times with a few encouraging words. He then came down and went back up again with a glass of water. Again more kissing on the forehead and plenty of comforting hugs.

As we were eating, Adik came down with her plate. “Dah !” She announced before placing it in the sink. She then stood next to her brother and looked at me expectantly. I looked back not saying anything.

Abang probably not liking the silent stares, touched her shoulder lightly and said, “You go up okay ?” oh-so tenderly.

He he…..

Adik…. I want an explaination. Can’t accept you lost your money twice ! In a day !

Abang

“Mummy, what does menikahi means ?” asked Abang this morning, on the way to school.

Udah…. Mana lak dapat ni ?

“It means kawin lah….”

“Ooohh…. Indonesian kan they speak funny kan ? Eventhough sometimes I can understand them because the language is almost the same, but most of the times I cannot understand what they say !!”

“Err…. Okay….”

“Everyday bila saya balik sekolah, Bibik ajak saya tengok cerita Indonesia, Tasbih Cinta. So saya kadang-kadang tak paham ah apa dia cakap so saya kena baca subtitle…”

He he….

“Lepas tu kan Mummy orang Indonesia kan cakap suara dia like different….”

“Different ?”

“Yes… macam lain lah… sebab kan if Sponge Bob laughed in English, it is like this *mimicking Sponge Bob’s very annoying laugh* tapi kalau yang Indonesia punya kan dia gelak macam ni *something a bit different but much more pleasing to the ears than Sponge Bob’s original one*. Kenapa macam tu ye ?”

He he… “Sebab the actors are different lah ! The real Sponge Bob mana tahu cakap Melayu !”

Kah kah kah….. Itu pu mau tanya ka ?

Last week, during the holidays, he said something very, very funny. As usual Adik cannot finish her food. I saw Abang looking at her playing with her food, pushing it around. When she finally dropped her fork, Abang said,

“Adik… you had better finish off your food okay ? You have been that size for months !!! Mana boleh macam ni ? You have to grow bigger !”

He hehehehehehheheh…. Aduih lah…..

Anak Mak

“Mummy… my teacher kata kan, kalau kita tak defa… defe… defacate… yup, defecate kan nanti our body will be filled with toxins !”

“Defecate ? Really ?”

”Yeah…. Defecate….. Why ?”

“Well…. nothing…good word but to see you struggling, wouldn’t it be easier if your teacher uses passing motion…?”

He nodded his head vigorously.

“Itulah… Teachers sometimes saja je use all these difficult words that I cannot say kan Mummy ? Macam saja je kan… ? Saja je nak susah kan orang kan… There are other easier words to use but my teacher use this one yang susah saya nak cakap kan ?”

Pulak.…. No lah… I didn’t mean it that way…. I am just saying that since susah sangat nak sebut… sigh…well… never mind lah…

My bad. Please…. Defecate is a good word. Use that.

When we watched Cirque Du Freak, oh like last week, we took the 8.30 show. Adik of course slept during the movie. Babah had to carry her out of the cinema but then had to put her down when he went to the loo. Abang and I was busy discussing the movie when I noticed Adik’s sleepy face.

“Awww….. you missed it didn’t you ? You slept ?”

She smiled ruefully, and went, “Yeah, I was tired….”

Then I said, “Well you missed a good movie. It was really fun !”

“Well actually, I saw a bit….masa mula-mula….” She answered, nose scrunched, head nodding, mega cute.

I dunno why she looked so cute. I mean, it was just a normal answer, she wasn’t quoting Shakespeare or whatever but she looked super, duper gorgeous when she said that.

Anak mak…. mak je yang boleh appreciate...

Schoolmates Adik

“Mum… sekarang kan teacher dah tukar tempat saya lagi….”

“Oh… so who do you sit with now ?”

“Hanim.” Name has been changed to protect identity, okeh. Then she added, “Dia kan… putihhhh…. Muka dia putih, her hands pun putih….Cantik sangat….”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Saya kan hitam kan ? Tak cantik kan ?”

Eh ?

“No… you are pretty…. Very pretty. I thought you knew that since you alwys say ‘I am pretty lah…’, ‘I look gorgeous lah….’… Of course you are pretty….”

She looked at me unconvinced.

“But she is putih, Mummy….”

“Okay never mind lah… There are putih people yang pretty. There are browns ones who are pretty, the peach ones.. the dark ones too…. Allah make all kind of skin colours and every one of them is pretty …..”

She sighed.

I sighed.

That day when I picked her up from school, she was busy playing with some friends. As we walked hand in hand to the car (Mummy holding her very heavy bag… tak sangka dah zaman2 moden ni pun masih bawak papan batu pi sekolah macam Flintstones), she said;

“That is my friend from kindergarten. Her name is Kiki…”

“Oh…that is nice…”

“I like her… because she doesn’t talk much.. Dia cakap sikit saja pun….”

Ha ?

“Iya..dia cakap sikit saja pun.....”

He he....

Why at this very tender age, my darling, would you appreciate the strong silent type ?

Adik talking about sunglasses

I picked her up from school yesterday. It was hot so I put on my sunglasses. She was playing with some friends, but I just stood there, looking at her in her elements. I love doing that. Masa tulah nak tengok anak hang macamana.

She was happily twirling around with a friend when she saw me. “Mummy !” She said happily, her face so deliriously happy at the sight of me, it made my heart ache.

“Why you wear that glasses ?”

“Sebab panaslah…”

“Please… Let me wear it ! Pleeeaaaaseeee !!!!!”

When she put it on, she turned her face to me, her nose scrunched up a bit to hold the glasses up.

“You know… I can wear glasses. I know how to wear them…. But… not the one yang you pakai pergi kerja tu… You know .. the one that you put inside your eyes ?”

“My contacts ?”

“Yes… that one I don’t know how to wear …”

“Have you been trying ?”

“No ! Mana ada !”

Hmmmm…. Very suspicious.

“Yang your red glasses tu kan ? That one ada power kan ? That one I cannot wear, right ? Because I can go blind ?”

“Yes…”

“Why ? Why can I go blind ?”

“Because it can hurt your eyes. And you will not be able to see properly if you use them…”

“Oh… “

Then, “Are you blind ?”

I knew that was coming.

After a moment of silence, she said, “Mum… I knew you didn’t ask me to put the milk in the pan ….”

Mummy blushed. Malu dah kantoi !

She put her hands on her hips and shook her head, big smile on her face. “I don’t remember you saying it.. That is why I put the milk in the bowl…”

Mummy grinned. Is she chastising me ?

“Mummy ni….”

He he.. yes she is.

Oh dear.

Then, “I look gorgeous when I wear this..” she said, tapping the sunnies.

Hmmm…. Kamil !!!!!

Ha ha.. Sorry...

Sunday Mummy mengamuk sakan dengan Adik.

As usual, when Mummy take out her mixing bowl, she would suddenly find Adik next to her. Cepat betul.

“Mummy, what are you making ?”

“Bread….”

“Can I help ? I looove helping you, Mummy…”

Who can say no to that, eventhough she would just slow me down ?

I measured the flour, and she deposited it in the bowl.

I opened up the pack of yeast, she dumped it in the bowl.

Now, the milk has to be warmed, together with butter and sugar so Mummy took out a heavy based pot and put it next to the mixing bowl. She measured the milk and Adik reached for it.

“Careful… do it slowly and jangan bagi tumpah…”

Mummy flicked her gaze to the telly but when she looked back, her daughter was dumping the milk in the bowl.

WAAAAAAAA !

Adik ran to Babah and Mummy ranted and raved. Nothing could be done now but throw the whole thing in the bin. What a waste.

Mummy sat on the sofa fuming, Adik wisely stayed away and kept quiet.

At night after bathing, as usual Adik came to Mummy armed with the hair brush. Before she combed Mummy’s hair, she did a little pedicure first, buffing Mummy’s toe nails. Although she buffed the skin more than the nails itself so Mummy’s feet were all scratchy.

Then she asked for permission to comb Mummy’s hair and when Mummy nodded, she toweled Mummy’s hair a bit before started combing.

“Why did you destroy my bread ? Why did you poured the milk in the bowl ?”

She who was kneeling behind Mummy, peeked from Mummy’s left side and said, “Be-cause I didn’t hear you said put the milk in the pan !” I looked at her face, all grave, noticing the chubby cheeks too. She looked gorgeous.

Then Mummy laughed. “Yeah.. well.. because I didn’t tell you to !”

Babah who was sitting next to us reading a magazine, looked up. “What ?”

“Yeah… I just put the pot next to her but I didn’t say anything. I was meaning to tell her to put the milk in the pot, but I didn’t…” I said sheepishly.

Babah geleng kepala.

“Haaa ! You didn’t tell me kan Mummy ? I do not remember you ask me to put it in the pan… kan Mummy ? Itulah…” She laughed, shaking her head.

“Mummy tak cakap pun kan ?” She said again.

Mummy smiled kelegaan. Nasib baik dia masih kecik. Kalau Abang yang kena tu, mesti dia cakap, “Then it was your fault ! Why did you get angry at me just now ? Mummy tipu ye ?”

He he…. Sorry….