Abah: faiz ko tanak ke beli 'croissant' ni bawak balik umah???...RM 4.99 jer...
i rolled my eyes with a state of unbelievable that Abah managed to pronounce it correctly. the offer was convincing as i reply...'Nak la'...'Cicah Air Sedap, atau sapu Peanut Butter'!
Abah passed RM 5.00. Without further hesitant i motion to the Cashier. Queue.
then, while waiting for my payment to be accepted, i saw abah chit-chatting with a lady that i am familiar with but i barely know. Again, i rolled my eyes as elly stood besides him, between him and that lady. dalam hati kata: Melangok la keje kau elly-denga cakap orang2 tua!
the Akak Cashier pass me the receipt as i walked towards them.
i stood behind abah and heard the whole conversation though i miss a bit because q-ing for the 'croissant' to be paid.
The Lady: Adi...aku tengok ko asyik bawak anak-anak kau jer, mana orang rumah kau???
Abah: isteri aku sakit, sekarang ada kat hospital...strok la...
then everything went to be like 'tell-it-all'...
The Lady: abis tu di...anak-anak kau macam mana???
Abah: anak-anak aku 2 orang da keje, tinggal dia ni haa...si kecik (pat Elly's shoulder)
The Lady: entah la di...saya da 10 tahun menjanda...ibu tunggal...anak yang paling besar baru abis praktikal-umur 27 tahun....
Abah: anak kau berapa orang...?
The Lady: empat orang di...(abah terus rolled his eyes!)...saya ibu tunggal...(abah potong cakap...)
Abah: abis tu macam mana, anak2 ramai, suami takde, bekas suami ada tolong-tolong bagi duit tak?
The Lady: ada la jugak...tapi perit...ini anak kau yang kau hantar dulu tu di....(i mean admitted to UITM n UKM)
Abah: haah...
The Lady: eh da gemuk sikit...dulu kurus jer...
Elly: padan muka, orang cakap tanak caya...(i mean dia cakap aku ni da gemuk-aku suka deny!)
Abah: ok la...aku nak balik la...siap2 untuk buka...salam makcik Sharifah ni...
Elly and i salam the lady. we left her and we went to a different directions.
Kalau nak tahu...she is Sharifah. Abah told me before he married my mother, she is the one before mak. abah continued by saying 'jodoh tak lama, dia kahwin dulu dengan pilihan keluarga, padahal dulu kerja kat sama tempat, selalu balik sama-sama....akhirnya melekat ngan mak kau..., dia kahwin dulu dari abah...'
so, dia adalah kekasih lama abah....
i heard deep sorrow from his voice when he said: 'selama hari ini abah jumpa dia, dia tak pernah ckap dia ibu tunggal....baru hari ni tau!'
aku pun terkejut jugak, memang selalu aku ngan abah jumpa dia and borak2 sakan, she seemed to have no problems at all~
then,i realize that abah had been through a lot of things and he is letting it out as he believed that it is the time i have to know the memories that he made, before he shut his eyes. so i will continue to bear everything that he left as that is the most 'expensive' thing ever happen to him.
i rolled my eyes as he has the gut to tell me and i'm ready to hear anything after this about his past time though i've came across to many of his hardships stories when he was young....
p/s: denga lagu rossa-hati yang kau sakiti..