EXPECTATION - Chapter 1

 

CHAPTER 1 

 

            At the Mejora General Hospital, it’s as chaotic as ever. Of course, it’s a hospital, not a library. But to the hardworking doctors and nurses, this chaos is normal. In fact, tonight is one of the peaceful nights they had in a while.

            A young nurse walks in through the front door, approaching her colleagues who are busy gossiping with each other at the reception desk.

“It’s qui…..” She couldn’t finish her sentence as her colleagues rush to stop her, covering her mouth and preventing her from using the taboo word.

            “SHHHHH!” All of the nurses are in panic mode, luckily they manage to stop it.

            “Nani, don’t say it. You’re gonna jinx us. I’m still tired dealing with the accident victims from yesterday.” The head nurse scold her.

            Nani pushes the hands away from her mouth. “I’m not new here. I know that. What I was trying to say, it’s qui…te early today for Nina to be sleeping already, so I came in early.” She explains while her colleagues are squirming, cannot hear the banned word from the emergency room but they can breathe easy in the end.

            “How is she these days? I haven’t seen your little sister in a while.” The head nurse asks.

            “She’s doing good, but I think she has a boyfriend these days cause I keep catching her smiling at her phone.”

            “Ooh, do you know who is…” Sheila tries to fish for the gossip.

            “Probably some kid from her class, I’ll go change first.” Nani is quick to stop the gossiping session.

            In the staff room, after saying goodbye to the nurses who have just ended their day shift, she puts on her uniform to start her night shift, but not before she kisses the picture of her adorable little sister in the small rectangular picture frame. A little smile appears on her face, reminded of who the source of motivation for her to work hard today, like any other day.

            She walks out with confidence, doing her daily routine as a nurse in the general hospital. It is a bit quieter than most days, so she’s able to get a few stops at the coffee vending machine, installed in the hallway to the emergency room. She’s gonna need it as she’s gonna have to work through the night, and also because she’s gonna need the energy to deal with the late night patients who are usually consist or drunkards that had ended up in trouble.

            One particular middle-age man, is giving her the hardest time for the night. He’s homeless, probably doesn’t have enough money to eat today, but somehow still manages to fill up his belly with alcohol to be this drunk, pushing Nani away from applying the antiseptic to the wound on his bloody palm. He goes on and on about being loyal to his dead wife and not letting another woman touch him but Nani is an experienced nurse, has dealt with patients like him countless times, she keeps conversing with him, encouraging him to tell the story of this mysterious wife of his. She doesn’t actually care, but his eagerness to talk about the once love of his life is distracting him, letting Nani do her job without interruption. He didn’t realize she has been holding his arm and applying the antiseptic, only pulling it away once his wound has been dressed.

            “Nurse, he’s all yours. Just need the wound dressed.” The male doctor tells her, and right away, she’s moving on to the next bed.

            “Hi there. I’m just gonna clean and dress your wound alright?” She’s trying to be friendly to the young man on a couple beds away from the drunk man. But he’s deep in his thoughts, not replying to her.

            She drags the stool to the side and slowly grabs his hand but that was enough to cause him to flinch, coming back to reality.

            “Sorry. Didn’t notice you there.” He puts on a smile, trying to hide away the sorrow on his face a second ago.

            “Did you beat him? He did something to you?” She tries to ease the situation while her hand and eyes are focused on the mild laceration on the man’s palm.

            “What? No. Why would I beat a homeless man like him? Just a misunderstanding, don’t worry.”

            “Really? He was so angry just now that we have to separate you guys.”

            “He’s drunk so he started a fight with me. That’s it. Don’t think too much about it.

            They both gone quiet for a while, running out of topics to talk about. Soon enough she’s done with her works and he’s ready to leave. But before he do so, he turns and talk to Nani.

            “Please tell him, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. If I go there he’s gonna attack me again.” Says the man.

            Nani just nods, agreeing, but suddenly confused as to why he had to apologize when he said the drunk man started the fight. It’s not her problem to think about, walks to the man that is still mumbling about his wife by himself and deliver the message.

            “What? That guy was here? Where is he? Bring me to him now.” The drunk man is furious, not realizing they were just a couple beds away.

            “He’s not here. He left already.” Nani calm him down.

            “He’s lucky he’s not here. Otherwise I would strangle him until he cannot even breathe, let alone to speak.” He’s obviously angry. Nani wanted to leave to avoid listening to his rambling, but he is quick to hold on on to Nani’s arm as he is not done talking. “You know what he said about my wife? He said my wife would rather die than be with a man like me? What, because I’m homeless he has the right to say that? If I see him one more time…”

            “Please lie down and rest. If you don’t rest, how are you gonna get better?” Nani stops her before it gets long. Luckily, he complied but his mouth doesn’t stop badmouthing the man. For a second, she’s mad at the man for saying such a harsh thing but he did apologize so she stopped thinking about it and continue her busy work around the emergency room.

            But the apology does not make the man feel better, especially after hearing the bad words that kept coming out of the drunkard’s mouth. He didn’t have a volume control, letting everyone know with his loud mouth, letting the man also hear the mean words as he hasn’t even left the room, paying his treatment bill at the counter while pretending not to hear it. Why do they put the counter too close to the drunk man? Why does this big room has an open concept without walls to silence his mouth? He could have been spared the insults and not feel even worse right now.

            He put on his best poker face, settling the bills and his discharge, he walks out the main door like nothing happened. The sudden growls from his stomach interrupt his thoughts. It’s past dinner time and he hasn’t eaten. He walks out the front gate, and keeps walking along the sidewalk until he would eventually find a place to eat. His mind is very distracted, taking a taxi didn’t even occur to him. But it could also be because he doesn’t have a lot of money and has been saving every little money he has so obviously the expensive taxi ride nowadays wouldn’t even come across his mind.

            After around half an hour of walking, crossing the streets, wandering aimlessly, a fried chicken’s restaurant caught his attention. He’s seen this place online, famous for their very spicy fried chicken. The spices could help him stop worrying about his life so he walks in, finding an empty table in the corner to settle in. The first thing he does is picking out his phone to call someone.

            “Where are you?” He asks.

            “Home. Where else?” The man on the other line replies.

            “I’m at this chicken place. If you can come here in 20 minutes, I’ll treat you to a meal.” He propose a deal, which makes the other man excited.

            “Are you sure? Your dad gave you some money?”

            “Forget it.” He threatened to end the call which makes the man panic.

            “Okay (3x), send me the address. Don’t complain if I drain your wallet tonight.”

            He sends the live location from his phone GPS, and proceeds to order a large bucket meal. He’s looking at the clock on the wall, wondering if the person he called will arrive first or the order will arrive at the table first.

            Suddenly something weird happened. The long arm on the analogue clock on the wall is at the number 9 while the short arm is on the number 5. But all of the sudden, the short arm just jumped to 8, 15 minutes had passed instantly. He didn’t realize he’s been staring at the clock for a long time until the man slams his palm on the table, pulling his mind out to the real world.

            “What are you thinking that you don’t even realize I’m here? What happened to your hand?” The man asks.

            Their meal arrive on cue of his arrival, putting on the plastic gloves, ready to fill his belly.

            “Deen, don’t go back on your word. You’ll pay for all of this.” He reminds him. He also put on his gloves, taking one drumstick from the bucket and put it onto the small plate in front of him, rather than going straight to his mouth. All of the sudden, his appetite is missing, nowhere to be found.

            “Mal, should we keep going?” Deen suddenly gets serious, asking to Akmal, his best friend who is devouring his second piece of the fried chicken already.

            “Don’t spoil the mood. Eat first before we talk business.” Mal replies.

            “I don’t think I have what it takes”. Deen doesn’t stop despite the instruction. Mal has to put down the chicken piece, forced to have a serious conversation right now.

            “Why are you doubting yourself now? You started this, remember? Finish it. You have my full support.” Mal gives his word of encouragement, which makes Deen sigh before picking up his drumstick and starts taking a small nibble.

            “Your support doesn’t mean much though.”

            “Bro, that hurts you know? Don’t worry, we’ll get an investor soon. Our business model is good, our app is good. Sooner or later there will be someone interested. Ahh, maybe tomorrow would be our lucky day, who knows.”

            “Any update on the deck?”

            “No, but I just changed the default font on the app.”

            “Why?”

            “Bruh, you were the one that said it was too skinny.”

            “Yeah, sorry.”

            “Stop talking about business here, let’s eat man. I’ll tell you what, let’s pour their spiciest sauces in the bucket. If you can eat more pieces than me, I’ll pay for the whole thing instead.” Mal proposes a challenge but Deen is not happy.

            “Not fair, dude. You love spicy food, I don’t.”

            “So?” Mal smirks, knowing full well of that fact. After a second of thinking, Deen pours a hefty amount of the hot sauce in the bucket

            “Okay, you’ll pay for this, and dinner tomorrow.”

            “You got a…wait man. I haven’t….” Mal is flustered seeing his best friend jump the start, he quickly joins the challenge.

            But that head start doesn’t amount to much of an advantage. His low spice tolerance slows him down after only three pieces. He constantly has to wipe the sweat on his forehead, also the tears that come out of his eyes.

            Mal on the other hand is completely fine, teasing him by putting his cash on the table, ready to pay if he somehow loses. Deen picks up the pace but the high scoville level is too much for him to handle, is about to admit defeat. But he cannot stand the smirks on his friend’s face. Determined to wipe it off his face, he picks up another drumstick, holding it in front of his face, doubting himself whether he should continue the challenge. He can barely see straight, his stomach is starting to cramp, but he really hates to lose. Slowly, he brings the drumstick to his mouth.

…..

            The next day, Deen is holding the microphone, giving a passionate presentation in front of a few people in suits.

            “OneQuestion. Simple, just one question a day. These days and age, it’s harder than ever for people to open up about their emotions, their well-being to others due to the constant judgement and prejudice. But this app allows them to journal their emotions, whatever they’re feeling at the time, privately, without any judgement. Over time, those answers will come back to the users, not with stats or numbers, but with insights that feel human, like someone who listens and gives a constructive feedback. The AI will be like a pocket listener and will always be there for you whenever you need it.”

            Deen delivers his pitch with confidence. But the smile on his face is hiding a ton of agony that has been brewing inside his body, specifically his stomach. He looks over to Mal at the side who’s tasked to handle computer presentation, sending death threats with his eyes for the stupid challenge he proposed the day before.

            “What kind of questions will be asked?” An old man who looks old enough to retire already asks them a question. Mal changes the slide to the next and Deen continues his presentation.

            “Simple questions, but questions that matters. Questions like, how do you feel today, what makes you happy today, is there a reason why you are glad to be living today, all these questions that will gauge user’s emotions and their conclusion of the day. This app asks just one question a day, simple and minimal. And before you ask, is that all in this app? No, this app can be used as a personal journal, a pocket diary, a daily mood tracker, or you can say a mini friend that will always be there for you when you need to talk to someone privately.”

            “Will this replace therapists? Can this app be the equivalent of an actual person, listening to others?” A woman at the end of the long table asks.

            “Of course not. Artificial Intelligence can be trained to behave like a human, talk with emotions like a human being but it will not replace an actual therapist. But we’re not providing a therapist. We’re providing a friend. We’re providing a pair of ears to listen to you while helping you to improve your life. Everyone has a problem in their life, everyone is struggling with their unique challenges, everyone wants to be listened to but who’s gonna do the listening? Not many, so this is where our app comes in.” A few of the executives from the investment company are nodding their heads, showing positive reaction to his well-spoken pitch.

            It seems like everything is going well, one by one, their question are answered by Deen with confidence. Their facial expression give Deen and Mal a happy feeling but one question ruins their hope for the moment.

            “How will you and us in this company make money out of this app? What does the revenue look like?” The old man asks a hard question.

            “Well, most of the revenue will come in the form of donation by users who want to give back for our service. We decided not to put ads in the app as it would feel invasive to user’s private space. In the future, we could maybe partner up with a medical institution, that could open up another stream of revenue. But currently we are planning to add a payment plan called Pro for the users who would like to use only Pro’s emojis, GIFs, stickers, font, or extensive customization to the app. Users will have more selection of colour for the background, more….”

            “What is your plan to scale this business model?” The old man doesn’t even let him finish, clearly showing his declining in interest.

            But Deen powers through, showing his determination and passion in helping users with his app. Slowly, he’s gaining the momentum back and getting back the trust and interest from these guys that could change his life trajectory at the moment.

            “You, young man, are really good with your mouth. You will make a very good salesman.” This old man that kind of annoyed Deen a few minutes ago is now his favourite among all of the executive in the room. “I can see that this app will help a lot of people. I wish when I was young I had this app. I lost both my parents in the war, I grew up without any friends, maybe I wouldn’t feel lonely through my childhood.”

            “Yes, that’s what we’re aiming to be with this app.” Deen replies to his kind words.

            “We’ll get back to you soon with updates, let us do our jobs first before we decide to invest in your business. Thank you for coming today, brilliant presentation.” The old man showers him with praises, making Deen and Mal smile from ear to ear.

            They both leave the room while trying their hardest to contain their excitement, because maybe today is a lucky day for them after all. But as soon as they are out of the door, instead of celebrating, both of them started running, racing each other out of the office, straight to the end of the hallway.

            Pushing each other, both not wanting to lose. What are they racing for? The toilet. The trains are almost barging their way out of the two tunnels. Both of them no longer have the willpower to prevent it from happening. Deen who suffers worse, runs as hard as he can without caring about others who are looking at them with confusion, reaches the toilet first and he takes the empty cubicle while Mal takes the next one. Luckily, no mess was made that will destroy their chances of getting an investor.

            “Good job, that went well.” Mal speaks first, the open air on top of the cubicles allow them to talk to each other.

            ‘Yeah, you too. I think this time is different. I have a good feeling.” Deen compliments his friends as well.

            “Finally man, I’m freaking tired of going to these meeting.”

            “Don’t get complacent yet. We still need to improve the app.” Deen gives him a reminder.

            “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Deen, let’s go somewhere expensive tonight, let’s celebrate.

            “Too early to celebrate dude….where?” He’s obviously interested in celebrating their success.

            “Okay! What about….”

            “Do you mean it?” A voice starts to echo in the toilet.

            “Yeah, it will be a failure. How can we make money off an app like that? We’re not a charity to be helping people.” A very familiar voice can be heard, the old man from the meeting having a conversation with his colleague at the urinals. “What are we? A beggar? Asking for donations?”

            It doesn’t take long for Deen and Mal to put the puzzles together, ashamed to think ahead of themselves.

            “When should we reject them? This week is kinda too soon.”

            “Ignore them. What was the word my daughter used before, urr….just ghost them. We have more meetings to go.” The old man delivers the heartbreaking news to them before leaving the toilet, not aware they were listening.

            The chatty Mal stops talking, so does Deen. Both of them finishes their business quietly, leaving the building without saying a word to each other while walking side by side.

            “I’ll meet you at home. I wanna go hang out with my friends.” Mal breaks the silence before leaving Deen alone. He’s walking home with a heavy heart after another failure in securing an investment. Suddenly he’s regretting venturing into this kind of business, maybe his life would be different if he made different choices a few years ago. He thinks hard, where did it go wrong for him. Suddenly, a glass bottle come flying and hit the back of his head hard.

…..

            “Sis, wake up. I’m late already. Wake up.” Nina keeps shaking the arm of her sleepy sister who sleeps like a log, still hasn’t woken up after a few minutes of Nina trying to wake her up.

            Tired of trying, she heads to the kitchen and fill a glass cup full of water, and carefully tiptoeing back to the bedroom without spilling any drop. She’s excited, happy to punish her older sister, on the count of three, she splashes the water right on Nani’s face.

            “NINA!!!” Nani screams, woken up right away. “Why would you do that?”

            Nina simply points to the digital clock on the nightstand, which makes Nani’s eyes grow big when she sees the time. 7:50 already, only 10 minutes left before Nina has to go to school. She jumps out of bed, getting ready right away.

            “Quick, go take a shower now.” She instructs her little sister.

            “SIS!” Nina yells at her, confused at how she’s not seeing the school uniform already worn, ready to go right away.

            “Okay, sorry. Wait outside, put your bag at the door so you don’t forget.” Nani tells her and rushes into the bathroom, brushing her teeth, washing her face, and 3 minutes later, she’s ready to head out.

            After locking the door, she quickly put Nina on the backseat of her pink scooter, almost forgetting to take her backpack before Nina reminds her. She wears the backpack on her front side so Nina won’t have to wear the heavy backpack and risk falling down while on the road. 6 minutes left, and off they go.

            Although, the scooter is not the fastest on the road, she could be more skilled than Valentino Rossi judging by how skillful she is navigating the traffic. Like a slippery eel, she squeezes through the sea of cars, moving as fast as she can to make it on time. But when she checks her wristwatch, she doesn't think she would make it since there's only 2 minutes left. In that moment of distraction, a car suddenly changes the lane without any signal, any warning, Nani almost T-bones the car but luckily the brake saves the day.

            All the possible curse words comes out of Nani's mouth, scolding the stupid driver who didn't even stop to apologise. They can't afford to lose time now so they have to keep moving.

            Nani drives slowly this time, more careful and not rushing. When she catches a glimpse of fear on Nina's face before, she decides to not take any risks, so they ended up 5 minutes late, which is not too bad, but she still got scolded by the teacher waiting at the gate.

            "Alright Nina, sorry for not giving you breakfast. Here's extra money, go buy some bread at the cafeteria okay? Ask permission from your teacher, explain to him or her about your condition." Nina nods, agrees to comply. "Now, did you forget anything? Please tell me your medical bag is in the backpack."

            "Yeah, no way I would forget. Don't worry."

            "Good job. Have fun at school, study hard. Remember not to get too tired okay?" They embrace before saying goodbye to each other for the morning.

            Finally, Nani can relax a bit, heading home to continue her sleep. Usually, when she finishes her night shift at 7AM, she stays awake and only go to sleep after Nina sets foot at school, but being too tired this morning, she fell asleep as soon as she hits the bed which caused the morning mayhem.

            The second time she hits the bed this morning, she still passes out instantly, 5 hours later, she's already awake, heading out to fetch Nina from school. An hour later, she's ready to start her second job. That's her daily routine, a very packed schedule. She's a hardworking woman, but it's more like she doesn't have any other choice but to work hard, since she's the breadwinner of the family.

            Her second job is luckily just sitting in front of her laptop screen, being a science tutor for secondary school's students. It doesn't pay much, but she needs all the money she can get. Working all the times means she doesn't have any personal times to relax, but she's happy, as she has the most adorable little star to work hard for.

            After one and a half hour of tutoring, it’s time for her to prepare dinner for the household. Her shift starts at 7, which sometimes makes me sad as she can only cook the dinner, but not often she gets the chance to eat with her little sister. Oftentimes, she has to eat alone which Nani feels guilty of. She requested for more night shift than day shifts as it works best for her in taking care of Nina, but it does have its own drawback.

            Like always, she leaves the food on the dinner table under the food cover, with a note reminding Nina to reheat in the microwave before eating. She checks on her in her bedroom, busy doing her homework so Nani doesn't bother her and gets ready straight away for her shift. It doesn't start in another 1 and a half hour but she has another stop to make for the day.

            "Nina, come hug me. I need to go now" She waits at the door to receive the goodbye hug. Every day, she can notice the hint of sadness in Nina's face every time she has to leave but she tries her best to ignore. She walks out without looking back because she doesn't want Nina to also notice any sadness from her face.

            She starts her scooter and goes straight to her first stop, the National Pulmonary and Cardiac Center. She's rushing a bit as she needs to go to the pharmacy but the counter will be closed at 6 p.m. But this journey is her routine, knowing full well where to go and how fast she should be moving to make it on time. And she does make it on time, 10 minutes before closing

            "Hello, I'm here to pick up my sister's medicine. Here's the prescription card." She greets the pharmacist behind the counter, a new face she hasn't seen before. After a few minutes, she comes back with the medicine but also with something extra.

            "What is this?" Confused, so Nani asks.

            "Umm.. your bill?" The pharmacist is also confused that Nani doesn't know what that piece of paper is.

            "Yeah, but is it mine? I'm picking up Bosentan. It's subsidised." Nani argues.

            "Not anymore."

            "Wait..what...what do you mean? Since when?" Nani is shocked at the sudden news.

            "Miss, the compassionate supply program ended this month. You should have known about this. From now on you need to pay the full price for it. Or you can get Sidenafil as that would be cheaper."

            “What? No, my sister needs Bosentan. Not Sidenafil. Don't you think I don't know medicine. I know how to do your job if you must know." Nani is annoyed.

            “Miss, ending the compassionate program is not my job, nor did I set the price. I know it's high, but I’m sorry, nothing I can do."

            "It's way too high. How can i afford it every month?" Nani protest, but she knows the pharmacist is not the one she should protest to. "Give me some time, I need to think about this first."

            "Okay, please take your bill but you need to decide fast, stock is very limited."

            Nani heads to the exit empty-handed but brings a tons of worry in her heart. But only her left leg had passed the door as she turns back around to the counter.

            “I’ll take it. Give it to me.” She changed her mind.

            “Here you go. Head to the payment counter please.” The pharmacist hands her the medicine she needs. Nani snatches it in a hurry and turn away but comes back when she realized how rude she’s behaving.

            “I’m sorry, I’m not mad at you. Just…sorry.”

            “You’re good. I understand.”

            At the payment counter, she hesitates, but she yields in the end, afraid of what could happen if Nina doesn’t have this expensive medication.

            An hour left before she needs to clock in. Usually she would head straight to her workplace and socialize with her coworkers and have a little peaceful time in her busy life but today she wants quiet and peace, she wants some time to think. She walks along the sidewalk, deep in her thoughts and after about ten minutes pass, she has walked almost a kilometer, only then she realizes she forgot her scooter she left behind. She couldn’t care less, she has a more pressing matter to worry about, she tries to find a bus stop rather than turning around.

            She finds one not long after, hoping the bus would arrive soon. As she walks along the other pedestrian, a commotion is happening, but she’s not aware of it, distracted, in her own world. She takes a seat on the cold steel bench at the bus stop, ignoring the fight that’s happening near her.

            “What the fuck is your problem?” Deen yells, angry at a familiar face.

            “I’m not gonna..gonna let you go, until you apologise to my wife.” The homeless man demands an apology.

            “She’s DEAD. You said so yourself. How am I gonna do that?”

            “How dare you?!!” The man lunges at him with a broken glass bottle in his hand, taking a swing at him which is easy for Deen to evade. The stench of alcohol hits his nose when the man flew past him.

            “Alright, alright, I’m sorry. Okay? I’m very sorry.”
    
            “Sorry to whom?”

            “I’m..I’m sorry to your wife. I didn’t mean to say that. Okay, happy?”

            The man seems happy with the apology so Deen was about to turn around and walk away from the scene but another glass bottle came flying, a broken one this time, and the sharp edges graze his forehead causing it to bleed. He touches the bleeding spot with his fingers, confirming the bleeding after seeing the red liquid. Yesterday he bled, and so does today, both because of the same person.

            Last night, Deen was tired, angry after a meeting with his parents. They don’t have the best relationship and it has been on thin ice for some time. Nighttime in the city was busy, full of people starting their nightlife after a long day working. Everyone looked happy, excited for the long night. But in the sea of people, Deen felt lonely. It seems like everyone was walking the opposite way of him, and he keeps walking against the flow, away from everyone else.

            It’s the same for his life. While others grow as they age, climbing the corporate ladder, building a family, buying their dream house, Deen felt like he was stuck, with no progression.

            No matter how much he wanted to walk with everyone else, he kept walking the opposite way, wondered when the time would come for him to have a life like everyone else.

            But then he realized, not everyone had their life figured out. Some become successful in their fifties, some maybe early in their teenage years, but most never get out of the bubble, struggling day by day just to survive.

            The best example was in front of him, a homeless man who was lying down on a piece of cardboard, in the busy sidewalk full of people. He reeked of alcohol, a few empty bottles around him served as evidence that he had been drinking. In front of him, a tin can was on the floor as his donation box, for anyone who sympathize with him to donate.

            Deen was one of those who feels bad, took out his wallet and put a couple paper bills in it. Deen got shocked when the man who he thought was sleeping suddenly got up and snatched the tin can to count his earning, disappointed when he sees the low amount.

            “RM2 only? What can I buy with this? This is not enough.” The man complained, ungrateful for Deen’s kind act.

            “You don’t want it? Give it back then.” Deen was offended, also embarrassed when he blurted his low amount of donation to people around them.

            “Come on, give me some more. You wear this fancy suit, you don’t have more money to spare?”

            “This is normal suit. I don’t have a lot of money you know. Don’t be ungrateful.” He walked away after giving him a scolding.

            “Poor bastard. I bet your parent are proud of you to have a poor, cheapskate son like you.” The man yelled at him while putting his newly acquired RM2 with the rest of his money, held together with a rubber band. Deen wasn’t going to let that slide, furiously approach him and snatch the money in his hand, shocked when he sees how much it was, probably more than the amount he has in the bank, but he only took the RM2 that was his, and throw back the rest to him.

            The man was furious with Deen’s action, broke a bottle in half, injured his own hand in the process and attacked Deen with it. Deen who was caught by surprise managed to use his arm as protection when the sharp glass came close to his face. His arm was slashed, tearing the sleeves of his white shirt, stained it with the red blood.

            “You fucking….come here!” Deen threw his sling bag on the ground, rushed to him but stopped by a couple bystander. “You think your parent is proud of you? Proud that their son is dirty beggar on the street, ungrateful when people give some money?”

            “I’m not DIRTY!” The man yelled.

            “That’s your concern? You dirty, ungrateful bastard. At least I’m working hard for money, not like you, who only knows how to beg, too stupid to even get a job.” Deen said very mean words out of anger, which stunned the bystanders.

            "EY! I’m not stupid. My late wife said I’m the smartest guy and the coolest guy in the world.”

            “Oh yeah? Where is she now? SHE’S DEAD! She would rather die than be with a pathetic man like you!” Deen felt instant guilt, surprised that those hurtful words came out of his mouth.

            And that was the final straw for the man, angry, he lunged at him but a couple of policeman suddenly appeared, dragged and pinned him down to the ground.

            It looks like today, another fight is imminent between them. But the man made a mistake, he threw away his weapon. Deen picks it up, gripping it tight and slowly approaching him. The man realizes his disadvantage, looking around for a weapon on his own but finds nothing. He backs away slowly, locking eyes with Deen. He gets a glimpse of fury in Deen’s eyes, scared, he turns and run away for his life.

            Deen is not in the mood for revenge, just watch him run away. He’s relieved today’s incident doesn’t escalate further, although he didn’t intend to commit any crime, just wanted to scare the man away. He discards the broken glass bottle in the small trash can next to the bus stop and take a seat, waiting for a ride home.

            On that evening, there are two person with a troubled mind sitting next to each other. The bus is nowhere to be seen, both of them has to wait a bit longer. But when the bus came, stopped in front of them, the driver even called for them, asking if they want to board the bus, both of them are daydreaming, not in the present. The bus starts to drive away, the release of compressed air from the brake system make a loud sound which wakes Nani up. But it’s too late even when she gets up and screams for the bus to wait, the driver keeps driving away.

            Disappointed, she sit back down and look to her left, seeing a familiar face who has been seating next to her all this time.

END OF CHAPTER 1