Sengal

I just arrived at my kampung to celebrate AidilAdha when I got a message from a friend of mine. He wanted to ask me about something that is personal. Being a good friend, I was concerned so I persuaded him to let it off his chest and tell me.

He asked me about girl-thing. Which was weird, because he never opened up to anything resemblance to making him look less cool or gay-ish. But he did that night and I was more than happy to help him out. Or more like happy to busybody.

He hesitantly began asking me.

“Saree, nak tanya ni. If perempuan merajuk, contohnya lah kau merajuk dengan aku, macam mana kau expect aku nak pujuk?”

Aiyaya. Standard guy-girl problem. Well, I guess with this kind of problem it won’t take long.

“Oh, depends lah macam mana relationship korang tu. Kau suka dia ke, or tak ke? Sebab if kau anggap dia kawan je then tak payah lah layankan sangat”, I said that with confident.

I said that confidently because he has been telling me about this girl before this, that he has somewhat complicated relationship with her. He told me that he regarded her as friend but then the girl has been seeking his attention and would be all over him, sort of like hopeful to him but there would be times where she would disappear from him whenever she feels like it. Sort of like me, according to him, but I won’t comment more unless I know more about what is going on.

“Sebab itu lah aku tanya pendapat kau. Dia ni complicated sikit, if dia na layan, dia layan. If time dia tak nak layan, mampus aku terkontang-kanting kat sini. Sebab tu aku tak sure nak pujuk macam mana”.

Pulak. Lain aku tanye, lain pulak budak ni cakap.

I was starting to fell slightly annoyed by his answer. No wonder she got pissed off by him. But, then again, in the spirit of being a good friend, I confronted again the same question to him. Patiently. Because if he wanted to treat her as his friend, then there is no need to feed her sulking.

He then replied, and still not answering to my question. Instead, he went on about her not responding to his message.

At that point I was literally annoyed. I remember being all sarcastics to him.

“Well, if dia macam aku, then aku pun tak suka if aku cakap orang tak faham2. Pastu tanya2 cam orang sengal. Aku pun akan terasa annoyed”.

Amek ko.

“Sorry. It’s just that kitaorang selalu contact lately, so bila dia tak reply aku faham lah something’s wrong. Bila aku reply tanye dia buat bodoh je. Aku nak tahu apa aku patut buat?” '
Still not answering my question. But at least it’s going somewhere!

“So, kiranya kau selalu in contact dengan dia lah?”

“Yup. Nowadays dia start close ngan aku balik macam dulu. Aku message, call die selalu. And agak selalu lah jugak aku hang out ngan dia. Then aritu tengah mesej2 dia, aku tengah busy and then aku terblur dengan soalan dia that tetibe dia macam emo. And sekarang dia senyap je, aku mesej pun dia tak reply langsung, terus senyap. Macam tak best.”

“Means kau suka dia lah, sengal”. “tak best macam dulu", konon. Cit

“Eh, bukanlah. Aku anggap dia macam kawan je, Cuma, dia tu suka bla, bla bla...” At that point it didn’t matter, and I can’t bear to hear any those denial part. Skip and scan.

“So, then kau try lah pujuk dia betul2. Call lah dia, tapi jangan lah dia tak angkat kau kena call sampai 20-30 kali. Pujuk lah cara betul, as you mean it”. At this point I was very sleepy to continue on. It was past midnight and I was really tired from the 4 hours of driving that my mind can't process any creative thoughts anymore.

“Tapi,...”. Oh No.. Again, he doubted that could change her mind. Again, it got stuck to where it started. Sometimes, some problems between couple are not something I’m excelled at, or rather, not interested. I myself failed when it comes to maintaining a relationship.

I know at that point I would never be able to convince him to do otherwise. Desperate to get my beauty sleep, I then replied back to him, and it was almost 4 pages long messages, suggesting that it was the best thing he should do, since it was obvious he liked this girl despite her unstable mood. I was giving all my best yet advice to him and that he ought to follow it or else he could lose her. What a drama. Oh well, you know what they say. “Fake it till you make it”. Till he stop bugging me that is.

He understood what it means and agreed to let me go that night.

He texted me that morning. Figured it was a “thank-you/good morning/Selamat Hari Raya Haji(at least!)” message. Instead, it went something like this,

“So, kau rasa aku patut tak pujuk dia arini?”



I have thought of becoming a murderer that day.