Special Someones

Chapter 13 Nuclear

"Oh. Why didn't you tell me, Rahman?" Wati continued to berate Rahman for not keeping her informed.

Xue Ge had heard enough however, and excused himself. Instead of heading back to Chee Yok, he walked away from the line of classmates moving to class.

"Xue Ge, where do you think you are going?" Jenn asked from the front.

"Left something important... Someone important," Xue Ge replied.

Jennifer frowned but nodded.

Xue Ge was quick to reach the basketball court again, but there was no one there now. Taking a guess, he next headed for the surau. True enough, Xue Ge could hear shouting coming from the surau as he got closer. So he stalked his way to it stealthily and listened in a bit more closely.

Xue Ge found himself eavesdropping on the most ridiculous argument, if you could call it that.

A hoarse voice was heard; "You must believe in Islam!"

Matt's voice was heard; "but i don't believe in Islam."

"The law says you must believe, therefore you must believe!"

"but i don't believe in it. would you like me to lie."

"No! You must believe it in your heart!"

"but i don't believe in it. i'm not sure what answer you are expecting."

"If you do not believe in Islam you will go to hell!"

A brief moment of silence.

"the expected answer is i believe in Islam," Matt's voice rang out.

Another moment of silence.

"The expected?..." From then on the ustadz focused on telling Matt he was a murtad and 'kafir'.

Xue Ge wanted to jump right in and punch the ustadz's lights out.

"Stay here and repent on your sins until I get back!" the hoarse voice said.

At those words, Xue Ge silently hid himself. He could hear the ustadz walk out, lock the door, and light up a cigarette. Then he walked away, presumably to the teacher's toilet.

Hypocrite, Xue Ge fumed, Smoking in school is prohibited, even for teachers. Even in the toilet. Xue Ge waited until the ustadz was out of sight before he checked on Matt.

Matt was hunched over, holding himself and rocking slightly while looking down.

"Matt, you okay?" Xue Ge asked.

Matt looked up. Xue Ge could tell Matt was happy to see him. "i don't think so. the ustadz was scary."

"Okay. I get you out." Xue Ge tried the door first, but it was locked.

"but he told me to stay here and repent on my sins."

Xue Ge looked at Matt. "You want to stay?"

Matt shook his head.

"Then we leave. Don't think he allowed to lock you in room."

"...good point. his authority doesn't extend this far. i'm not even a Muslim."

With that settled, Xue Ge turned his attention to the windows. The horizontal panes of the Jalousie style were too narrow for someone to pass through. But that wasn't a problem; Xue Ge removed the individual panes by using a 50 cent coin to force open the metal tracks holding in each pane. With enough panels removed, Matt simply slipped through.