"Stay close," I set Saleha down as we neared Ning's house where a small crowd had gathered outside. A chorus of whispers in a multitude of languages had erupted at the scene.
"Ennaku theriyala! (I have no idea!)" an Indian woman in a sari retorted back in Tamil to her husband as she bounced their young toddler in her arms.
I weaved through the crowd and heard a Malay lady near the front muttered to her friend, "Kesiannya Ning. Dia baru aja lahirkan anak. Bayinya belum lagi sehari... (Poor Ning. She had just given birth. Her baby is not even a day old... )"
"Tu lah. Lepas satu, satu. Apa nak jadi dengan kampung kita ni? (That's why. One after another. What's happening to our kampung?)" her friend lamented sadly.
I sensed Saleha drifting further away from me so I quickly turned my head back to remind her to stay close to me but she was not even near me. I weaved back into the stream of people but none of the faces were my daughter's.
Throngs of people ambushed Mak Joyah with questions as soon as she left the front steps of the house. As soon as her eyes met mine, she sauntered up to me and spoke in a gentle voice, "You shouldn't be here. Not after last night." All eyes were on me now, each with disapproving looks as the scattering of confused whispers filled the night air. None of them seemed to understand English by the looks of it.
"Is it true about the baby? S-she's dead?" I whispered to which Mak Joyah nodded sadly. "I'm a doctor. I can have a look at the body-"
She cut me off with a shake of her head. "We all know what you work as. We can see that," she loosely pointed at my scrubs. "But you've already caused too much chaos last night. It's too late to do anything now. Best you let the family be. Let them grieve in peace."
I looked at her with defeated eyes, unsure of how to respond. Dropping my shoulders, I made myself scarce and shortly, Mak Joyah blended with the rest of the crowd. I almost tripped over something and instantly recognised the basket that Saleha had been holding earlier. I bent down to pick up the papayas that had fallen out of the basket and placed them back in, stood up and scouted the area once more.
"Give that back!" My ears pricked at the sound of Saleha's voice.
"It's mine now," another child's voice followed and I jogged towards the direction of the sound.
I was far away from them but still within earshot. A taller boy with an air of arrogance around him looked down smugly at Saleha who was trying to comfort a sobbing little girl who looked no older than three or four years old. The braided pigtails at each side of her head shook at each convulsing sob.
"Girls are useless. Nothing but a burden. My uncle says so." He gave a little snort as he nudged his head towards the house, "Whatever killed it did the world a favour."
"Girls are not useless!" Saleha fumed. "It? The baby's not a thing! The baby's a she!" Saleha said angrily.
"Pfft. Same thing," the boy rolled his eyes as he licked at the colourful flavoured ice ball in his right hand. In one swift motion, he lifted his foot to kick the little girl with his bare feet before any of us could react, "Kū. Kū. Bié kū le! (Cry. Cry. Stop crying!)" The little girl wailed louder as she hugged herself in pain while he continued kicking her.
I rushed towards them but before I could give him a piece of my mind at such blatantly violent behaviour, Saleha shoved him to the ground making the ice ball dropped from his hands. The act made the boy extremely livid. She planted herself on his chest with a loud thud and started shaking him by the collar. "Stop bullying her!"
"Leha! Let him go!" I said grimly. I usually reserved shortening my daughter's name on occasions when I am displeased with her current behaviour and she knew that. As much as I wanted her to punch the rudeness out of this kid, I knew I should not be encouraging her. She ignored me and started slapping the boy's pudgy face much to the boy's chagrin.
Judging by the boy's size, he could have easily overpowered her but instead, he shrieked in a high-pitched voice, "Jiùmìng! Mā ma! Bāng wǒ! (Help! Mum! Help me!)"
"Leha! Stop it right now! That's enough!" I demanded sternly as I moved towards them.
"Shǎo lái zhè yī tào! (Cut it out!)" a familiar voice sounded behind me.
Just as I pulled Saleha off the boy, a woman in a cheongsam glared at me as she picked the little girl up. It was the same woman that helped Ning carry the buckets of water yesterday but her face was now devoid of any warmth as her stare intensified on Saleha. She yanked the boy up by the back of his shirt and smacked him at the back of his head.
"Nǐ mèimei wèishéme kū? (Why is your little sister crying?)"
"Zhège mǎ lái rén dǎ xiǎo mèimei! (This Malay person hit little sister!)"
Saleha started to lurch for the boy again with brandished fists and I had to restrain her back. I needed to call him out, "Bù. Nǐ zài sā huǎng. (No. You're lying.)"
I opened my mouth to explain further but the boy beat me to it, jutting his chin towards Saleha, "Nǐ kàn! Nǐ kàn! Tā xiǎng zàicì dǎ wǒ! (You see! You see! She wants to hit me again!)" The boy urged his mother to look.
"Mā ma! Tòng... (Mum! It hurts!)" the little girl whimpered as she buried her tiny face into the crook of the woman's neck.
"Nǐ nǎlǐ tòng? (Where are you hurting?)" she inspected the little girl with concerned eyes.
"Pìgu... (Butt...)" the little girl whimpered again.
"Shì! Zhège mǎ lái rén tī xiǎo mèimei pìgu! (Yes! This Malay person kicked little sister's bum!)" the boy reiterated.
"What?!" Saleha fumed at the boy as she wrung her arms by her side. "You know that's not what happened!"
I shook my head and looked at the mother in the eyes, "Tā méiyǒu. Zhège nánhái zuò dàole. (She didn't. This boy did it.)"
The mother retorted as she crinkled her nose, "Tā? Bù kěnéng. (Him? Impossible.)" A slight tight-lipped smile spread across the boy's face at the knowledge that he had won the battle.
The little girl in her arms continued whining, "Shǒu bì tòng...jīan bǎng tòng... (Arm hurts...shoulder hurts...)" She quivered in fear as fresh tears joined her moist cheeks as she caught her brother's threatening stare, "Mèimei hài pà, mèimei hài pà. (I'm scared, I'm scared.)"
"Bùyào hàipà. Wǒ zài zhèlǐ. (Don't be scared. I'm here.)" She rubbed the little girl's back in a comforting motion. "Shéi dǎ nǐ? Dàgē? (Who hit you? Big brother?)"
The little girl squirmed in her mother's arms as the boy bared his teeth and gave the young child another menacing stare. The woman's back was facing the boy so she had no way of seeing what just happened, "Bù... (No...)" I knew that the little girl lied out of fear but that did it for the woman for she was now glaring furiously at Saleha. "Mā ma, wǒ yǒu huí jiā... (Mum, I want to go home...)" the little girl squeaked timidly.
"Děng yīxià. (Wait a second.)"
"Baba..." Saleha frowned at me, letting me know that arguing with the woman would be futile. The woman was one of those mothers that saw no fault with their sons. The little girl's lie only made the situation worse.
"Bàba? (Father?)" the woman narrowed her eyes and shifted her stare from Saleha and towards me. She pointed rudely at my daughter, "Tā shì nǐ de nǚ'ér ma? (Is she your daughter?)"
"Tā? Nǐ de érzi? (He? Your son?)" I mocked back while nudging flippantly at the boy in front of me.
Ignoring me, she barked back, "Nǐ bù huì mà nǐ de nǚ'ér ma? (You're not going to scold your daughter?)"
I folded my arms across my chest and stood my ground. I chose not to punish Saleha for standing up to the bully. The bruise on my right jawbone throbbed dully as it burned under the woman's scrutinising stare. Soon after, she glowered at Saleha whose balled up fists had not relaxed.
"*Hǔ fù wú quǎn zǐ. (A tiger father has no canine sons; A parent and child having similar characters or behaviours.)" The woman sneered and turned up her nose, "Dōu shì bàotú. (Both are thugs.)"
*A/N: Chinese Idiom. Similar English idiom equivalent - An apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
I heard a soft sniffle beside me. Saleha was fighting back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. It was clear that she was upset. To call her a thug was to liken her to a bully and a bully she was not. Keeping calm, I attempted to set the record straight and explained to the woman what truly happened but she would have none of it. She was deadset in her unyielding belief of her son's "innocence". Saleha pivoted on her heels and ran towards the back of the house.
"Saleha, wait!" I called out after her.
"Bù dǎ bù chéng cái. (Spare the rod, spoil the child.)" The woman remarked with a condescending tone as she touched my arm gruffly.
The little girl tugged at the woman's shoulder, "Mā ma, wǒ yǒu huí jiā...Wǒ yǒu chī. (Mum, I want to go home...I want to eat.)"
"Hǎole. Hǎole. (Alright. Alright.)" The woman let go of my arm and started walking away. "Lái. Wǒmen huí jiā. (Come. We go home.)
"*Āyí ne? (What about Aunt?)" the boy pointed to Geming and Ning's house.
*A/N: Āyí = mother's younger sister
"Méiguānxì. Wǒmen dài huì zàilái. (Nevermind. We'll come again later.)"
* * * ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ * * *
"Saleha!" I whispered-shouted again. Saleha could not have gotten far. I was careful not to call her name too loudly so as not to invoke Geming's wrath once more. I was after all, at the back of his house. The window shutters were clamped shut but I did not want to risk it. I had to coax her away from the place. Trouble was, I needed to find her first. I raised my eyes towards the faltering sunlight. It was going to be dusk soon and I did not want Saleha to be lurking outside during Mahgrib (sunset prayer) time. I had always heard stories during my childhood that "dirty things" came out to play come night. After experiencing some of them personally in recent times, I rather not have Saleha go through similar encounters.
The colourful parakeet in an intricately carved wooden birdcage blinked back at me curiously as it jerked its tiny head in various directions as though studying me at different angles. It whistled at me, bobbing its head up and down playfully. The roses in the potted plants surrounding the cage shone a bright red. I was itching to pluck one of the flowers out so that I could coax Saleha out from her hiding place.
The sight of the parakeet made me changed tactic and I began making pigeon sounds instead. I made sure to roll my R's. It was our father-daughter secret code to let the other know that it was safe to come out. We usually used it when we wanted to sneak a few pieces of rambutan away from the kitchen. Melati was not fond of us eating too many of the sweet fruit.
"Tch tch tch tch!" An abnormally loud clicking noise akin to a house gecko invaded the air. It was a secret code that Saleha wanted to continue hiding wherever she was.
That child will be the death of me.
"Coo roo! Coo roo! Coo roo! Coo roo!" I prompted her to rethink her decision with another round of pigeons' coos.
"Tch tch tch tch!" she repeated, determined to stay put.
A soft creak sounded behind me and I attempted to hurry out of sight for fear that Geming would see me but a soft voice immediately followed. It was almost inaudible but I heard it.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Ning peeking timidly from the window. She beckoned me over as she cast careful glances behind her. The thorns from the potted plant below the window pricked my skin and I gritted my teeth in pain. Looking down, I noticed briefly that the roses from her potted plants surrounding the bedroom window were withered and black.
"Doctor..." Ning spoke again, diverting my attention towards her.
I raised my eyebrows in surprise, "Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ? (You can speak English?)"
She quickly turned her head back to me, made a small pinching motion with one of her hands and nodded meekly as she replied to my earlier question, "A bit." She lifted a finger to her lips and let out a soft shush. I apologised and made a mental note to lower the sound of my voice the next time I spoke.
Her eyes looked worn and swollen from shedding too many tears. There were patches of dried tears at the corners of her puffy eyes. I choked back a tear as I looked at the frail little newborn in her arms who was wearing nothing but a muslin cloth with a small bobby pin as a diaper. Half an hour had not yet passed but the whole body had turned blue. By the way that Ning was holding the limp body, it was understandable that rigour mortis had not yet set in. At least two hours were needed for this to happen. An alarming palish blue colour, which was the typical signs of asphyxia were present on the face, especially the lips.
I offered my condolences and a drop of tear rolled down her cheek. But she rubbed it away hurriedly and cast another anxious glance over her shoulder. I craned my neck to have a better look inside and could barely make out a glimpse of Geming sprawled lazily on a couch in the main living room with his eyes glued to the small television box. His head rolled back in between chortled laughs as he smacked at his thigh heartily. There were five stages of grief - denial, anger, guilt, sorrow and acceptance. Exuberance was definitely not one of them.
"Baby..." Ning looked over her shoulder with fearful eyes at Geming whose eyes were still glued to the small television.
"What about the baby?" I urged her to continue.
"Uh," she raised her eyes to the ceiling in desperation as though struggling hard to find the right word. She began sniffling back tears as her eyes screamed of untold terrors as the words left her lips, "A thing attack baby." I encouraged her to speak in Mandarin but her terrified eyes told me that she did not want to.
"N-n-no!" she replied in fright.
"What thing attacked baby?"
I stared intently at Ning, trying to read her moving lips as her trembling voice had gone barely audible but I soon realised that she had not spoken anything else yet. Her lips slightly parted and I waited patiently for what she had to say. I was so busy trying to understand what she was going to say that I did not realise an extra pair of footsteps had headed our way.
"Shuōhuà dāngxīn diǎn! (Watch your mouth!)" Geming's booming voice startled both of us as he stormed inside the room and pulled Ning by the hair. "Nǐ gēn tā shuōle shénme?! (What did you tell him?!)"
"Méiyǒu! Wǒ- wǒ méiyǒu! (Nothing! I-I didn't!)"
"Nǐ dàodǐ zài gànshénme? Fàng kāi tā de tóufǎ! (What the heck are you doing? Let go of her hair!)" I snapped at Geming whose blazing eyes were now staring angrily at me.
"Zhè bù guān nǐ de shì! (It's none of your business!)" he blared. "Zǒu kāi! (Get lost!)" Geming roared at me as he yanked at Ning's hair harder.
Ning's eyes cast downwards towards the dead newborn then she looked at me with pleading eyes. I could not leave her just like that. "What were you trying to tell me, Ning?" I whispered to her urgently.
"Tā shuō shénme?! (What is he talking about?!)"
"Wǒ bù zhīdào. (I don't know.)"
"Tā wèishéme shuō nǐ de míngzì?! (Why did he say your name?!)
"Wǒ bù zhīdào. Wǒ bù míngbái! (I don't know. I don't understand!)" Ning cried out in pain as she clung the dead newborn tighter against her chest in a protective hug.
Then it hit me; Ning did not want her husband to know that she could speak or understand English.
"Tíng xiàlái! (Stop it!)" I snapped at Geming as he tightened his hold on Ning's hair, jerked her head backwards and shoved it against a cupboard.
Just as I tried to clamber up the wooden ledge, a gust of wind flew past me and Geming grabbed at his head as he stumbled backwards. Two green mangoes landed with loud thuds on the wooden flooring.
BAM! BAM!
The green, unripe mangoes were much brickier compared to ripe yellow ones due to their much sturdier and firmer mass. Two more mangoes hit Geming's head. By this time, he was furious. I looked over my shoulder and saw a flash of light green darting deeper into the darker green leaves of the mango tree.
Saleha.
The wooden railing shook with a slight tremor as Geming gripped the window's ledge and a string of expletives in Hokkien escaped his lips as he looked out angrily, trying to find the culprit. His eyes bulged out as the big vein on his forehead throbbed with fury. He barged towards the front door and rattled the multitude of locks impatiently as he opened them one by one.
"Hurry. Tell me now, Ning."
But her eyes were fixed on the nearest mango tree and she shook her head. She spoke anxiously, "Not now. Come back tomorrow. Go. Keep your daughter safe."
I carried the basket of papayas over my head and passed it to her hurriedly. "A gift from us to you."
Ning gave a weak smile as a show of thanks. I quickly ran towards the tree where Saleha was hiding while making loud, urgent feline caterwauling sounds to signal to her of the imminent danger and she needed to get away from there.
Fast.
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CREDITS:
Background Music: Myuu - The End Is Always Near
Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/zV-P1xa8rGI
Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiSKnkKCKAQVxMUWpZQobuQ