Chapter 26 : The House

"Marina...Is this the house?" asked Miss R.
"Yeah. I believe this is it. At least it's what the board over there says." I pointed to a ten feet long sign board that had "Tradition House" written all over it, in front of the house.
My expectation about the house was totally wrong. It was not some kind of aged wooden house with old features like those we typically seen in any villages, but it was actually a humongous three-storey hardwood mansion as big as the National Art Gallery.
"Guys hop off! Welcome to my family's 'Tradition House'!" said Miss B.
We got off the car and unloaded the luggage.
"Miss B. is this really your family's house?" Miss R tried to reconfirm.
"Yeah, it is. I swear!" answered Miss B so excited. "Now what you waiting for? Let's get to the main entrance."
"This is so beautiful..." all of us said in the same time. Everyone was in awed of the house, especially Miss D who did not notice her mouth was wide opened, until pointed out by Miss R.
"But the maintenance is quite demanding. It requires regular cleaning and inspection." Miss B explained, before she rings off the doorbell.
"Uncle..." Miss B got the old man by his hand and kiss it.
"Zubaidah. Where is your baju kurung?"
"In the bag. I didn't have a chance to put it on." Miss B giggled.
"Some things are just not going to change. You rarely wanted to put on the baju kurung coming down here." said the old man. He sounded like he was angry, but he was actually smiling from ear to ear.
"Oh come on uncle...you always misjudged me. I swear I did not have a chance to change earlier. I was just done with the aerobic class and  quickly rushed down here. Oh by the way...these are my friends from work...."
"She played her own uncle like nobody's business! Aerobic class my ass! Miss B oh Miss B...oh I meant Zubaidah!" Miss R whispered to me and we both turned red from holding our laughter.
"Please usher them into the house Zue..." asked Uncle Lan to Miss B.
"Guys, shall we?" Miss B pointed the entrance to us.
"Welcome to the 'Tradition House', everyone...Come let me show you the bedrooms. I can't let Zubaidah to do that. She's always got lost in this house!" said Uncle Lan, followed by laughter from every one.
He brought us to the third floor. Miss R and I were given the same room, since we used the same car. As we were walking around, I could not help it to notice something about the house. It was so beautifully decorated. Uncle Lan sure had great taste. The bed, the vanity, the vases and flowers, the arts on the walls...they were thoughtfully and tastefully chosen and put. The warm light from the chandeliers were making the nuance of the whole house looked just like what we saw in those interior design magazines. The ground floor was made of a dining area, a living room, a kitchen and two bedrooms. There was a library, an arts studio, as well as three bedrooms on the second floor and the third one consisted of another three bedrooms.
I laid myself on the bed when I was done with unpacking while Miss R sounded like she was holding a mini concert in the bathroom. Then I took up a couple of decoration magazines from the side table and browsed them one page to another. All of the sudden, I could hear a piano playing from afar.

"Wow...it's not too shabby" I thought to myself. I put down the magazine to focus on each notes. What really caught my attention was not because it played anything from Beethoven or Chopin, but because the music choice was rather more contemporary, and they happened to be my favourites too. 'One Sweet Day' and 'Love You Like a Love Song', I was sold!

In the beginning I thought it was Uncle Lan blasting off his old CDs in the library. But when I was being carried away by  the piano version of the 'Love You Like a Love Song' , it suddenly stopped and I could hear a man's cough before it continued again.

"So that was not from a CD. Someone is playing it. I wonder who would that be..." I spoke to myself.
I was becoming like a cat, full of curiosity. I wanted to find out just where the piano sound was from.
I walked down the stairs to the second floor and took a peek inside the library. It was empty. I put my ears again on the piano sound, this time even more focused. I just let my legs to bring me to whenever it came from, and slowly I was approaching this big spacious room full with arts on its walls. In the middle of the room there was a man behind a grand piano who seemed like he was  in such a  deep connection with his piano he barely opened his eyes playing it. I was stunned as soon as I looked into the room. Not due to the music he's playing, but due to the player himself!

"Marina?" he stopped playing the piano. For a straight few seconds his eyes did not blink at all. Wide open looking at me standing there at the door. "Marina...what are you doing here? How...I mean why?" he seemed lost for words.
"I...I was with Miss B..."
"Miss B? Who on earth is Miss B?" he frowned.
"I meant Zubaidah...we are from the same office actually. Now what are you doing here?"
"My uncle asked me to come here."
"Uncle? You meant Uncle Lan?"
"Yeah" he nodded.
"Uncle Lan is your uncle?"
"Yes he is, Marina."
"So...you and Miss B, I mean Zubaidah...are cousins?"
"That's right!. She's my cousin."      'Oh Eddie...' my heart kept mentioning that name over and over again. ' Is this really meant to happen, or is it just a coincidence?' For a hot minute I could not stop questioning this and that. I looked at his face, trying to find any similarities between him and Miss B.  This surprised meeting reminded me of what happened in the Anime Carnival awhile ago.

After the surprise reunion at the carnival, Eddie kept asking me out and I never said no to him. And so I went out with him for a few times and to be honest it was all fun and exciting in the beginning. I guessed that's normal for two friends who haven't met each other for quite some times.
But as the time went by, I started to feel uncomfortable with it. I knew Eddie haven't done anything wrong, instead he was a very respectful gentleman who always knew his limits in friendship and in just about anything.
However what Gina and Ally have told me about this possible relationship between me and him, has made me a little bit more careful. That's why I started to give him tons of reasons to create a gap between us both and  to turn him down every time he asked me out. 'I'm busy with work, I have places to go, my goldfish died...' At one point I even ignored all the texts he sent me and only replied them when it's too late. It sounded mean, I knew.
But I had to do it. I had to brace this newly reunited friendship slowly and carefully, for the sake of both parties.

"I can't believe I'll be seeing you here." said Eddie.
"Yeah me neither. Umm..you are very good at it." I pointed to the grand piano.
"Aww shush! Just a song or two."
"You were actually playing my favourite numbers, did you know that?"
"Oh really?" he responded in disbelief.
"Yeah..." I nodded. "I bet you can play some classics too, right?"
"Just a thing or two as well..." said Eddie, down to earth as always.
"Come on! Play one for me."
"Hmm what am I going to play for you Marina..." Eddie took a few seconds to think. "All right you listen to this okay..."
he smiled. He started with the first note before it went to a full intro of an arrangement by Janusz Olejniczak. I recognized that melody straight away. It was from The Pianist. I have been listening to the film's soundtracks since forever.
"Do you like the film, Eddie?"
"My favourite!" he replied.
"The Pianist!" we both said it in the same time.

"Oh look... There's a guitar!" I went for it and took it up.
"Uncle Lan loves to collect musical instruments."
"Do you play a guitar, Eddie?"
"Just a little bit. Do you want to see me play that guitar?"
"Why not! If you don't mind..."
"Come here. It's not always that I can play you a guitar. Maybe just this once because I might not see you again. You always so busy." he took the guitar off my hands.
What he said made me speechless. I knew it at that point that he was actually very much aware of my avoiding games all these times.
"I would like to dedicate this song for you, Marina." said Eddie. He picked the string and went...
"Kau masih cantik seperti dahulu / you are still as pretty as the old time...
Saat pertama ku jumpa dengan mu / from the very first time I saw you..."

As Eddie was singing the 'Aku dan Kamu' ( You and I) song, I put hundred percent of my concentration on the lyric of that infamous number from the Flop Poppy. I was not sure if he really meant the lyric or it's just the only song he knew to play on the guitar. But one thing for sure, I got really into it.
"Amazing!" I applauded, right after the last note.
"I know you can play guitar too, right? You've told me about it one time." asked Eddie.
"Oh I haven't touch any for quite some times!" I kind of knew where the question was going, so I tried to stop it.
"Just try it! Anything you can remember." he passed me the guitar.
To be quite honest this caught me off guard so I wasn't ready at all. What more to do it in front of Eddie.
But I braved it anyway and tried to recall the codes from Britney Spear's 'Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know' that Ally has taught me before.

"Well...this is all I can remember. But before that,  pardon me if the pitch goes south, okay!" 
Eddie raised his right hand, as a promise.
I started quite rough, trying to find the tuning, before I began to pick it up, and did it with all my heart.
"Oh wow now that's was impressive!" Eddie gave me a big round of applause, as soon as I ended it. I hope that was a genuine compliment, not him trying to sugarcoat anything just to win my heart.
"Uhum..." all of the sudden a voice came from the door,  making us both turned to it in the same time.
"There you are, Marina! Look who doesn't need an introduction here! I was thinking to introduce you guys to each other at dinner tonight. But it seemed like you guys have been knowing each other for quite some times."
"It's indeed very true, Zue...We've been knowing each other for years." Eddie replied her.
"What? Well I know  Malaysia is small but how???"Miss B seemed very surprised, before she rained us with one after one questions that made Eddie eventually explained to her about our relationship. I never thought my visit to this Tradition House would open another chapter of something unforeseeable.
But what really puzzled me was the fact that Miss B never mentioned one bit about Eddie, when he has been featured in the Hey Magazine back when we covered the Anime Carnival? Hmm maybe because the robotman suit made him unrecognisable.
"Marina, I think you better get ready now. Miss R has already done with her shower." suggested Miss B.
"Umm...okay." 
"Don't forget to wear Baju Kurung, all right?" Miss B reminded me before I left the room.
"All right."
Thank god for that reminder. I totally forgot about it and planned to get down for the dinner in a Bohemian dress instead.
I rushed to take my shower and it took me around fifteen minutes to clean myself and redo my make up. I worn a white pair of Baju Kurung, despite being warned by Miss R not to. I insisted on the white Baju Kurung because the rest were terribly wrinkly and I did not have enough time to have them pressed. But I promised her I would not go outside the house that night. And if I had to, I would put on the black cardigan so nobody would mistake me with a ghost in the middle of the darkness. 
"Let's get down everyone, shall we?" invited Miss B. She was smiling from ear to ear looking at each one of us elegantly donning our Baju Kurungs. I stayed very closed to them, as we were going down hoping that the scent of their perfumes would stick on me too, because I left mine at home.

As we were heading downstairs, there were five boys in complete Baju Melayu outfit already in the dining area. There were also Eddie, Uncle Lan and another elderly called Mak Som, getting ready for the dinner.
"These are the boys that will get 'cut' tonight." whispered Miss B. That has made us stopped on the staircase.
"You mean they'll do it right here? Not in the clinic?" reconfirmed Miss D.
"Yes. Right in this house. There, in the living room, to be more specific. I believe the doctor will be here any minutes now and after these boys are done with their special dinner, one by one will be 'snip snip'! The dinner should be extra special tonight because from tomorrow they can only eat certain meals, not just about anything like before. Two weeks is all it takes, before they can run around like a normal healthy boys again.
"What are you guys waiting there Zubaidah? Come down here let's have a dinner. I believe all of you must be very hungry from the long trip just now." shouted Uncle Lan, when he spotted us just standing there on the staircase.
We went down and took a seat on the floor, as traditional as it could be and proceeded with the dinner. The dishes prepared by Uncle Lan were amazingly delicious. There were five main dishes with other condiments that had us speechless and just focused on eating, especially the five boys. There was not a single sound from them and I was not sure if it's due to the marvellous food or they were just nervous for what's going to come after. It's just Uncle Lan's voice that would break the silence every now and then, asking us to go for a second. "Get some more! Don't be shy...I have more in the kitchen..." he repeated that sentence again and again throughout the dinner, making sure none of us were going to sleep hungry that night. What a typical Malaysian hospitality!
A few minutes after we were done with the dinner, the doctor came to do the honour. The boys were laid down on a bed, with half their bodies covered with  a sarong that was shaped like a tent, for the obvious reason. All five of them were separated in a specially designated waiting area.

All four of us took a chill seat on the staircase while listening to Mak Som telling us random stories. To be quite honest we were not really intended to listen to the stories, but more to see these boys' faces undergoing the circumcision process. We bet it was going to be quite a dramatic session I even imagined one of them run away and we have to chase him down all around the village, like I saw on TV. That would be funny.
A moments later I left them for the toilet and when I was on my way back down, the library on the second floor caught my attention. It was an open space so I just stepped into it to have a look around. I looked briefly at the books on the shelves and it finally brought my eyes to one corner with a small portrait on a side table. It was a picture of a boy in the very kitchen downstairs,  completed with a tall, white typical chef headgear on his head. There was a big bowl in front of him and it seemed like this little boy was working on a batter or something.
"That's me when I was eleven."
A voice broke in shocking me and turned me around.
"Eddie!" I exhaled, with a hand on my chest.
"I'm sorry did I scare you?
"Oh no..." I tried to play cool and put back the potrait to where it belonged.
"That chef's headgear was Uncle Lan's" he mentioned. He then took a cookbook from one of the shelves and showed it to me.
"Take a look at this, Marina..." Eddie turned the pages and stopped at a photo of a chocolate cake.
"This was the chocolate cake I made in that photo, in case you wanna know."
"Hmmm...are you sure?"
"I swear to god! You don't believe me?"
"I do...it's just..."
"It's just....?"
"I think I will be hundred percent convinced if you can make me one." I said jokingly.
"No problem! When do you want it?"
"Anytime! But...are you really going to do it? I was just kidding all right..."
"What about now? I think I have all the ingredients in the kitchen.
"Now? Are you being serious!?"
"Yeah!" he responded excitedly.
After he convinced me that it was not going to cause anyone in the house any troubles, I finally agreed. We went down and asked from Uncle Lan his permission to use the kitchen. Miss B, Miss R and Miss D who were still on the staircase were giving me these signs on their face of what Eddie and I were up to. I just smiled and blink an eye to them.
We got a green light from Uncle Lan and immediately got in the kitchen. Before I know it, everything was properly measured and organized on the table.
"Now I need you to just observe and not to touch anything, alright? Baking is all about accuracy. If one thing messed up, we are going to have just a chocolate lempeng (crepe) tonight."
"How many cakes are you going to bake, Eddie?"
"I have measured everything for two pieces." answered Eddie. He was laser focused and obviously remembered everything by heart at this point. I could see he did not even take a glance on the cookbook he shown me just now. He then proceeded with adding in one by one measured ingredients into a big white bowl. Slowly he mixed and manually stirred all the ingredients until they formed a thick, dark and shiny chocolate batter that was ready for the oven. Seeing the process has actually triggered something in my head. Something I have long forgotten. I started to recall back on those days at school, when Eddie would bring cakes and cookies every other day. He would share them with the whole class.
"Eddie, do you still remember those days when you brought all these cakes and cookies to school?"
"Of course I do."
"So all those things, you baked them yourself?"
"Mostly. Because sometimes it was my mother who did them."
"I had no idea it was from your own hands. Had I knew it..."
"Had you knew it...? Then what?"
"I would go to you every time I needed cakes and cookies!"
"Oh no now that the secret is broken! I'll be enslaved!" we both laughed at that.
"Isn't it great, sometimes to be able to recall all the sweet memories from the school days? I feel like going back to those moments." added Eddie. From that statement I could sense it that there was actually something else that he was trying to deliver. But something stopped him, it seemed and I looked at him with just a smile, not wanting to take the conversation any further either.
The oven's alarm suddenly went off and the whole kitchen smelled so good and chocolatey. With mittens on both hands Eddie took the cakes out the oven to cool them down. It looked great at that point and I just could not wait to see the final look of them, with the chocolate glazing on.
"Wow! They looked amazing! I bet they tasted as good as they looked!" I almost jumped like a little kid in a candy store, looking at the cakes. The fact that I saw how they were done from scratch right in front of my eyes made me even more excited. Eddie sliced a small chunk of the cake and gave it to me to taste.
"It's so good, Eddie!"
"Awh you just sugar coating it!"
"I'm not! I swear it's really good!" I replied. I did not make this up, the cake was really good, like those you could find in many renowned baking houses around Kuala Lumpur.
"Are you going to serve these cakes by tonight?"
"Oh no...I'm going to give one for the boys, and another one for you guys tomorrow, for the picnic at the waterfall."
"Can the boys eat the cake? Don't they have to watch their diet?"
"They sure can. Because these cakes don't have any eggs in them." answered Eddie.

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© Kid Haider

© KID HAIDÉR

© KidHaider

© KIDHAIDÉR

© Mohamad Khidir Bin Mohamed Yazir

© Mohamad Khidir Mohamed Yazir

© Khidir Bin Mohamed Yazir 

© Khidir Mohamed Yazir 

© Khidir M. Yazir