The sun sure rises earlier in these parts. Must be due to its flat plains…
Ain stifled a yawn, the backpack underneath her head a makeshift pillow as she laid down on a bench inside an abandoned roadside food stall turned unofficial bus stop. It's been some hours since she reached the wood and concrete structure, complete with a windowed, closed portion. Rough plastering adorned the concrete walls and a small stainless-steel sink with a working tap in one corner, (not dripping thank you God) its wastewater channeled out through a clumsy-looking piping system into the monsoon drain running alongside the road where the hut sat. A lonely abode sharing space with wild shrubs and, intermittent, solitary trees.
Several benches lay inside the hut. Dusty yet still sturdy, they lined up in sets of two with space to walk, some wooden tables pushed right up to the walls. Ain decided to risk catching some much-needed nap, switching on her mind scan to only around the hut and the house she had just walked away from. It was a proximity she found comfortingly close enough to detect any incoming trouble, and a prayer it doesn't switch off when and if she managed to finally doze off.
Sleep she did, a deep rest without dreams and nightmares, and when she woke up, it was the soft prayers from Aunt Maisara providing an angelic alarm clock, her beautiful rendition switching on Ain's mind to full clarity.
The wakeup nudge was very much a welcomed surprise to Ain, realizing that she had managed to establish a telepathic rapport with her one-time host. She sensed the older woman getting ready for the early morning prayers and Ain felt a twang of shame over her own slack when it comes to her religious obligations.
When was the last time I prayed?
She sat up, walked up the moldy sink and washed her face, thankful the water was clear and without any offending smell. Ran her wet fingers through her hair, feeling the knots and wishing she had bought one or two of the beautiful scarves when she and Arman stopped to shop at Tanjung Malim.
Arman…
She could read he was still sound asleep, Ain noticing the light cocoons she had placed as protective walls to his memory blocks unblemished, untouched, and waiting for its owner to activate and access them.
A string of cockerels began a fierce crowing competition in the village as they welcomed the shy glimpse of the orange sun, still hidden within mangrove trees lining the coastline flanking the village. Its population beginning to stir and awaken from their slumber, many in a mixture of calm wakefulness and groggy sleepiness.
Minutes later, Ain read two people approaching the hut, a grumbling young boy, and her older sister She read the delight and curiosity in the young woman's mind, catching a glimpse of Ain sitting alone at the bus stop.
The young teen stopped his bicycle at the edge of the junction, allowed his sister to alight with a quick "Thank you" from her and an equally swift grunt from him. Ain read in his mind, thoughts of having to rush to bathe, to don his school uniform, the feed the duck, to find his cat which had left its cage to prowl the night's comforts and so on as he sped off, the rubber tires crunching dirt and rubble underneath.
Her eyes cheery, the young woman smiled at Ain and greeted her, a laptop bag slung across her shoulder. She wore a well ironed long-sleeved blouse, soft peach with a pink rose motif sitting pretty at breast level. Her light green hijab complemented the dark green pants she wore. Ain reflected how she looked dowdy in comparison.
"Ain Abdullah," she said, using the term that translates as servant of God as her surname.
"Suraiya Mansor. Pleased to meet you," replied the young woman, a slight shyness in her voice. Her eyes lingered at Ain's uncombed hair, and, hastily turning her eyes elsewhere as thoughts of pity and pretty, jumbled in her mind.
"Sorry for asking, but can I offer you this?" she said, taking out a small comb from her handbag which Ain gratefully accepted as she tidied herself. Suraiya looked on, curious thoughts buzzing over her new acquaintance.
"I'm visiting a friend at the village and had to leave early. We can take a bus to town from here, isn't it? I'm not so familiar with this area, I'm afraid," said Ain, returning the comb.
"Yup. Are you going only to Kuala Selangor, or heading elsewhere? There's only one bus plying this route, and there's a roughly two-hour wait between each trip. Can you imagine that?"
Suraiya sat down on the bench beside Ain.
"Who are you visiting here? Where are you from? Can I also say you're pretty? Sorry. There's just not that many of our age group in this village. I'm stuck with having my brother for company. He's the one who dropped me off."
"Very thoughtful of him," said Ain, adding, "If I have a younger brother, I bet he have would probably let me walk on my own all the way here."
They shared light chuckle as Ain continued, "I'm from up north, Sungai Siput, and on my way to Cyberjaya. You're up quite early. Working?"
"Uh humm. Last to leave, earliest to arrive, that's me. I don't have a driver's license and dad wouldn't allow me to ride the motorbike to town, so I have no choice but to the take the bus every day, six days a week. And, talking about the bus, here it comes."
Suraiya stood up and rushed to the front of the hut.
"You have to hail them, otherwise the driver would just zoom past," she said, lifting her left arm. Seconds later, a red and blue bus came to a halt before them. They both alighted, Suraiya paying for two tickets, smiling at Ain.
"My treat," she said.
They sat together, Ain next to the window, the early morning breeze on her face. The bus had a smattering of passengers.
"Are you on holiday or something? You looked very… relaxed…" asked Suraiya.
"I just got back from a trip up North, and right now, not doing anything in particular until my new semester starts again," lied Ain.
"Oh… So, you're on your study break then. Figures," said Suraiya.
Ain saw a lightbulb switching on in her new companion's mind.
"Say, would you to work part time with us, Ain? We are a bit understaffed, and you sure look capable of helping us. How about it? I can talk to the others. We could use another one or two more people to help at the center."
"What do you guys do?"
Ain asked despite already knowing the answer, an IT learning center.
"We teach computing skills to children and adults. Right now, there's me, Amira, Stephanie, Angie and Aswad as full-time trainers, but everyone has two sessions daily so there's literally no real break for any of us to take. It's worse when one of us goes on sick leave, you can imagine. You are good with computers, right? You looked like you do."
"Yeah. I'm okay with them. Mainly software, but I know a bit about hardware as well," said Ain, and then a long pause, Suraiya looking on with hopeful thoughts of "please say yes please"
"Okay, Suraiya. You got yourself a new temp staff," she said, a small hurray coming from the young woman sitting beside her, inviting a curious glance from the bus driver peering from his rear-view mirror.
"Is there a place close to your office where I can put up? My friend's house is a no go for long stays, I'm afraid," asked Ain.
"Hmmm… my house too. Let me see… I think there's a B&B about five, six minutes-walk away. It's relatively inexpensive, but a bit cramped. Not a problem for singles like us for sure but a friend of mine said he'd never book that place again. Uh… You are single, right?" said Suraiya, blushing at her question.
Ain saw in her new friend the mental image of a good-looking mustached man of slight build. Accompanied by the longings of un-recruited love for someone married to another.
Mistaking the frown on Ain's face as concerns over the proposed accommodation, Suraiya hastily added: "… but, there are other places more comfortable. Just a bit further, that's all."
"Should be fine, Suraiya. I just need a bed and a proper bathroom. Don't really need any extra space."
"Ummm… about work…. Are you okay with hourly pay? You can take on the Microsoft Office classes. We're teaching Excel currently, mostly secondary school students. You know Excel, right?"
Ain smiled, her eyes looking at the eager young woman sitting beside her as the bus approached a red light, the traffic slowing down to a crawl.
She's worried of being stuck in a deadbeat job with absolutely no future.
"Yes, Suraiya. I know Excel and hourly is fine. I am on part time basis anyway," said Ain.
She heard a sigh from her new friend, in Suraiya's mind thoughts of things they needed to do to expand the center as their bus started moving. Ain then read Arman waking up, perplexed at finding himself at his aunt's place.
How I wish I could be there to fill the gaps in his memories.
She caught the minds of another two men, their thoughts on Arman and the unnamed young woman with him, pondering whether they should take the risk of entering the village and in so doing, announcing their presence to their intended targets.
Further away, she found the woman she had supposedly fought with, Dr Kendall having her breakfast early in bed (Not her own place… She's in a hotel?), reading in her mind questions on Arman's whereabouts, on John Doe (She knows him…. Saari? Ring any bells yet, Ain? Who the hell is he?), the hospital she worked in, then a string of hate-filled thoughts against the patient named Ain.
That would be me, Doctor.
She decided to then to leave but not before catching the doctor's sadness in not revealing her feelings to Arman when she had the chance. Ain felt a pang of pity for the briefest second, replaced with the strongest alert as she detected close by another familiar mind, recognizing the inherent malevolent blackness.
Are they're together?
Startled at the discovery, Ain withdrew her extended mind scan. He, too, had left the hospital using Dr Kendall as his ticket. Pursuing her and Arman? She sighed a breath of relief. Reassured she had made the right decision in cutting Arman off from her life.
Her mind instinctively went to Aunt Maisara, found her thinking her wayward nephew had gone all bonkers in not remembering about the pretty young woman he brought home yesterday evening. Despite some trepidations, Ain began to subtly erase memories of the moments they shared, as Aunt Maisara went from recalling, to imagining her thoughts as mere longings of an old woman wanting the best for her favorite nephew.
She then became aware of Suraiya touching her softly on the shoulder.
"Ain? Are you okay?"
She composed herself and smiled at the young woman.
"Sorry, I must have dozed off a bit. Have we arrived?"
"You looked spaced out for a while there. Only for a few seconds, but you were so still. Almost lifeless. I didn't know what to do. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Suraiya. Fatigue, I guess. The trip took a lot more from me than I realized. Why don't I buy you coffee? Breakfast is on me," she replied.
"Great. I'll choose the place," said Suraiya, beaming at the thought of finally having company starting her day at work.