The Sequel (1984 - 1985)

Now that I've started, I'd better get it over and done with, taking all of you back through time when I started out with Saudara HHK. Being an academician that I am, I will divide my sequels into 4 parts, and I will end the whole thing with a Conclusion. (Giler academic!!! Hahaha!)

This posting will be called "The Sequel (1984 - 1985)"

To those who are new to this blog, this will only make sense if you were to read this and this first.

Everybody ready? Here we go...

After getting Ayah's apology letter (which I shared with Yus, of course!) I decided to give it a go with this guy - as friends exchanging our schools' test and exam papers. True to his words, every month I would get a bundle of either test or exam papers from him, and I would also send him bundles of exam questions from my side. I guess if we were to sell off all the papers to the "Old Newspaper Guy", we would have made a lot of dosh then:)

The only problem was - he was in Science, and I was in Social Science (despite getting all As for my SRP, and despite being advised by my teachers to join Science Stream, I was adamant to stick to my choice - I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, and I didn't want to waste my time and crack my head with all those science subjects which I knew I would fail miserably in anyway!) Anyway, it was not a big problem, as I would normally get copies of the Science papers from Noi, my dorm-mate, and whatever Science papers which Ayah sent me, I would pass them to Noi. I can't seem to remember whether Ayah actually got copies of exam questions from his Social Science friends to pass to me, or not.

But, what I remember clearly was this -

Give and take 2 months after we started writing to each other, a classmate of mine received a letter from her friend who was a Soc.Sci pupil at Sekolah Melayu KK. And in that letter were (about) 25 paper strips with a name written on each. There was a request that each of us pick one name, and that person would be our "pal" for the purpose of exchanging exam papers. I just could not understand why it had to be so complicated. Why couldn't MY classmate just send a SET of the exam papers every month to HER friend in Soc.Sci Sekolah Melayu KK, and he in turn just send their set to her, and anybody who wanted them could just make their own copies, right?!

Naaaahhhh...got hidden agenda one! Serampang dua mata strategy! I guessed it was not so much of a request to exchange papers, but more of a platform to get to know your "pal" better! Pandai budak Sekolah Melayu KK ni...

Anyway, as I was already getting my "supplies" from Ayah, I didn't want to be part of the arrangement. However, after most of my classmates had chosen their "pals", there were a few names left, and the rest of us who had earlier refused to join in were persuaded to be part of it. Kesian punya pasal, and also thinking that this "pal" would be a Soc. Sci student who could provide me with Soc Sci papers, thus lessening saudara HHK's job, and after being cajoled by our classmates, I gave in and got myself a new "pal", too. And my "pal" was Samdol (bukan nama sebenar).

I don't remember writing to Samdol, but I remember getting his first letter. Apparently my classmate - the "organizer" of the "scheme" on our side, had finalized the "pairing" and had given the list of names to the "organizer" from that side. Anyway, I seem to remember that I only wrote to Samdol when there was a set of exam papers to send him. And all those while, Ayah and I had been writing to each other regularly as friends - nothing more than that, and of course, exchanging exam papers. I never mentioned Samdol to Ayah, as I thought it was a non-issue.

And, oh my...was I wrong to have thought that!

What I didn't know was that, Samdol was NOT a Soc.Sci student after all. He was in fact a Science student. He was in fact......Ayah's classmate! Horror! Horror!

Apparently, the 25 names from which we had to choose from - they were NOT all Soc.Sci students. They were just a group of smart alecs who were never really interested in exchanging exam papers in the first place! Aaaaarrrrgggghhh!!!!

What happened was, Ayah found out that I was also writing to Samdol, while writing to him, and he was rather upset. I was upset, too! Because - firstly, I just couldn't understand why he had to be upset in the first place. We were not boyfriend/girlfriend anyway, and he surely didn't have any rights over me, right?!!! Secondly, I was upset because Samdol was not really a Soc.Sci student and there was no point for me to correspond with him in the first place!

So, I gave them BOTH a piece of my mind, and I stopped writing to both of them. That was the last time I heard from Samdol...but, not from Ayah...

A week or so after I sent out the letter, Ayah wrote back to me and apologized. I don't know lah...there was something about him yang buat I cair everytime I read his letter...So, things got back to normal.

You would think that was the end of it, right? That everything was hunky dory until we finished our SPM, right? Nope! Guess again!

I can't remember whether we were still in Form Four, or we were already in Form Five when the next "incident" happened.

Did I mention that I had also been exchanging papers with a guy from Sekolah Lorong Harimau, by the name of Wak Jonggo (juga bukan nama sebenar) about the same time I started writing to Ayah? Again, Wak Jonggo was the one who wrote to me first. And again, I didn't mention this to Ayah. As with that Samdol thingy, I thought this Wak Jonggo was also a non-issue between Ayah and I. And after his apology following the Samdol incident, I thought we had an understanding about this exchanging exam papers thingy.

And I really didn't see it coming...

I remember - it was a week after school reopened, and all of us just came back to JB after our Term break, when I received a letter from Ayah. And he wrote -

Lebih kurang -

"Salams Saudari Shana - how was your term break - mine was okay - full of tuitions, etc. Something interesting happened on my train journey back to KL (or was it to KK?). We, a group of Sekolah Melayu KK guys ended up sitting in the same coach with a few of bebudak Sekolah Lorong Harimau - we got talking - and somehow one of them started talking about their friends from STF, TKC, SSP, etc - and somehow YOUR name came out. By the way, do you by any chance know a guy by the name of Wak Jonggo?!"

And I was like, "Oh NOOOOOO!!! Not again!!! Why does this have to happen to me???!"

Of ALL the coaches, and of ALL days, and of ALL people - why did he have to end up sitting with Wak Jonggo?!!!

Again, I was upset because HE was upset! I still thought that he had no right or reason to be upset....

But, deep inside, I had a strange feeling of the possibility of "losing" him... After Samdol, and then Wak Jonggo, he REALLY must have thought that I was not a loyal friend, or that I was somehow a "loose" person?

Even though I felt helpless and worried, I wrote a similar letter to the one I wrote to him after the Samdol incident, explaining to him what needed to be explained. And I remember waiting anxiously for his reply...which came only after nearly 2 weeks. That was one of the longest 2 weeks of my life...And I really thought - that was it. He was not going to write to me again...

THAT was when I realized that I was actually falling for him! Even though I had already had this strange feeling that Ayah was the one for me going into his sixth letter to me, I never really seriously entertained that thought. That was UNTIL that long 2-week wait.

And my...was I relieved when Ayah's letter finally came, again - apologizing for being "possessive", etc. And I remember feeling warm and fuzzy inside reading that letter....and thinking to myself, "Hey...he's jealous. That's very sweet..."

And things got back to normal :)

I remember getting a Musical Box from Ayah for my 17th Birthday, and we continued writing to each other throughout Form Four and Form Five.

I remember getting beautiful cards from Ayah on my birthday and also on Valentine's Day '85.

I remember still writing to Wak Jonggo, as I felt I at least owed it to him to continue sending my sets of exam papers to him.

I remember BOTH of us doing very well in our studies - him always being the top in his stream, while me being the top in my stream.

I remember never ever calling him and I think the only time we spoke in those two years was when he called me at home which caught me by surprise. Apparently he went searching for my Abah's name in the thick Telekom Directory and tried his luck and called the number.

Abah was the one who answered that call, and I was quite surprised that Abah actually passed the phone to me and let me speak to Ayah! (Of course Abah was sitting just 3 feet away from me! Hehehe!). And of course, right after I put down the phone - Abah began his Spanish Inquisition on me... I think he suddenly turned mellow on me, when I told him that the caller was budak Sekolah Melayu KK...

And all those while, we NEVER met.

And I remember thinking, "Would BOTH of us get the offer to further our studies at the same place after SPM? Would we ever get the chance to meet?"

And those questions were answered in January 1986...