章節 32: Tiding through a Figurative Storm (Part 1)

Hana read the message written by her beloved Arash detailing all the destruction done by her unassuming funny pictures. She blinked her eyes multiple times to ensure that she read the message correctly. After a while she looked blankly at her snake pet and slapped her own forehead.

"Aiyoo..aiyoo..aiyoo..so stupid..so stupid." She grumbled under her breath. The delectable grilled catfish suddenly didn't taste as great as before.

It was just a funny no frills picture specially taken for Arash's eyes only. A mixture of colorful expletives threatened to come out from the foul-mouthed aunty, but she managed to take a deep breath and held it in.

She started typing wholeheartedly.

Arash must've been in a pinch. She needed to be responsible with her mistake and help Arash's to manage the consequences. What she was most afraid of was her family lodging a police report accusing her beloved husband with foul play or something. Her big bro Hadi was a bit paranoid; always suspicious of everyone and everything! Only she could calm him down when he is on panic mode with her 'happy go lucky' attitude.

....

Arash just got out from his hard earned relaxing bath and was getting ready to bring the girls to the mamak restaurant (1) not far from their house for an early dinner. He managed to complete a few tutorials for Hana and took the bath while the kids were still dreaming in their afternoon-evening nap. Thankfully nobody was awake throughout the time.

He had waited and waited but no response came either from his mother-in-law or his wife after the big truth disclosure that afternoon.

He guessed that his mother-in-law must be in quite a shock and needed time to digest. He just hoped that she won't accuse him of lying. He truly can't prove himself except for physically showing the messages between him and Hana.

A sudden harsh knock sounded on the front door broke his daydreaming.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

"Anyone home? Bro Arash, are you in?!" He could hear the urgent but harsh tone of his brother-in-law from the front door of his apartment. He felt unhappy with the harsh sound since it could wake the kids from their slumber prematurely.

Opening the door, Arash was met with the aggressive Hadi. "Where is that girl?! How dare she make our mom cry?! That joke is too much!" He pushed Arash aside and went in to check every room of the house.

Arash scrunched his brow in silent anger. His brother-in-law was too much; he was simply too rude. However, he let Hadi checked every room and accompanied him in silence.

However, once Hadi wanted to open the master bedroom harshly, Arash held his hand in a firm grip and made a silent gesture. He then opened the door himself and showed to Hadi.

Inside, the two little girls were sleeping soundly, snuggling with each other. The loud noise from before didn't even woke them up. They must've been quite exhausted.

Hadi was stumped for a short while before he managed to calm his mind and understand the situation.

He closed the door quietly while trying to find the right word to apologize. However, no words came to mind. He could only stare at Arash apologetically.

Arash sighed. "Bro Hadi, come over to the kitchen for a cup of coffee."

Hadi grunted in agreement without saying a word while he followed Arash's steps towards the kitchen.

....

Hadi blew the steam from the coffee mug while sighing. The 3-in-1 Ipoh White Coffee (2) had calm him down further. Hadi looked at his brother-in-law and wonder, how did he know his personal preferences. Arash even brought out a bag of Ngan Yin's salted unpeeled peanuts (3) for him. That was his ultimate favorite.

As he opened the familiar red peanut bag, he unconsciously took one after another, peeled the shells and throw the nuts into his mouth mechanically. He only realized his actions when he cannot fished anymore peanuts from the bag. He regretted making a mess on the kitchen bench while finishing off someone else's peanuts. It has been spotless before when they initially sat.

He saw Arash's cool and unperturbed expression, as he busied himself with his own cup of coffee. It looked like he was concentrating hard on the coffee and pretended not to notice Hadi's uncomely behaviors. This made Hadi feel thankful to Arash for being tactful enough to save his face.

"Em, Bro Arash, can you be truthful and tell me where Hana went?" He asked quietly while suppressing his bashfulness. He tried his best to observe his brother-in-law's body language to determine how true the words spoken would be. He knew Arash was going to answer with the same tale he told Mem Shaza before. He just wanted to see for himself how Arash retold the story.

Arash responded with a defeated tone, "It must've been Mak who send you over, bro. What I've told Mak is the absolute truth. You can check my phone for Hana's messages." He passed his smartphone after he launched the LINE chatting app without further explanation.

Hadi took the smartphone and read through the messages from five days ago until present carefully.

Arash added, "If Hana lied to me, it meant I lied to you. However, I doubt that. I love her, and she love me. You can attest to that yourself." He spoke with conviction. In his heart, he believed his wife 100%. His wife's disappearance was very sudden. Besides that, their little family had been very harmonious, and they were very much in love with each other; the chances that Hana left him and the kids was nonexistent. If she was unhappy at the very beginning, she would've told him face-to-face. They had never had problems in communication before. In the off chance she really did want to run away from home, she would at least take the children with her. They meant the world to his wife.

Hadi stared into Arash's eyes, trying to validate the truth. True, these two lovebirds had been together for so long. They're even each other's best friend before they became lovers before. At one point, his sister was totally smitten with her 'best friend' until he was so worried they might elope if their strict mom didn't permit them to get married.

Author's Note:

(1) mamak restaurant = Its the same Indian Muslim restaurant known as Nas Kandar Restaurant, where you can get a cup of teh tarik

(2) 3-in-1 Ipoh White Coffee = a popular milk coffee from the Ipoh region, now comes in 3-in-1s and different flavor

(3) Ngan Yin's unpeeled peanuts = a very nostalgic brand of peanuts with a big 'thumbs up' as the mascot cover on the peanut bag. It is red in color (besides the hand of course). Now the peanut size had reduced significantly. During 10-20 years ago, the peanuts were really big! Mrs Mooncat's dad loved to break the pod and eat them so much while making a mess.