The problematic young woman - part 3

After I was informed by Zana that her mother told her not to come home, I took down her family's address and phone numbers. My task - to talk to the family members.

We didn't know what really went on with Zana's family. All we knew was that when Zana's sister called, all she said before she hung up the phone was, "Abah mengamuk!"

No, I was not (and am still not) prepared to walk into a lion's den. Going to the house to meet the family before finding out more details is definitely out of the question. Zana gave me 2 handphone numbers, both belonging to her sisters.

I tried sending a text message first. I introduced myself and asked about Zana's situation. Same message sent to both numbers. I waited for a response from any one of them... there was none. A few hours later, received one SMS from an unidentified number. The message:

"Assalamualaikum. Saya family Zana. Maaf ye, Zana dah takde tempat dalam family kami. Dah 2 kali dia buat kerja bodoh tanpa fikirkan kami. Kami dah bagi peluang tapi dia tak gunakan peluang yang diberi."

Since the number did not belong to any of Zana's sisters, I assumed one of the sisters showed my message to their father and someone else in the family had replied on their behalf. Or it could be the father himself.

I translated the message as...
1. Zana is no longer accepted in our family.
2. Stop bothering us.

Hmmm... from the message it looked as though her family had already given her a second chance. But what did they really mean?

I immediately forwarded the message to Kak Hawa so she could maybe talk to Zana.

The next day I called up Kak Hawa. According to Kak Hawa, she had a heart-to-heart talk with Zana earlier in the morning. Zana cried when Kak Hawa showed her the text message I had earlier forwarded.

Kak Hawa pestered Zana to explain what was meant by "Dah 2 kali dia buat benda bodoh tanpa fikirkan kami." By now both Kak Hawa and I know very well that Zana usually doesn't tell the whole truth unless and until she is forced to.

Zana finally admitted that her first child was also a result of out-of-wedlock pregnancy. The only difference was the family managed to get hold of the guy (Zana's late husband) and so they were married off before Zana delivered. This time however, by the time Zana's mother found out about the second pregnancy, Zana herself had lost contact with the guy whom she only knew by his nickname! Oh how easily she fell into the arms of this guy... all for her need of the so-called "love".

Now I understand what the family meant. They gave her a second chance - she blew it! The way I see it, the only way she can be accepted back into the family is for her to actually beg for her parent's forgiveness. And I mean really, really BEG - on her knees. For that to happen, Zana will first have to change. She needs a total change of attitude. When she asks for forgiveness she will have to do so sincerely - not by force and not just for the sake of having a place to stay. Then only MAYBE I have a chance to coax the family to accept her back into their lives. But it will still not be easy.

The very next day (after I called Kak Hawa), I received a text message from Kak Hawa saying that one of Zana's twin babies died. Kak Hawa was still at the hospital when she sent that message - waiting for the post mortem results.

I was shocked. Just the week before when I visited them the twins looked just fine. I even held them in my arms. What could have happened? My mind began to wonder...

I didn't want to disturb Kak Hawa that day. Surely she'd be busy, what with the post-mortem... funeral arrangements etc. So I had to wait to know the answer...