After discussing things over with Anita on Wednesday, and after I offered to pay for her bus ticket, Anita had actually wanted to leave her sister's house on that very same day.
I told Anita not to rush things. I didn't want her to pack her things in a rush as she may end up forgetting the important things, like her birth cert and ARV medication. She had after all managed to endure her sister & her guy(the so-called hubby, or "jantan tu", that's what Anita called him) for so long, just bear it for one more night. Besides, we weren't even sure what time the bus to the intended town would be available. So we both went to the bus station to buy her a ticket.
After checking through each ticket counter, I finally approached one counter and asked for a morning bus. The guy at the counter at first suggested 9.30 am, but that would be too early.
You see, since Anita's sister and her guy would leave home by 9 am to go to work, and since Anita wanted to leave without their knowledge, I would have to fetch Anita after 9 am. I wouldn't be able to get Anita to the bus station on time if we were to buy the 9.30 bus. So we opted for the 10.30 am bus.
After buying the ticket and after finalising our plans, I sent Anita back to her sister's house. But Anita didn't want me to send her right to her house. When she went for her hospital appointment, she left her son under the care of the guy's mother, who stays just nearby. Anita didn't want the guy's mother to notice my car. Even though the lady is innocent and oblivious to whatever's happening in the house, she may just later in the day innocently ask in front of Anita's sister who I was.
Nope, that had to be avoided, so I dropped Anita off at a nearby petrol station.
I promised Anita I'd fetch her by 9.30 am. So this morning, about 9 am, I left my office to fetch Anita. I got there at about 9.20 am. Duh, there was some sort of a pasar pagi there, making me confused as to which way to take to get to Anita's sister's house. Suddenly I saw amongst the crowd - Anita and her baby coming my way. She figured I may not be able find my way and decided to come out to look for me.
She got in the car and showed me the way to get to the house, as her things were still there. It would be difficult for her to carry everything, with a baby in tow. I just stopped for a while outside the house, and while I held her cute, chubby and playful baby boy, Anita went in the gate to get her things. She had one bag of clothes and one paper bag of milk powder. No, she didn't intend to bring all the things with her on the bus. With her chubby boy, it would be difficult for her to carry so many things.
So the big bag and the milk powder were left in my car while Anita herself brought another small bag consisting of just enough things to last her and the baby boy for about 2 days at the other sister's house.
Coincidentally in the morning, before Anita's sister and her guy went off to work, Anita was tidying up the house (she's being treated like a maid in the house - no, a slave... a maid at least gets paid!) and accidentally knocked the guy's handphone to the floor. Apa lagi, mengamuklah both the sister and the guy! Again, the sister told her to berambus, and said, "Tengahari ni aku tak nak tengok muka engko kat rumah ni!" Hmmm...
Well, she got what she wished for. This morning's escape went rather smoothly. We got to the bus station on time and Anita and her baby managed to get on the bus without much trouble.
So much for part 1 of the escape. I wonder what her sister is thinking now. While she may have gotten what she wished for, frankly I think she still wanted Anita around - as her slave. All the while, Anita had been doing all the house work and even having to serve them their food. And believe it or not, Anita and her baby had been sleeping in their little store room in the kitchen! (There were other rooms upstairs.)
Now the sister will have to do the housework herself.
Part 2 of the escape? That will have to wait until Anita comes back to Ipoh from the other sister's house, if she comes back, that is. I don't think Anita herself will run off just like that - since most of her things are still in my car. I'm just concerned what will happen at the other sister's house. Will that sister be asking too many questions I wonder...
*Update: Just received a call from Anita this morning. She safely arrived last night, but since she needed to get on another bus to go to her sister's place in another small town, she slept at a makcik's (a distant relative) house. The makcik told her that Anita's sister (the one that Anita intended to seek help from) had passed away quite some time ago. And nobody told her about it?? Aduh, how much more cerita Melayu can this get?!
14 comments:
salam k.pi,
berdebar i baca cerita ni....only its very, very real. again, my prayers would be, 'semoga Allah permudahkan urusan hamba-hambaNya yang teraniaya'.
and may Allah continue to give you the strength and the resources to help these kind of people.
Amiiiiin
-niasulaiman-
Niasulaiman,
With the latest update, I'm not sure if Anita will be able to get a copy of her sister's birth cert. I hope the family still keeps it.
Pulaak..kesiannya nasib Anita ni..memang macam plot filem Melayu!
There must be a way for her to get out of this mess..
Mamasita,
If there's a will, there's a way, insyaAllah...
k.pi....besarnyer ujian dia ni....do keep up posted.
-niasulaiman-
alamak! kesian sungguh kes anita ni, pi.
tak boleh ke dia buat surat sumpah saja utk selesaikan masalah dia?
Niasulaiman,
Whether I keep you all posted or not will depend on whether she comes back to Ipoh. She'd better, because her clothes and milk powder for her baby are still in my car!
Mekyam,
Even with her sister's birth cert, she will still need to buat surat sumpah. In fact there will be lots of interviews and sumpah menyumpah and all that jazz!
Your writings here - they are excellent. And I know why... it's because they `have life'. Anyway, your update about her sister being dead - that was totally unexpected! If you were writing fiction here, the editor might have advised you to change that part... "too unbelievable".
Mat Cendana,
In the voluntary work that I'm doing, there are too many happenings which I wouldn't have believed if I had watched them in dramas...
OMG! I really didn't expect that update but unlike in a movie, this is real life story. Poor Anita. Besar sungguh dugaan Allah pada dia. Sebak hati baca. I hope she contacts you soon.
Farina,
Anita did contact me after she went to her arwah sister's house, hoping the family would still have a copy of her birth cert etc. But nope, according to her bro-in-law, they don't. I've asked her to at least get the birth cert of any one of her other sisters, just to show that their mother was already a Malaysian. I know Anita did mention her other sisters had not been too cooperative, tapi manalah tau, terbuka pulak hati timbul rasa sikiiiit kesian kat dia di bulan Ramadhan ni kan...
Pi, suruh Anita dapatkan copy IC dan surat mati sister dia. You bawa dia and the documents to Pejabat Pendaftaran. Buat cerita Hindu kat situ. Oh bawa sekali birth cert Anita. Insyallah boleh dapat copy birth cert kakak dia. Kalau tak berjaya, pls write about it and minta your readers to help. Mesti ada yang ada 'kaki' di Pejabat Pendaftaran tu.
Mas
Mas
Memang I hantar dia balik tu to get all the necessary documents. Siap surat nikah mak dia dibawaknya... :)
Right now trying to arrange for an appointment with the JPN officer. Buat masa ni I buat cerita Melayu dulu. See lah how, if that doesn't work, then maybe we resort to cerita Hindustan.
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