226. Janda Baik punyaaa

i am panicking, never have i've seen adults confronting each other before,
and now both of them are in their offensive mode, if this is a boxing match..
i think i can hear the coach asking kak ida for a few left jab and one good hook. but this is not.
'kakak, saya tinggal duit sini yer' my effort to leave the crime scene,
'hang tunggu pocket, aku nak potong ayam sikit kat mak hang'
kak ida is loud and crispy, crispy voice is basically the opposite of
will smith's voice in hitch. (Lousy description as usual)
and so i waited in that restaurant. it was at the edge of our kampung,
started not much of a restaurant but since kak ida have made a
break through in her nasi ayam, more and more people come to share
the location. kak ida being the nice person she is allow
kasim to canai his roti in the morning,
malik to tarik his tea all day long and not to forget
PakMan to grill his sate in the night.

'masa abang seronok dulu abang bawak cek pi sana sini, bila dah bosan abang tinggai cek, tak dapat anak konon alasan abang, tapi pasai apa ngan pompuan tu pun tak dapat anak jugak!? la ni sapa yang mandui?'
'yang lepaih tu lepaih la, kita buat yang baru, abang ada satu port baguih punya kat ipoh sana, jom la kita pi sana bukak nasi ayam ida... mesti laku punya'
'tak mau!! ni la cinta ida, ni la peluh ida, ni la ayaq mata. masa ida miskin, abang tinggai! bila ida dah buleh juai nasi ayam sikit abang mai nak baik balik.. macam mana abang jumpa ida nii haa? sapa duk gatai bagi tau kat abang !!?'


ok!! domestic issue being shown in the public like it was a theatre,
kak ida was a girl in her late twenties. i never knew her as a janda before,
of course those particular item was never mentioned to a school boy like me.

Her nasi ayam was a hit. She was a hit,
Always kept her apron clean, and somehow if i would dream of her,
then i'd be dreaming her in loose kebaya, maybe she kept on wearing
those kinda baju all year long that i got the impression that she dont
wear anything that dont have any button upfront.

All the boys luv her, she's beautiful in her own way,
clean and neat with her pony tail and muka bujur sireh.
All the senior boys luv her too, a young girl holding a cleaver
as big as her face chopping off chicken is a sexy scenery:),
All the girls look up to her as an idol in succesful lady.
Single lady owning a car back in the 80's.. Akogarerunaaa...
All the makcik also loving her as a nice and polite girl she is,
regardless of the fact that their husband is actually flirting wit her.
'She is ok' was their review.
All of them love her nasi ayam, its delicious and most chinese like
nasi ayam with chicken cooked just a milisecond before well done.
but none of them know where she's from or who she is..
let alone what is her marital status...or at least untill that day.

'tapi hang bini aku, hang kena dengaq cakap aku'
the skinny man with the goaty spoke loudly trying to make his point.
imagine him as Na51r B1lal Kan ok..
'la ni baru nak mengaku!? 4 tahun dah abang tinggai la baru nak ngaku!?
selama ni abang duk mana? pi mampoih laaa!! jantan tak guna!'
'hang jangan kurang ajar ngan aku ida!!' he grabbed kak ida's hand.
Trying to hurt her. and then kak ida got a hold of her best friend for
the four years of chopping ayam.
Her cleaver.
And the spirit of 2490 chicken came to her when she held the cleaver
up high to Na5ir's face and say... 'baik hang blah... aku buat nasi ayam satgi'
and there and then talak was officially announced. she is now formally a widow.

The weirdest thing happen the next day n the week after...
kak ida is no longer a hit, her nasi ayam is no longer a hit,
the 'senior boys' always come to that place but eating in the
back side of the restaurant, as if dont wanna be seen.
the senior ladys are warning their husbands,
'do not eat her lousy nasi ayam anymore' they said.
n the girls are not saying hi to her anymore.
'pompuan tak pandai jaga laki' kata mereka.
i was there and i dont think so...

i am her nasi ayam fan, still go on having her nasi ayam and it tasted the same.
but she continue to bring back more and more of leftovers afters.
i dont get it.

now that people know her title, their perception has changed?
now that she is a janda, everybody is looking her from the corner
of the eyes cursing bad things?
what is it with a title? janda duda muda teruna dara?
'Nasi ayam janda' is not as delicious as it use to be?

There was no nasi ayam,
no cleaver no roti canai,
but there were kak ida,
there was a restaurant,
a janda who got unlucky
for marrying a bum.
Poor kak ida,