Mani..is my buddy. An Indian lady few years older than me but calls me 'kakak". " Oh why should you called me "Kakak"? Once I asked. She said .."You are old okay". She laughed. "No la..due to respect". True...I respect her and so does she to me. She came to spend the nights with me which shocked many people of her race and mine. People around here are quite bias about being 'close friend' of different races which for me is nonsense. I accept her the way she is..and I continued being her closest friend even in difficult times such as when her own people bad-mouthed her, taking advantage on her and caused her so much pain and sorrow. And she took care of me and my children when my first husband abused me, beat me thus caused a terrible ache in my heart for many years.
The sad ordeal was the same for both of us. All because of men. The only thing that was different last time was she was jilted by one stupid and inconsiderate man I had ever come across and me by my ex husband. And now the only different is I am married and she stays single.
My husband picked her up at the bus stop and brought her home. When I saw her coming out of the car, I could see she was getting older, thinner and unhappy. After our dinner we talked for a while and she went to sleep. The next morning we had breakfast and when preparing lunch we had a long talk. I really missed talking to her. We used to be so close when she was working here but due to busyness and distance, we seldom speak through phone. She has finished her duty supporting her nieces in universities..one became doctor, the second girl an army officer and one more girl working in Sabah. All because of her good deed. She is free now to do whatever she wishes but still she considers her family as the first. She has been taking care of her brothers' daughters after they died in tragedies. She is a very good auntie to them.
She was in love with this man and had been waiting for him for 2 decades. She broke her engagement with another man whom was her family's choice. It was all because of this man had promised he would marry her. She was lured to believe that this man could not live without her and later waiting more than 20 years for the empty promise. Finally this man married another lady and my friend came to know about this when the wife delivered their baby. I hate this story. I saw the man few times but I had never guessed that this man was playing a fool with my friend.
It was one of many sad encounters of my friend with men. When I got married,she was skeptical of my husband. She was worried that I was making the wrong decision but when seeing me and the children happy after 11 years, she said she was glad that I decided to marry again after the first unhappy broken marriage.
I am lucky. Some are not. One of them is Mani. Nowadays, even there is one man interested with her and had asked her hand in marriage a few times, she decided to stay single forever. I tried to coax her..."Please, I want to see you wearing a wedding sari..." " Its okay, I will wear one to show you but I don't want to get married now. May be 10 years ago, I would love the idea, but now I feel nothing. I am happy the way I am now. I will stay in my father's house in Taiping with my family after pension. I do not want a man now." I am quiet listening to that..staring at her empty face. Dear friend...I wish I could say something to make her feel better but there is too much pain in her heart to make her bitter. And I understand her too deep...silence is wiser.
We promised to visit each other, then after lunch she caught the train back to Taiping carrying some of my home made chocolate cake for her family and... bringing my heart too. Friendship is beyond age...beyond race and religion..beyond time. She will forever be my best friend... even if I die and there is no family to take care of my children, I entrust them to her. I believe she will take care of them and love them like I do. I trust her with my life. And that is love..
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