Last night I had a big row with my mother.She insisted that I wore pink veil to match a new pink baju kurung to go out for a dinner at my Uncle Tam’s house. Then she made me to put on her white high heel and carry a white leather handbag. When I looked at my reflection at the mirror, I saw a clone of Puan Jamilah. In contempt, I changed to my lovely cream blouse and a matching light brown pants. I took a silky cream scarf and place it on my head.Then, I pinned it neatly to make sure not a strand of my hair came out. I got a lovely brooch in the shape of a fish and place it on the edge of my veil so that the wind would not blow it.Just as I put on a light coloured lipstick, I heard my younger brother calling me to hurry.
I quickly dashed for my brown purse and flat sandals and exited through the front door. I dared not look at my mother’s face. I chose to sit behind her seat so that I did not have to look at her face as she gave me a long lecture about not conforming to the dress code. However, the opposite happened when I seated myself. I got a knock on my head for being stubborn instead of a lecture.Tears drop down my face smudging the little mascara I put on. To my surprise, my brother did not laugh at me. Instead he passed me some tissues to wipe out my tears.
After 30 minutes drive down the highway to Indrapura, we finally reached Uncle Tam’s house. My uncle patted my head while his wife Auntie Nora gave me a big hug and commented how beautiful I was that night. Sheila, my cousin,who was a year older than me leaped with joy on seeing me and led me upstair into her bedroom where we had a conversation on any taboo topics. Topics that only girls can share about and hide from their bigger clones.My brother had long gone with Sheila’s brothers to their media room playing the game on play station.
During dinner twenty minutes later, what was supposed to be a happy unforgettable family gathering turned to be the worst day in my life. I was sipping Auntie’s Nora lovely mutton soup when my mother suddenly decided that I should be the main topic being discussed over dinner.She praised Sheila for being so gentle and demure while I was the tomboy whom no man would ask a hand in marriage.Then,she embarassed me further by enlightening others that I failed my Geography in last semester examination. She said I deserved it because I was a lazy bone and as stubborn as a mule.I had had enough of the harassment that I decided to leave the dining table. As I pulled back my seat,my right hand accidentally hit a glass. It fell on the floor and smithereens into pieces.
“I told you to .............” my mum shouted in the loudest voice possible.
I did not hear the rest of her verbal abuse. I ran to the pool just outside the house and cried out loud. The pool looked so calm at night under the street light and glimmering stars. Without a second thought, I jumped into the pool fully clothed. I swam to and fro along the pool until I was too tired. Suddenly, I could not see anything. I felt numb. My body began to sink. I closed my eyes and dozed off.
When I woke up the next day, I was surrounded by two women in white uniform .The room I was in was painted in blue. There was a picture of purple tulips hung on the wall opposite my bed. There was a bouquet of white roses on the bedside table. The room was the second peaceful place on earth after my own room.
“Doctor! She is conscious now”, cried a young nurse.
“What? I am in the hospital? Why?” I asked myself.
