Summer in Tropica

12 December…

     The sun was shining in the sky. Meanwhile, people in the city of Kuala Lumpur were having their afternoon break. Some of them were having their lunches; some of them were having dates with their partners while a small group of them were reading newspapers in coffee shops.

    All of them were enjoying themselves in the hot afternoon. But there were still some people who were busy and in tense- they were having hard times looking for jobs that suited them. Most of them were migrates from other regions- Perak, Malacca, Pahang, and even from the Borneo Island. They were hoping that they could give financial supports to their families as they tried to find better and beneficial jobs in the city. Working elsewhere didn’t give them as much money to support their families as in the city. So, they had no other choice.

     Amongst all the people in the group, there was a young man with fair brown face, messy blonde hair and brown eyes and wore white shirt and blue jeans stood idly at the side of the street. He gripped a blue haversack tightly with his right hand and stared at the crowds in the city. He was sweating. He was looking for a job.

      “Can’t find anything that suits me,” he thought. He pulled out his handkerchief from the pocket of his jeans and wiped the sweat on his head with it. He was very tired. As a 19 year old guy, he should have a perfect job right now like everyone else did. His friends back in Pahang had already found their jobs, and they had large amount of salaries every month. He wished for that kind of thing to happen- but he couldn’t get it granted for eight long months. But as he continued to walk, he remembered that they were some of his friends in the university right now. One of them had gone to Jordan for further studies. He wondered what happened to the guy who used to be a nerd back then in his old schooldays.

       Suddenly, he saw a girl- wearing school uniform- appeared in front of him, running. She had a short black hair and round face- but not fat. In fact, she was slim and tall. Her right hand was holding a bag which was red in color, and there was a “Teddy” mark at the front large pocket. Someone was chasing her, and what was happening right now was something that people in the city usually sees, and didn’t care about. He could sense danger through the girl’s blue eyes, and he began to lift his blue slipper up and head towards the scene.

      That particular moment was the beginning of his journey to a new kind of life…

The girl watched her back as she tried to keep her distance away from them. As he approached her, the girl suddenly opened her eyes widely as she turned to look at the guy. Finally, he had the chance to take a better look at the girl. But unfortunately, she was running fast. She couldn’t stop running.

     Suddenly, the girl rushed towards him and accidentally hit him, and then fell down. He was shocked. He took a few steps away from her, while offering his hand to lift her up. “Are you okay?” he asked.

      “Do I look fine?” the girl stood up by herself. She swept the dust on her thigh with both her hands, and then looked back at the two people who were chasing her.

      “Who are they?” he asked as he took a glance at them.

      “It’s none of your business,” the girl tried to push herself to run again. As she began to take her first step forward, she felt like she was loosing something.

      Her bag. The guy had taken her bag as she stumbled to the ground just now. He gripped her bag tightly and hanged it onto his right arm, while he watched her go. The girl’s face reddened, and she grabbed the bag from him. She tried to pull it with her might- as the guy was holding it tightly- but she just couldn’t grab it away from him.

     “Why don’t we have a short break at the coffee house?” the guy sighed. “They can wait for us there.”

      He pointed his finger at the two guys who were wearing uniforms with red and green stripes on them, and hats that looked like a small red ice cream cone. Then, the girl gave a reluctant smile.

       “I’m starving. If you can buy me something to eat there…” she tried to make her demand.

      “Don’t waste our time now, let’s go!” the guy with the messy hair cut her off. He dashed quickly across the street towards the coffee house, without looking at the car that passed by the wide road. The girl followed, but she looked to the left, then to the right, before she could cross the street. Meanwhile, the guys who were chasing her were very near. But she ignored them and ran across the road.

      As she was on the other side of the road, she watched them, pulling down the skin beneath her eyes with her finger, then smiled at them, “You can’t catch me!” Then, she ran away…

      Both sat opposite to each other. The girl seemed to be uncomfortable with him, but she tried to relax herself. She knew that this place would be a safe place for her- as she believed that this guy could not harm her here. She was afraid of him- a stranger who suddenly offered her a break after a long and tired escape from the two guys back there. By the look on his messy hair, she believed that he was a bad person, and he wasn’t born in this city. She promised herself that if something happened to her, she would scream.

     The guy spoke softly, “Actually, I’m still new here. I don’t know much of the attitude of the people in this town. I’m sorry if you’re mad at me for not introducing myself to you.”

     “It’s alright,” she said in a lower voice than his. Then, she sighed.

     “My name is Abdullah Muhammad. I came from Pahang and I’m looking for a job here. I’m 19 and still single,” the guy explained to her.

     “Whatever…” the girl rolled her eyes and seemed didn’t care about any other things but his name. She just needed to know his name.

      “I’m Rena,” she told her name a short while later.

      “How old are you and where do you live?” he asked.

      “17 and I live in Ulu Klang,” she replied.

       Then, Abdullah made his demand, “Actually, I’m hoping to get a guide here so that I could find my job easier. I’ve been looking for suitable jobs through classified sections in newspapers, but I couldn’t find the place. Maybe you could help me out?”

      The girl shook her head, “Do you have a girlfriend in your life?”

      “I don’t have any.” He replied.

     The girl took a closer look at him, “Just as I suspected. I can see by the way you begin the conversation; I believe that you will not have the chance to hook for one.”

      Then, he shrugged, “What are you talking about?”

      “You should ask something that will make me comfortable and relaxed first, then ask for a help or something. Try not to jump into something stressful when we’re having conversation,” she said confidently. “And try not to tell every single detail of yourself to your girlfriend; because there are some things we don’t want to hear. It will waste our time and money.”

      “You’re so good at this,” he grinned.

      “My friend taught me that, she’s very good at this,” she became more relaxed and calmed, seeing that he was complimenting her. But still, she was careful with her words.

      Abdullah took a small white cup of coffee in front of him and drink it slowly. Rena ate a sandwich which he had bought for her. “If you’re saying that I need to make someone comfortable before continuing the conversation, does that mean I need to calm you down?”

      She nodded. Then, Abdullah shook his head as he felt ridiculous. He had never seen someone said like this when he was at his old schooldays. “Okay, then I’ll start by asking you what had happened just now.

      “Who are they?”