“You haven't done so bad yourself
What do you do in the city?”
The woman sniffed her nose
As she tried to put a cheerful smile
The boy and man she knew
The last few years had changed him
She thought she knew
She sensed she may have lost..
“I am in the loan shark business
I am the errand fireman
I fix problems and get a commission
I am on my own on my time”
“You learn to intimidate people
The poor souls the banks refuse to help
Now you come in to mess them up
You never learn in the Ranjang River”
“We lived through crocodiles
We knew how many had died or disappeared
On the river crossing and fishing near rivers
You should hit the government but you never
What happened to your life ambition?
The politics you spoke fervently about?
Get rid of the wolves in the government
Let the people go free and all that?”
“Reality sucks
In the hinterland and rivers
We don't find such people
Now in the city the ball is different”
Well..we have both tasted it
The different route we thought we accomplished
In truth we are still rowing in the river
This time on land with full of land sharks”
The man didn't want to pursue
He checked his watch looking for a change
“I can send you home then we can talk
It is such a long time we don't discuss any more”
The woman turned around
Teary eyes looking at her old friend from home
“You have changed working in the misery of others
You have to change profession to focus on the right track”
“I am staying Star Hill
The place of many type of characters
Rent is cheap food aplenty
Surrounded by shopping malls”
The man drove on the city night
His mind dreamed of those years ago
How life was so simple worrying less
Now in the real thick of action he found it boring
He drove in silence
Driving cautiously on the road
Obeying traffic rules
He didn't want to get booked
Within 30 minutes he arrived
The woman got out walked to open the gate
He drove his BMW then cut off the engine
He walked out in the moonlit night
The door opened
He felt the air-conditioning unit in full blast
It cooled the the living room
“Please feel at home”
She brought him a “100 plus”
She sat opposite him
The man was fingering his canned drink
Thinking what to say
“The election is coming
We should go home and make the change
I have saved enough money to last a life time
What say you of my plan?”
“I have been living in the city
For years now feeling the good and bad
I have evolved into the city life
Sometimes I yearn to go home
You know about the rivers and forest
The warbling sound of birds and flapping wings
The whirring hungry breezes in the fresh morning light
The forest and rivers of our times”
“We are city folks
We have been used
The city sucks us into her life
Now we can move”
The woman got up
Pouring herself a warm blended tea
“I don't know what I do
My face in covers of magazines”
“I have lived here
Years I crafted my work
The beauty of the East
Affairs and broken hearts too
In time I forgot about it
I concentrated on my job
I made a lot of money
I am in demand now”
“But do you want to go home?
Row the rivers and run in the forest?
“You don't have to give it up
We just go home make our rounds”
“Like the coming election?”
“I know the white hair man
He allegedly stole billions
By giving it to his families and cronies
I read it in the Sarawak Report
The wealth this man, a minority in our State
Plundering the State for his own and families
I want to go back just to lend a hand to fight corruption”
“In a week time I will return
My business here will be handled by the local partners
I will rowing the rivers and running in the forest
Now I have found you I want you to go home with me”
The woman brushed her legs
Sipping her blended tea trying to think
“I don't think I have problem with it
I will see you next week for home”
The man got up
“I better go for now
I will contact you
The ticket and the ride”
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