In Memory of 11 Jahanam ~Series # 1~

THE CASSETTE PLAYER

I bumped into my 2 darling juniors at Mid-Valley as I`m on my way to shed some unwanted fats at the gym. They saw me, gave some girly shrieks and we hugged each other.

“Kak Gee!”

They were damn ecstatic. Am I that popular during school days? Popular? No. More like notorious actually.

“Wah, in baju kurung and all. With make-up some more…bla..bla” (I had to refrain myself from reproducing the whole comment because it involved some personal references to my butt and eyes.)

“Kat mana sekrg.?” F, the more demure one, asked while holding her paper bags worth half of her monthly salary. I told them where I am working now. Their small mouths become small perfect Os.

“Wow…akak ni memang lah ditakdirkan,” F continued with a glint in her eyes.

“Takdir apa, F?”

“Yelah, dari sekolah sampai kerja, mesti rebellious gitu,” A, a PTD now, who happened to be one of the prefects that I conned during my school days bypassed F`s slow retort.

“Remember the time when you hide in the locker, jumped at the prefect who happens to open your locker and she confiscates your cassette player for that? “ Damn. A prefect will always be prefect.

“No, A” I corrected her. “I was hiding in my secret spot under the double decker when the Polar Bear (a name we coined for our dear discipline teacher) discovered my cassette player and took it”.

“But it was funny, Kak G. I mean, we enjoyed hearing stories about you and the 11 Jahanam after you are gone, its like just imagine the kinda stories you are saving up for your children..hehehe” I just smiled. 11 Jahanam? Boy, I miss those days.

1995…

“Gee, pinjam cassette player jap,” N came to me and showed me her newly bought Ace of Base cassette.

“Tak bole lar. Lagu-lagu camni dilarang kerana akan mencemarkan cassette player aku,”

“ Ala..jap je, aku cam malas nak gi prep ni, ko pegi tak?” N asked me when I passed the old battered Sharp cassette player that I hid in my locker.

“Malas lar, takde homework, baik aku lepak kat dorm baca buku cerita,” I showed her Phillip K. Dick`s VALIS on my bed.

‘Sci-fi nut”, she muttered before returning to her dorm with my cassette player.

I am just about to throw myself on the bed and finished VALIS when my loyal comrade and unofficial informer came into my dorm and pulled me up.

“Woi, cepat siap, Polar Bear is checking today,” L insisted that we cancel our escape routine for that day.

“Today, he `s in a mean mood. I mean he already caught like 5 boys at ASPURA and he`s heading towards our block,”

Problem was I already made up my mind to stay on. No Polar Bear or Honey Bear can stop me from my meaningless indulgence. Life is too short. After VALIS, I have Orwell`s 1984 to savour. L shook her head and moved out of my dorm.

“hey, 11 Jahanam yang ada kat dorm only u and N tau, so good luck, if there`s anything, page me,” Yelah tu. Macamlah L owned a pager. Gile disillusioned!

The thing was I didn’t tell L about my new hide out that I prepared just in case there is a spot check like today. I meant to test out the hide out today. I mean if my hide out fooled Polar Bear, that means I can patent the idea and sell it to the boys. After I get to do social service last week for jumping on a prefect that opened the locker of which I hid in, I would have to restrain myself from using the locker as my hide out for a while until the prefects forget whats the function of those lockers to school law breakers like us.

I walked to the end of the dorm. There is an old double decker with lots of boxes belonging to the dorm dwellers stacked under it. However, since it is positioned a bit far from the wall, it created a space between the wall and the bed. When the boxes are arranged strategically, the boxes will cover the upper part of the bed. Meanwhile, the other boxes are position as a wall that hid me well in the hide out. So, Bingo! From the outside, the double bed appeared to look like a messy old bed that stored boxes.

I grinned to myself. Picked up VALIS, some coffee toffees and put it in the hide out. I waited in my dorm with ego swelling the size of the savings in Bank of Swiss. I sat quietly as I listened intently for the sounds of Polar Bear renowned heavy footsteps. But all I hear was Ace the Base, crooning All That She Wants from N`s dorm. Within 10 minutes, I heard the sound of the dreaded footsteps. Polar Bear was on the way. I danced to the sound of Ace of Base, did a little jig while walking towards my Polar-proof hide out. With a heavy TOTO lining the floor, the hide out is pretty comfortable. I waited in bated breath. Popped a coffee toffee in my mouth and sucked the toffee slowly. Cherishing the moment when Polar Bear failed to find me anywhere in the block. I chuckled devilishly. Until…

Oh shit! Damn! I shouted and my head banged the box above my head. I can still hear the sound of Ace of Base that my cassette player carried. MY Cassette player! That’s it! If Polar Bear found it, I will not be able to listen to my punk rock collection until I get my SPM result. That’s like 1000 of years! How will I survive my dull academia years without my cassette player? I have to save it no matter what.

I literally jumped out from my hide out, peeped from behind my dorm’s door, searching for the gigantic feature of The Polar Bear. Okay, so he is in the dorm next to mine. I can still sneaked into N`s dorm, get the player and crawled back to my dorm using the balcony opposite my dorm. That was the plan. Went into N`s dorm and saw N wearing her prep uniform in haste. So, 1 Jahanam freaked out, tinggal lagi seorang.

“My player?” I asked her. She threw me a panic look.
“Cepat lah woii, Polar Bear kat A3”.

I quickly grabbed my treasured player and ducked myself behind the balcony. Thank god, I joined Kadet Bersatu. I reassured myself. Those military training that I loathe might be handy after all. When I finally reached the end of the balcony, Polar Bear was just done with checking my dorm. This will actually be a beautiful day, after all. I smiled to myself. As Polar Bear entered N`s dorm, I heard N explaining in her innocent small voice about her having period pain and stuff. I sped into my dorm and was just about to get into my hide out area when suddenly, the ultimate chaos ensued-

“So if you are in sight
and the day is right
She's the hunter you're the fox
The gentle voice that talks to you
won't talk forever
It is a night for passion
But the morning means goodbye”

I am out of words for swearing as I heard Polar Bear saying “Eh, saya baru check A2, bila masa pulak ada pelajar puteri dalam tu?” Damn the fingers on my left hand as they were responsible for accidentally turning on the player. Panicking and foreseeing another week painting the school fence, I simply left the player on the floor and lunged into my hide out. Polar Bear entered my dorm a few seconds later. He seemed to smell the air for traces of disobedient students. I covered my mouth with my hand since my heavy labor of breath could give him hints of my presence in the dorm. He walked calmly, scanning every angle carefully for perhaps sign of students hiding. Suddenly he looked down and saw the player. I swore I saw him smiling like a drunken Cheshire cat. He inspected the player, expecting to find any clue of the owner I guess. Well, I did write GKurt with liquid paper at the back side of the player. No one called me G at school except for 11 Jahanam. I might be safe from the wrath of the Polar Bear after all.

Well, I did escaped detention that day. Sadly though, Polar Bear took away my baby that day. The cassette player. My centre of sanity. My loyal partner during those last minute studies. Despite the proven success of my hide out, I mourned the whole week as I was informed that the cassette player will remain to be the school`s property until SPM ended. I had countless nightmares of the Polar Bear thumping his obese feet to the tune of Ace of Base blasting from my cassette player. N came to my dorm that night for our midnight feast of nasi lemak daun pisang, Pringles and Ice Cream Soda.

“Hey, sorry lar pasal cassette player tu..”

“Takpe lar, next month aku balik Ipoh, cari satu lagi ke, gile duduk dalam penjara ni takde muzik!”

“Ermmm….kasi pinjam lagi bole?” Apparently, N didn’t learn from her lesson.

“Boleh blar!”.