“Give me
one good damn reason why Khai should go Perth alone, and leaving you
behind. Adek, answer me!”
Aku yang
duduk di sebelah Khai di ruang tamu setelah tiba di rumah abang Kamahl hanya
menundukkan wajahku. Abang Kamahl yang duduk di hadapanku menyilangkan
tangannya, menunggu jawapan dariku.
“Adek?”
tanya abang Kamahl lagi.
“Abang,
Khai dengan Ezra dan berbincang dah pasal...” Khai cuba untuk menjawab namun
dengan pantas abang Kamahl membantah.
“Khai!
Abang tanya adek.” Bentak abang Kamahl. “Are you going to answer my question?”
“Adek,
adek kan sudah beritahu abang sebab kenapa adek tidak dapat pergi sama dengan
Khai.”
“The same
answer? The same stupid answer that you gave me saying that you want to go
there on your own? Are you saying that you can’t afford to go there?”
“Yes.”
Jawabku pendek.
“Adek, all
of us knew that that is not a solid argument at all. You have the grades, you
have place to stay over there, you have Khai next to you taking care of you,
and you have the money for it.”
“Yes, I
have it all, but I don’t want to rely upon Khai and the inheritance.”
“For
heaven sake, using the inheritance money for your study is the best thing to
do. Plus, the money won’t come from your monthly allowance, you will still be
receiving the monthly allowance. Even after converting it into Australia
Dollar, you still have money to survive, and you are not alone. I don’t think
there were any clause in the inheritance saying that your first degree must be
completed here in Malaysia.”
“There
isn’t. But that doesn’t mean that it can be done that easily. I have no idea
how much money left in the fund, and I am not sure whether the money will be
deducted from the second part of my inheritance.”
“Then
simple. Call the lawyer.”
Aku
mencapai handphone ku perlahan-lahan. Nombor Mr. Darshan terpampang di skrin,
namun butang call tidak ku tekan. Aku melihat kembali ke abang Kamahl. “Call.”
And put on speaker phone.
Tiada apa
yang boleh aku lakukan lagi selain menuruti.
“Hello.”
“Hello Mr.
Darshan, it is me Ezra.”
“Yes yes Mr. Ezra, how may I help you?”
“I just
have few uncertainty about the inheritance and I am wondering you could clarify
it to me.”
“Ok, what
is it?”
“The
clause mentioned that the cost of my first degree will be paid by the money
from the inheritance, right.”
“Right,
and?”
“Is there
any clause saying that I must completed my first degree here in Malaysia?”
“No, there
isn’t. Why do you ask?”
“Let say,
if I wanted to transfer my degree into a different university, abroad to be
exact, will it still be covered?”
“Again
like I mentioned earlier there is no particular clause mentioning that your
first degree should be completed in Malaysia, and also, there is no clause with
regards to transferring too. Even if you decided to quit your current course
and pursuing your first degree again abroad, your fees will still be covered.
So, technically, it is possible. However we need to look into the amount left
inside the trust fund. Considering the exchange rate and the fees, that would
be quite a large amount. But I would say it would be more than enough. Do you
have any particular country in mind? The average fees for each semester?”
“How about
Australia? And the cost would be around AUD 25,000 annualy.”
“Give me a
second. I need to get a calculator.”
Aku hanya
memandang Khai dan abang Kamahl sementara menunggu Mr. Darshan kembali ke
talian.
“Ok I am
back. Let say it would be a three-years course, so AUD 25,000 times three would
be AUD 75,000. And the current exchange rate is RM 3.20 to AUD 1.00. So AUD
75,000 times 3.2 would be, RM 240,000. Then, I am happy to say that we still
have more than enough balance in the trust fund to pay the fees without using a
single cent from your part of the inheritance.”
“Just how
much money do we have inside the trust fund?”
“I am
sorry Mr. Ezra, I can’t give you the details to that matter. However, it would
be better for us to continue our conversation with regards to this matter and I
will be glad to handle your transfer.”
“I am
still thinking about this, I will get in contact with you again later when I
made my mind.”
“No
problem then. You can just give me a call and I will set an appointment for us
to discuss further when you have made your mind.”
“Thank
you.”
“You are
welcome.”
Aku
kemudian mematikan panggilan telefon.
“So, have
you made your mind?”
“It
doesn’t change anything abang. True, now I don’t have to worry about the fees.
But still, it doesn’t change my mind.”
“Adek,
abang tak tahu apa lagi yang harus abang katakan kepada adek. Abang tak tahu
apa yang bermain di fikiran adek. Make me understand. Do you think long
distance relationship is a simple matter? I know both of you, and I know you
well enough adek. The only outcome from this is that you are going to suffer. So
does Khai. You have been together for years and the prospect of you being
almost 4000 KM apart is something unthinkable.”
“That’s is
the reason abang. I have become too addicted to Khai’s presence. I am depending
on Khai excessively. I am no longer a kid, and I should stop behaving like one. You
know how much I missed you when you further your study to Warwick University
after STPM. I was still a kid back then. I miss you so badly despite the fact
that you always send me letters. But we made it. I managed to pull through. And
I still have you right now. But, after all these years, I am beginning to get
soft again. I lost my conviction, I again depend on you for too much. And I
depend on Khai too. I need to get strong. I need to be able to stand on my own.
I need to be able to face any difficulties ahead of me. I need to. Or else I
wont be a better person. I will always be depending on anyone else, and I don’t
want that to happen.”
Abang
Kamahl hanya terdiam.
“Abang,
even when Khai and Ezra are thousands of kilometres apart, I promise to myself
and both of you, I will never abandone Ezra. I could never ever do that. As
much as it pains me to say this, I know that both Ezra and I will be stronger
after this. I want to be with him for all my life. And for that we need to be
strong. Life won’t always be easy. I know that. This is a chance for us to make
ourself better and stronger. I need to be better and stronger so that I could
make Ezra happy.” Kata Khai kepada abang Kamahl.
“Please
abang. Please understand.” Tambahku lagi.
Abang
Kamahl kemudian bangun dan mengambil sebatang rokok ku yang terletak di atas
meja lalu menyalakan nya. “Very well then.” Katanya lalu berlalu ke beranda.
Khai lalu menggenggam erat tanganku. “Go, go to abang Kamahl. I know it is not
easy for him to say yes.” Kata Khai kepadaku.
“Thanks
by.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aku dan
Khai tiba di Perth International Airport pada 4.45 petang. Ketibaan kami di
sambut oleh uncle Adam, yang merupakan penjaga Khai sedari kecil lagi. Sejak
Khai meninggalkan Australia, rumah dan kereta kedua ibu bapa Khai di jaga dan
diuruskan oleh uncle Adam. Menurut kata Khai, uncle Adam sudahpun berusia 65 tahun.
Uncle Adam merupakan seorang warga negara Australia, dan sudah mula bekerja
dengan papa Khai semenjak papa dan mama Khai kembali menetap di Perth.
Rumah Khai
terletak di Beaconsfield yang berada lebih kurang 30 kilometer dari pusat
bandaraya Perth. Khai yang di lahirkan di situ dan tinggal bersama papa dan
mamanya sehingga kemalangan yang meragut nyawa papa, mama dan adik Khai ketika
Khai berusia 5 tahun. Selepas peristiwa tersebut, Khai menghabiskan masa
setahun di Malaysia di bawah jagaan nenek sebelum kembali ke Perth.
Kami
melewati Christ the King School yang merupakan sekolah rendah Khai sebelum tiba
di Dermer Road di mana terletaknya rumah Khai. Khai menghabiskan 3 tahun
belajar di situ sebelum dia membuat keputusan untuk memasuki Cranbrook School
yang terletak di Sydney. Dia memutuskan untuk tinggal di asrama sekolah yang
disediakan.
Sedari
tahun 4 sehingga tahun 10, Khai tinggal di sana dan hanya pulang ke Malaysia
sewaktu cuti semester akhir tahun untuk menziarahi kubur papa, mama dan adiknya.
Namun, disebabkan oleh kesihatan nenek yang agak tidak menentu di ketika itu,
Khai kembali ke Malaysia dan bersekolah di salah sebuah sekolah di Kuala
Lumpur. Tingkatan limanya di habiskan di Malaysia sebelum melanjutkan pelajaran
kembali ke peringkat degree di Warwick University, Birmingham di mana disitulah
menjadi titik perkenalan antara Khai dan abang Kamahl. Khai melanjutkan
pelajarannya di bidang Computer and Management Sciences sementara abang Kamahl
di dalam jurusan Mathematics and Physics.
Menurut
kata abang Kamahl, pertemuan di antara abang Kamahl dan Khai terjadi di
Birmingham Airport di mana mereka terpaksa berkongsi teksi untuk ke universiti.
Ketika itu abang Kamahl sudah berada di tahun kedua sementara Khai masih lagi
di tahun pertamanya.
Menurut
abang Kamahl, sikap Khai yang pandai membawa diri dan fokus di dalam pelajaran
membuatkan abang Kamahl senang berkawan dengannya. Seingat aku, di dalam
surat-surat yang abang Kamahl utuskan kepadaku ada menyebut perihal beberapa
pelajar Malaysia yang turut belajar di sana namun abang Kamahl tidak pernah
menyebut berkenaan Khai di dalamnya.
“Sayang,
jauh termenung tu.” Kata Khai tiba-tiba memecah lamunan ku.
“Sayang
teringatkan cerita abang Kamahl masa dia berkenalan dengan by dulu.” Jawab ku
sambil tersenyum.
“Oooo.”
“Kata
abang Kamahl, dia senang berkawan dengan by.”
“By pun
sama. By pun tak pernah sangka yang abang Kamahl dan by akan jadi rapat. Maklumlah,
waktu itu abang Kamahl merupakan antara pelajar Malaysia yang menyerlah di
sana. Di tambah lagi dengan kerja sambilan dia sebagai seorang model, memang by
tidak menyangka yang abang Kamahl merupakan seorang yang peramah dan seorang
yang baik. Kadang-kala dia ada bercerita tentang adiknya di Malaysia, dia
sentiasa ceria pabila bercerita tentang adiknya. Tidak tahu pula by yang adik
di maksudkannya adalah sayang.”
“Abang
Kamahl pernah bercerita pasal Freddy?” tanya Khai lagi kepadaku.
“Freddy?
Ex-boyfriend abang Kamahl masa dia study dulu tue? Fredrik *****berg?” balasku.
“Yup.
Freddy. Waktu abang Kamahl dan Freddy berpisah, by ada pada waktu itu. Waktu
itu by dan abang Kamahl sedang makan malam di sebuah restaurant, sebelum Freddy
tiba bersama seorang wanita. Freddy kelihatan sangat mesra bersama wanita
tersebut, namun abang Kamahl hanya memandang dari jauh. Dia tahu yang Freddy
merupakan public figure dan sekiranya cerita bahawa abang Kamahl dan Freddy
merupakan pasangan kekasih akan menjejaskan karier Freddy. Namun selepas
beberapa ciuman yang abang Kamahl rasakan berlebihan dari Freddy kepada wanita
tersebut membuatkan abang Kamahl tidak lagi mampu menahan perasaan. Dia pernah
mendengar cerita akan perlakuan Freddy di belakangnya, namun baginya, itu hanya
cerita. Namun, kini ia terbukti di hadapan mata. Abang Kamahl lantas
menghampiri meja Freddy sebelum berbicara seketika. Mereka kemudian keluar
sebentar dari restaurant. Entah apa yang di perkatakan. Tetapi, setelah hampir
15 minit, abang Kamahl kembali ke meja kami lalu membayar bil dan kami
meninggalkan restaurant tersebut. Freddy hanya berdiri terkaku melihat abang
Kamahl berlalu pergi.”
“Malam itu
abang Kamahl tidak banyak berkata-kata. By cuba untuk menceriakan abang Kamahl,
namun, tiada apa yang mampu untuk membuat abang Kamahl kembali tersenyum.
Selepas seketika barulah abang Kamahl membuka mulut mengatakan yang Freddy merupakan
kekasihnya dan mereka baru sahaja berpisah. Selepas itu dia terdiam sebelum masuk
tidur.”
“Pada pagi
kemudiannya, abang Kamahl bangun dan dia ceria seperti biasa. Seakan-akan tiada
apa yang berlaku semalam. By pada mulanya ingatkan yang abang Kamahl cuba untuk
menceriakan dirinya dengan berpura-pura bahawa tiada apa yang berlaku. Namun, lama
kelamaan, by sedar yang abang Kamahl tidak selemah itu. Dia bangkit dari perasaan
sedih dan kembali seperti sedia kala.”
“Wow, sayang tak tahu pasal ni. Abang Kamahl ada
memberitahu di dalam suratnya yang dia sudah berpisah dengan Freddy, namun, dia
tidak memberikan sebarang sebab kenapa.” Balasku.
“He is a strong
guy. A great man with a great heart. Sayang bertuah sebab ada abang Kamahl dalam
hidup sayang.”
“Yeah. We are
lucky to have abang Kamahl.”
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