Not our usual Sunday

I know I have chronicled my weekend but today, I want to go in depth at what happened on Sunday.

I was getting ready for a jog. Babah and the kiddies were downstairs already, for a light breakfast. When I went down, I found my family at the back, talking. Babah was sweeping the floor and the kids crowding him, voice rather distressed.

“Hamsters lari !” said Babah as soon as he saw me.

“What ?”

“Yeah… I think kucing kot…” Said Babah in a lowered voice.

“Hah ? Kena makan ?” Asked I, voice raised.

Babah widened his eyes at me and at the same time, Abang and Adik looked at me in aghast.

“Tak ! Babah kata dia orang lari !” Said Abang.

“Dia kena makan ke Bah ?” Tanya Adik pulak.

Aiseh… Lupo ada budak kat depan mata…

“Oh…. Yeah… dia orang lari….” Said I, still much shocked, so my voice was low and my speech slow.

“The cat helped them to escape, Mummy !” Said Adik.

Aku diam. Rasa bersalah gila bab punya sebab semalamnya… hmm… aku ada terpikir, how can I get rid of these hamsters ? Dengan Gizmo memboyot-boyot and hamsters rajin beranak, I do not fancy myself operating a menagerie. Okay, maybe a menagerie is a bit much… but you know what I mean kan ?

Dok aku terkedu tang tu sat, Abang looked at me with pleading eyes said, “Mummy… hamsters suka makan, so when they are hungry they will find their way back home…”

Err…. Okaylah. Anything to make you guys happy.

In the car on the way to class, Babah told them, “Kalau Aunty Tia tanya, kata we gave the hamsters away kay ? Tell her kita dah bagi kat orang…” I then heard what sounded like a very horrifed silence at the back then Abang asking incredulously, “You want us to LIE to Aunty Tia ?”

Errrkkk ! Silap strategy. Now I think it’s the kids turn to hear our horrified silence. Macamana buleh aku lupa my goody-2-shoes sermons selama ni, especially since the perils of lying is my favourite subject.

Brain whirred and started spinning and I came out with, “We are lying to her to spare her feelings. Ini namanya bohong sunat (Aku dah lupa outcome debate bohong sunat ni… masih relevan ke bohong sunat ?). We lie to take care of her feelings, so that she won’t feel sad. Lying yang saja suka-suka can cause a lot of problems, Allah pun marah….Allah potong lidah masa kat neraka.. But sometimes for the greater good, we can lie to save the situation…..”

I sighed, feeling wretched because my explaination wasn’t very good. Karang dia tipu exam result dia supaya aku tak sedih pulak, payah lak…. Tolong lah aku ni, wei… ! I have to come up with a better explaination.

Anyway, all of us felt uneasy. I know the children were painting quite a few different scenarios on the fate of the hamsters. But for me and Dan who knew what had happened (alas, what else can happen ? The cage dah terbalik and the outside tube was wrenched opened. Mesti kerja kucing. Unless the 3 hamsters planned to simultaneously threw their body to one side of the cage to topple it over, to loosen the tube…? Naaaahhhh….), we felt remorse and guilty and sickened.

Anyway, while we were watching the kids played, three little boys in orange uniforms walked past by. I ignored them until I saw from the corner of my eyes, one pulling a tennis ball that stuck in the wire fence hole and dengan selamba badaknya terus belah.

Terkejut aku dengan Kamil tengok. The little ruffian then showed his 2 other friends a small side door so both of them went in and each took one. Then they ran.

Both of us were left dumbfounded. Those boys knew they were stealing because they ran away after that. The youngest among the three, a boy about 7, was scared when he noticed us looking but he still went by the side entrance to take one and scarpered.

Aku bangun, wanting to give chase but Kamil stopped me. He pointed to the court and I saw coach chasing 2 other boys in the same orange uniform out of the court. “Dia cukup garang, Myra….Lagi garang daripada you…” Yeah sure, but what about the 3 boys that got away. Biasakan lah… If we don’t do anything, mana tahu lagi 10 tahun, he will be the one pick-poketing your wallet ?

I was on the lookout for their leader after that, or their teacher… Surely they couldn’t enter this well guarded place without an adult ? Tapi takde. I only saw older teen boys but no one of authority.

Who the hell are these boys in orange anyway ? And why do they have quite a few rapscallions, and scallywags, plus whippersnappers in their midst ?