Pie Mindara Manaying

Kimhan might have not aware of my presence but I was standing here long enough to see every expression that emerged from her face. If a look could kill, seriousness that lurked in the depth of her eyes might be able to end any life right at the moment. She was in a deep thought, seething with suppressed wrath. Just now, I saw her cell phone flown across the room like a boomerang. She lost her control upon checking something which I presumed a text message she received. What was it about? Surely it was something unpleasant or anything that didn’t meet her demand. Should I tell it was about her missing lover? My instinct was strong that it has something to do with the woman she loved, unfortunately she was nowhere to be found.

Then, after it felt like eternity, I saw Kimhan rose to her feet, unexpectedly turning her body around until our gazes met and locked briefly. She suppressed every sign of surprise when she saw me while I pretended not to be affected by her sudden notice either; instead, I walked myself into the room without her invitation.

            “Good morning Pie,” Kimhan forced a faint quivering smile. Only then I noticed that Kimhan had her retro-vintage glasses perched on the bridge of her pointed nose. She looked pleasantly charming that way. The frame suited her facial feature well that it bold her attractiveness.

No, I wasn’t attracted to her. It was my genuine compliment to anything appealing. I liked her style – sometimes.

“I’m sorry if I did interrupt your moment,” I responded fast enough before she could further her speak or maybe before I absurdly continued to admire her appearance which was totally wrong to be done.

“No it’s fine,” She shook her head almost immediately as if she was afraid that I was offended. “I’m waiting for you to wake up,” She said, curving her thin lips into a solid genuine smile. How convincing and deceiving at the same time it could be, didn’t she know that I saw everything before hand? She wasn’t waiting for me. She was anxious about her missing lover.

“I’m starving,” Kimhan nodded mutely when I told her so. She knew it?

“Well, you’re lucky enough because the wife here had prepared you a very special breakfast,” I cringed at the mention of her being the wife in our marriage. I still found it unacceptable anyway. I was the wife and she was also the wife. What?

“You’re the cook then, not a wife,” My response got Kimhan broke into a hearty laughter; little did she get affected by my disapproval.

“You’re grumpier when you’re peckish. Let’s get your tummy filled and we can proceed to our plan for today,” Kimhan told me. I didn’t manage to protest neither reacted to her when she suddenly caught my wrist and dragged me out of the room. Well hello new life, I needed to learn to get used to this.

*******

“We’re going to the market and I’ll take you to several places which I assume you might like them,” Kimhan hadn’t stop a second from talking since we began eating. “Would you like to go the school today and look around?” She suggested all of sudden. The thing she mentioned made me stop abruptly from taking another bite of her ‘special’ pancake. She was a big liar anyway. It was an instant preparation, far from being a specially prepared meal.

 “No.” I responded short. Kimhan seemed somewhat surprised with my answer. “We’ll just go there tomorrow,” Yes, my duty at the new school would begin on Monday. Fern advised me to be there a day earlier so that I could get familiarised with the new setting. I guessed I would spend my Sunday at the new place.

“Well I thought maybe you wish to have a look and decide whether to stay there or what. You have your room here and I don’t mind to drive you to the school every day,” Kimhan said, kindly and strangely volunteered to help me. I was not sure whether she was trying to be kind just because she owed me something she couldn’t repay but she sounded sincere with her offer.

I spent a brief seconds to stare at her, uncertain how to react. “Well maybe you’re insane,” My statement invited a perplexing look from Kimhan. “Didn’t you tell me that it takes nearly two hours to get there from here?” Yes I remembered it vividly. Kimhan had ever informed me about the journey to the school. The place I was assigned to teach was a bit isolated from the other part of the region; rural and remote school.

“An hour and a half to be exact,” She corrected. “But…are you certain that you can survive there? You have never reached the place what more knowing what awaits you,” Kimhan sighed, leaning her back to her seat while staring at me straight into my eyes. I felt her eyes burrowed into my head, into all of me and holding me on the hook.

Now I doubted that I could survive.

“Yes I can,” I managed a straight face trying my best to appear confident in front of Kimhan Burnaphan. It wasn’t my intention to impress her or whatnot. I just didn’t want to appear weak and being the spoiled brat in the eye of Kimhan Burnaphan. I could prove to her that I could be independent and outlive the life I have always wished to evade.

            “It’s your decision,” Kimhan shrugged. “Well hurry up. We need to grab anything you like.”

I didn’t know that today was reserved just to entertain me.

            *********

The ride in Kimhan’s antique pickup truck was exhilarating. According to her, it was given by her late father on her birthday. Kimhan also told me that they would use the truck to deliver the wines ordered by customers or sometimes, it was useful whenever they need to shop for groceries. This multipurpose vehicle was surely worth for every purpose. What I was even saying? Anyhow, I wished it lifespan could last longer.

“We are here,” Kimhan announced and gradually the truck came to a halt. I stole a glance to Kimhan’s wristwatch, noticing that the journey from the house to this closest town took roughly about an hour. I wasn’t sure how Kimhan and her family could survive living here. Every destination was too distant from one to another and it was such a time consuming journey. Anyhow, it made me think of how it differed from the life I had in the city though? I could survive a heavy traffic and stuck in the congested road about the same duration of time yet never really complained about it. Well maybe and just maybe, I could survive the same along my stay here.

I began to capture every detail of the new surrounding consuming anything I could to retain them in my mind. It was too different from the metropolis, the place I have grown up and used to inhabit almost twenty five years of my existence. This small town was less populated, better to tell, I didn’t see the concrete jungles of skyscrapers in my view or experiencing the pressure of being stuck in what seemed to be a sea of vehicles. I loved this scene better.

Though I was anticipating the condition here to be less well-established compared to the city, it bewildered me how it even possible that people here could live in such economically deficient surrounding communities, almost inadequate in facilities and lagged behind in term of modernisation. I hadn’t realised that geographical isolation with strong cultural difference could have affected one’s life this much. Not until I saw it myself.

            “Looks like it’s a busy market in this small town,” My comment invited an amusing smile from Kimhan. I threw my gaze back to the view right before my eyes. The scene inside the market was somewhat confusing. The noise made by the stall-keepers and their haggling customers was so loud that one could hardly hear oneself speak. It was a matter of great mystery to me how one or two persons looking after a stall could attend so many customers at a time. These customers were not quiet all the time and I could have guaranteed that they wouldn’t stop until they could bargain to their demanded prices. Again, it was contrasting the life I had back in my birth place. Differed from what metropolitan life showed me, ladies come in troop to shopping malls just to take the opportunity of big sales as if there was no other thing to be spent on, for the rest of their life. People paid for what had been printed on the price tags without hesitation yet complaints about taxes left to be complaints.

            “People come here to trade their goods and sometimes get fresh supplies of anything they needed in order to be taken back to their places.” Kimhan’s response brought my attention back to her. “This market is the biggest meeting point for the region. We can get almost everything here,” She explained briefly while handling the things I wasn’t sure of their functions to this truck. I doubted that this truck could last longer than it looked. It was too old.

            “So, it’s like a shopping mall for these people?” It came out all of sudden and must have sounded silly to Kimhan because she burst out laughing instantly upon hearing me. I was just matching it to the closest example though. Which of the part that she found it hilarious?

Kimhan’s laughter subsided when she realised the glare from me but then was replaced by her hideous grin. “If you wish to assume it that way, then it’s yes.” She said, messing my hair while I was unaware of her sudden act.

 “Don’t touch my hair!” My reflex action was fast enough t I managed to dodge her hand. I just disliked it when anyone touched my hair. Even my best friends were not allowed to mess up with the crown of my head as they pleased. They knew my rule and I was just glad that they understood me.

            “Grumpy!” She scowled and playing hurt.

            “Just please don’t touch my hair. I hate it and you don’t wish to see the consequences of doing it,” The tone of my voice was rising, sending the sign to Kimhan that my patience was growing thin. Not in once since we were married had us conversed in a good term. It would always end up with argument, always.

            “Woah, I’m sorry okay? I’ll just keep my hands to myself. I promise,” Kimhan held up her hands in the air, somewhat surrendered to this silly little argument.

            “Good. From today and onwards, you’re not going to touch me at all,” I told her just to saw Kimhan made a face. I was annoyed, irritated to my nerve that I had to chew the inside of my cheek in order to keep my patient at bay. Kimhan was getting under my skin more and more every day. Pray hard that I could stand you Kimhan because I didn’t think I could stand you any longer.

            “We’ll see, Ma’am. We’ll see,” Kimhan smirked. She unbuckled her seatbelt and beckoning me to do the same. Before she even went out of the car, she managed to steal a glance at me. I saw the corner of curled up into a hideous smirk, the look I have always hated to see. Did she try to hint anything to me? Or maybe she intended to annoy me.

            ********

The market was too crowded that I had to move close to Kimhan in order to keep myself safe and just like Kimhan ever mentioned: preventing me from ‘lost’. This was it, I told her not to touch me at all, turned out that I had to hold on her for the whole time. My height had become the most troublesome hindrance; I hardly saw anything when everything that came to my sight was another person’s shoulder, chest or back. Somehow I thought we were cramped inside here like a canned tuna. Every time I tried to move, I would bump into another person and what came to worst, I couldn’t make my way at all. Kimhan could laugh at me for all I care. She had the advantage over me just because she was taller and maybe stronger.

            “Can we get out of here right now?” I had to raise my voice just to make sure that Kimhan heard me. “I can’t stand this. It stinks here and I felt like throwing up,” My complaint sunk into the noises of the crowds. The nuisance came from the mixture of various smells made me sick. There was an overpowering pungent smell of dried salted fish and maybe my nose detected the smell of rotten vegetable or rotting fish as well. Right, I have never been to this kind of market.

            “I can’t hear you,” Kimhan took a glance at me and continue leading the way through the people. “Let’s get you some seafood, vegetables, fruits or anything you like. We can’t miss this,” She added, flashing her best smile at me. I knew she noticed my sudden change or she even realised that I grew grumpy over the time. She never failed to amaze me on how she managed to put up with my attitude.

            “Just know that I regret of following you here. It would better for me to stay at home and let you alone get everything you ‘think’ I need. I don’t need anything for crying out loud,” I knew it was useless to complain but I did it anyway. Kimhan still couldn’t hear me.

We moved rather slowly until I noticed that we didn’t move anymore. Curious, I took a look at the cause of this abrupt stop. I’d never anticipated it but I saw two young men of around Kimhan’s age stood right in front of us and blocking our way intentionally. Judging from the way they eyed Kimhan, I could tell that they were somehow knew each other. Acquaintance or what, they emitted weird vibes.

            “Why are they blocking our way?” I found myself asking, curious and afraid at the same time.  People around us began to part away, giving all the space we need in the middle of this busy market. My instinct sensed a bad feeling. Was it possible that these two men come to cause chaos here or they had something to do with Kimhan? My mind raced back to the conversation I had with Fern a few weeks ago. I didn’t know Kimhan well and I had no idea of who she was and what she dealt for her life. What if she involved in a gangsters and black market conspiracy?

            “Stay close to me,” Kimhan whispered, holding my hand tighter that I could feel my fingers were getting numb. She scared the hell out of me just from her reminder. Who were the men and what’s happening?

            “Are you dealing with gangsters?” I found myself asking though it was inappropriate at the moment. Fear enveloped me. The air was stiff with tension and there was something tugging at my heart as if terrible thing had happened. I wasn’t ready to witness bloody fight neither being a victim here. Though I didn’t care much about Kimhan, I didn’t want any of us get hurt. Who would take me back when she was injured?

            “They are enemy,” Kimhan said, taking a step forward imperiously.

            “Kimhan…Kimhan Burnaphan,” One of the men greeted her while the other one circled us. Judging from the way he looked at me, it was obvious that he was checking me out. I waited anxiously for the longest seconds. All sorts of unpleasant thoughts came up to torment me. What if they took me for exchange just because Kimhan couldn’t pay for the debt or anything? Then, just like what I had anticipated, he reached out his hand to touch me. However, Kimhan was quicker when she pulled me to the other side, shielding me from the touch of the unknown man.

            “Get yourself a new chick, huh?” The man let out a sarcastic remark. Mockery crept into his tone that it sounded controversial yet could test one’s patience.

Kimhan flinched but didn’t let it slip. “It’s none of your business, move!” Kimhan suppressed her wrath which obviously heard in her heavy tone.

Instead of letting us passed, the men laughed hysterically and mockingly, gaining all attention from the people in the market. They looked like retarded persons better being told, drunken men during the day.

I leaned much closer to Kimhan for protection. A horrible fight would begin soon. This situation didn’t deviate far from what I had seen in movies.

            “You have finally moved on and too soon?” I noticed that somehow the statement that came out from one of the men’s mouth had ticked Kimhan’s ear. It did trigger something that made Kimhan’s blood temperature elevated. Move on and too soon; it must have something to do with… her nowhere to be found lover.

            “Get out of my way!” Kimhan snapped at them that her voice hung in the air with eerie feeling.

That didn’t stop the men though.

            “Frustrated that you couldn’t find Yam?” Now it was my turn that my ear ticked to the mentioned of the unfamiliar name. Yam; she’s Yam. Kimhan was looking for Yam.

            “I said get out of my way!” Kimhan grew impatient. She let go of my hands and pushed me to other side. The sudden force caused imbalance in me. I was just lucky that someone caught my form before I fell hard on the dirty ground. The stranger dragged me to the safe