just back from the meeting… Anyway back to the story..
Me quickly head hm and called yvonne…
Me: i reach hm liao…
Yvonne: so early… Guai loh…
Me: did u catch a cold due to the rain…
Yvonne: nope i am k… Thanks.. Btw… Did u get involed with any fights today
Me: nope i remain low profile… Finish 2 cokes and go hm..
Yvonne: gd boy… She giggled…
I almost want to tell her i missed her but somehow i did nt tell her…
Me: later i need to go downstairs to meet fatty.
Yvonne: call me once u r hm..
Me: dun wait for my call if it is too late… Tmr still have sch..
Furthermore… It wun be nice to call u in the middle of the nite when yr family is sleeping
Yvonne:k.. Do take care of yrself
Me: roger.
We chat for a while more… And end the call.. With me promising her that i will
Do my hmwork.
In my era… We dun have hp yet and pagers is a luxury to own and i do nt own it yet…
5845123344 (I swear that i will love u forever)
6000-177 ( Good morning)
6000-9 ( Good Nite)
596 ( I reach le)
532 ( I miss u)
1-177155-2 ( I miss u)
68532( Lao puo I miss u)
68512 ( Lao puo I love u)
These r some which i remember.. use to do that after i own my pager… so funny when u think of the old days a times.. dun have hp… have to look for public phone to make phone calls… phone cards and 10 cents have to be in the pockets… but people in those days r more simple… have more kam cheng for each other then…
Anyway back to the story…
Late in that nite…. I managed to meet up with fatty and ah keong…
I relate to them abt what happened… what i confessed to Yvonee… (of course nt too detailed as i dun want them to know the mushy parts…)…
Fatty: wha lau.. u shd have just grab her hand and jio her to be yr gf..
Ah Keong: Yeah lah.. u missed the chance…
Me: Siao.. u thought go to mama shop just grab cig and pay meh.. this is abt a relationship.. nt the rite time yet…
Ah Keong: Then what is the rite time… wait until New Year… Is it.. Whahaha..
Me: I have nt quitted gang and smoking…
Fatty: what is yr plans then?…
Me: I am thinking slowly to hang my clothes and eventually remove clothes.. ( Quit gang)..
Fatty: Hmnn… in that case… u have to reduce going to zai dui first… Tou will soon know y and will have a tok with u then…
Me: Hopefully he wun make things too difficult for me…
AH keong: Just tell him the truth.. that u need to study loh…
Fatty: Anyway the same gang rule applied… u have to go through the Lift Rule if u r going to quit the gang…
Ah Keong: R u prepared for that?
Me: Yes.. I am prepared to be whacked by u all…
Fatty: And once u r out of the gang.. whatever happened to u outside will nt be covered by the gang le…
There is a short pause after that…
Fatty: Brother.. that meants.. yr old enemies.. will take this chance to seek revenge on u…
Ah Keong: Wha lau.. that will be second round of whacking u have to take..
Me: i bet alan that bastard will be the first ones to whack me…
Fatty: That time.. we whacked him openly in front of his men…
Ah Keong: By Rite.. if he is out of the gang already.. they shd nt have touch him already…
Me: Dun forget they r chao kids… they dun reason with u one…
Fatty: R u really mentally prepared to face all these?
Me: for the sake of Yvonne.. i have to do that… 1 can be whacked but we cannot allow her to be hurt in any ways…
Fatty: The intial period will be difficult.. people will surely come to find u trouble.. but eventually things will settle down.
Me: Yup i agreed with u…
AH Keong: Aiya.. damn troublesome.. it is better to be with ah lian… can smoke and play together.. dun need to care abt all these…
Me: Yvoone is a decent girl… Btw guys.. pls dun leak out this news to the rest of the brothers… u two r my most trusted brothers…
Fatty: Wonder how the rest of the bros will think of this… Leaving the gang due to a girl… very malu de…
Me: Paiseh…
Fatty: But since u have already decided… as brothers we will support yr decesion.
AH Keong: Correct.
Me: No turning back once i make this choice.
Fatty: Want a smoke?…
Me: Nope.. do u have sweets instead?
Ah Keong: want to smoke rite… sweets only help abit at first…
Me: Feel funny without cig…
Fatty: U really want to quit smoking…
Me: I already promise Yvonne to cut down on smoking..
Fatty: Cut down nt quit mah..
Ah Keong: Just smoke abit lah…
I looked at the cig.. really tempted to take one… It have been more than half a day since my last fag…
Me: no lah.. she would be happy to c me quit.
Ah keong: u can still smoke secretly even u went out with her.. just eat sweets to cover yr breath…
Fatty: Cheebye zhiping used to do that but his gf still smell out from his clothes… girls damn sharp one k…
Me: Dun one lah.. damn no pride to do that… Since i have already promised her already.. i must honour my word.
Fatty: On lah we support u…
Ah Keong: U have to avoid going to mama shop liao…
Me: Yup my 0.20 cents cig and the lighter which hang at the mama shop…
Fatty: Have u ever considered the education status gap between the 2 of u?..
Me: Yup i have thought abt that.. this is one of the greatest concern.. that is y i have been avoiding her…
Ah Keong: True… next year is her O levels already.. knn we still doing our N level..
Me: That is y i have to start to focus on my studies liao…. next year pass the N levels and prepare myself for the O levels..
Fatty: By the time.. u finish yr fucking O level… she will be in junior college liao…
Me: She will always be one year ahead of me… and 2 years even if i managed to squeeze into poly or pre u…. and dun forget we have to serve our fucking NS.
Ah keong: knn.. then it will be at least 3 to 4 years slower than her…
Me: Yup that is rite…
Fatty: If she really love u she will nt mind all these de la!
Me: People will change… she may change after she went to college…
Fatty: and u still want to take the risk?…..
Me: Yes as she really did meant something to me… ( Actually what i really want to express is she really did meant alot to me..) but in front of my brothers… i feel paiseh to admit ba…
Ah Keong: Knn yr mind so rusty le… very hard to focus back to studies one lah…
Me: I have nt finish my maths hmwork yet…
Fatty: dun do lah.. may as well sleep…
Me: Cannot la again i promised her that i would finish my hmwork..
Ah Keong: Hahaha.. now u have her as yr personal tutor… u cant idle anymore… ( We all laughed together at this joke)
We tcss for a while more and upon finish their last fag… we headed off hm…
That nite.. i cant sleep well… thinking of the road ahead for me…
It is going to be difficult… having to abandon my vices and change for the better… but the thought of Yvonne warmed my heart and give me the strength to go on…
The next day.. Yvonne actually waited for me at the canteen during recess…
Me: Hi…
Yvonne: want to eat together…
Me: Nt very nice.. wait people gossip abt us how..
Yvonne: let them tok whatever they want
Me: k then..
Soon we were having our lunch together… i really enjoy it with her.. hoping that recess time will be longer than 20 mins..
Yvonne: what time did u reach hm yesterday..
Me: Abt 11pm ba…
Yvonne: So late… did u managed to finish yr hmwork…
Me: Nt really as i am struggling with the maths sums… never seem to know how to solve equations..
Yvonne: Let me help u then after sch if u did nt need to go to the coffeeshop..
Me: Nope i am nt going today..
Yvonne: gd boy… how abt snooker games…
Me: Nope…
Yvonne: how abt arcade games?..
Me: Nope…
Yvonne: So guai?.. k meet u at the school gate after sch then… She smiled..
I am glad that she is smiling…
The next few weeks i greatly cut down on going to zai dui and my other gaming activities… Yvonne is really a gd tutor.. very patient with me… Soon the whole school ( Upper sec) started to know my so called special relationship with her… we r nt a couple yet but we r very special friends… People start to gossip abt us.. especially those snobbish students from the science class…
Duno y Yvonne choose to hang out with that ah beng… normal arts stream student… also nt gd looking… even kena public caning last year for smoking… this kind of rubbish… ( Qian Tu Wu Liang) no brightness in future for him…
Words of gossip soon spread to my ears and i am worried when i know all these.. how would Yvonne view all these?.. can she take the pressure/stress of all these words…
Yvonne: Dun worry abt what others will say… i really dun mind..
Me: but it is so unfair to u…
Yvonne: So long as u will change for the better.. y bother abt all these?…I can bear with it… no problem..
Me: i promised u that i will focus on my final year exams.. will do my best to pass this time round..
Yvonne: Dun give yrself too much stress.. u can do it de…
Me: thanks for having such confidence in me…
Days were spent at the airport… wen xi gong ke ( Studying) with Yvonne. ( T1 or T2 that time have a study lounge.) Those days were really memorable… nt knowing that i will soon get in trouble again….
One of the songs which i like by 关德辉 - 梦不醒(钢琴版)> Would always listen to this song whenever i miss Yvonne in those days… Sigh.. memories.. can only be keep deep in my heart…
I still remember when i am at hm studying when i the phone rang…
Ring Ring…..
Me: Hello
Ah Keong: L.. r u free?.. we need help! Fatty got attacked by some bastards.. want to join us?.. ( Tiao Shui call).
Me: Where r u all?..
Ah Keong: At the usual place..
Me: K give me 20 mins.
Quickly i changed my clothes and rushed down to meet them… otw there.. i am struggling with myself.. shd i join them as i remember my promise to Yvonne.. dun get involed with fights already… But fatty saved me b4… my ever first gang fight… he got a cut on his rite arm while trying to shield me…
This is the renqing which i need to return …
Soon i reached the place…
Me: Wtf… (i take a look at fatty cdt.. blue black on his eyes… and raw cuts on his hands..)
Fatty: CCB!!!! tok to gf at her house void deck also can kena whacked…
Me: How many aganist u…
Fatty: 4 of them… cheebye… gf kena whacked too…
I then spotted his gf being comforted by her sisters… ( her face is brusied too)
Fatty: Girls they also whacked.. and they call themselves men!!!
Ah Keong: Tou said can only sent 2 men to us… ( They need more people to guard the zai duI)
Me: Knn damn humchee… cant he sent more men?!!
Fatty: r u joining us?
Me: Yes.. ( i spotted his scar on his rite arm.. nt forgetting that cut which he have shield me b4..
Fatty: What abt yr promise to Yvonee.. u told her that u would nt get into fights again..
Me: bobian.. between love and honour.. i choose honour…
Fatty: Swee lah!!
Our other two friends soon arrived.. and the 5 of us soon headed to the place where fatty got whacked… ( With jia huo ( Weapons in our bag).
Just back from the meeting… back to the story…
it does nt take long for us to spot them playing basketball at one of the nearby blocks..
Fatty: Cheebye abt 9 of them or more…. look like they r from the street gang… we r outnumbered!
Me: So?! just attack them! still wait for fuck!
Fatty: di siong men shang!!!
We shouted our war cry and rushed towards them.. armed with baseball bats/ pocket knife/ small weapons !
They were obviously caught by this sudden outburst from us but they did nt take long to respond to our attack!!!
We fought like wild dogs that day even when we r outnumber of nearly 2 to 1…
Fatty: Go after that fucker with the black kangaroo shorts! he is the one who whacked sharon!!!
Those bastards too r very determined to win in the fight and the fierce fight lasted for quite a while till some passers by shouted mata mata.. the fight was soon dispered… with blue black all over our bodies!!! It is a messy fight!
Running together.. the 5 of us ran to the nearby park and collapsed at the bench…
Ah Keong: Fuck man this is a great fight!
Jason: Knn they can fight well..
Fatty: Any police behind?!
Me: Dun think so…
We looked at each other bruised face and laughed…
Scarface: at least no broken limbs for us…
Fatty: L.. u have a nasty cut on yr arms…
me: In return for yr scar… i point at his rite arm… this is what i owe u…
Fatty: Brothers dun mention abt owe each other.. I ( Zuo Siong di you jin sheng mei lai shi) Brothers r only fated to be together in this life only.
All 5 of us: Steady…
We normal stream students may be poor in our studies but we r willing to fight and bleed for each other. That is the Code of Honour we abide…
Deep in my heart.. i am worried abt how to acct to Yvonne for my bruised face and the gang fight….
Ah keong: Go hm must apply jie ta again…
Fatty: when we old.. we sure kena internal injuries…
Me: This is the road we choose.. have to bear with it ba…
This is my last gang fight.. though we did nt win in this fight but at least we managed to win back some face for fatty.. it is the pride which matter.. if we dun fight back… we r chickens.. This is what we firmly believed at that pt of time.
Soon i reach hm with my parents scolding me for getting involed in fights again…
Dad: Fight.. fight that is all u know… one day died on the streets then u know..
Mum: Aiya u gd for nothing… learn from yr sister.. gd in her studies and piano dun need to let us worry.. blah blah blah…
I just ignored their words and locked myself in the room… applying tie da myself.. thinking of how to acct to Yvonne abt this mess…
I remember that i did nt look forward going to school the next day… but i still decided to attend school as it is pontless to avoid the issue… During the assembly… Yvonne spotted my bruised face and arms…. She was shocked to c that… there seem to be many questions on her mind but we dun have to chance to tok to each other as we r a distance apart… ( Remember: We belong to different classes)… Recess Time will be only time when we can meet and tok… For the first time in my school life… i really dun look forward to recess Time as i really do nt how to account to her….
Recess Time: As usual she was waiting for me near to the drinks stall..
Yvonne: What happened to u?… have u been fighting again?…
Me: Nope i fall into the drain while cycling yesterday… ( I spoke in trembling tone)
Yvonne: Look straight into my eyes and tell me the truth…
Me: I….
Yvonne: U r nt speaking the truth… i know u too well.. u dun even dare to look straight into my eyes… R u involed with fights again?!….
Me: Yup…..
Yvonne: Have u forgotten yr promise to me?…
Me: Nope but at times it is very hard for me to make a decision which can please everyone…
Yvonne: Y.. i really dun understand… ( she is sobbing…)…. Thank Goodness we r near the garden pond toking whereby there is nt much people… if nt I will really be awkward then….
At that moment… the school bell ring…
Me: Meet u at the main gate after school k…
Yvonne: K….
With a heavy heart i headed back for lessons.. nt concentrating on the lessons at all… The sight of her sobbing keep flooding my mind… I feel very guilty abt hurting her again…. who knows the turmoil in my heart… Brotherly ties and promise to the loved ones.. I can only decide on one……