BalQisku Episod 8(i)

Sweet Hard hand By Hadiah

“Laa… apasal emo tiba-tiba ni? Lepas tu ko blah macam tu je? Dengan takde baju takde mende, nasib baik kita sesaiz,” gurau Fatin। Dia mengusap-ngusap lembut bahu sahabatnya. Terhenjut-henjut bahu Balqis yang masih mengelap air mata yang masih tidak mahu kering. “I thought you guys were getting along fine.”

“Getting along fine kemendenye,” tukas Balqis, memeluk lutut। “Fisha dah jumpa balak lain. Dia agak dia bosan, dia datang cari aku.”

Fatin mengangguk-angguk perlahan. “Jadi ko rasa macam rebound la ni?”

“Worse than that,” balas Balqis pendek.

“What could be worse than a rebound?”

Balqis menghela nafas। Dia membuang pandangan ke arah balkoni apartmen Fatin. “Aku tak tahu nak explain macam mana…”

“The feeling of being unwanted?”

Balqis tersenyum. “Thaaaaanks,” balasnya. Kemudian dia mengangguk perlahan. “Well, yeah…”

“Oh, sweetie,” ujar Fatin perlahan. Dia memeluk sahabatnya. “You have always been a vital part of my life. Aku tak dapat imagine going on everyday, pergi hospital tak tengok muka ko, balik ke rumah, tak gayut telefon malam-malam dengan ko. You are important to me as Colgate is important to me every morning।”

Balqis ketawa. “Thaaaaaanks. Ada ke bandingkan aku dengan Colgate?”

Fatin tersengih। “Bukan sebarang Colgate. Colgate Simply White, you.”

“Agaknya apa lah aku kepada Danial ya? Sekadar pencungkil gigi, yang digunakan bila dah tension sangat makanan melekat kat gigi। Waktu lain, diabaikan je,” ujar Balqis. Dia meletakkan dagu di kepala lutut.

Fatin menggeleng-gelengkan kepala. “You are so sad, sweetie. Ada ke pencungkil gigi? Gila gross laa metaphore ko nih,” komen Fatin।

“Seriously Fat। Aku tak tahu ke mana arah tuju hidup kami. Takkan aku nak sampai ke tua jadi ‘housemate with benefits’ dia?”

“Cuba la jadi husband and wife with benefits pulak.”

Balqis menjulingkan mata. “Cuba la bagi cadangan membina sikit॥”

“Laa, aku pun serius laa ni। Sikit punya membina cadangan aku tu,” tukas Fatin. Dia menepuk paha, mengarah Balqis meletakkan kepala di situ. “Come here.” Balqis akur. “Tadi aku, Jas dengan Maira dok perati je ko dengan Darth Vader tu, tau?”

Balqis menjungkit kening. Dia mengerut dahi. “Aku ingat korang dok perati Dr. Hamzah tu?”

Fatin sengih. “Oh, him too. Tapi most of the time, we were watching you guys laa. Like a hawk,” balas Fatin, gaya ala-ala Wolverine dalam The X-Man.

Balqis terkekeh-kekeh।

“And you guys were pretty snug with each other. Rilek je ko bagi dia pegang pinggang ko,” tambah Fatin lagi. Sengih.

Balqis memasamkan muka. “Laa.. Takkan aku nak bagi back hook kick kat dia kot tengah-tengah crowd tu। Logikla sikit sayang oi॥”

“Tak back hook kick pun, ko nampak comfy je tadi?”

“Mana ko tahu?”

Fatih mencebik. “Sudah spaghetti, bihun pula. Sudah tahu, buat-buat tanya.”

“Ada-ada je ko nih। Your point being?”

“So, betullah ko comfy tadi?”

“Busok. Can we drop the subject?”

“Okay. Jom kita cakap pasal Brazilian Tarantula pulak,” ujar Fatin sambil mengunjuk tarantula sebesar tapak tangan di Discovery Channel।

“Fatiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin.”

“Balqisssssssssssss.”

“Ko ni kan…”

Fatin ketawa. Dia membelai-belai lembut rambut sahabatnya. Tak ubah lagaknya seperti seorang ibu yang mendodoikan anak. “Kau tau kan, tak elok seorang isteri meminta cerai daripada suami...”

“Perempuan yang meminta talak daripada suaminya tanpa ada sebab yang dibenarkan agama maka ia tidak akan mencium wangian syurga,” tutur Balqis lembut, matanya dipejam menghayati sabda Rasul Allah saw itu। Hati berbelah bahagi.

“Walaupun sebab kau relevan, tapi why don’t you wait a while longer… The Balqis I know was so much stronger than this,” balas Fatin. Tangannya masih mengusap-usap kepala Balqis.

“I॥,” kata-kata Balqis terputus। Dia mengiring kepala ke sisi. “Mana ada aku mintak cerai. Aku cuma cakap ‘I want out’ je…”

“Jadi ‘I want out’ dalam konteks ko bermaksud?”

Balqis menghela nafas. “Aku tak larat membawa perasaan begitu dalam rumah tu. Aku tak tau nak anggap dia sebagai apa. Kawan? Housemate? Suami? Jauh sekali…”

“Ko nak perpisahan sementara ke?”

Balqis terdiam। “Entahlah.”

“Do you know that he called an hour ago?”

“Don’t really want to know..”

“Ko sayang dia?”

Balqis memukul paha Fatin lembut। “Apa ko ni tanya soalan merepek ni?”

“Merepek apa nya? Releven laa ni…”

Balqis terdiam. “No complicated question at 11 in the evening,” balas Balqis otomatik.

Fatin tersengih. Dia memukul bantal di sebelah. “I knew it! Jas is so going to be 50-bucks shorter!”

Balqis mengangkat kepala. Dia memandang rakannya, pelik. “Apa kaitan dengan Jas’ 50 bucks ni?”

“Hehhe॥” sengih Fatin lagi। “We had a bet going on whether in the end ko dengan Danial jatuh cinta ke tak. So far it’s looking good from Danial’s side. And from you, hahha, thanks honey, for just making me 50-bucks richer!”

Balqis membuntang mata। “You guys had a bet going on about me and Danial??” Dia membaling Mr. Bean’s brown teddy ke arah Fatin yang terkekeh-kekeh. “Some friends you were!”

“Eh, aku kan hopeless romantic! Daripada si Jas yang asyik negative thinking tu je. Dia bet in the end ko akan potong brake wire kereta Danial. Itu lagi tak masuk akal kan?”

Balqis menjungkit kening. Kemudian ketawanya meletus. “Kepala hangguk! Ingat aku eager sangat nak hang out dekat jail?”

Fatin turut ketawa tak berhenti-henti. “Maira pulak cakap ko akan bawak diri ke Timbuktu.”

Balqis menggeleng-gelengkan kepala. Masih tersengih. “Boleh harap punya memember.”

Ketawa Fatin reda। Dia turut tersengih. “So, you do love him, don’t you?”

Senyuman Balqis menjadi goyah. Dia mengalihkan pandangan. “Sorry about your 50 bucks. Rasanya idea Maira macam best je.”

“Mana ada direct flight from KLIA ke Timbuktu.”

“Connecting kan ada.”

“You hate long-hour flights। You don’t have any reason to go there. Apa ko nak cakap waktu visa application?”

“Oh, I’ll find one. Don’t worry.”

Tiba-tiba kedengaran ketukan di pintu utama. Balqis dan Fatin terdiam. Mereka bertukar pandangan. “Apasal seram ala-ala filem The Ring ni?” bisik Balqis।

Fatin menjungkit bahu. “And why exactly are we whispering?” bisik Fatin kembali.

Balqis ketawa kecil। “Ye la. Hantu mana datang malam-malam ni?”

“Hish. Mulut takde insuran!” Fatin bingkas bangun dan mencapai tudung di kerusi meja makan. Dia menjenguk melalui peephole. “Oh, this I like,” tutur Fatin sambil mengangkat kening double-jerk.

“Siapa?”

“Darth Vader.”