VI | Letter

❦

He asks me how I've been.

I say I'm good,
(a bit about junior college)
and about Ria.

'You leh?' I ask back.

He's quiet for a while,

thoughtful.
As if my question is a philosophical one.

'I'm defaulting NS.'

I stare at him.

National Service is compulsory in Singapore.
Defaulting is a crime.

'WHAT?!'

❦

He: How's my mother?
Me: I don't know. You don't visit her?
He: Your mother meets mine more than i do.
Me: NS is compulsory.

A pause.

'Yeah.'

I didn't know what else to say.
'Why are you defaulting?'

'I don't want to go.'

Up close, his brown hair
is longer than usual.

A grey ghost hovers around his mouth.

It's really hot at the moment

but he's wearing a black jacket with
"MON$TER"
inscribed on the front,

the "S" cut through by the zipper.

'You'll get in trouble for defaulting, you know.'

He won't

look

into

my eyes.

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