Chapter 42 - The start of a new semester, but I’ve got other plans

We waved goodbye to paradise on the beach, Amin and I rode our bikes, but as we began to move, Sylvia suddenly and unexpectedly asked Amin to remain in the truck.

"Amin, could you please ride with Mother because I wanted to ride with Darling?" This is not what I wanted, but he said to me,

"Go ahead, Sylvia, son, don't be reckless!!" Mom is basically teasing me. While Mariam took another snapshot.

“kukuku…

another memory, eh?"

"Shut up!!"

"Bitch!" cried Priscilla to Sylvia. She suddenly took off.

Her boobs were pressing against my back. Hana is staring at me, grinning,

"Big brother!!!" She is now gazing at me. We rode back home while Mom told me she needed to send back Mariam and Amin. Sylvia is having a great time as we drive back to my house, and she tells me,

"I had a lot of fun, especially with you darling!!" She hugged me tightly behind me, her boobs pressing against me even more, shit!! I could already feel her nipples! What am I thinking?!?My bike runs out of gas, so we stop at a gas station, where Zuan and Arie are refuelling their bikes. I park my bike at the fuel pump. While I could hear their words, the guys were staring at me.

"Lucky bastard, look at us single guys here," some of them cried. "Dude!! Don't lose yourself!!"

Zuan approaches me and says, "Bro? "You're daring, but did you do it?"

“Huh?!”

'I mean, she's a hot babe, you know.”

"You know what will happen if Geoffrey finds out about this, right?"

"But a really hot babe riding a bike like that is every guy's dream, you know."

"Yeah, just leave it at that, my mom approved it."

"Your mom rocks!!"

"You know I could get weird rumours later on.”

"I'm sure that whatever happens, hey bro, you know there's a rumour of a hot babe racing behind our house, drifting like it's no one's business. Albert and Amber, who I met last night, must be involved in something now.

"Do you want to race against them?"

"With a bike?"

“Yeah!!”

"I'm pretty sure my bike isn't up for it; the power difference is like the difference between the sky and the earth."

Sylvia suddenly called me and said she needed to use the restroom. All the guys turn to face me and say,

"Hey bro!! "How the hell did you get that hot babe!!"

"Man, come on!!" "Teach us, will you?"

"No, he's not that type of guy, but he's a natural born lady killer, you know."

“Then teach us how to be a lady killer, eh? Bro!!”

"Ugh...Arie, is this your idea of a good time?"

“Huh?! That is not my concern."

"Ugh, maybe you need to learn more about women before you can do it."

They're practically taking notes on my advice

"is that it?"

"Oh, yeah."

"All right, I'll take that advice!!"

"Girls prefer someone they can rely on."

"Damn trust is something we couldn't create."

"Then grow up and become a man!"

“Alright!!” I didn't realise that Sylvia was wearing short jeans, a tight shirt, and sport shoes while she was staring at me. Some of the guys said to me as they tried to avoid me once more.

"Hey, come hang out with us!!" We are always at Tanjung Aru beach!!"

"uh yeah."

"Nice bro!"

"Darling, you know you have an exam coming up; sorry, he will not be available this month because he is still a 15-year-old going for PMR!!”

"Come on, let's go back, you did fill up the gas, right?" Sylvia said as she pulled me away from the guys.

"Well, then, see you later."

They waved as I travelled back to my house. When I arrive at my house, my mother is not there, but someone is, and it is my father. I wanted to send Sylvia back to Geoffrey's house this time, but she insisted on following me.

"I'm not going to let you hurt yourself again, and I'm not going to let you do anything stupid."

"Ugh...fine," we said as we arrived at the house, but I noticed something odd: Dad had brought someone else. And there are a lot of them this time. He came out of the house and saw me with Sylvia.

"Did your mother teach you this?"

“Dad” Sylvia holds my back, making sure I don't lash out again.

"Would you please just listen to him?"

"Yeah, what's going on here?"

"You're spiralling out of control; aren't you supposed to study for the exam?"

"I'll do it, but why the hell did you bring these goons here?"

"It's just that..." Someone interrupted him and said to him

"Where is your mother, son?"

"Now what? "Do you need cash?"

"Boy, watch your tongue."

"Do you owe money again, Dad?"

“….”

"What's with the cold shoulder, dad?" I ask directly again. "Did you want money? We don't have it, but if you want to talk about your family, I'll listen."

"You getting out of hand here, kid."

"Asshole, I'm speaking with my dad here."

"Then I'll help you in washing your mouth with soap."

One of the men tried to grab me, but Sylvia kicked him in the face, knocking him out. Some of them surrounded us, but I managed to keep my cool. Sylvia said to me,

"You talk to your father, and I'll beat this bunch of guys here."

While Sylvia overpowered the guys. While looking at them

"You know, if you hurt him again, it's not just the hospital.”

"This babe looks great," yeah, maybe this is the last time you'll see her. Someone took off and landed in front of me in an instant. I carried him and told him,

"Outside this house there is a legendary snake, perhaps I could feed him." I toss him into the bushes.

"Dad, I ask again why you don't care about our family anymore," I say as I approach him.

"Do you look like you're going to hit me again?"

"No, not anymore because I'm sick of it.”

"Then why did you bring this girl here? Then?”

"Perhaps you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

"Where has Mom gone?"

"Mom is on her way, but I had to ask again: do you no longer matters about our family?" He looks at me as if I'm no longer his son. One of the men told me.

"Puan Mas is a key figure in the Borneo Foundation, and I wanted her to be a part of a project in which kids like you should not be involved."

"Yeah, maybe if you act like a professional, I won't act like this, bringing goons, you think I don't know these types of people?”

"Man, your son is really something; I'd like to have him as my right hand man."

"........." still silent; there must be something going on here, I ask Dad.

"What kind of job you doing dad? Something outlawed? Or is it something else?"

"That is not something a child like you should be aware of."

"Because Dad was unable to protect this home, it is up to me to do so; what I mean by home is family.”

Dad said nothing, but the man said to me,

"It's best that you call your mum for the discussion between me and your father," and he pulled out his gun in an instant, which I grabbed and knocked him down, pointing it at him. What really irritated me was the fact that my father was once again involved with these types of people. I fire a shot near his ear. He looked terrified as I warned him.

"You know goons like you, you'd be dead meat if you stayed in Compton. "Beat it."

The man pissed his pants while attempting to offer me

"Hey, you look tough, maybe I could hire you, you don't need to go to school because I will pay you more than you ever imagined" shit this guy is not even worthy to be called a gangster, I have experience, money, and power, and something like that is not even on my radar. I lifted him up and asked him again.

"Get the hell out!" I look at him the way I always did at guys who enraged me the most.

"OK, okay," he says as he runs away, calling my father "Man!!" It's time to go!!"

"My dad will stay here; you guys go hike or else," I said, pointing his gun at him. While aiming it at the sky.

“Ahhh!!! "Man, don't forget it later!"

"BEAT IT!!” They were fleeing while some of them were unconscious, and Sylvia asked me to drop the gun.

"Alex, you don't need that," Sylvia urged me to throw away the gun, and I disassemble it and throw it into the bushes. I forgot about the guy I threw into the bush and went inside, where he was still unconscious. Uncle Haqib came in and asked what happened.

"No, some crazy idiot going into the jungle," I said, not mentioning the gun "dad."

He looked at me with lack of respect and asked, "Is this what you've been doing in America?"

"Look in the mirror once, dad, because you need to look at yourself.” He doesn’t even realise that he has been doing things before this hurting mom and me.

“Its something we adult have something to handle ourself”

“oh yeah, why do dad think that I’ve always need to clean your mess”

Dad said nothing, so I told him,

"Since it's Eid week, stay here dad, and no excuses because I'm tired of it."

Sylvia looked at my father and said, "Just stay here with them."

"Fine for one night because I have another meeting."

"Whatever you want, Dad."

Mom arrived home, but I noticed Amin and Mariam had also arrived; mum is surprised to see dad.

“Man!? You're back!? "Please wait while I prepare some food for you."

"Ah...ok," we unpack our belongings from the truck and freshen up, and I call Uncle Usman, "Asalamualaikum."

“Salam Hello, Uncle, this is Alex."

“Ah!! "Welcome back, how was your journey?"

"It's fun, but Dad is here.”

“Huh? Is Man there?! Tell him to wait because I need to speak with him right now."

After he hung up, Sylvia helped mom in preparing dinner. Maghreb has already arrived, and I went to pray.

Tama returned home to Long Pasia while we were in Kudat a few days ago; perhaps Tomal will send her back here. We ate dinner because Mariam is a loud person, and the silence was broken by happy moments where we could enjoy our meal. Uncle Usman arrived after the meal and went straight to meet Dad; it appears that Dad and Mom had a long conversation with them.

"Big brother," Hana said, "it's nothing to worry about, okay?"

"I'm fine as long as big brother is here."

"Yeah," I said as I sat on my bike, fiddling with the engine that Arie had taught me. While I was working on the bike, Mariam approached me and said,

"I heard from Sylvia that some goons were waiting for Aunt Mas?"

"Yeah," she says, slamming her fist to her palm with a grin, "lucky them, if they meet me, the hospital will be the least of their worries."

"I don't care Mariam, as long as they're safe.”

"Yeah, but Sylvia is there with you."

"You know one of them had a gun."

“WHAT!?”

"You idiot, you want the whole world to hear that!"

“THEN? "Then where is the gun?"

"I destroyed it and threw it at the bush there.”

"Geez, that's dangerous," Mariam said, knocking on my head and warning me not to be reckless again. Mariam describes that my dad is currently being lectured by Uncle Usman about the troubles he caused. At least, not my problem. Amin walks down with me and Mariam, where we continue our conversation.

"You know that we're going to wrap up our PMR and then continue our schooling in SIGMA."

"I'm pretty sure Mr Rahman's prediction for our results is a tall order because most students at Borneo College are far superior academically compared to us."

"What the hell is that mentality?! We're going for gold, you know!" "I'm pretty sure I'm just average in school."

"Yeah, because you're always daydreaming!" Look at Honey, he could do it even though he is always around us.”

"Uh...honey, but your academic is also in the red."

“Geh!? Then we should concentrate on our studies!”

"How about I, Honey, and Alex going for the top ten in PMR?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"I agrees!!" "Hold on a second," she says, handing me her phone, while I can hear Natalie scolding me for being lazy.

“Babe!!! Get your butts off there and start studying!! Got it!!"

"Uh, got it."

"Do you notice you're nuts?"

"Kukuku, if we're going for gold, at the very least this will motivate you to focus on your academics, stupid!!"

"Shut up!!”

Throughout the night, Uncle Usman constantly lectured dad, while I was outside. I don't feel right when I'm with Dad, especially when he's being lectured. While Mom remained silent, she was lectured by Uncle Usman for not being strict with us. When I'm sitting in the backyard. The others fell asleep, but I couldn't; looking back on what happened from the time I first moved to Malaysia until now, it's something a kid like me couldn't believe.

"You are something, boy," Uncle Usman said, having finished his lecture. He smacked my head and began lecturing me as well.

"You know that we are still in the spirit of Eid, what the hell you going on a bikini party like that, you are really a western influence got into your brain. You are able to make sense that there are boundaries to having fun.”

"I have to agree with Uncle."

"At least you have fun and manage to grab hold of your dad."

I'm looking at Uncle Usman, try to find out what he's trying to tell me. He took a book from his pocket and handed it to me; it was a book by Machiavelli, The Prince.

"Read it, kid, because it might come in handy. Even if you read the Al Quran, I doubt you could understand a single word of Arabic."

"Yeah, but I could ask Mariam because she understands Arabic and has read the Al Quran.”

"It's nice to have friends like that, anyway, let's get back to our personal conversation." I hope he doesn't want to start the trouble all over again. Please don't give me another girl problem.

"With Sylvia, Priscilla, Natalie, and Siti, what would that be?" That's what worries me.

"Come on, kid, share your thoughts."

"Ugh, fine, it's just that after meeting all of them, they were all close friends or people I cared about. Natalie is unique in that I have spent at least a quarter of my life with her back to back. As a result, I couldn't give you an exact answer, uncle.”

"Well, you're right, but I already know the answer, and I'm sure the other girls will be upset if I reveal it."

"Then you already know, Uncle."

"Always the first one, first come, first served?"

"Ugh, you're being frank with me.”

“Hahahahahahah!!! You still have time, but I believe one of them will be with you until the end of your life, kid."

"You know, uncle, I'm still young to be having this kind of conversation."

"you know, I married Aunt Salina when I was only 19 years old."

"Uh yeah to you Uncle, but for me, I wanted to do something for myself first, like get a job, a stable job, and then a lot of saving's."

"That's being an ordinary average, day to day basis of an adult but you're different ever since you return from America. You are much more mature than other kids, and you have a lot more experience than other veteran soldiers.” He really doesn’t want to give up, I have to tell him that I’m just wanted to be with Natalie and that’s it.

"No, I'm not going to have another problem because no one else has it but her."

"Then I'll see what you mean, but could you please be nice to Siti? Just because she's your distant cousin doesn't mean you have to ignore her. Okay?”

"Yeah, yeah.”

"Well then, let us continue with other things because I want you to be not just a kid but a leader of the family, your dad still have things to do, with a second wife and all. I need you to learn about being a Muslim, do you understand?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Good, because most of them aren't even Muslim to begin with, so it has to be you leading it, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah."

“Smartass!!”

He pinches my cheek and warns me about something else. This is the story of Uncle Usman's family.

"Our family has been divided into two factions, one led by me and the other by the elder of the family, because I felt that we needed to break our traditions and shift our focus away from politics and towards business and community in order for people to trust us more. Oh, one more thing."

“Yeah?”

"I have bad news for you; the majority of the other faction is made up of Borneo College students and faculty; they will be out to make your life as miserable as possible."

"Is it because of what happened before?"

"Yeah, that action caused the faction to split.”

The Shariful Ahmad family is one of the superfamily spread across the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and I'm a part of it, according to Uncle Usman. It's almost gangster-like, but our faction is among the strongest because most of them are expecting change and want a better life rather than politics. Even Southeast Asian Triads feared the family; the family control almost everything, including the government and royal families. They expect me to lead the family because I am the eldest child, but my mom kept it hidden to keep me from becoming involved with them.

"Kinda sad right the dark side of our family, that is the reason your mum is protecting you from anything from the family, which pressured your dad. I did consult with him about it, but I just ignored it."

"Are we any different than terrorists?"

"Perhaps because at least one of them is a terrorist."

"Geez, this is getting out of hand.”

"Yes, because Borneo Foundation is one of our investment trees, and we have control over them. Your mum works in research and development as well."

We talked until late at night while mum unexpectedly brought us teh tarik to drink.

"Well, now you know why your father is like that."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything because I don't understand adults and their complex thinking."

"That's one of the qualities I admire in you: you're as straight as an arrow."

"But as dumb as a bull”

Mom and Uncle Usman both laughed at what I said to them.

"I'm not a leader material; all I wanted was the freedom to be whatever I wish as long as it was legal."

"Yeah, I get it, son, you better"

"Natalie is unaware of this, but her father is."

"Mr Hawk definitly knows a lot."

"He is, indeed, one of the most brilliant thinkers and innovators in human development.”

"I guess I should go back now."

"Please allow me to accompany Uncle back home."

"On your bike, eh?"

"Yeah, with my bike," I said as I followed him back to his house, where Siti was waiting outside to greet Uncle Usman.

"You know she's waiting for you, son, just talk to her okay?" This has always been his plan.

Uncle Usman teases me, saying, "Don't be late kids, just talk okay?"

"You got it, Uncle!"

“Whatever!!” He entered while Aunt Salina said, "Hi Alex, have fun, and Siti go get em!!"

She gives me a thumbs up while flirting with me, saying, "Well, now that all the obstacles are removed, I want to enjoy just talking to you."

“Uh…yeah…”

Siti is simply smiling, but this time she is not wearing her hijab; she is cute, with slightly curly long black hair and a slight tan on her skin. Her eyes are larger than most. She had something she wanted to tell me.

"Are you upset with me?"

"Why do you think that way? I'd be upset if you thought that way."

Siti smiled at me again as we sat on the bench in front of the house.

"Wondering why I'm going to SIGMA?"

"Not that I care."

"Geh, tightass!!" She does learn to use foul language, eh? I respond to her.

"in comparing to you suddenly wanting to leave a good school"

"If that's all you're going to say, then you don't know how to treat a woman, do you?"

"Do I look likely to be a romantic type of guy?"

"I'm not sure, but one thing I know is that you're really sweet.”

"How do I look now, without makeup and a pretty dress?"

"Simple, nothing that I care about" yeah she does look cute in her sarong and t shirt but her boobs are really pop, does she even wear a bra? I noticed she wasn't wearing a bra, and her nipples were visible. Shit!! She notices me staring at her boobs and smiles at me, "Pervert!" Did you look at my boobs?" Dammit, you're the one who shows that "Well, this is what I wear when I'm going to sleep, you think it's comfortable wearing a bra in bed, it's painful, and with this breast..." She grabbed her own boobs, and I began to blush and warn her,

"Hey!! Please stop doing that!!"

"Heh, you do blush, don't you?"

"Stop being a bitch, aren't we supposed to talk?"

"I don't know, maybe you need a little push," she says as she gets closer and closer to me.

"Aren't we supposed to be talking?"

"Yes, we are, but you're not touching me or I'm not touching you, right?"

"Uh, I suppose so; were you absolutely sure you wanted to be with SIGMA? Because this school is experimental, and if the management changes suddenly."

"I absolutely despise my old school because most of the students treat me like a slut."

“Huh? "Do you mind explaining?"

"Because they always bullied me for being a loner in that school, but when they saw you, they became jealous of me and started to avoid me, even my own classmate don't want me" is basically my own fault for her to be in that situation. She continued once more.

"When they figured out I was moving to a different school, it got even worse because they idolise you, especially when I moved to SIGMA, they started to spread gossips about me hooking up with you.”

"Damn...that looks like crap."

"So here I am, staying with my uncle, and my parents understand the situation and wanted to move to a new place ever since that incident, even customers started to avoid my family's business, luckily that had a promising prospect in investing in a business in Australia, so they slowly built it”

I saw her sad face, and it disturb me because she is in the same situation as Sylvia and Priscilla. Why have I always met this type of girl with tragedy? Is Uncle Usman involved in this as well?

"Well, at least you're in the same class as Sylvia, she's cool with it, the school is different compared to other schools with a different style of teaching," I tell her. As the primary language, we primarily communicate in English”

"Em got it, at least I've got you if I need any help."

"Got it," she says with a smile.

"Thank you," she says, her smile is adorable.

"Well, you're cute, but you need to focus in school, then meet new friends, and so on."

"Are you going to take the exam?"

“Yeah”

"Aren't you supposed to be studying for the exam? Maybe I could help!!" Because I excel at math and Islamic studies.”

"So I'll take that offer, and maybe I'll hang out at Uncle Usman's place."

"It's a deal," she finally said,

"but it's late now, so better get back home or else someone else will worry about me." Uncle Usman then called me and waved me goodbye.

"I just saw Sylvia right now, so she's always hanging out in your house, eh?" Siti abruptly turned yandere at me, holding my shoulder and asking if it was true or not.

"Is it true?" Her gaze is fixed on me, but she looks at Uncle Usman and asks,

"Is it okay if we go to his place?" She is pressuring Uncle Usman to agree to her terms.

"All right, we'll see."

"Fine," I say, turning away from them and heading home. Once there, fortunately, no one is around; however, as I sneak into the house, someone is waiting in front of my bedroom.

"What took you so long, darling?"

"Uh, Uncle Usman had something to discuss about something," Sylvia said. "I could smell jasmine, I wonder darling," she said, pinching my waist and looking at me with her murderous gaze.

"Did you do anything, darling?"

“Nothing!! Just talking okay”

“Really? "I'm curious, who is that girl?"

"Your upcoming classmate"

“Siti?”

"Sure, just be nice to her, okay?"

"I'm fine with it if she doesn't mess with darling."

"Fine, she won't, and I'm sure you'll get along with her"

"Will see then, honey," I could see in her eyes that she would be plotting something behind my back that would hopefully not end up causing me or Siti any more trouble. Sylvia looked at me closely and said,

"Well then, good night, darling," kissing my cheeks and entering the bedroom. Amin is sleeping peacefully while I haven't checked my emails in a while and when I open my laptop a message from Natalie and she shared her picture, while she writes a message for me

"How is Eid? Did you see my design? Is it suitable for Victoria? "Here's a present for you."

A picture of her in a kebaya dress, she knows how to dress perfectly, and she is damn hot. That is something; looking back, the only reason I made it here is because of Natalie; without her, I would not be the same. I went to bed looking forward for the brand new semester in school.