The Story_Part 7
While waiting for the air conditioner to cool down the interior of his car, Abdullah asked me to have a seat on the now empty gazebo. It was sunny and still a bit breezy at that time. Right in front of us, we could see that the eatery was almost empty.
“The Police Station is in that direction,” Abdullah pointed his finger back to the main traffic light junction of the town center. It is a four-way junction, the one at which we previously stopped and then slipped by.
From where we previously came, or simply put, from Seremban town, the police station and the KTMB railway station would be to the right and Masjid Jamek Tunku Besar and the Tampin Public Hospital would be to the left of the four-way junction. If we were to go straight, we would be heading towards Malacca via Pulau Sebang.
“What’s your strategy, Abdullah?” I asked him.
“Why did you ask that kind of question?” he gave me a perplexed look as if I had done something wrong.
“Now we’re going to see the police. Don’t you think they will be alarmed if we just simply go there and ask about an ex-policeman?” I explained to him my concern.
“Hey brother, you seemed to be too extra cautious. Which, I believe, is good. But do you think I look like a bad ass?” he replied with an almost cunning smile.
I immediately knew then. Abdullah’s quick thinking scheming mind might have been up to something.
“The strategy is, you will be waiting in the car. And I will go alone, pretending (that) I am looking for a long lost friend of my father’s. Isn’t that easy?”
Like he has always been, Abdullah would usually be able to find ad hoc solution to almost any problem. Or probably this possibility had already been anticipated and meticulously solved inside his head.
After we got back inside the car, Abdullah continued, “Remember, we only have one place left, the third place should be Haji Hassan’s house already,”
I nodded, and slowly smiled back at him. Somehow, I found the adventure was becoming interesting.
As we left the compound of the mosque and Abdullah started to change lane to make a U-turn at the immediate junction merely meters away from the main entrance, I had a brief opportunity to view the eastern side of the mosque. It is like any other mosques, but what stand out the most to me are its ‘innocent’ yellow domes and bluish green hilly backdrops farther away, that in my opinion gives a spectacular countryside view.
Abdullah slowly made a U-turn, and then I saw a signboard of Kampung Dusun to our left. Quickly I opened Google Map on my handphone again to ensure whether or not I have previously read it correctly. So, it was shown as Kampung Tampin Tengah in the Google Map, instead of Kampung Dusun.
I was tempted to tell Abdullah about the discrepancy of the info, which I myself was not certain could lead to something helpful, but I knew pretty well our next destination would have to be the Police Station. Let Abdullah himself decide, and I did not want to be the party to suggesting the wrong place, which would mean, The Place no 2: Failed.
As we approached the main traffic lights, I just realized there is a Hindu Temple on the right not far from the mosque. Its perimeter fence is painted to look like vertical bands of reds and whites. I must have missed it due to excitement to reach the mosque almost an hour before.
A seven or eight story yellow building stands out slightly to our left, at quite a distance off the main traffic lights. Initially, I assumed it as a hotel. It could not be a private office building, as I believe it is not a suitable town to do big-time trading or business. It could not be a government office as the building simply does not look like one. After finishing with my usual mind guessing game of elimination process, I finally assumed it must be a hotel.
We could see crowds right in front of us and also around us as we were now about to enter, what I believed, the heart of the town. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and pedestrians were almost everywhere. The town was bustling with high noon activities.
“That’s why he said Tampin is a noisy town,” I heard Abdullah talking to himself. Maybe he was referring to what his new friend just told him. But I did not ask Abdullah for clarification. It did not even bother me at that moment.
Then I heard Abdullah singing a portion of an old Blues Gang’s song,
“Sawah leba kobau banyak; Air pigi sojuk sekali; Sunyi sopi takdo oghang; Apo nak dikato; Kalau boleh nak bising-bising; Macam pokan Tampin,” as he looked smilingly at me.
So I joined him finishing the song.
“Tanak nasik bogheh kampong; Masak lomak cili api; Mesen padi takdo lai; Apo nak dikato; Ramai oghang dah kojo kilang; Kek pokan Seghomban”
“Batu Ompek Toluk Komang; Tompek oghang mandi mando; Aghi minggu ponoh sosak;
Apo nak dikato; Air laut bertambah masin; Kek pokan Port Dickson,”
When we moved forward as the light turned to green, first I found out that the yellowish painted building, like what I had guessed, is actually a hotel. The hotel is situated behind a short row of shop offices.
There is quite a large surface parking space next to the shophouses, and right across the road sits a beautiful Gurdwara Sahib Temple. On its entrance gate, under the name of the premise reads, ESTB: 23.9.1967. I was amused to learn that ‘the establishment’ – if ESTB just means that - is just a few months younger than me.
After passing through rows of shops on both sides, including one supermarket ‘The Store’, we finally found the police station on the right side of the main road. The white and blue colors, which are synonymous with the official colors of the police force, of the main building, entry statement and signs were easily recognized.
Honestly, I am not familiar with the size of police stations, and in my opinion, the police station that we saw is considered small. The two-story main building looked pretty much like it was constructed in the late 1980’s. There is a guard post near the main entrance, and a covered car parking ‘shed’ at the front compound. I simply guessed ancillary building(s) are at the rear compound as they are not clearly visible from the front gate.
Right after the police station, in fact, bordering the fence of the police station, we saw an old building white building which, as we later found out, is the post office.
The chance to find a car parking space looked so slim when we first got a glimpse of the police station.
Abdullah signaled to turn right into a feeder road at the junction after the post office so that while looking for parking space, we would not be far away from the police station. As his assistant, I ‘diligently’ carried out my part, which was to look for any available parking spaces by the roadside.
Fortunately, there were some empty spots to park the car at the rear compound of the post office. Since I would be waiting inside the car, there should not be a problem if somehow we were asked to move it. Without hesitation, Abdullah drove into the compound and carefully park his car between two MyVi’s.
“Well, you will have to wait here. (I) hope this will not be long,” Abdullah looked at me as he opened the door.
“In shaa Allah, Abdullah. I am a bit giddy now,” I replied with a happy smile as I shook my head and upper body left and right a couple of times.
As Abdullah quickly walked and disappeared at the front of the post office, I took the opportunity to read WhatsApp and Telegram messages again.
The car was nicely parked under the shade of a big tree. The fallen yellow flowers of the tree were seen scattered on the ground and on top of parked cars. On the dark soil, the fallen flowers looked like sparkling stars on a beautiful night. And on the green grass, the fallen flowers looked like yellow embellishment to a natural carpet.
The species of the tree itself is quite familiar as I have seen it at many places before, but I have never been interested in knowing the name of trees in my life. So I could not tell what species it is.
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