A long, long weekend and a long, long post

On the brink of a hopefully restive weekend I'm finally writing about the events that happened last Saturday. It started for me at 5am. That being the time I woke up to get ready and leave for a colleague's house. We were one of the teams in a company-sponsored treasure hunt from KL to Melaka and the plan was for 3 of us of the Aquarium to drive to Cheeky's place and park and leave from there, since Cheeky was driving.

My spidey-sense did tingle that morning, but I dismissed it. I swear I felt like I didn't want to go which was strange since we had been looking forward to it all week-long. Anyway I got in my car and drove. I decided to stop by a 24-hour McD's on the way to her house and get brekkie for everyone. Sneezy called in the meantime to say she was running late and she get her brother to drop her off at the starting point. That was the beginning of the longest morning of my life.

After grabbing breakfast, Juan Alvarro threw a tantrum and refused to start. So I called Cheeky to come and get me and so we could hopefully jump-start him. She arrived sans cables which I didn't have either. In fact no one at the freaking restaurant or the petrol station next to it had cables. I called AAM, and in the chaos, Sneezy calls to say that our 4th teammate, Girly, had just been mugged outside her apartment! The Slipper Gang (our team name) decided to forfeit the treasure hunt in light of the aura of bad luck that seemed to surround us.

Cheeky insisted on staying with me till the AAM guys arrived but I wanted her to check on poor Girly instead. A distressed Girly called from a good samaritan's phone and that sealed the deal. Girly's from out of town and living alone, and so off went Cheeky to the rescue. Turns out it was no simple mugging, if muggings could ever be simple... Just across from the guard house, someone hit her on the head with a helmet. She didn't even see it coming. She fell to the ground and this person kept hitting her, until she finally heard him say, "Kasi beg" (give me your bag). As soon as she released her handbag and small luggage bag, he stopped hitting her. She managed to get up and scream, and a Passerby gave chase with his car, following 2 motorcycles which split and went against traffic. Passerby turned Hero and followed, against traffic and all but in real-life I guess the bad guys do get away.

Poor poor Girly, a tiny young thing, managed to get to the guard house, and guess what the guards did? Nothing. That's security for you, Malaysian style. A lady berated them, and all they said was, 'Oh kat luar, bukan kawasan kami.' (It happened outside, not our area - of course since calling the police has since become an area of expertise these days). Finally Hero came back and upon finding out that the police hadn't been called he yelled and threatened bodily harm and the gatekeepers in uniforms finally called the cops. Of course by the time Cheeky arrived at the scene of the crime, the cops still hadn't arrived in over an hour (since starting of their day with a roti canai and teh tarik took priority) so she took Girly to the police station instead.

Meanwhile my own dashing hero arrived and after tinkering with the car, told me that its a mysterious problem with the ignition and so while he could wire start my car, as soon as the engine died I wouldn't be able to start it again. I asked him to wire start it so I could drive to my local mechanic. Baby's words of wisdom at the time were 'And its not even 8.30 in the morning yet!' But he did volunteer to rescue me and I declined since he lives far far away in the rural land of smoked meat. My parents picked me up from the mechanic and we drove home, their own car sputtering smoke as we reached our driveway. Not a good day for cars, and it got even worse.

We had been calling each other back and forth to find out how Girly was doing. About 10am Sneezy calls saying that Girly's boyfriend had called her and told her that a couple of minutes ago he had been speaking to Girly on Cheeky's mobile phone when he suddenly heard the girls scream and the line went dead. I was a bit skeptical since I had spoken to them less than 10 mins earlier so I told her I'd check. Then I received a call from Girly's boyfriend and went into a major panic. The 3 of us tried and tried and tried to call them and finally Sneezy calls me to say Girly had called back. They had been in an accident on the way to the locksmith and that she was bleeding but fine BUT Cheeky was hurt badly.

Sneezy left for the hospital and I panicked since I didn't have a car to get to them. I called a friend who lived nearby and asked to borrow her car for an emergency. While waiting for her to arrive, I cried, then prayed with my mum, for their safety and lives. Finally I got to the hospital, and luckily the girls were relatively alright. Besides her earlier bump in the head, Girly sported cuts and flesh wounds near her neck, a sign of the effectiveness of her seat belt, a common injury in car accidents. Cheeky though had split her chin and needed stitches besides having bruises on her legs and hands.

They don't really remember how it happened, just the car swerving from the left lane all the way to the far right and hitting the divider. There were other cars around but somehow they didn't get hit. Girly couldn't open her passenger door and climbed through the back to get out and scream for help. Kind Samaritans helped them both and a lady drove them to the hospital.

Cheeky is still out of commission, her stitches should be removed by Monday but generally she is in good spirits. She did have to pay RM200 compound to the cops for hitting public property and paid a further RM200 bribe so they wouldn't charge her in court, or so claimed the policeman at the counter, proudly wearing his 'Saya Anti Rasuah' (I'm Anti Bribes) button-badge - someone later claimed it should be 'Saya Nanti Rasuah' (I Wait for Bribes). Girly came back to work after 2 days of panic attacks at home. She still is very nervous walking near motorcycles and eyes every young man nearby suspiciously. She hopes her attacker dies, and I don't blame her one bit.

Its in a sad sad state of affairs, this country we live in.