Disturbed.

Today school called and asked if I was free to teach. I took up the offer and so got ready for school as soon as I could before I did my utmost usual thing, which was to call the cab.

As soon as I was ready and saw from the window of my flat that the cab had arrived, I left home. So I climbed down the flight of stairs as quickly as possible and upon nearing the ground floor, I heard some people, apparently from the ground floor, talking.

The closer I got to the ground floor, the nearer and louder were the voices. I anticipated that I would perhaps bump into some people when I reach the void deck later as the people talking sounded as though they were walking in my direction.

Well, bumping into strangers this way wasn’t uncommon for us living in flats and so I let it be. At least I have prepared myself mentally in bumping into others so I could lessen the amount of shock in me if it truly happened.

Apparently one of the voices of the people talking sounded like that of a girl's, who was then speaking in a language I didn‘t really take notice of, but sounded somewhat cheerful and accompanied by quite a thick Malay-ish accent.

With that, I expected that if I would, I probably would be seeing a Malay girl perhaps with long hair and in school uniform loitering the area. Escapee teenage students from nearby secondary schools here are more commonly seen loitering the area than any other people anyway.

Also, I was anticipating that if I would, I would perhaps see the girl with her boyfriend as she appeared to be the only one enthusiastically speaking and the other person whom she was talking to seemed to be speaking in a lower pitched voice.

On another note however, her ways of speech gave way to her age group as she was speaking in a manner many teenage Malay schoolgirls do.

So when I thought I would perhaps bump into some teenagers, I thought there was nothing to be on guard about as these kids are normally not harmful.

Well, I generally keep myself on guard because my void deck is an end of a corner, placed next to a park and least exposed to the public as compared to the other void decks around. So it is rather good to be cautious and on alert at all times especially when walking around the void deck as it is quite an isolated place.

But when I arrived the end of the staircase, I didn’t bump into anyone and only when I walked off towards the car park, the girl called out, “kakak, kakak” (elder sister in Malay). I ignored and quickened my pace.

Only when she called out in what seemed to me as rather frantically, I stopped walking and turned around but that was only after I quickened my pace to reach to an area of the void deck where I was more exposed to the public, just in case.

But when I turned around, I was quite taken aback to see a very short-haired and dark-skinned person coming after me. I wasn’t too sure if the person was the same person I had heard talking as ‘she’ looked really like a man (or a butch for that matter).

And only when I heard the voice again, I thought it was the same voice that I have heard earlier but half my brain was questioning me if it was in fact a man in a female’s voice.

The person turned out to be shorter than me (or rather because I was in heels) and perhaps similar in age (because her facial skin seemed more matured than a teenager's). And she was accompanied by a body language that gave me the idea that she had a query on her mind.

So as soon as she came up close to me, I held my right hand up and spoke to her in Malay, “saya nak pergi kerja” (I am going to work). I just thought I didn’t have the time to listen to someone whom I have never seen around the area and who looked rather dirty, a bit like that of a crook.

But she came closer to me and demanded that I listen to her before anything else. So I stopped and decided to give her the chance to be heard.

I was right though. She had a query for me. On what seemed to be a put-on emotion, she said, “saya hilang/tak ade IC. Saya tak ade duit. Saya nak pergi tengok mak saya kat hospital. Kakak boleh kasi saya S$3.00, tak?” (I do not have my Identity Card with me. I do not have any money. But I want to visit my mum who is in the hospital. Can you give me S$3.00?)

I didn’t say anything to her. I just thought her plea sounded very much like an overused excuse employed by cheaters. So I thought I had better leave her.

So I waved my hand at her, signaling that I didn’t have any money with me and firmly said to her, “saya kena pergi kerja” (I have to go to work). That was when I turned around and left for the cab that was waiting for me.

I got rather annoyed though at that moment as it seemed to me that my time has been wasted on someone who didn’t quite deserve it. But as I walked towards the cab, I was also bothered by the thought that she might be following me from the back.

So when I got closer to the cab, I checked the reflection on the cab window and felt relieved as I saw no one behind me.

I got into the cab quickly and started looking for the girl afterwards, just to see which direction she had taken. But I didn’t see her, and I didn't see the guy whom she was with earlier either.

And as the cab got closer to the route I assumed she would be taking, I didn’t see anyone. But I kept on a look out for her the whole time after that. Only as the cab changed direction, I thought the person might have just gone by the back way, and perhaps into the park, I don‘t know.

But anyway, I arrived school safely and felt relieved about it all. I was just a bit disturbed by the confrontation during the earlier part of work as I didn't stop to wonder if 'she' would loiter the area again the same time tomorrow.

Anyway, a shout-out to Kun: let's move to a guarded apartment, shall we? I really don't like encountering such people anytime I am outside.