The Brothers

Our last Eid with late Tok Ndak. Al-Fatihah

I only have 2 brothers.

A statement that I always repeated to my mother whenever she tells me that I love my brothers too much.(read : spoiling them)

Because they are the only siblings that I have, and I treasure them much.

I am fully myself when I am with them, means to say, we have to bear with each other shortcomings.

U don't bicker about light off except with your siblings, and nobody else would dare to make a sleeping me a shield. And nobody else would throw the pillow, missed the target and hit me instead, who is sleeping soundly, full on the face.

Maybe it's the fact that we are just the three, that despite bickering whole day long, at night, when one is sleeping soundly, the other one would sit near, examining the sleeping face, stroking my hair/rubbing his head, tickling the eyelashes or nostrils and steal a couple of pecks.

For me, seeing my siblings sleep is a bless. I am not home everyday, but when I am home, it reminds me, this young man sleeping in front of me, is my brother, and I know I love him and I hope I will continue to treasure, the both of them.

We have been through so much together.

For few years, we celebrated Eid together, just the three of us after solah, since our parents had to work.

We took the bus together to Batu Feringghi and back.

There's one Eid when we were going to Jelutong and the bus as usual took yonks to come.

Nazir was babbling and me and Nazri could just smile and second him. And he eventually had had it enough and stormed back home, only for us to find him later sitting comfortably in Mak Chaq's living room, having arrived much, much earlier with abah.

The cheeky face of Nazir when he seems like he's going to finish the cookies before Eid would dawn on us or the straight face of Nazri, when he just did the exact thing.

I adore my siblings, very much.

How couldn't you?

Each time you spoon in something into the mouth, comes the sound "aum".

Sometime, when you are so much into the kerabu, then you look up to the faces, looking on you with that tender loving face, kind of telling you "I like seeing my sister eat, makes me full myself "

Oh, and the time when Nazir acompany me to finish sucking out those spicy balitongs and those times when Nazri and I would pick something up for us 3 to eat.

You know what, it's the sense of feeling responsible of each other and wanting to protect each other.

That's why I am so defensive when my cousin told me that my new brother is as black as crow. I and Nazri had been waiting for Nazir to come and we don't care about his dark shade.

That's why Nazri always nag Nazir about solah and that's why sometimes I find myself sandwiched between them 2 in the bus.

I had quite a long summer last year, just that Nazri was not home that frequent.

Me and Nazir decided that we have to have him home on weekends no matter what.

The cajoling paid off and Nazri was home every weekend.

Talking Nazir into tidying his boxes has no effect.

So we would camp together and sorted things out, while singing to the tune Wonderpet.

For everything that I put down to donate to the bin, Nazir would scavenge them back.

The 10 cent cards, the topup cards, well, almost everything.

Aje want to keep this, Aje want to keep that.

U kakak, u want to throw everything out.

You know what?

Last summer, as usual, I came home to many new items in my closet but I found out, that I'm missing two boxes of bags and books.

I didn't recovered the bags.

But it's ok, it's ok.

I love growing up with you 2, my brothers.

I pray to Allah may kakak panda, abang kondi and aje tonggek would stick together until death meet us.

I know I am only borrowing them and for the time being, I'll continue to treasue and help my two brothers and I'll miss them like I do now.

Nazri, tu me manques et Nazir, tu me manques aussi.