Clash

He takes a puff of his cigarrette, and blows away the smoke with a restless vibe. " So.....how now?" he says with a relaxed tone. They were standing in a carpark beside an abandoned building in the center of PJ town. The night was quiet but still there was something in the air that night that made you feel as if a storm would strike.

The two men stood face to face in the center of the carpark each with a cigarrette in hand. Everything seemed alright for the time being, but that can change.

Its funny how history always seem to have a way to repeat itself. This situation has happened time and time again, from the time of troy, up till this moment here in this abandoned carpark, a confrontation between to adults because of a woman. If history really repeats itself, this situation always ends with one or both sides bloodied up.

This meeting has been the product of 3 months of taunts, unwanted phone calls, and uncalled for name calling. It has boiled up to this, a one on one meeting ( meaning one guy with backup againts one guy with his backup) It all started when Harry met Sally at a mutual friends party. Both of them just off a serious relationship. Both of them single, and both of them looking. Harry, being the sweet talker that he is, has always made courting women easy. Its probably a blessing, but in this relationship, it has been a curse for him. A few weeks gone by and what started out from being a hopeful "rebound" relationship, bloomed into something bigger, something special. Of course there is always a antagonist in these kind of love stories.

Enter Seth, Sally's ex-boyfriend. Seth is the kind of guy who gets what he wants, everytime, anytime he wants since he was born. He was probably the kid who never got slapped or severely scolded by his parents for anything wrong he's done. In other words, a spoilt rich brat who lives off his daddy's fortune all his life. So true to his nature, not getting Sally was not an option for him. In his mind, if he can't have her, then no one can. Doing what he does best, which is being a coward, he starts hassling Harry and Sally everyday. Starts off by calling Harry and telling him that Sally is not worth Harry's time and that he should just leave her. Harry being the "i'm a lover , not a fighter" kind of guy, rubbished Seth's claims and ignores Seth's taunts.

These things always have a way of escalating into something no one wants....especially over something mindless like this. 3 months into the relationship, Seth ups the ante. He calls up Harry and without any greetings says " I'll give you RM 15,000 to fuck the hell off and tell Sally that you don't love her anymore". Harry was obviously shocked to hear that statement. A dilemma arises. Is his love for a woman with obvious baggage enough to pass up the chance to get more money that he has ever had? I would personally take the money and fuck off.

Apparently, to Harry, love is more important. Well, to each his own. Anyways, Harry, being offended by the notion that Seth thinks that he can be bought off, finally had the courage to call Seth out.....initially to settle this problem once and for all....but...not without consulting Amir.

Amir was the high school senior that we hung out with. He was maybe 4 years older than us. He hangs out with us, maybe because he likes to feel young, or we're just fun to be with. In high school he was always in trouble for fighting and built up a reputation for this. After school, he hung out with the wrong crowd, not because he couldn't take care of himself among those crowds, but because the crowd was wrong. They were called forty4, self proclaimed saviours of Malaysian youth.....what a joke. Although thier resolution were bollocks, they were genuinely the real deal gang bangers. They were though as nails. Amir wasn't a part of this, he just hung out with them.

The reason Harry is consulting Amir is that Sally says that Seth is a very influential man. Hey, its Malaysia, Money=Power. He has the backing of a few gang members as well. That's why Harry is worried. Men who are not thinking sraight does wild things for women. Take Emporer Shahjahan, and look what he did for Mumtaz. I know its supposed to be the most romantic story of our known time, but building that beautiful structure for the deceased, is something you do when you're not thinking straight, however romantic the gesture is. What if Seth has that same gesture but with a demented twist? Would he actually kill for Sally?

Amir heard Harry's story, and immediately in front of all of us, said "mamat tuh kote ah!" which made us laugh. He told Harry what I told Harry, which was, "Harry, you have to meet this guy face to face, and give him one tight slap", no one laughed...go figure. Anyways, Harry re-explained the fact that Seth was influential blah, blah, blah. Amir sat still for a while and then finally said to Harry, "you have two choices, one, you keep taking his crap, and ignore this fucker for god knows how long, or two, you meet this guy, and confront him politely, and hope for the best. Either way, we're here.", everyone nodded, even Izad and Chap, the two smallest guys in our group. I acctually had a third option, but in the spirit of brotherhood, never brought it up. Harry sat there, dazed and confused, thinking and said "I'm gonna meet him".

This brings us back to the present. Two men with respective backups, meeting in a carpark beside an abandoned building in the center of PJ town. Cigarrettes in hand, seriousness in both set of faces. Seth starts " So how now?" he says with a relaxed tone. "Well, its never been me who has a problem with this, its you who is the one who can end this." Harry responds nicely. That statement automatically changes Seth's facial expression, from calm, to cross. "I told you before, If I can't have her, then no one can. This can only end when you fuck off out of her life!".
Harry squares up to him, (even though Harry is short, Seth is shorter) and tells him, " Look, this decision should be Sally's decision, not ours. So now, Sally has picked me, not you, so you can Fuck Off!". After that last statement, the storm has come.

Both set of backups are ready to Clash. Me personally, am scared shitless, as I have never been in a fight before.....I hope that none of them use weapons. It was now up to the two main characters in this drama to throw the first punch. We agreed that was the signal.

Harry and Seth look ready to explode. Just when fists start clenching, both of thier phones ring at the same time. Normally, at situations like these, no one will bother with thier phones, but somehow, like fate, they both check thier phones. We were standing a few paces behind them, are obviously confused, are they throwing a punch, or not?. Suddenly after both checked thier phone, and read the SMS, both look at each other, and gave each other and acknowledging look. Both shook hands and both turned and walked toward thier own group.

When Harry joined us, everyone was obviously curious and asked him hastily what happened. He didn't say anything. He just gave his phone to us as if to read. I took the phone, everyone grouped behind me to read the message. The message read

"2 my belovd lovers. I hope dis msg reached u in time. I'm sowwy 4 d trouble i cozed u 2. both of u fighting 4 my love is very romantic, but I have fallen out of love with both of you. I met someone else, and I luv him dearly. His name is Tengku John, he's 28 and is kerabat Pahang. This is my true love. Thank you guys for the great times. We can still be friends right? love Sally xoxoxoxo"

Immediately, the song Goldigger played in my head.