This Girl's life (part 8)

The bus station was bustling with people activity.

“Are you sure she’s here?” asked Bai Yoon looking around the big bus station. Most of the people were lining up to get the Kuala Lumpur –Seremban bus. Others were having breakfast at the small food stall in front of the parked buses. Sofia looked around them. Most of the people were wearing work clothes and carrying briefcase, looking sharp and professional. Sofia felt thankful that they had changed their school uniforms to T-shirts and jeans. Still they looked very much out of place at the bus station. An old lady queuing in one of the lines were staring at them coldly. Why shouldn’t she? They looked like normal teenagers who should be at school by now. Sofia glanced at her wrist watch. It was 7. 15 am.

Had Ana gone off already?

The bus station was long and spacious, accommodating buses traveling to different locations in Malaysia such as Penang, Kedah, Batu Pahat and Terengganu. The bus station had seven floors. Six of them were used as parking spaces for passenger vehicles. The second floor was also the management office.

“Are you sure as in sure she’s still here?” asked Bai Yoon through the loud noises of the bus engines. Some of the people queuing were now impatiently pushing each other to get into the buses. The time was 7.45 am.
“I think so but it’s been more than 2 hours since she last called. Where could she be going?” asked Sofia anxiously.

“Not home,” answered Bai Yoon. He craned his neck , looking around for a spectacled girl, with straight hair ;probably in T-shirts. There were some teenagers around their age at the bus station, huddling in a group near the Dunk-in Donut outlet. Bai Yoon and Sofia had circled their level three times. There was no sign of Ana. Sofia rubbed her neck in frustration and flexed her neck muscle. She turned her head upwards to release the stress on the neck and suddenly stopped. Bai Yoon noticed Sofia froze and looked at where she was looking. One their right side near where they were standing was the ladies toilet. Sofia wasn’t looking at the toilet, she was looking at what was above the toilet. A spiral staircase leads to the room above it. The surau, a praying room for muslims specially prepared for the muslim passengers if they want to do their five compulsory prayers before traveling.

Of course! Sofia didn’t even of looking in the ‘Surau’. Sofia motioned for Bai Yoon to stay there while she headed towards the staircase. The ladies surau and the mans’ surau were alongside each other. Sofia pushed the black tinted glass door and peeked inside the surau. It was empty. The morning prayers had finished an hour ago, before sunrise.
There was no one in the surau.

Sofia took of her shoes and stepped into the carpeted room. The ladies and mans’ praying space were connected to each other and separated by a heavy curtain drawn across the two rooms. At Sofia’s left side was a long cupboard; inside the cupboard were neatly folded prayer clothes for the ladies. Near the far end corner of the room was a pillar. Sofia noticed something behind the pillar. It looked like a foot. Sofia walked closer and peered behind the pillar. Sure enough, curled behind the pillar was a girl. Sofia couldn’t see the face, it was hidden underneath a windbreaker. Sofia put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and shook it.

Sofia heard a groan and the windbreaker was pulled from the girl’s face. The girl looked up at Sofia groggily.

It was Ana. Her hair was all over her face and her spec was crooked sideways.

“What took you so long?” asked Ana shortly and grabbed her schoolbag from underneath her head.

Sofia didn’t know what to say. Ana got up and headed towards the door. She looked back at Sofia and gestured for her to follow.

“You have to go home Ana. Your father’s worried sick,” said Sofia as the two of them walked down the staircase.

“I bet he is. I’m not going back. I’m going to K.L,” said Ana shortly continued walking down the stairs. Bai Yoon had seen the two of them coming down the stairs and was waiting for them at the bottom. As soon as they reached the bottom, Sofia grabbed her friend’s arm and turned Ana to face her.

“You’re not going to K.L. You’re going home. Your dad told us about your eating problem and you need help.”

Ana pulled her arm away and smiled at her friend.

“I asked you to come here to help me. You have to decide whether you want to follow me or not. I’m not going home,” said Ana stubbornly and walked towards the row of buses. Bai Yoon and Sofia followed behind. Ana stopped in front of the SKS bus that stated Seremban-Kuala Lumpur. A bus conductor was standing near the door collecting money. She yelled out that the bus would be leaving in 5 minutes. Ana was about to move towards the bus conductor when Bai Yoon stepped in front of her. Bai Yoon was small size for a boy but he was well-built, Ana couldn’t push past him if she wanted to.

“Let’s go home first Ana. Once your better than we’ll follow you to K.L,” said Bai Yoon softly. He was blocking the entrance to the bus. Ana looked at BAi Yoon, at Sofia and also at the scowling bus conductor who was upset that Bai Yoon was blocking the entrance to the bus. Ana looked defeated and nodded at Bai Yoon. Bai Yoon smiled and put a hand on her elbow to guide her away from the entrance. They had moved a few steps from the bus when Ana did 180 degrees turn so fast that Bai Yoon didn’t have a chance to grab her elbow. She jumped on the bus, gave her money to the conductor, took the ticket and disappeared into the bus.

Bai Yoon and Sofia were left standing outside, wondering what had happened. Sofia could see Ana from outside moving through the aisle and found a sitting near a window not far from where Sofia and Bai Yoon were standing. She looked at the two of them apologetically and waved.

The bus conductor was shouting that the bus was going to move soon and ushered those who wanted to go to K.L into the bus.

Sofia looked at Bai Yoon for help. He was looking at Ana in the bus. He reached into his pocket, walked to the bus conductor and bought two tickets for them. He turned towards Sofia and raised an eyebrow as if asking ‘Aren’t you coming?”

Sofia sighed and pulled her schoolbag on her shoulders. She was in trouble anyway with them skipping school. Her mother was going to kill her once she found out and Bai Yoon’s brother was going to kill him if he knew that his little brother drove them to the bus station without a license. There was no turning back…..


The journey to K.L wasn’t that comfortable for both Bai Yoon and Sofia. The two of them had found empty seats at the back of the bus. Unfortunately for Sofia, her seat was above the rear tire. She could feel all the bumps and holes that the tire hit. It felt like seating on a mechanical rodeo horse. The worst part was that they were also sitting near the engine and could feel the heat vibrating out of the engine and onto their seats. It was their luck that the air condition above them wasn’t functioning properly.How she wished that she could open the window and let fresh in into their place. Sofia didn’t imagine her first trip to Kuala Lumpur in a bas to be soaked in sweat and nauseous from all the bumps she had to endure.


Ana was sitting a few seats in front of them. She had glanced up and smiled at them when they had past her seat.

Sofia had never felt that thankful when they finally reached Kuala Lumpur. She quickly grabbed her bag and followed the rest of the passengers descending the bus. Sofia stopped at Ana’s seat. She didn’t want her friend to do a Houdini on them once they got of the bus. She linked her arm to Ana’s arm, and pulled her friend with her.
She could feel her friend’s scrawny arm and she couldn’t help squirm. It felt like she was holding a skeleton.

They waited for Bai Yoon outside on the side of the road. The bus had stopped near Central Market. It was once a wet market, now; it was a tourist attraction, selling souveneirs, art and cultural goods from countries all over Malaysia. The light green colors give a cooling effect in the bustling morning activity where everyone was rushing to their workplace. Sofia nearly got pushed from where she stood by a big hefty Malay man wearing a suit and carrying a big briefcase. He just gave her a side glance and walked away.


The bus drove off leaving the three teenagers standing at the side of the road. They were staring at the Central Market Putra Train Station across the road from where they stood.
They were at lost. This was the first time that they had reached Kuala Lumpur by themselves. Bai Yoon scratched his head and looked at Ana.

“ Now that we’re here. What are we suppose to do?” he asked. Ana was wearing her windbreaker and she loosen the zipper.

“Now we find my mother,” said Ana with a determine voice.