“It’s an obvious lie!”, I shouted to Asril.

*****

He’s living some kind of a good life down south. A lawyer who spends most of his courtroom moments handling rape cases. A subject matter he pretty much enjoys. He’s close with the Johore police force, apparently because of the nature of his job. And since the Johore police force is closely connected with the local gangsters, he can have pretty much anything. Well, not that much, but mostly things that doesn’t come easy for commoners like me at least. Pirated DVD sellers offer him free pirated DVDs if he walks through the alleys along Wong Ah Fook Road at nights. Yeah, girls too but I’m not going into that. Once in a while some police guys would reserve an entire restaurant to treat him dinner. You know, stuff like that. No wonder he’s getting fatter and fatter every time I see him. Hati senang!

Recently however…

*****

“You don’t need that! It’s just psychological. Without it you’d still be good at what you do. It’s not like you’d become deprived or unsuccessful without it. Now that you have it inside you, look how miserable you are. You came and see me with all these unnecessary emotional baggage and you want me to listen? Do me a favour. Please throw it away. Throw it away. Love for a woman? Just throw it into the trash. It’s an obvious lie!”

Asril made his way back, down south.