The Mango Tree
It all happened a long
time ago, a memory that kept me away from my hometown. A buried yet bittersweet
memory that came back to me as I approached the enormous mango tree.
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The mango tree has
always been my cherished resting spot as it provided shade in this hot tropical
climate. After going to school in the morning and attending to some household
chores, I spent most of my afternoons goofing around and hanging out with my neighbors
in my backyard. Our favorite activity would be throwing rocks at the tree to
cause the mangoes to drop. During the odd attempts where the mangoes do drop,
it always tasted succulent and refreshing under the hot summer sun.
However, adults tend
to stay away from the mango tree as there have been rumors from a long time ago
that someone decided to hang herself on the exact same tree we were playing at.
My mother has always chided me whenever she sees me playing near the tree while
my dad is simply nonchalant as he’s probably drunk half the time as I learnt at
an older age. Alan stay away from the tree, Alan stop throwing rocks at the
tree, Alan go play at another place were the phrases I oft-heard from my mom.
Despite the frequent chastising being an ignorant young kid meant that her
scolding fell on deaf ears as I always loved the fragrant smell of the tree.
The smell was especially strong at night as the sweet aroma filled the air.
Most nights, I would often sit below the tree with my neighbors and watch my
affluent neighbor’s television as our parents could not afford such luxury
during those times.
I have three neighbors
who always played with me after school. Pon was cheerful the girl who always
bring me bananas on our play dates and whenever I ask her where did she get
this from she would say that her Dad works at a banana plantation and there’s
plenty of bananas to go by. Nak would be the shy girl who would just hang
around with us and not really talk much. I can count with my fingers the number
of times she has spoken and it would be close to zero. Lastly, we have Tia who
was a chatterbox and had a strong body odor. We always poked fun at her that
she reeks of durian and she would always laugh it off. Yes, my playmates were
all female and I was pretty much a lady’s man throughout my entire life.
Things began to change
as weird adults would frequent my house at different times of the day. Every
time they visited, my mom would instruct me to hide at my neighbor’s house to
avoid detection. After their stopover our house would be in tatters as papers
would be all over the place with super glue spread across house like some sort
of surreal art piece. I would often ask mom about why these people are trashing
up our house and mom would always say that they’re Daddy’s friends. Any further
I raise would be led by my mom asking me to mind my own business and go study
to pick up my grades. I was really confused but the innocent young Alan would
just go back to playing under the mango tree with my neighbors.
After weeks of not
coming home, my Dad has finally returned home. His hair was disheveled and the
air around him had an alcohol stench. The foul smell caused me to wake up from
my afternoon nap and I would ask him where he has been for the past few weeks.
Daddy walked towards me and placed his hands on my shoulders and asked me if I
knew where was the Milo can that Mom used to keep the earnings from our
convenience shop. When I told him that I didn’t know he started shaking my body
and shouted at me for being stupid at not knowing where Mom keeps the money.
Dad has never scolded me or even shouted at me my entire life and I was really
confused why he was acting this way.
I felt a sharp pain
across my face as I was sent flying across the room. My very own dad, the dad
that I loved wholeheartedly, has slapped me just because I did not know the
location of the Milo can. Dad proceeded to search the drawers and dressers
desperately and started taking Mom’s wedding jewelry. I was too shocked to have
any reaction as I watched blankly as my own father rummaged through the house.
After he was done with the ransacking he turned and started approaching me. I
began moving backwards as Daddy slowly trudged towards me. With each step that
he took, I felt more scared. I was so frightened that I closed my eyes and my
tears started flowing.
When I opened my eyes,
Dad was clutching my face with his hand and started apologizing. He said that
he did not meant to hurt me and he was just feeling desperate. He then told me
that he was not stealing from Mommy and was just borrowing her jewels and will
return her the money soon. He instructed me to not tell Mom anything and to
clean up the mess before Mom gets home from the convenience store. I nodded
obediently and little did I know, that was just the beginning of the horrors to
come.
After cleaning up the
house, I went to the backyard and saw that my playmates were waiting for me.
Their face was filled with shock and disgust as they questioned be about the
bright red mark across my cheek. I told them that my Dad accidentally hit me
and Pon pointed out that there was no accident in this world. As she peeled a
banana for me, she told me to call out for her in times of need. I told her to
not be dumb as what can a little girl do against a full-grown adult. Pon
started frowning and playingly hit me at the same spot as I was injured. I
winced in pain and asked her why did she did that.
“Promise me Alan,
promise me that you would call out for me in times of trouble.”
“I promise.”
The next time I met
Dad was a couple of days later and it wasn’t a pleasant situation. My mom was
still cooking up dinner as the weird people from a month ago came visiting.
This time, they were holding my Dad as they dragged him into the house. They
then flung the battered body of my dad onto the floor and started laughing
maniacally. My mom dropped the wok and ran towards the injured body of my Dad.
She began weeping and told them that she had no more money to pay them.
“Your dear husband
here traded in your jewelry the other day for some more cash to gamble with us.
However, he chalked up more than ten thousand dollars in debt and we wish to
simply collect some interest from you,” said the long-haired man as he walked
across the room inspecting our tiny little attap house. He looked at me and a
wicked grin flashed across his face. “Well, you know you have a nice little kid
here. I am sure some impotent rich folks would pay a great price for a young
boy to be their precious little son.”
The long-haired man
grabbed me by my collar and hurled me against the wall and I passed out
briefly.
When I finally opened
my eyes, I could see that Dad’s friends were battering him severely as Mom was
holding the Milo can in her hands offering it to the long-haired man. The man
pushed the can away and instructed his men to beat Dad up even more. He then
started choking my mother and claimed that she had a pretty face.
“How about working a
few nights at Chinatown for a change? You can probably pick up a few spare
bucks from being a prostitute.” The long-haired man began unbuckling his
trousers as he continued, “We don’t often hire random chicks so how about a
trial session before we determine if you’re suitable for this line of work.” He
ordered his two of his men to hold my mom down as he began tearing off my
mother’s clothes. “I could even deduct some money off your husband’s debt from
this trial session if you perform up to expectations!”
The long-haired man
was grinning from ear to ear as he stuffed paper into my mom’s mouth to prevent
her from making any loud noises. Meanwhile my dad was held by two other guys
who forced him to watch the tragedy that was unfolding before his own eyes. I
was petrified and stood rooted to the spot as terror caused my entire body
froze up. I could not move, I could not even scream as my family were being
tortured right in front of my own eyes.
From the corner of my
eye I could see three figures swiftly flying towards the perpetrators. They
first rammed into the long-haired man and sent him plummeting into the charcoal
stove. Next, they pierced the two men holding my mother down with their
tentacles and blood splattered all over the floor. The remaining two men
dropped my dad and started making a run for it. One of the shadows appeared abruptly
in front of them and ripped their heads off instantaneously. With blood flowing out of multiple bodies I
began shrieking as the black figures headed towards me.
“Relax Alan, it’s us.”
The shadow spoke to me as I slowly deciphered Pon’s face out of the chaos.
However, Pon seemed to be taller than this afternoon and her voice sounded more
feminine and older. She hugged me and repeated “It’s over” as she calmed me
down.
“Nak and Tia, go check
up on his parents!” Nak and Tia then measured my parents’ pulse as both have
passed out from the beating and attempted rape respectively.
“Alan listen closely
to me. You’re going to be alright now and soon the neighbors will arrive
because of the ruckus that have happened,” Pon gestured outside as people were
slowly converging on the commotion, “Now this is going to be difficult but for
your own safety we’re going to make you forget what has happened tonight.”
“What do you mean
forget tonight?” I questioned as Nak and Tia were cleaning up the mess all over
the house and removing the bodies from the back door of the house.
“Yes, forget about
tonight, and forget about us.” Pon said as she placed her hands on my
shoulders. Her hands felt freezing cold on my shoulders and she continued,
“Don’t worry, we will always be there for you. After all, we’re your guardian
angels.”
Pon slowly embraced me
as I could see from my peripheral vision that our house was back in its
original state. Pon then released me from her grasp and winked at me as she
smiled. “Don’t worry Alan, we will always remember you.”
And Pon snapped her
fingers.
__________________________________________________________________________________
As I gazed at the
mango tree, I could not help but notice that it smelled different from so many
years ago. It no longer has just the sweet fragrance of mango but also reeks of
Durian. As I contemplated my surroundings, I saw that a banana tree has also
grown beside the mango tree. There was a chicken, some dumplings, assorted
fruits and crackers placed underneath the trees. It seemed to me that someone
was making an offering but there were no visible gravestones nearby.
“Boss, you ready to
tear this area down?” My henchman asked, “About time we tore all these kampungs
down and usher in the new era. Also, stay away from this area there has been
stories about a murderous ghost hanging around.”
I asked for more
information about this ghost and my henchman blabbered on.
“The villagers call it
the Pontianak. It has a distinct smell and mostly appears at night. Many
decades ago, it took the lives of many people that’s why the people here
provide regular offerings to keep the ghost’s wrath at bay. Better stay away
from it, it’s bad luck.”
I started grinning as
I walked away from the tree. Deep down inside, I knew that they were not just
any murderous ghosts, they were my guardian angels, my Pontianak.
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