Co-mmu-ni-ca-tion

I never really write on how did I left my phone at the Sydney Airport. (I've come to terms that I didn't lose my phone, I had just ridiculously out of my mind leaving it there).

Two doors away, in our new 100% malay neighbourhood, lived a couple with three kids. The wife, Joned is a doctor at GH and the husband,Bo is an engineer. We knew Bo long time ago, we went to his wedding, and The Man and Bo kinda chose the house together. Not close but not so distanced.

So when we are practically neighbours, we thought it is fun to be chosing house together and our kids could grow together, and we will grow old together.

But then, the other neighbours (remind you again that I now live in a 100% malay neighbourhood where housewives chat at the playground and over the fence) started talking to me of Joned's problem. Joned apparently had visited them and told them (the women) about their marriage problem. She never came to me, but my heart goes out for them and the kids. It must be real tough raising three when you don't know who are you marrying to. I sometimes prayed that things are going smoother for them.

So Joned talked to the teacher on my left, to the laywer on my right, to the banker across the playground, but never to me. I didn't intend to talk to her about it either. When we visited her for her third new born, everytime she tried to give the impression that she was so thin because of what she went through during the pregnancy (ada masalah lah, tension lah ) I quickly brushed them away saying that I can't imagine how stressful it is working at an ER at GH.

I don't know, I just don't want to know. I however did pray for her marriage, for her solace.

Until the SMS came in. She said , out of sudden, in a text message, that she wants to divorce Bo but she thought about the kids. I didn't reply that one. She send another one within 10 minutes saying that Bo is not a kind of good husband because Bo never read the Quran. I wondered what that made my Man because Bo solat at the Masjid for Maghrib and Isyak everyday. I replied saying that reading the Quran doesn't determine a good husband. Then she said Bo used her like a hooker, and she didn't get paid.

I thought that was it.

The day after, she started forwarding me texts that she wrote for her friends, expecting me to understand.

The week after, she started forwarding me texts that she wrote for Bo, asking for money to buy something, then something about tolak duit nafkah? What?

So when I turned on my phone at Sydney airport during the transit to call up the Man, suddenly about 7 or 8 text messages appearing in my phone. I really thought they were urgent, stupidly scrolling them while trying to unzip my pants at the toilet with one hand.

That was how I left my phone at Sydney's airport restroom.

So I was furious. I still am.

I don't mind if you pour your heart out to me. However, being an adult, a married adult with a kid, I will promise you that I will be nothing but a listener. Until you give me the impression that you want me to be taking sides simply because we are both women. Then I will stop listen, I will go away. In this case, she drove me away before I was even a listener.

True enough, coming back from the Australia trip, Lisa next door , over the fence was telling me how scary it was when Joned came around 10:00 at night with Bo watching over the fence to pour her heart out. She said that both The Man and Me didn't want to listen because we are taking Bo's side. There! It's true that she thought all adults do is taking sides.

Fooh....

So people, stay away from your neighbour's marriage problem.