Hear me now

Part 4

Luthfe looks at the clock and it's already 6 p.m. He takes his shower and gets ready to go out.

He picks up Indra from his work.

In sign language

"Thanks. Let's go to this restaurant. They have the best Tom Yam in town" Indra says

Luthfe nods in agreement and drives away. Indra also shows the direction to him gesturing to turn left and right. They arrive to a packed settlement in the middle of the city. "Packed" as in the roads are narrow and the signs of a planned neighbourhood are not apparent, and it is not the priority for the first settlers of this area. They arrive to the restaurant.

The restaurant, illuminated by neon fluorescent lights an indicator that they are about to eat cheap but delicious Thai food. They make their way to an open table. Indra gestures his arms wildly in the air to catch attention of a waiter. The waiter comes to them to take their order. Indra orders a sizable amount of food, Tom Yam for two, a steamed sea bass and a carb omelette. It's a feast enough to feed a family.

In sign language

"You shouldn't have ordered all of that food." Says Lutfee

"Don't worry about it. We could always pack it to go. Just enjoy the food. You saved my ass today. It's a good thing I manage to come into work today." Indra retorts. His body language seems light as if something good happened to him at work.

Luthfe nods while he smiles.

"I had a really good day at work today." Indra says enthusiastically. Luthfe raise his head in intrigue. "I work as a researcher at the university, and I made significant progress on my research today."

Luthfe replied "That's why you're chipper tonight." Indra smiles in turns.

"How did you get to be a researcher?" Luthfe asks.

Indra nods "Well, I have always been the curious kid in school, I like math and science and it's a natural progression to be a researcher. It just felt right.

"Why did you learn how to sign?" Luthfe asks

"I have a brother, he almost drowned when we were a kid. He develops hearing loss after that. Everyone in our family can sign to communicate with him. I usually accompany him to ASL class, that's how I got good at it."

"Admirable." praise Luthfe.

"How about you?" Indra query

"Learned it because it had too."

"Oh why?"

"Don't want to talk about it. If you don't mind."

"Oh."

Indra pauses, he could sense the atmosphere has dampened because of that question. He notices that Luthfe starts to look through him. The waiter comes by and starts to serve them and by extension cutting the clouded tension.

The spread of delectable food, still hot you could see it steaming from the plate. It smells sweet and savoury, increasing the appetite of the eater. The waiter serves them a plate of rice each and they begin to eat. They leave the restaurant full bellied a not a dish wasted.

They walk to the car, Luthfe reached from his pocket a packet of cigarettes, gestures the packet to Indra but he declines, signing that he does not smoke. He puts one in his mouth and light it up. He took a long inhale and exhale it exasperatedly. He taps Indra shoulder.

In sign language

"I was never deaf, I got deaf because of an ear infection." Luthfe says.

Indra watches intently.

"Do you remember the flood of 2014?" Luthfe query. Indra nods.

"I got an ear infection from the flood water. Basically, water filled up in my ear canal and ruptured my ear drums."

"Sorry to hear that" Indra sympathises.

"Ah don't be. It happened long ago."

There was a long silence between them. Both are looking at night sky. Indra is trying to find some stars that might shine, but under the city lights finding them was a long shot. Luthfe looks at Indra and signs.

"I used to be a musician."

Indra eyes widen, he's intrigued.

Luthfe went on to tell Indra about his life, how he used to be a session musician. Playing, recording, and touring with some of Malaysian artists. Some are well known; some are small timer. He continued about his childhood. 

He reveals that his dad was a labourer, and he did music on the side. Ever since he was a child, there's always music filling the air of their home. That contributed to his interest in music, as a child he would often listen to Mok Zani Ismail, Zain Azman, Indra Laksamana and the like, the names of which are now a footnote that nobody read.

Luthfe speaks with a smile and a gleeful way about how his dad would entertain him and his siblings by playing the guitar. They would sing along and danced to the tune. Luthfe paused, he nods with a smile, acknowledging a cherished memory.

This is the first sincere smile he makes since the encounter; Indra thinks to himself.

Luthfe laughs and talks

"Enough about me. How about you?"

"Me? Where do I begin..." Indra ponders.

Indra talks about his parents who nurtured his curiosity. Both are teachers, they are the type of teachers who would not turn off their teacher personality in and out of work. In a sense, it was an advantage to Indra because everything is a lesson, every success and failure was an opportunity for learning. He reminisced about his various inquiry and experiment he conducted inquisitively. On his twelfth birthday, his mother gifted him a chemistry set. It contains various chemical to experiment with. One of the experiments in it, was to build a simulated volcano and consequently, he mixed the baking powder and the vinegar in a large amount that in blooms in excess. It made a mess in the living room; the floor was red for a week. Indra lets out a smile. "I'm eternally grateful that they didn't blew me off, but they entertained me and encouraged me. Without their guiding hands I wouldn't be a researcher today."

"What are you researching now?" Luthfe inquire

"Oh?" Indra went inside the car, ruffled through his backpack and takes out a piece of paper. He wrote something on it. He shows it to Luthfe

                                               Cochlear implants

"I want to bring in an experimental device into this country. I want to develop a device that could help deaf people to hear. Hopefully." Indra says while crossing his fingers. "It is still in the early stages."

"I'm sure you do well. You're a smart kid" Luthfe put out his cigarettes with his feet and makes his way to the driver seat. Indra follows suit. "Where's your home?" Luthfe asks.

"I'll point you to it" Indra answers.

Luthfe drives Indra to his home then he makes his way to his home.

He enters his apartment. It was the first time in a long time he told anyone his stories. He went to pick up a well-worn guitar. He looks at it with a smile. It was his first guitar, handed down by his father. He could remember feeling elated receiving it. He played it day and night. He played it throughout his years. When it gets beaten-up, he went to a luthier to fix it. He strums of the guitar. Luthfe puts his ear on the body. He could imagine the sweet sounds from the vibrations.

In the bedroom, he lies awake and reflects on today, maybe there's a reason why he couldn't do it today. Luthfe ended the night.