Ride on Time

Chapter 67

Mitsuo gave the family a bow. "Thank you for inviting me over today. Celebrating Pongal with you was a new and pleasant experience."
Devi smiled. "Okay, okay. Later come to the temple, you know? Shree will perform."
Mitsuo nodded. "I will... but I don't know where this... Shakti temple is..."
"It's the Sakthi Easwari Temple," Shree corrected with a smile. "Also, you don't have to worry about it, we'll come and pick you up like how we did this morning."
Mitsuo nodded. "Sure. I really appreciate this."
"Was the rice enough?" Devi asked. "Do you want anything else to eat?"
Mitsuo quickly shook his head. "No no, I'm fine."
Devi frowned. "Boys must eat more, you know?"
Shree coughed and gave her a look before turning to Mitsuo. "What she means to say is, we should get something else to eat. What we just ate was a mere... dessert."
Mitsuo shook his head again. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm full."
"Yeah, but we aren't," Vasu chuckled. "Akka, let's go get something light like thosai maybe."
Shree nodded and turned back to Mitsuo. "You wanna join us for breakfast?"
Mitsuo shrugged. "Sure."
Shree asked him to get into the passenger seat as she got behind the wheel, but Mitsuo offered to close the gates first.
"Go and sit lah," Devi urged. "I'll close."
"It's fine, this is the least I can do after your hospitality," Mitsuo bowed.
But the real reason was Mitsuo wanted to get a good look at the neighbourhood to collect info for his book. Just that, he didn't want to admit it.
Shree pulled out of the porch and parked in the driveway, waiting for Mitsuo to lock the gate. He gave a brief glance at the next door neighbour, who suddenly came out to open the gate, and stopped short as he recognised the policeman.
It was the Malay man that introduced himself as Shri's old friend only the night before.
"Hi!" Mitsuo greeted with a wave and a bow.
The man looked at him, a slight smile on his face. "Eh, what you doing here, boy?"
"I just came to see my friend," Mitsuo explained, motioning a hand towards the blue Arteon. "Came to celebrate Pongal with them."
The man nodded. Mitsuo's gaze fell on the name tag on his uniform which read Sufyan.
"What's your name ah?" Sufyan asked.
"Tadao Mitsuo," Mitsuo smiled, his fingers handling the pendant around his neck. "I can see that your name is... Suf yan?"
"Sufyan," Sufyan corrected.
A younger man, also in police garb, suddenly came out of the house and called to Sufyan in Malay. The older man called back a reply and turned to Mitsuo. "Sorry ah, I need to go work now."
Mitsuo bowed. "I won't hold you any longer."
Sufyan smiled and retreated into his porch, getting into a car. Mitsuo bowed at Chandrika and Devi, who were still waiting on the porch, and turned to the Volkswagen, getting in beside Shree.
"What did he say?" Shree asked, pulling out of the driveway. "Looked like you knew him."
"I bumped into him last night, in Old Town," Mitsuo explained. "He saw my book and told me that he and Shri Mohan used to be best friends since secondary school. It's a small world, don't you think?"
"Wait... Shri Mohan?" Vasu said in surprise. "That's the writer for that literature book we took in Form Five, right? The one in Japan... Two Worlds right?"
"Yeah, The Collision of Two Worlds," Shree nodded. "Never knew this feller was his friend. His daughter is my friend, though. Anyway, come on. We need to get breakfast. Vasu, what you want?"
"Anything that's vegetarian," Vasu shrugged.
"Wait, you guys are vegetarian?" Mitsuo asked in surprise. "But... that blue rice we ate the other day came with chicken..."
"We're vegetarian today because of Pongal," Shree explained. "And every Thursday and auspicious days."
"Auspicious days?" Mitsuo repeated, confused. "But you told me that mutton and chicken is everyone's Diwali favourite?"
"Deepavali isn't all that auspicious," Shree pointed out. "For one thing, it's a new moon, which isn't a very good day for us Indians. Besides, it honours the death of an Asura, Naragasura. Our grandmother would always say that it was his dying wish, that the demon wanted us to celebrate his death since it would bring light to many. But the internet says that Deepavali is just to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. I'd rather stick to my grandma's story since the prayers we do on the morning of Deepavali must be done before a bath."
Mitsuo nodded. "Interesting..."
"You're gonna use that for your book, aren't you..." Shree smirked, turning into the main road. "Alright, what's for breakfast?"
"Wanna try the nasi lemak from that Saiva shop?" Vasu suggested.
"Wait... isn't nasi lemak non-vegetarian?" Mitsuo chimed in, confused. "Like it comes with egg, anchovies... chicken..."
"It is, but the shop is literally called Saiva," Shree explained. "That means vegetarian. So the non-vegetarian ingredients in nasi lemak will be substituted with vegetarian alternatives."
Mitsuo nodded understandingly. "You know, this day, though it barely just started, has been very informative to me."
"You're welcome," Shree chuckled. "Anyway, what would you like to eat?"
"I think I'll take this vegetarian nasi lemak as well," Mitsuo said at last. "After all, I joined you guys for Pongal this year too. So I guess I'm in on this celebration."
"Swell," Shree chuckled. "You wanna eat with us later?"
Mitsuo frowned thoughtfully. "I don't actually mind... but I don't wanna intrude on you guys..."
Shree frowned too.
"Just come only lah," Vasu piped up, suddenly appearing between them. "We don't mind. Awah also don't mind."
Shree rolled her eyes. Of course they don't mind. They were the ones who practically invited Mitsuo over. Why on earth would they mind him joining them for breakfast?
Shree sighed. She felt like she was the only one who minded, the only one who felt uneasy inviting a stranger over to their house, a foreigner too.
Shree gave Mitsuo a brief glance and saw him eagerly looking out the window, seemingly in awe as he watched the other cars go about. She smiled at his excitement and steered the car to PJ State.

"Why is this place called PJ State?" Mitsuo asked as Shree made way towards the restaurant.
"Because it's considered the capital of PJ since the city council and stuff are here," Shree explained. "Some people call it PJ New Town since... well, it's newer. At least, newer than Old Town."
"Question," Vasu chimed in, appearing between the seats again. "Is this book of yours good?"
Mitsuo grinned slightly. "Yes? Then again, I'm the writer. Of course it's a good book for me."
"You want ah? I'll give to you later," Shree chuckled. "I finished it the other day."
"Was it good?" Mitsuo asked excitedly.
Shree nodded, a slight smile on her face. "Yeah, it was good. Very interesting. I like it especially because it doesn't contain raunchy scenes. You made me see that not all Japanese books are dirty."
"Thank you," Mitsio bowed proudly. "Also, I think my book is pretty famous since this is the second time I'm meeting someone who read it."
"Really?" Shree chuckled. "Who's the first?"
"Some uncle I had to sit with on the plane," Mitsuo shrugged. "Just because I was reading Shri Mohan's book, the guy assumed I didn't appreciate local literature. Best part was the fact I wrote the book he was holding."
Shree smiled at his friendly demeanour and stopped the car in front of the shop. "That's nice." She turned to her brother in the backseat. "Vasu, stay in the car."

Reintroducing you guys to Mohammad Sufyan bin Ayub! I actually had trouble coming up with his name and had to get help from my friend, Icywritings for this lol