Again Shauqina

Chapter 12 Framed

                            It was not our idea to have the class outing at East Coast Parkway. We lost to the majority. So, that Saturday found our class preparing for a BBQ at the ECP. Since we had extra class fund, our CG Tutor proposed a class outing. Of course, after what happened just a month ago, none of us—Rina, Isaac, Matin and myself included—wanted to have anything to do with ECP for a while. We had proposed Palawan Beach in Sentosa but like I said, this is a democratic society so the majority always wins.

So there we were, again at ECP. However, like the ECP that I had always known and remembered—the sun, the waves, the clouds—everything was as it had always been—serene and inviting! The beauty of God's creations! When Rina and I arrived at the beach, our class guys were in the midst of setting up the BBQ pit. Kumar and Sammy were as usual clowning with the lighter, Isaac was arranging the marinated meat on the BBQ wire rack and everybody else was busy doing something. Matin looked up from the soft drinks pet bottles he was arranging and almost dropped the bottle he was holding when he saw us.

'What? Why?' Rina asked nonchalantly as she reached for a potato chip, seemingly unaware of the attention she was attracting. She munched away and gave Matin a coy smile. Matin simply gave a thumbs up and Rina smiled back again. She turned and looked at me, then mouthed a 'Thank you' to me. I simply grinned.

For Rina looked spectacular in her floral shawl and Punjabi-styled pantsuit.

Ever since she came back home, Rina has been, well, different. She still did not have the courage to meet her biological mother, but she knew that her Ummi and Abah would support her all the way when she finally finds that courage. She knew that she could count on her friends too. All of us in the study group knew about her as she told the rest herself. Her parents came to school and all went well with the Principal. She also knew where her real mother lived now, for she had contacted her brother through his dance troupe. What happened at home when Rina's Ummi and Abah finally confessed to her adoption, I could only dare imagine. It was surely a situation where no parents would want to be caught in. One thing I knew for sure, and I know Rina knew for sure was the unquestionable love her Ummi and Abah have for her.

So there she was—at the same place where she wanted to run away from all. That same place now witnessed her as someone stronger and better. God's plan—nobody knows nor can guess. I prayed that whatever plan that was, I, us, my family—everyone—would always be under His protective umbrella.

Rina and I were trying to be helpful in arranging the paper cups and paper plates on the wooden table, next to Matin's drinks.

'I wonder what happened to Pakcik Saidin.' Rina suddenly thought aloud.

'Who? Your Uncle?'

'Oh! Nothing!'

I put down the cups I was stacking.

'You know I hate it when you do that!'

'You do that to me many times too, friend!' Rina chuckled.

'Please...' I tried to look as pleadingly as I could. Rina laughed. She suddenly ran to retrieve a paper plate blown away by a merry, rogue wind.

'And...?' I did not give up.

'Pakcik Saidin...on that first day I was on the beach, I did not know where to go. Then I saw a tent and some small children happily running in and out of their tent. So, I pitched my tent just beside the tent. It belonged to Pakcik Saidin's family.'

I reached for a slice of cucumber and relished its fresh crispness, smiling apologetically at Gerry who was about to reach for the same slice to complete the fish ball and vegetable kebab she was preparing. She did not seem to care about our conversation.