I'm a Sucker for Pain

prologue

PROLOGUE

Damn, the cases…!

Selepas satu, satu lagi… criminals don’t sleep, do they?

By the time saya sampai rumah after the court cases and discussions with the DPPs, it was already 8pm… migraine terus saya…

“how’s work?” dad asked me as soon as I dropped my briefcase and backpack on the couch…

“I finished 2 boxes of cigarettes…” saya jawab… dad faham lah tu…

“take it easy…” dad calmed me… “what’s the most?”

“Sec 396, 39B, 57….” Saya menghela nafas berat…

Terbulat mata dad…
“All death penalty…?”

“We’ll see if it comes to that…” saya mengurut dahi saya…

“Maybe you should take up Session Court duties for awhile…” I know dad is very concerned when it comes to sentencing of death penalty cases…”

Dad masih trauma lagi case Holland kena tembak… we never know who are our enemies out there dad always reminded kami adik-beradik…

“maybe so, dad…” I didn’t want to agree, tapi dengan mempersetujui kata-kata dad, saya dapat menenangkan fikiran dia…

“Good…” dad berdiri…”so that’s it… tomorrow you do Sessions first…”

“Huh?” start besok?

“I’ll talk to DS Yusuf…” dad said before going up the stairs… “infact, I’ve texted him already…”

Saya masih ternga-nga dalam kekejutan…

Sessions Court? Tahan-tahan sajalah…

***

Next Morning…

Holland joined us for breakfast… kalau dia breakfast di sini on weekdays, memang dia ada discussion sama Sydney ni about a case or two…

“I’ll be in Sessions Court today…” saya menghiup coffee saya… sudah dapat text dari boss saya, Datuk Seri Yusuf Yahya... DSYY kami gelar dia…

Sometimes saya tidak tau DSYY ka atau TSPR boss saya…. si dad lah tu TSPR… haihhh….

Serentak Holland and Sydney memandang ke arah saya dengan expression terkejut terpancar di muka dorang…

“Ha…?” Holland terkejut… “did you just got demoted?”

“yeah, by dad…” steady saya sipping my coffee sambil scrolling down on my handphone the cases in Sessions Court today…

Saya menguap… 🥱 kalau High Court bikin stress, Sessions Court pula bikin mengantuk…. Boring… banyak kes claim-claim saja…

TING! A whatsapp notification berbunyi…

TING! Another one…

Holland and Sydney dua-dua mengalih pandangan ke handphone masing-masing… sama-sama dorang menunduk membaca text…

Then dua-dua pantas mendongak dan memandang saya… mata terbulat, mulut ternga-nga…

“You’re the judge for the case I’m handling today…” Holland bilang… “Sydney’s client…”

Sydney tersenyum miring…
“this is gonna be fun…”

“You wanna look at the file first, Don?” Holland menanya saya, saya nampak dia rummaging his briefcase…