Chapter 27
"The thing is, Bro Arash had replied. That means he had read his phone. But I still can't contact him!"
Hadi still didn't believe Haziq's (2) and Hasna's (3) theory of saying that the picture was photoshopped. He knew his lil' sis was proficient with using the latest Photoshop software and had doctored quite a number of amusing pictures in her free time.
But this time, it was so seamless. The picture didn't give any clues to doubt its authenticity. The picture was only added with filters to make the subjects stood out as the background was too dark.
As a digital artist himself, he believed he knew a doctored picture when he sees one. This one is no doubt authentic.
His other siblings didn't know anything.
As the eldest in the family, he needed to get to the bottom of this before the couple offended their mom again. She was very strict with them and will unleash her wrath on all of them regardless of who upset her first.
It was collective punishment she employed since they were young because they were too naughty and unruly. It had taught him that, he, as the eldest, must be responsible to all of his siblings, correcting their wrongs as early as possible without waiting for their mother to act on them.
It has led Hadi, as the eldest brother in the family to be like a father-figure to the rest of the siblings and matured faster. It also developed Hadi's sense of responsibility to a higher level as compared to his other siblings and peers.
Even now, as all of them already grew up, he still stood tall and continue his job as the eldest.
He had cleared up a couple of his siblings' immature mistakes before. Especially Hana, who was pretty cheeky although she already had two children. He sometimes wondered, when she will truly grow up.
His thought was interrupted by an incoming call.
[Finally!] He thought his sister or Arash had finally acc.u.mulated enough courage to give him an explanation.
Reading the name of the caller on his smartphone's screen, he trembled incessantly.
As he answered the call, he realized he could hear the sobbing of her strict mother retelling him about his brother-in-law's story about their missing sister.
It took a while for him to coax his crying mother. It was a first since the death of his father for him to hear weakness and fragility in their mom's usual imposing behavior. He felt really worried over both his mom and his little sister.
Once he ended the call, he immediately fetched for his car keys.
"Dear, I'm going to Bro Arash's house for a while. Lock the gates. Give me a call if there is anything okay." He didn't want to waste anymore time. It's going to be a four hour's drive to and fro. He needed to double up.
His bewildered wife gave a nod.
"Be good." He kissed her forehead before she fetched both of his hands to habitually
"Careful on the road. Don't speed. Although you worked in the police department, you're not a police officer." She reminded her hubby again.
Sometimes, this hubby of hers was more spirited then the real officers. It worries her a lot. He was supposed to be in-charge on digital cybercrimes as well as a digital artist in the police department.
This was the highest tolerance her mother-in-law could accept. Hadi's wife knew her mother-in-law didn't want her son to end up like her late husband.
Hadi coughed awkwardly and bid her goodbye.
Inside his car, he gave a quick call to his fourth sister, Hasna, who stayed the nearest to their mom, to return to their mom's house to sooth her. If their mom collapsed alone in that house, he won't be able to forgive himself.
....
Humaira found it funny that her elder sister pranked them with that picture. She chuckled lightly in the library while she huddled for warmth.
She was finis.h.i.+ng up her post-doc studies with the final article. When this one was done, she can finally say bye-bye to this G.o.d-forsaken cold region and returned to the bosom of her favorite tropical climate.
With a speedy finger, she reposted her sister's picture in all social platforms she was registered with. She typed a fun caption gleefully, "In the process of being stunned by a Pokémon."
In less than an hour, her post had gone viral as it had been retweeted, reshared and reposted so many times due to its unique and funny nature. It has garnered 300 thousand unique shares within two hours.
The netizens discussed on the authenticity of the picture and the species of the snake. They were arguing about the emergence of a unicorn-like mid-horned snake which had never been seen before. If it's not fake, it's a new undiscovered species!
At the same time a hot debate on the jewel-like stud ensued. Majority of the netizens brushed it off as a Photoshop gimmick. Some argued that it was real, while others felt angered by the notion that the snake owner was abusing it with add-on 3D make up.
Another faction even claimed that they had proof that the owner had undergone a cosmetic surgery to permanently add a jewelry to her pet snake. Each statement was worse than the one before.
The trending of the picture had caught the interest of a few snake enthusiasts and specialists to the snake pet in the picture.
Some naturalist and environmentalist fanned the flame demanded the release of the unfortunate snake into its natural habitat. While others were inquiring the whereabouts of the owner herself, expressing interest in purchasing it.
When Ma'am Shaza gotten a forwarded message from her aerobics cla.s.s buddies featuring her own daughter, she nearly fainted from shock.
#Shocking news!
Cruelty towards Animals!
A Malaysian had been killed by her own exotic breed pet snake! The woman was allegedly abusing her pet by embeddening foreign objects via surgery. It has sparked the rage of the netizens worldwide. Naturalists and environmentalists were fighting to gain the freedom of the poor snake from its abusive breeder. If you have more information, contact the hotline below.
#ReleaseThatSnake
#AbusiveOwner
#NeedDivineRetribution
When Humaira finally noticed the storm brewing from her irresponsible post, she was so scared that she immediately removed it and closed all her accounts. However, it was a done deal. The damage was done. She could only find her big bro to settle this issue immediately.
She tried to call her reliable big bro, but to no avail. Unknown to her, he was driving towards Hana and Arash's house to demand a face-to-face explanation for making their mom cried.
[Bro Hadi...where are you..] TT_____TT
Now, Humaira was the one who wanted to cry.
...
Author's note:
The names depicted in this chapter was an example on how the Malay ethnic in Malaysia synchronized the names of their children. They can start with the same alphabet, the same sound, or the same phrase. They do not have a family name but were connected to their father's name with a Bin (for guys) and Binti/bt (for girls). Bin/bt means son/daughter of. For example, Hadi's name might be "Hadi Zaujan bin Miskon Shafiee". Hadi is first primary name, Zaujan is middle name, bin (son of), Miskon (first name of father) Shafiee (second name of father). Hadi's daughter, example, Seha, might be known as Faseha Solihin bt Hadi Zaujan. Look how it connects.
A short trivia:D Recently, the names of the younger generations had gotten longer and longer. Later when they need to fill in forms, confirm not enough boxes one (laugh)
Name meanings:
(1) Hadi = [Arabic: leader]
(2) Haziq = [Arabic: smart]
(3) Hasna = [Arabic: beautiful]
(4) Humaira = [Arabic: blus.h.i.+ng cheeks]
(a) habitually kissed after holding them lovingly = this is the way everyone in a family shakes hand over here. We grab with both hands, not one, and we don't actually shake, more like grab each other's hand warmly. We will kiss the hand of the elder or the ones we respect. Eg, children to elders, or wife to husband. It signifies filiality, love and respect. You don't grab your friend's hand and kiss it, they'll feel super gross and awkward. The kiss is also not a real kiss, just a light touch. Strangers warrant the normal handshake, or none at all, depending on genders.