A Whole New World as Long as He Listened

Chapter 219: A Whole New World as Long as He Listened

"Excuse me, Son. Are you looking for a job?" The owner of a gentle voice placed a dried gnarly hand on Ed's shoulder.

Ed turned to look at an amicable old man in a loose white kurta with kain pelekat (1).

 "Yes, Uncle. I can do anything as long as I'm paid." Ed answered earnestly. Beggers can't be choosers. He wasn't going to be choosy after six hours of job hunting.

"Ah, actually, I need a temporary hardworking cleaner. The place is just around the corner. You can start tomorrow, but you'll be placed on probation first. I will pay daily after work. Is that okay for you?"

Ed didn't need to think anymore as he nodded, "Yes! Thank you very much!"

He immediately stood up clumsily to hold the old uncle's hands and shook them quite vigorously.

Ed genuinely felt grateful to this kind old man and told himself that he would perform the tasks given to the best of his abilities. The old man smiled warmly; his slightly cloudy eyes were bereft of remorse from Ed's uncouth antics. They were only filled with warmth and acceptance.

"Growwwllllll..." Ed's tummy rumbled reminding its owner to be fed.

The old man chuckled mirthfully, "Call me Pak Long(2). Everyone calls me that around here. Before we go, let's fill up that tummy of yours. My treat."

 ...

"We only have this small spare room. Will it be okay for you to bunk in for tonight?"

Ed and Pak Long were standing in front of a small storage room partially filled with collapsible chairs arranged neatly to the side of one wall. Pak Long brought him to this place when he said he didn't have a place to stay. Coincidentally, it was in the venue of his soon-to-be workplace.

Surau Nur(3).

A small-sized building that looked like a single-storey house with only glass panels on all sides as doors. He had never entered it, but he had seen quite a few old uncles and grandpas frequented the place. Truthfully, he was too scared to go near.

Too scared by the judgemental looks of strangers.

Too scared to taint the pristine-looking white building.

There were a few smaller room-sized buildings in the compound areas, now he knew them as utility rooms, ablution areas (4), and toilets.

"Let's move the chairs and stack them outside for now. You use this room first. The toilet is within the ablution area on the west side of the surau. Just walk straight from here and go to the left. You'll see it. Just switch on the lights before you enter."

"For your job scope, Pak Long needs a cleaner to help out with cleaning the ablution area, the toilets, and vacuuming the praying area daily. That's it. We can't pay you much since we don't have much funds. How about RM30 per day for now?"

Though it was way below the minimum wage, it was the price of three standard meals a day, with free accommodation. Ed didn't have to worry about food and lodging anymore.

"Thank you, Pak Long! Thank you so much. Only God can repay you."

Ed's eyes were red and his nose was snotty as he tried to withhold the deep feelings in his heart.

So many kind people around.

"Alright, Pak Long stays not far from here. Look over there, there's a small gate, right? My house is just the third one from the right, black gate with a maroon fence. Come over if there's anything. Pak Long will go fetch a few items for you."

"No need, no need. This is enough for me, Pak Long."

"Shushh! When old people talk, you don't say no!" Pak Long humorously countered. "Thirty minutes. Make yourself at home for now. You can go wash yourself or something. You smelled."

Pak Long chuckled.

Ed sniffed himself a little self-consciously and weakly nodded. He did smell bad although he just bathed this morning. However, before, he hadn't washed himself properly for weeks. So, to him, he didn't smell so bad.

The bath was the second most pleasant bath he ever had for a while. There was even liquid soap provided, hence, he didn't need to use his own bar soap. He took his time and even brushed his teeth longer than this morning. The water was free, and no one was waiting to use the shower after him. It was nearly 11 after all right now.

Ed wore back his old clothes for the nth time. He wrinkled his nose as he pulled the worn-out shirt soaked with sweat over his head and contemplated buying a new set of clothes so that he could wash this one. He couldn't do that right now because he didn't have any spare. Someone as trashy as him also knew that he couldn't go naked while waiting for the clothes to dry. It would cause unnecessary trouble with the public, and ultimately with the police. He couldn't afford to expose himself to the local authorities right now since he knew where he would end up.

"Ed, are you there?"

Ed heard Pak Long's voice from outside the toilet and he acknowledged the old man's question from inside the toilet.

"Take this first."

A large white worn-out T. A brown kain pelekat. A set of disposable underwear. Pak Long popped in and placed the three items beside the sink.

"Wear this, Ed. Soak that shirt and trousers of yours in the pail over there and put in some soap. To be clean is Sunnah(5)." Pak Long smiled.

"I'm giving these garments to you. There's another one spare. I will place everything else in the room. Rest well and get ready for work at 4.30 a.m. tomorrow. Around here, we start early."

When he saw that Ed was trying to say something, he held up his hand, "No questioning old people's words. These are extras. Use them well so that Pak Long will also benefit from them rather than letting them lying around in the house."

When Ed was ready and walked out from the toilet, the old man was gone.

However, when he arrived in front of his new room, he stopped and clutched his chest. It felt heavy and full yet again.

There was a thick toto, a small pillow, a standing table fan, a thin blanket. Another set of clean T-shirt folded with loose sweatpants was placed beside the blanket. All weren't brand new, but they looked clean and smelled of sunshine.

The old man carried all these things by himself; meaning, he must've made a few rounds.

He took a deep breath and arranged the makeshift bed and fan immediately. As he plopped into the thin yet warm covers of the blanket, he took out his phone and typed out his daily routine to report to his benefactor.

He had lived in this world for 27 years. A sheltered life for the first 11, a life of degradation for another 16. It was the same space, but also not the same, at the same time.

The difference came from the mercy of his mysterious benefactor. He could only recall the person's magnetic voice. For once, he was disgusted with himself for not being sober enough to see who the person was.

Once he followed through with the advice, he felt something change. The kindness of everyone around him was mind-numbing; as if they knew he wanted to change to a better person without him trying to explain himself.

12:24 a.m. Sent.

It was a whole new world for Ed.

And this was the very first step. He knew it.

A whole new world as long as he listened to the mysterious benefactor's advice.

...

Arash looked around the messy house one last time before he locked the door.

Cleaning had never been his forte.

As long as he made sure he threw away all leftovers and emptied out the crisper from fresh greens and freezer, Hana said that would suffice. It could be one to two weeks before he could check in again. If the electricity was out when they were away, it would be so much work to clean up all the maggots. Hana had been very particular about this as she drilled him again and again before going on vacations.

Deep down, he was nervous.

Bringing two tender-aged kids into the forest full of snakes wasn't really a good idea.

But he had no choice.

He needed them as much as they needed him. He wasn't going to give others another chance to separate him from his kids. Arash found that he trusted outsiders less and less, even the so-called professionals. Hana's family wasn't bad, but they didn't believe him and he was too exhausted to explain to these people. His own parents were worse; their relationship hadn't been the best as he knew they were unsatisfied with his personal choices in life.

So, no depending on anyone else this time, and had to just suck it up.

At the same time, Arash was excited to explore his postulate inside Tok Silihan's personal cave.

Will he be able to finally manipulate heaven and earth energy with SEP?

Right now, he could forcefully influence others with SEP. But to what extent? He would soon find the answer in Ed. He limited the experimental time to 30 days and would observe how long the effect of SEP on the young man.

Arash swiped open his smartphone to finally check for Ed's messages.

00:24, 22 October 20XX:

Obtained RM625.

00:24, 23 October 20XX:

Breakfast, RM10.00 07:25

Wait in front of X Barber in Jalan Sekawan 10:00

Finish cutting hair, RM10.00 10:25

Buy toothpaste, toothbrush, small towel, soap bar, deodorant, small backpack, ziplock bag RM35.20, 11:20

Bathe in a public toilet in Mesra Park, RM1.00 12:30

Lunch, free 13:35

Ask for a job as a shopkeeper at Mael Discount Grocery Store, failed 14:05

Ask for a job as a waiter at Selera Kampung Restaurant, failed 14:30

Ask for a job as a waiter at Sedap Cafe, failed 15:20

Ask for a job as an attendant at PetraNas Station, failed 16:40

Ask for a job as a cleaner at KitchenMie Cafe, failed 17:55

Obtained a job as a cleaner at Surau Nur (under probation), no pay for now 20:15

Is given a small unused room to sleep today

Dinner given by Pak Long, free 21:30

00:24, 24 October 20XX:

Briefed on the scope of work by Pak Long 04:35

Start work cleaning inside the surau and the toilet 05:00

Breakfast given by Pak Long, free 6:30

Bathe in surau 7:00

Lunch, RM5.00, free drink from surau's water cooler 13:40

Clean toilet 14:00

Clean toilet 16:30

Clean toilet, sweep open area 18:00

Clean toilet and vacuum praying area 21:10

Dinner given by Imam, free 21:50

Received payment, RM30 22:10

Arash was speechless with the daily progress report given. It was unnecessarily detailed! All of the messages were sent at 12.24 a.m. sharp!

He personally knew the kindhearted old grandpa in Surau Nur, Cik Din, also known by the community as Pak Long. He had the most beautiful voice and would tirelessly azan five times a day. It was just two blocks away from his apartment complex. There was no such thing as a cleaner job in Surau Nur since volunteers would help clean up the surau daily. On the off chance no volunteers appeared, Pak Long would clean by himself. Arash had volunteered a few times every time he dropped by for prayers. That was when he got close to the old Bilal.

In this case, the kind old man was just trying to help Ed and to find a reason to give him money. He sighed and silently gave some moral support to Ed mentally. He would have to drop by to give some donations to the surau later. It didn't feel good when the experiment he made affected others.

...

mrs.mooncat:

Very, very long upcoming notes by mrs.mooncat since there are a lot of new terms here.

Note:

 1) white kurta with kain pelekat

kurta = a kind of long-sleeved clothes that reaches the knee for men. Got an opening on the left and right side (https://shopee.com.my/MENS-PANJABI-KURTA--i.460728575.23732226401) kain pelekat/pelikat = something like sarong, but for men, usually checkered pattern (http://www.sinar.kini.blog/2020/05/26/dini-buat-tutorial-pakai-kain-pelikat-kacak-digayakan-dengan-baju-melayu/)

2) Pak Long = eldest uncle. He is not really Ed's uncle, but just a friendly nickname, mrs.mooncat has explained this in previous chapters. He talks in the 3rd POV because we actually rarely used 'I' in non-official situations. Just like how mrs.mooncat calls herself "mrs.mooncat", and Aira calls herself "Ai".

3) Surau Nur

surau = a public place of prayers for Muslims. It is the smaller version of a mosque. Usually only the size of a spacious residential single-storey house. Nur = means 'light' in Arabic

4) ablution = cleansing, also known as wudhu

5) Sunnah = good habits following the way of the prophet

6) Bilal = the person who did the call for prayer known as azan/athan

7) Imam = the person who leads the congregation during prayers, it could be the same person as the Bilal, but usually the task is given to another person