Chapter 21
The country is calling for a snap election. All the political parties are in full swing to get ready for the big day.
Sunan is very busy with the preparations of election committee. The countless statements that he has to made for every ceramah. For one common aim that he is doing for, the change for the better.
As a boy who grew up in the village which had no good facilities, in fact the basic facilities for the villagers, Sunan is one hundred percent the right person to speak about the issue.
Without a father, Sunan was totally in control of his life. He had to shoulder all the household facilities, expenses and other sundries.
He would wake up very early in the morning to go to the common water pipe to quene for the turn for a barrel of clean drinkable pipe water. The villagers, some of them has to travel as far as 4 kilometers to fetch the water for the family. For Sunan was a little better, he just needed a kilometer to reach the crowded area, where the woman folks were doing laundry and bathing as well.
At times, Sunan was very angry. He could not understand why these women like to crowd around and let other people to quene for only a barrel of water for the use of cooking and drinking purposes. The washing of clothes and bathing, his family would use the well water which was sedimented with mud.
Sunan would patiently wait for his turn. Many times, he would take his school books with him. He would use the waiting time to do the revision. Also at times, he would eavedropping into the conversations of these family worriors.
Mak Sal, as many people called her name in short. Her name was Salina. She would stop other people and let Sunan cut the quene to fill the plastic barrel. She knew that Sunan needed to go to school after carrying home the water. If it was a long quene, Sunan would be late for school.
Sunan had to water the vegetable plots, though not to big, it was sufficient to get him the school fee. The family was also depending on the diet from that piece of land which was a rented piece when his father was on earth.
The day would begin as early as 4 in the morning. Sunan would have to clean the plates and cups sometimes Sunni had the late supper and left unwashed. Next, he had to wash the clothes of the family of three, nope at times, four. The fourth member was his adopted uncle.
By 5 am, he would be in the vegetable plots to cater for the needs of the babies, as he all the time referring the vegetables as babies. If he could finish the work in the plot early, he would go to fetch the water and perhaps, get the morning meal ready for his disabled mother before he left for school.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, I know how life is for you without the proper water supply. I was one of the victims.’ Sunan paused to at the crowd to get consensual about the plight that they are facing. To many, the facial expression remained numbed. For the villagers, they had heard so much of talks but no actions were taken after the election.
‘Trust me, I would try my best to let your voices be heard in the meeting.’ Sunan paused again. He sensed something was not going right. The audiences did not response to what he was saying.
‘Do you understand the need to change ?’ Sunan raised his voice.
The audiences remained silent.
A party member passed a piece of note to Sunan. It stated:
‘Speak the language of the villages.’
Sunan looked around for the clue who sent him this note. He could not find any faces that wanted to admit this vital note.
Scanning the faces again of the crowd, Sunan began to change his use of language. He noticed that there were some reaction from the crowd. As he went on, the shout of agree and disagree could be heard in forum.
Tired.
The night was long. The battle had to be won. It would be another five to six ceramah to go before the election came. With the help of the note, Sunan would be more aware of the language he used when he was campaigning for the election. Most of the ceramah were successful.
‘Yes, please take charge of my clients,’ Sunan hurriedly ended a call.
‘The people of your constituency wanted to talk to you,’ a party member reported.
‘Okay, I will see them now.’ Sunan walked out of the office into the common room where the representative of the villagers were seated.
‘Good evening, gentlemen.’ Sunan though looked tired and unshaven, with full energy to greet the representatives.
The representatives in no hurry to put forward their views. They discussed till midnight. Before they left, Sunan thanked each one by shaking their hands. But one of the hands gripped Sunan very tight. He pulled Sunan close to him and whispered:
‘I heard something bad for you. I wanted to talk to you in private.’
