My heart skipped a beat as I entered the food court. Finally, I was going to see Dad after waiting for five long years. Soon, I spotted my father in the crowd as he was the only person heavily-tattooed.
Upon seeing him, I quickened my pace. "Dad! Dad!" I exclaimed as I gave him a tight hug. "Son, how are you doing?" my father asked. I took a good look at him. He was still the same, his voice still as bass as before but he was even skinnier than ever.
"Dad! You have lost weight!" I cried as I felt sadness welling up within me. "Son, prison life has made me trim and fit, no longer your old flabby Dad," he spoke in a reassuring tone, trying to cheer me up. Dad had been in the Changi prison for five years because of serious assault. Before his imprisonment, my father and I relied on each other for my mom died since I was born. Ever since he was jailed, I was left in an orphanage. How I missed him!
"Let's go and eat!" My father's voice shook me out of my senses. I suddenly remembered the intense hunger gnawing at me. I was famished! As I looked at the stalls, choosing what to have for lunch, grimy crockery and scraps of food were strewn in heaps by the overflowing collection bins. Nevertheless, the unsightly scene was no deterrence to a hungry crowd.
I zoomed straight towards my favourite stall that sold really delicious fried kway teow. "Fried kway teow, please," I ordered politely, thrusting my money to the lady manning the stall. She nodded in acknowledgement and started frying. Soon, the aroma of fried kway teow was wafting in the air and tickled my nostrils. I could not help salivating at the thought of tucking into the yummy noodles.
As it was lunch time, people were milling around for empty tables and seats. It was an uphill task for us to find seats to savour the piping hot food. Fortunately, Dad has already found two! I plonked my butt onto the seat while Dad offered to buy me my favourite bubble tea beside the food court and hurried off.
Finally, I could at long last savour my food. The first bit of the noodles was pure ecstasy. Delicious flavours of the spices swam around my mouth, tickling my senses. I was overwhelmed with joy. Little did I know that this happy day which I had been looking forward to was fleeting by the seconds.
Out of the blue, a group of brutish-looking gangsters yielding sticks and metal pipes charged into the food court. With one look, I knew they were from the notorious '888' gang. Each of them had tattoos all over their arms and necks. They all looked so scary as they were all in a fighting stance, glowering in my direction.
"This is Ah Seng's son! He should be nearby!" a sidekick spoke to his gang leader, a gruff-looking hulking man.
It then dawned on me that they were after my dad. Dad was their arch enemy as he had almost killed their top gang leader five years before. They approached me menacingly with the piercing stare of an agitated cobra. "God, please save me and don't let dad come back!" I sent a prayer upwards as trepidation swept over me. However, God did not answer my prayers.
Suddenly, they dashed towards me! Screams and shrieks reverberated through the air and jolted me out of my trance. Pandemonium broke loose and I closed my eyes, bracing for the imminent attack! Just at the defining moment, a loud glass-shattering sound sliced through the air. Dad had arrived with my bubble tea in the nick of time! Seeing me in danger, he had taken two beer bottles and had smashed their ends. Shards of glass rained onto the ground as he pointed the sharp jagged edges towards his opponents. He really looked like an enraged mother bear, eager to protect her sole cub - me. Deftly, he defeated the gang member one by one.
All of a sudden, from the back, the hulking gang leader slashed a chopper into his heart! "No!!!" I screeched. Pain immediately lashed out to attack and caught Dad off guard. Perhaps, he had even forgotten to scream or yelp in agony, merely clutching his chest with one hand as he stumbled backwards. Realising the dire consequences of their actions, the whole gang ran off and disappeared into thin air.
"Dad, please don't die!" I cried as I knelt beside him in a pool of blood as I squeezed his gnarled hand, naively believing that Dad would not die if I had just held on tight enough.
"Alex...take care of yourself. Don't be like me. I...I'm sorry I have failed as a father and remember...I...love...you... forever!" As Dad whispered, every word was zapping away his dwindling strength, forcing him to keep it short. I wanted to say so much - how I love him, how much I missed him when he was in prison, how much I yearned for his love.
I could see warm, crimson blood bubbling out through the deep gash on his chest as I hugged him tight. Then, his heavy eyelids drooped shut for the last time as he whispered a final 'I love you' and breathed his last.
I planted my kiss on Dad's sweat-beaded forehead for the first and last time as hot tears splashed downwards. Dad was gone - this time - for good.
(Written by Raeann Lee, P6. Edited by Mrs Julie Lee)
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