World Without Men - Baju Raya (My First Pair of Jeans)

Aunt has given me the money for baju raya and I know better not to ask her come with me to the kedai to help me argue with Mek Kemamang herself for a better price since I'm buying 3 sets of baju raya. Grandma will tell you right away that a widow like Aunt shouldn't go around shopping with a child my age when almost everyone in Dungun including the A.D.O himself is out shopping for baju raya at Kedai Mek Kemamang. And so it's better that I go get the baju raya myself since I am a child about to become an adult soon when I would be eligible to have my own Kad Pengenalan in two years. Grandma can't come along with me because she doesn't like it when the shop is jam packed with people rushing to buy baju raya now that raya is a couple of days away. You can't disturb Cousin. She's busy baking Ovaltine cookies.

I'm outside the shop looking in for a space to squeeze through. You can't see Mek Kemamang from here but you can see her sons and daughters going about the shop with a long stick that has a hook at the end which they use to bring down the baju raya from the overhead rack so people can look at it and start arguing for a better price knowing very well how Mek Kemamang put a price on everything which is triple times over so you can have a good time haggling for the best price. 

Next door is a shop run by a young enterprising China man whom everyone knows is the son of Bok Peng. People say he has just got back from overseas and you can tell that they are telling the truth about him because he dress different. He's got a pair of glasses bigger than anyone in Dungun and a pair of shoes taller than the tallest building in Dungun. I go into his shop to look at the nice posters of AMCO and TEXWOOD and LEE and Levi's. He asks where my father is. I say I don't have one. I only have a mom but she's not coming with me because she's busy making nekbat. And so he says; are you looking for something nice to wear for raya.? I say I sure am. And so he shows me a pair of jeans my size which I like very much on account it has a label on the pocket that says SADDLE KING.

I'm home to show Grandma and Aunt the pair of jeans I got which I like very much because I've seen cowboys wear them all time when they're having fun punching people in a barroom brawl. Grandma says I must have gone insane to wear something like that for raya. I say why not? She says what's wrong you? These pants are so rough that it'll bruise what you've got in between your legs. I say cowboys wear these all the time. Aunt doesn't say anything except she asks me where's the rest of the money? I say there's none because what she gave me is just enough to get me a pair of SADDLE KING.

That was my first raya without baju Jawi because I used up the money to buy me my first pair of jeans. Aunt says; padan muka.