..the big gun of Kubang Kerian..

..I cannot remember when it was that I proposed to her..I must have asked her to marry me at every opportunity that we met..we could be talking about things irrelevant and I would just slipped in with a 'marry me..' and tried to look intensely into her eyes, trying to detect assent when there was none...that I never tried to win over the one person most important in her life, did not help..though friends told me that it was 'mother to begin and daughter to win..'  I was too busy winning the daughter and neglecting her mother..

..but help came from an unlikely source..

..holding sway over family matters then, were my step-grandmother, Wan Nik Sah and her husband,  my maternal grandfather, Tok Ayah Long..whilst Ayah Long was affable and easygoing,  being from Tanjong Rimau, Melaka, it was Che Wan Nik Sah, a true blue Kelantanese,  who ruled over the realm..I called her the Big Gun of Kubang Kerian..her words were like decrees..to be heeded and taken note..

..it was not long before the news of my designs upon Audrey reached her ears..not being one of  her favourite 'cucu's' I awaited with abated breath her verdict, regretting those prankful days as a kid when  I was with her, those few moments when I was left to my own devices by my widowed mother, causing her ire by needless chasing of chickens, climbing of trees and generally running amok in the padi-fields surrounding the house..

..the house in Kubang Kerian that my late grandfather built..the original had concrete stairs similar to those houses  you see in Melaka..and I can see myself singing 'Engkau Laksana Bulan' on the concrete stairs together with my cousins one full moon night..the picture above showed the house after it was repaired and renovated by his youngest son, Kassim.. the property has since been sold and awaiting its time before being pulled down..

..Mesjid Sultan Ismail Petra, Kubang Kerian, across the road, in front of the house...

..and her verdict was not long in coming..she told Audrey's mother that she had no objection to the pairing..

..whilst whooping amongst the clouds, I couldn't believed my ears..

..her mother relented..and suddenly, I realised that I did not have the money to marry..

..sheesh...I was caught without my spurs..