"Blardy hell," Mike chidded.
"Celaka laaa..." whined Iskandar Lutfi.
The other boys of Tingkatan 3 Biru were also in various stages of chaos. One group had cleared the desks at the back of the class and had started a breakdance tournament. In the narrow corridor outside, a 2-on-2 game of futsal was in progress. One third of the class was missing. And of course, the class monitor Daniel Aziz was sound asleep on his desk.
The environment in a classroom of boys after PMR would put a troop of caged monkeys to shame.
They really didn't have a reason to show up at school. Except that they were threatened by the Guru Kanan Disiplin to have their PMR results witheld unless they scored a perfect attendance for the rest of the school year.
"Weih," Daniel - still sleepy eyed - staggered over to the Blackjack table. "Jom fly, nak?"
It was 10.47am - unusually late for someone to suggest 'fly'ing. Most others would have taken off by 9.30am. Even so, Mike, Kar Weng and two others decided to take Daniel up on his offer.
Being a boys school located in the heart of town and bordered on one side by thick tropical underbrush, it wasn't unheard of that a student would go missing, only to show up later at a cybercafe playing Half-life Counterstrike. However there was one more factor in the equation that Mike and his friends had forgotten to take into consideration, which they would only discover later.
The five boys in white shirts and shit green uniform pants stealthily made their way to the Red Wall at the back of the school. It was named such because legend has it that during the Japanese occupation, detainees were lined up against the wall and bayoneted to death by Jap soldiers. A hostel boy once told Mike and I that one night he saw a black figure standing against the wall, crying blood and begging for mercy.
The ten foot wall which kept the students inside and the jungle outside didn't prove much of a challenge for five cunning young men nearing their physical peak. Mike and Daniel were the last two. Daniel gave Mike a boost as he did for everyone, and Mike hauled himself onto the top of the wall.
Looking down at the beautiful green bushes and trees on the other side, Mike wondered why it was unusual to fly school after 10.30am. A school basketball player, Daniel took a running start and pounced onto the wall, grabbing it at the top. Mike pulled him up and they jumped over together.
That's when they saw it.
Parked 40 feet away was a police car. And standing outside it, watching all the action from behind his dark glasses was a police officer on patrol. Now Mike knew why it was stupid to jump the wall after 10.30am.
The five boys froze, waiting for the law enforcer to react. He responded with an ice cold stare, as if daring them to move another muscle. Mike considered crying blood and begging for mercy. A whole 30 seconds passed.
"Aku dah nampak korang buat apa," yelled the police officer, his booming voice sending a chill right down to Mike's testicles.
"Aku bagi korang dua pilihan," he continued from across the shrubs.
"Satu," he counted. "Korang semua masuk balik cara yang sama korang keluar."
"Dua," he offered an option. "Korang semua naik keta aku. Aku bawak korang masuk skolah ikut pintu depan."
"Mana satu korang nak?"
Never in my life had I seen five boys scale a wall that fast to get INTO a school.
