A broken friendship...

"True friends are always together in spirit..."

Growing up in the same Police flat in Wakaf Mek Zainab, Habsah's house was on the first floor and mine on the second, we never doubted our friendship would last forever. Habsah was my best friend and being the eldest she was the pride of her family. At that young age, Habsah was already looking after her siblings. She's good in almost everything, pretty and had a way with the elders. She's good in cooking, sewing, reciting the Quran and she's a model even in school. Habsah wore her hair long and always in her sarong or baju kurung. I on the opposite will don a tomboyish crew cut and always in my brother's hand-down rugged blue jeans and t-shirts. Habsah was matured and I was at that same age still childish and loved to fool around. We used to go to school and do things together, even study together for the exams. She was bright too. And at times, I wish I would not be compared to her by my Mak and Abah.

But after form 2, Habsah moved to another town and although still in the same school we slowly became estranged. I met with new friends who became my gang and Habsah became no longer important to me. We were just too different to be close like before. A year after, we went to different schools to continue our studies. Since then we never keep in touch with each other again.

Last year the advanced class in Mesjid Negara started with admission of combination of students from various classes. As there will be a lot of interactions in the class, we started the semester with introducing ourselves. This was when I met with Habsah again, after nearly more than 35 years. Even with the years passed by, Habsah is still pretty and I still remember the mole on her upper lip (macam tahi lalat Latifah Omar). Habsah is still the soft-spoken girl I used to know. Her father passed away when they were still in KB and she has been taking care of her mother and siblings. After marrying off her brothers and sisters, she's now still single and looking after her ailing mother.

At first, the conversation between us was awkward, yet soon we both admitted that we missed each other. A few classes later, we became familiar again and quickly fell into our own habit of laughing and sharing confidence. We realized we are still as important to each other as ever.