THE FOUR STEP FORMULA

Papa called Yanti, an, old friend, and a divorcee, responding to her earlier sms she sent him. Yanti said she had arrived in K.L a few days back, accompanying her teenaged daughter who wanted to visit her half sister of whom is staying in Setapak. They are very close even though of different fathers.
Yanti, used to be married, to Zafrul, one of papa’s, closest, buddy and still in frequent contact, the fact was, Yanti got papa’s number from him. They are still the best of friends albeit Zafrul, has since their separation; remarried. Veritably, all of them, Zafrul and wife, Yanti, the kids and Zafrul’s first wife and her new family are all in good terms and truly in the spirit of Sirratulrahim. Therefore, deep in, papa’s heart, they could never be, other than- Kinsfolk!
Papa invited Yanti for a karaoke night out, that coming Friday, evening, she said she could not give a confirmation so soon, and only on the particular day, will she contact papa again.
Yanti send papa, an, sms, saying she was already in Mutiara, and had already booked, a regular, Karaoke room, as he had asked- papa had earlier anticipated he could only be there a bit later after ten thirty. Papa beckoned her to join him at the mamak stall situated near the club, for nasi lemak bungkus and teh tarik, before proceeding for karaoke. She complied and soon after, they were having a pleasant chat, prattling about, the good old times. Inadvertently, papa’s eyes did a roam about, and fixed a gaze at a nearby table, where sat, the elderly albeit dapper and still handsome, retired but of higher ranked- Armed Forces Personnel, Papa’s old compatriot in Dangdut. Walking the short distance to Mutiara, papa and Yanti waved at him, smiling, as if, amused like, he waved back.
Yanti chose mostly duet songs, from the computerized T.V control terminal, papa, whilst waiting for the songs to come up, called Jinair and unkel. Both answered, they were already in K.L and being somewhere near Mutiara, but had to attend to prior appointments before sallying forth there. They both gave the same answer- could only be there a bit later in the evening.
Papa and Yanti wholeheartedly sang the P. Ramlee and Ever green, Malay duets, exuding much gusto and feel although peculiar to their distinctive interpretations. Yanti letting go with vibratos and all, with papa, not relenting even a bit, trying to outmatch her, to the extent of, the whole room vibrated with their unparalleled ‘vibratos’. Reaching the Cha-Cha numbers, papa entreated Yanti, to join him dance, Dangdut King- style as he had practiced a lot, in front of the mirror at home. Being an ex, old hand at Dangdut although has since long retired, papa was truly hopeful that she can tutored him in the intricacies of the Majestic steps, but Yanti, apparently, has forgotten, and not ‘prancing’ ever since the more than a few, number of years, after leaving the ‘scene’ has left her legs ‘heavy and ‘immobilized’. On the other hand, papa seemed to have mastered even though ‘minutely’ the ‘four step’ formula or configuration- the ‘key steps’ to most popular dances. What he has to do now is to test it out ‘four hands’ on, either with Nita or Puteri, on the dance floor, that is.
After nearly, two hours of singing, JinAir arrived, followed by, a ‘huffing and puffing, Unkel- of, whom had walked, the entire distance from Medan Tuanku to KFC Jalan Raja Laut, as a form of self imposed exercise. He has a strange notion of having a heart condition albeit not officially confirmed by any medical specialists leaving Unkel toying with the idea of going through with the ‘camera and cable probing into the heart procedure’, as recommended by Dr. Yunos.
Since Yanti wanted to go visit some old friends at another Dangdut establishment, papa went to the main counter outside, into the main hall of the Karaoke lounge. As, the dance hall is situated on the first floor and the lounge on the second, the singing hall is unusually very quiet and much ‘relaxed’ if compared with other lounges the likes of NewsKtv. Having paid the not even eighty ringgit in total bill, papa could not help noticing the cashier who handed him the change. She was, of all persons, Meera, an old, dangdut, buddy, papa was elated, he seemed to be meeting quite a number of old friends. The same thing happened when all four of them, papa, yanti, jinair and unkel was about to leave Mutiara, they met up with Dato’ Shaheed and his longtime aide, Wak Suratman. Exchanging the customary albeit insuppressibly good humored ‘light banter’, Yanti and papa together with the Dato’ and Wak were laughing aloud all through the ‘unplanned rendezvous’. Upon leaving, for the car park, papa gave Wak Surat a hearty bear hug. He, good naturedly, just pushed him away.
Upon entering, The Club Extravaganza, they found the place, filled to the brim, with not a table, that was visibly- unoccupied. Enduring no more, the slightly longer, than the recommended ‘wait for a moment- for an empty table’ by the waitresses, papa and yanti along with jinair and unkel decided to wait it out at one of the late night eating stalls immediately across the road outside the club. Whilst enjoying their tehtariks and ‘cordial’ small talk, Zahida was, seen at the entrance, just outside the club. She was straining out, the upper part of her body- as if looking out for somebody. Yanti called out to her, yelling that Mahat, her husband was seated three or four tables to the left of her, across the road. After confiding with Mahat something that concerned the club, she came up to the foursome’s table. Giggling throughout the ‘informal gathering, Zahida was truly the darling of the group, to the extent of unkel, being visibly ‘smitten’ by her. Both, Zahida and Mahat are, longtime buddies; of Yanti and papa, and both again have gone up in the Dangdut Corporate world with Mahat, being the G.M of the Club and Zahida, its Corporate Comms Manager. Last, but not least, as this post is about longer than normal, papa, has, got to, really, incorporate the penultimate part, right about- now. They, the above mentioned, characters were real people, and papa, in his inconsequential way, only wanted to highlight the ‘rich and colorful' tapestries that were made up from the throbbing Dangdut yarn, interwoven into the entire ‘fabric’, that is Kay El by Night Or Day Or Whatever, Really!. Yet, they, the luxuriant personalities, are, veritably, living, and breathing creatures albeit insignificant and irrelevant all the way, However so, and without further ado-That’s Life! The evening out ended without either of them venturing into the club. At nearly 3 AM, Yanti called for a Take Five- she was too tired. Having asked where Yanti's place of stay was, Jinair volunteered to send her, as his house was nearer to her's than papa's. Yawning, papa send unkel to Medan Tuanku and when driving the last leg towards his humble abode, papa half smilingly,thought to himself- he has that many-'nocturnal' dangdut buddies and knows where to go, whenceforth, everybody knows his name and Jinair and unkel too- ostensibly, but not to get intoxicated nor to cavort with the girls, only to sing and dance and to watch the Dangdut Emperors, make manifest their 'Seni' or 'Art'