Tuesday morning I was at my dental appointment when a message arrived. Osman was admitted at Gua Musang Hospital. Nothing serious was added to that brief posting. An hour later he was pronounced dead. Apparently he was admitted with a fatal heart attack and his heart eventually stopped (after the doctor frantically tried to revive him). None of us was able to be there in time. Everyone was devastated. He died alone leaving the world that has not yet ready to let him go. “alone” until the end is the story of his life. He was not lonely but all his life he was by himself going through life.
Osman was born in 1973 with a cleft lip(sumbing), a 7th in our 12 siblings. I was not sure what that thing on his lip but it was common in our village at that time(70s) to see people with a split lip. Our trishaw pakcik had it, a few neighbours and even some friends at school had it too. So my brother must be special to be in that small group in the village. But the adults saw it differently and deemed a curse had come with him.
He was a sick boy in the early days of his life where severe epileptic periods became a daily routine. Sitting by his small body, I did not understand what happened but felt the pain in my bone. He survived the illness and by the time he started Standard One , his lip was fixed. A dodgy stitch work as the split can still be seen, the gap was barely closed. But we accepted what was done and he was running around a happy boy to be seen normal again.
I remember his childhood as”naughty and wild” compensated with quiet and shyness whenever he was in a good mood. At dinner,as the others fighting for their favorite part of the fried chicken, he would sit quietly and ate what was given to him. Mak pampered him a bit; I guess she saw in him a special kid with special traits. His words with Mak always sweet and melting. Being my younger brother I just let him be himself and never really jealous of him.
By the time he was in secondary school, he became wilder and sometime out of control. His sweet talking skills now worked up many girls from all over the schools in Pasir Mas and beyond. I saw him from afar and realised he was on a different social league from mine. He was ferocious, delinquent and troublemaker as I was the whimpy and good boy type. But he was nice to me and always reminded me if I was in trouble just let him know. An advice usually from a strong big brother to a small helpless brother.
He grew up helping the family a lot as a guardian and someone you could rely upon. He went on to a Polytechnic and Uitm to study engineering. After his marriage , life became more stable and I saw him settled down. Alhamdulillah.
He passed away at the age of 53; leaving a wife and two young kids.
