ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

'Ayah, I hate William today', Zaim tiba-tiba memberitahu kepada aku masa buka puasa semalam. Semua yang sedang makan tertegun, berhenti sejenak. Mata Atok, Nenek dan Ibu beralih kepada aku. William salah seorang kawan baik Zaim.

Aku cuba bertenang. 'Why? What did he do? He's your best friend right!' aku bertanya, cuba mencari masa sambil berfikir.

'I can't tell you what he did exactly but he embarrased me at school', kata Zaim sambil mencebik.

Aku menghela nafas sambil cuba mengingat sesuatu.

'Zaim, sometimes in friendship people take things for granted, especially between close friends. People are so close that sometimes they did things without realising that the other guy's feeling might be hurt. Best friends do that once a while'.

'But i felt so embarrased', celah Zaim.

'True. You feel angry too. But, there's one good thing about friendship. You will learn that no matter how angry you were, after sometimes you tend to forgive because that bond of friendship is already there. Sometimes it could take just a day. Sometimes it could take years. You waited for years hoping that the friend would realise his mistake but he never did. You forgive him anyway. Friendship is to give and take, to forgive and to forget. If you can't do that, you actually were never friends in the first place', aku cepat-cepat menghabiskan ayat. Ikan pari bakar atas meja masih belum aku sentuh.

' Hmmmmm... ' Zaim berdiam sambil tangan dia pula menjamah ikan pari.

Aku sambung ceramah buka puasa,'You know what you should do tomorrow. You should go to William and tell him that he hurted you feeling today, but it is okay because you have forgiven him anyway. I am sure he will appreciate that and try not to repeat that same mistake' .

Zaim diam sejenak. Kemudian dia menggangkat muka dan tersengih. ' Thanks Ayah. Did you come up with all that by yourself or did you read that from those books of yours?'

'Maybe it's those books' jawab aku. Aku senyum dalam hati. My 37 year book on life.