The Breadwinner

Synopsis: My normal experience where I went to a supermarket to buy a loaf of bread during RMO. Was it a normal experience?

This short story is fiction. If the character or events in this story are the same for you, it is a purely coincidence. No controversies. Sorry for any mistakes, take the good part and enjoy.

Genre: Slice of life, Mystery

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The sky was too hazy for my eyes to see. “Isaac! What are you doing? There is no time to doze off in this situation!” said Karla, the captain of my team. “Captain, we cannot leave Judy.” Said Isaac although he already knew what her Captain would say. “Isaac, we have gone through this!” Her Captain’s decision is unshakable. I looked behind me. My eyes only focused at the zombies. I got no choice but to kill them. I’m sorry. “Ring.. ring… ring..” I startled. Then the startle turned into the feeling of annoyance.

I sighed and answered my phone “Hello Ima.” “Hi Fiq, am I disturbing you now?” Ima said through the phone. “Yes, I was in the middle of killing zombies in my video game world. So, what’s going on?” I went down straight to business. “Oh, sorry. Just pause the game for a while and listen. Hey, remember the newest pictures I hired you to take for my Covid-19 project? I want you to delete it now. There are reasons for it that I cannot tell you now but, someone might come looking for it and take it from you in an unethical way. Plus, your life might be in danger.

They can track your IP address. However, I will still pay you for taking those pictures later. Just do what I say right now.” She explained but, honestly I think it was all nonsense. I just went with the flow, “Hahaha, Ima. You are so into this conspiracy thing. Whatever. As long as I get my payment.” She replied back, “thanks, Fiq and be enlighten. Covid-19 is not a coincidence.” She hung up before I could say anything.

Right now, I already got used to her manic ideas. This was not the first time she preached to me regarding those conspiracies. Nevertheless, I never believe it one bit to begin with. Deleting those pictures? What harm could several pictures of hospitals could do to me? My name is Fiq. I’m a photographer and I live an ordinary life. I did not live in a zombie endemic area like in the first paragraph but, sometimes I’m just too immersed in playing those kind of video games. As a photographer, I’m going places but, not in the mean time because of the restricted movement order (RMO). It has been almost 1 month now. Well, at least I can continue playing games.

Before I have the chance to continue my last game, “Fiq, mom asked you to go buy some bread.” My older brother said to me. “Oh, it’s just bread? Why don’t you go?” I questioned him back. “Well, I got online class after this. Why don’t you win some bread for us this time, bro? You will be a great breadwinner for the family. I think that would be a great idea compared to what you did right now.” The bread pun is not funny at all but, his answer actually hit me hard. I could not possibly argue with how much time I spent sitting in front of a laptop, playing games.

Our father used to be the breadwinner of the family until 2 years ago when he passed away. Logically, my elder brother should be the next breadwinner but, he is still studying his medicine course in university. As for me, I never did further my studies in university. In order to pursue my interest, I straight away became a photographer and ironically, currently we had to rely with my modest salary for living.

I took the car key and went to the nearest supermarket. It’s already past 9 a.m. and as I expected as soon as I reach the supermarket, I can see a long line of people in front of each of the cashiers there. Several of them cover their faces with facemask. Their trollies were full with home supplies, most of them are foods including the one that I want, the bread. Without delaying any time, I just go straight ahead to the bread section of the supermarket. As soon as I arrived there, it was only shelves without anything filled in it. It was literally only air, the shelves and me. I sighed until I accidentally saw one loaf of Gardenura branded bread far at the edge of the shelf. A bit of paranoia started surrounding me that someone else might steal the bread from me. Ergo, I quickly moved toward that bread.

My hand was just a few centimetres distance with the bread when I suddenly saw another fast set of hands already catched the bread. Just when I got some light of hope shining, it suddenly disappear. That is what I felt. With a slight of annoyance displayed on my face, my gaze shifted from the hand towards the face of the owner of those hands. If this is a romantic drama, it would be the face of a cute girl but, it’s not. I saw a face of a man with a messy thick black hair. Anyone who looked at him will never miss the scar located at his left cheek which going vertically toward his left eye. He was wearing a sunglass which makes it impossible to see the part of the scar that might be hidden beneath his eyes. Based on his appearance, I estimated his age were around forties. I felt a creepy vibe on him.

Just when I was about to further analyse him, he asked me. “You wanted the bread?” “Err, yeah. Can I?” Doubting his kindness, I questioned his offer. He said back, “that depends. Why should I give it to you?” I don’t like the way that stranger ask me because it feels more like an interrogation rather than a question. Albeit my feelings, my brain advised me to play along. Thus, I explained my situation which I said that I needed the bread because my mom wanted it for her recipe and nothing else. Without any words, he stared at me yet his eyes still covered with his sunglass. Just when I started to feel uncomfortable, he suddenly gave me the bread. “Okay, you can have it.” He said.

Eventhough the bread is mine now, my brain cannot stand the reverse psychology. “Wait!” I raised my voice to alert him. The stranger who was just about to left the place halted by my voice and stop. Then, I asked, “Are you sure you don’t want this bread?” He came back facing me. Without answering my question, he started speaking rambling out of topic while maintaining his poker face, “I used to be like you, kid. Being free until one day I decided to take those job. Made some huge money but funny, because I’m never had the time to spare. Damn it! We just wanted a holiday but not like this.” I can sense frustration in his last sentences and as soon as he realise that, he said, “sorry, kid. I talked too much. Just take the bread. Take care of your family.”

Not long until I realise the true meaning behind those words. Slowly, I ask, “You got a family?” He paused. “I used to.” I can relate what he said with my late father. At that moment, there was silence between us. It was unexpected to me that he suddenly burst into laughter. I became confused. Then, he said, “do you actually believe that? Hahaha.” Then, he laughed again. I took a minute to recover from the turmoil state. I stared at him emotionlessly. I felt relieved yet angry at the same time knowing it was all a made up. “Okay, you got me.” His laugh changed to a smile “Hey, no need to get so riled up. Not everything I said is trash. Just take the good message I give you.” Then, he left swiftly without giving me the chance to say thank you. With that, I wasted some huge deal of time but, I got the bread. It took some time queueing in the supermarket eventhough it was just one loaf of bread.

After paying for the bread, I went back home. In the car, my mind kept wandering about that statement “Take care of your family.” Those words made me remembered about a conversation held 2 years ago. Tears accumulated in my eyes. It was not just any conversation, it is a quarrel. “I did not approve your decision. You should go to college. Think about your future, Fiq.” Father said. I oppose, “I did not have the interest in studying but you know my talent in photography right? I can get a job easily.” “No Fiq. Listen to me. Why can’t you be just like your brother?” He said back and that time I can felt his anger but I did not know what has gotten into me at that time that I said “Then why don’t you yourself get a better job or something? Be like brother.” I regret it.

The tears that has been accumulated in the end fall from my eyes. I was a fool back then and what father said is true because it is not easy to seek a job that time. I struggled a lot and sometimes I kept thinking back about my decision. I just realised how hard father had worked for us and how hard it is to held the responsibility as a breadwinner. Flashbacks of the past fasten the time for me to arrive home relatively. I wiped the remaining tears that was left at my cheek remembering that I still had a happy family, unlike that man.

“I’m home. Here’s the bread.” I said as soon as I entered the house. My family was waiting for me inside. “Looks like someone took their time. Are you capturing some pictures of the supermarket or what?” my brother said with his humorous vibe.

“Err, no. Its just..yeah..but… something happened but, it’s not important. Anyway, I got the bread.” I said and gave the bread to him. He went to the kitchen with the bread. As the unexpected event ended, I sat back in front of my laptop pushing the power button symbol to start it up. Before I started to engage in the world of games again, I just remembered about Ima’s request this morning. I did a few clicks on the folder inside my laptop to find a folder named ‘Ima’s picture’. I double clicked to the folder and then I paused. There was nothing inside the folder. I started thinking backtrack. Did I accidently misplaced or deleted the pictures before? My memory tells me that it is not the case.

“Hey, brother. How’s your laptop? Is it lightning fast now?” said my brother who just came and sat beside me. As he mentioned it, I realised just now that the booting time to start my laptop is faster than usual. “Yeah, I guess so.” I answered. “Awesome right? I happened to know a guy who can fix computer problems with super cheap price. So, I hire him to fix my laptop and he also kind enough to upgrade yours for free.” He explained. Hearing that, I was shocked. I immediately questioned him “You what? You should have asked me first. Did he do something else to my laptop? Like altering or deleting my files or something?” He answered, “Err, you’re welcome and no, he didn’t but, you can just ask him if you want. I found him on facebook. Let me show you.” He opened his facebook account through my laptop and show me one of his facebook’s friends named ‘Amad, Computer Repairer’. “Amad. That is the guy.”

I got goosebumps all over my body. The profile picture of Amad was that I just saw looks exactly the same as the man in the supermarket and I recognised the same scar. I remained silent but, he breaks the silence, “It’s weird though. When Amad came here this morning, I felt like I known him from somewhere before but, maybe it’s just my imagination.” I glared into his eyes. He was different this time. Seriousness radiated from his eyes to the air and it surrounds me. “What do you mean?” I asked. He said “When I saw him today, I thought he was our…” The word he said next rendered me speechless. He said “father”. At that moment, I was unable to react. Too shocked that my face turns pale as if I saw a ghost. Maybe I did saw a ghost because we all knew well that father passed away 2 years ago.

This is my story. Some people might say that this is just a story of me buying a loaf of bread in the supermarket. I hope that was the case but, it kept bugging me. Ima’s conspiracy theory, the missing pictures, the man with the scar, COVID-19. Was it all connected or was it just a weird coincidence? Amidst being trapped in the loop of mysteries, I was reminded by the words again, “Take care of your family.” Words that I already heard 2 years ago. Words from father.

I got it now. Whatever it was, I guess I was just thinking it too much. I will find tranquility and I will be the breadwinner. I will make you proud, father.

Moral of the story: Playing video games at home is normal. Just don’t forget to help our family also. Who knows something interesting might happen that way. (Maybe not as exaggerated as in this story)

Ibn Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

“Take advantage of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your riches before your poverty, your free time before your work, and your life before your death.”

Source: Shu’ab al-Imān 9575

Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani

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About COVID-19:

The outbreak first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Currently, it is pandemic. Number of mortality due to the disease reached about hundred thousands recently. People has different views. Some says it is a disaster. Some says it is a test from God. There are even conspiracy theories about it. People around the world is currently fighting this virus and an approach called social distancing is one of the strategies. In Malaysia, the authorities had called for restricted movement order (RMO) since 18 March 2020.

When the author writes this statement, it was already at 2334, 9th May 2020. It has been more than a month of the restricted movement order (RMO) in my country.