The Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Valkyrie, Pepper, Peggy, Aunt May of My Life

This may be a little late, but as my Mother knows me best, I’m always late in everything, really, in literally everything when it comes to my Mom. She on the other hand, is always on time, on point, on the mark and on top of everything that she needs to be. She’s the Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Pepper, Peggy, Aunt May, Gamora, JJ, Nebula and all other Avengers, all rolled into one Super Mom, my own Super Mom.

Just how super is she? For starters, she was the designated driver of our family for the longest time as our Yed (we call our father Yed) can’t drive a car till he was probably over 40 years old. So my Super Mom was the one who drove us all over Malaysia. Yup, she’s that super.

The earliest memory of my mom (We call her Mama) that I can remember was probably back when I was in kindergarten, a bit hazy though. I remember she was the one that sent and picked me up daily. At the time we were all in Dungun, Terengganu. She would drive our Toyota Corolla, with plate number TC1122 if I remember correctly. I’m not sure, it’s kinda hard to remember. I was only in kindy at the time. But Toyota was the first car manufacturer I know and the only driver was Mama.

Fast forward a little bit, I was in Standard 1. I joined a school field trip to Kuala Lumpur with my brother. Being the only kid from Standard 1 joining a standard 5 and 6 field trip, I remember Mama was very worried letting me go. I can remember her worried face as she dropped us at the school that day. I remember she was telling my brother to take care of me. Though I can’t remember her telling me to be careful and be safe. Perhaps she knows I can take care of myself. Or perhaps did tell me to be careful, but you know me, I probably ignored it. It probably went into my left ear and went out immediately through my right ear. I can still remember her worried face looking at the bus and me as the bus drove off from the school compound.

Fast forward to 1990, she was super strong in going through her pregnancy carrying my youngest brother in her womb, all alone, as Yed just passed away a few months back. She was without her husband and carried my brother for probably 6 months. I can’t imagine what’s going through her head at the time. Having Yed just passed away, with her being pregnant and needing to take care of the four of us. It’s probably similar to the time Aunt May got to know Uncle Ben just passed and she needs to take care of Peter alone. But for Mama, needing to deal with being pregnant, taking care of 4 Peter Parkers, all still schooling, only 4 gajillions times harder I guess.
It would drive me nuts if it happened to me, but not Mama. She took it like a Champ. Super Mom with Super Strength indeed.

Fast forward a few years later, probably when I was in Form 2, the most rebellious period of my life. I just got back from a day out in the woods, we skipped school and stayed in a nearby woods, smoking tons of cigarettes , gambling and playing cards among the five or six of us. Later that evening, as I arrived home at about half past six, nobody was home…”weird”, I said to myself. A few moments later Mama arrived, and the first thing she asked was “Fikri pi mana tadi?”. Being the rebellious person I was at the time, confidently, I answered “Baru balik dari sekolah la”. PEDEPAAAANNNNNNNGGGG! a big snap slap full of anger and love all rolled into one, landed on my face. I got a few more slap afterwards whilst still trying to lie my way through it. That’s the Gamora in Mama bitch-slapping Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Fast forward to form 5, a post-rehabilitation period of my life, I like to believe I was a better person compared to a few years prior. If there was a time where the looks on Mama’s face is so very happy/soothing/proud, I believe it was at that time. I can still remember the look, I don’t think I can ever forget it. It was a few months after SPM, I was working in KFC as cashier back in Sungai Petani, Kedah. It was lunch rush time, there were probably 5-6 customers queuing in front of me. I then noticed Mama was also in the line queuing, she looked at me squarely, with a big BIG smile on her face. The kind of smile you can only see once in a lifetime. Her piercing stare went straight through my eyes, I even felt the smile piercing stare. As she inched closer, waiting for her turn to be at the counter, her smile got bigger and bigger. I swear, she smiled so big, it can fill the whole floor of KFC, her smile’s aura lah. By the time she reached the counter, she said “Mama dah tengok result SPM Fikri, nak tau tak?”. By then I know the reason she smiled oh-so-wide. For those wondering, she worked as a school clerk, so she have access to SPM results a day or two earlier than the public lah. Even then, she asked for my permission first if I wanted to know now or later when I’m with my friends together at school with the rest of public. That’s the Aunt May in Mama, even though she knew I was Spider-Man, she kept it to herself and be proud of it on the inside and not spoil it for me. Remember don’t spoil Avengers: End Game. Mama knew not to spoil way back then already.

I have a bunch of other stories to tell, all of which are about the Super heroic feats in Mama. She’s my everything. I on the other hand, have not been a good son, I would always be too busy working, playing my video games and whatever else that I do. Always forgot to call her from time to time. I haven’t been able to ‘balik kampung’ as often as I wanted to. And I thank Allah that we have Internet Banking so I can automate the money transfer to Mama. If it were up to me I would probably forgot about that too. Like I said, I am not the best son Mama could have. There is a lot of things I need to do better, talk more often, see more often, make her happy more often and do many other things more often.

On this Mother’s Day, I would like to wish Mama, a big huge Happy Mother’s Day. You are the Avengers all rolled into one super duper awesome package for me and all of us Bajunids.

Thanks for indulging me, reading through this post about Mama. See you guys on the other side.

Peace be unto all.