Daud had started imagining how lucrative Samad’s payment would be. He waited anxiously if there were anybody coming over to invite him to Samad’s house. Daud was sure in not more than half an hour, somebody would come over to tell him about Anita’s illness. He just had to be more patient.
Daud knew he was already old. His skin obviously showed his age. In fact, he looked older than his age because he was never concerned about his own health and fitness. He was just a plain old man who had nothing. However, that night Daud had more than his age to think about. He was then imagining Anita’ pretty face which would turn into an ugly expression. Daud knew it was all going to be Malika’s doing. Daud smiled and showed off his empty jaws, except for the four teeth on the front rows which were still intact.
Outside, the wind blew fiercely and the sky started to turn dark. Daud knew a heavy thunderstorm would attack in just a few minutes from then. Lane Street would be in a chaos soon. Daud smiled again in satisfaction.
At Samad’s house, more people from the Lane Street’s neighborhood had flooded the house compound and inside it. All of them came due to one intention: they wanted to see with their own eyes the condition of Anita. It was a rare occasion where a pretty girl like Anita be possessed by a ghost. It would be the hottest gossip to talk about in Lane Street for at least two weeks.
Inside, Anita was still kicking and struggling. Not less than four young men were holding her, but Anita’s strength was too enormous. All the men could not stand more than five minutes holding on to her. That was why they took turn. Every five minutes, new faces stepped in to hold Anita.
Anita gritted her teeth. She failed to get free from the grip of the strong young men. Due to that, she got even more angrier. She stared fiercely at all the men as if giving them a warning. Once in a while, she drifted her gaze towards the open window. The flash of lightning was seen several times through the window opening. Then the sounds of thunder trailed a few seconds later.
“Shut off the window. It is going to rain heavily,” ordered Tuan Haji Ahmad, one of the respected man in Lane Street. He seemed to be in charge. He knew it would turn out to be hot and humid in the house if the window was shut off. But he was even more worried if suddenly Anita jumped out through the window.
Hasnah, which was Anita’s mother become more concerned and worried. She was worried about the safety of her only daughter. She hoped the spirit who disturbed and possessed her daughter would shift out and enter her body instead. She was willing to make a sacrifice if it was for the benefit of her daughter. It was the proof of love from a mother to her daughter.
Anita’s condition became worsen. Her eyes were now deep red like the crushed cherries. Her looks was undeniably frightening. She kept looking angrily towards the men who were holding her tightly. It was obvious she wanted to get free of the grip.
Samad’s expression had now turned anxious and pale. He was in panic when he saw his daughter’s condition became worse. He saw with his own eyes how Anita’s face turned from a soft expression into a horrifying and frightening one. Samad felt as if he wanted to run away. Due to the unstable emotion he was feeling, Samad asked another young man to replace him. Then Samad walked away from the living room and went outside.
As soon as he was outside, Samad felt relieved. Only then he could think clearer. Suddenly he recalled about a piece of kemenyan which was given by Pawang Pahar to him. Samad quickly went back into the house. He remembered he had put the kemenyan in his bedroom. And Samad really hoped the kemenyan would be a help to get rid of the ghost.
“Burn this kemenyan,” ordered Samad to one of his grown up nephews. The teenage boy didn’t say a word but quickly ran to the kitchen. A few minutes afterwards, he came back running with a bowl of kemenyan already burned. Smoke from the kemenyan was thick and cloudy. The teenage boy held the burned kemenyan towards Samad.
Samad took the bowl containing burned kemenyan’s from the boy. He forwarded the bowl towards Anita’s face. He recited several religious versus then blew the smoke towards Anita’s face.
Suddenly Anita became extra aggressive. She looked very angry as if she could eat everybody alive.
“Let go of me! Let me go, you bastards!” screamed Anita as loudly as she could. All the young men who were holding on to her tightened their grip.
“You want to kill me? You really want me to die, don’t you? Speak up. Who are you? I want to know who’s the one! Tell me who wanted me to die!” Anita screamed again. Nobody dared to answer Anita’s question. They looked at each other and tried guessing what were inside each other’s chest. They hoped the kemenyan would be able to help Samad getting rid of the ghost.
But Anita’s condition became worse. The burning of kemenyan didn’t make Anita weak but it made her angry. She became more alert of her surroundings. She was just waiting for the young men to be tired or careless. As soon as she felt the grip were loosened, she collected all her energy and five of the young men were kicked off and fell down helplessly on the floor.
Anita ran towards the closed window and opened the latch. She pushed the window to open and was ready to climb up. She wanted to jump out. The falling men got up immediately and chased Anita as soon as they could. Fortunately they were able to catch Anita before she succeeded to jump out of the house. Anita was taken back to her bed.
“I guess this is the doing of a sundal bolong, and not pocong as told by our friends just now. Seeing from her condition, it is more likely that a sundal bolong has entered Anita’s body,” said Tuan Haji Ahmad to Samad. Tuan Haji Ahmad was a respected person in Lane Street and his words were trusted and respected by everybody in the neighborhood.
“If that is the case, it is better if Daud come over here quickly,” replied Samad. He was getting impatient because he had waited for more than half an hour for Daud to arrive. He was starting to think that Daud was not informed.
Five men were appointed to invite Daud. As soon as they reached Daud’s house, one of the men called for Daud.
“What is the matter with all of you? Why are you yelling at me at this hour? Don’t you think I have the right to rest peacefully in my own house?” mentioned Daud in an act. He knew why they were there but if he showed he knew, his plans would fail.
“Didn’t anybody tell you about Anita, Samad’s daughter? Samad sent someone to invite you over to his house just now. Didn’t he tell you?” asked the man.
“No. Nobody came over here. What happened to Samad’s daughter?” asked Daud, trying his hardest not to show a pleasant and satisfied smile.
“She is attacked and possessed by the sundal bolong. Help, Daud. You are the only person in our neighborhood who can help,” replied the man again.
“You go ahead. I’ll come later because I have to prepare something in order to cure Anita. Tell Samad and everybody there to be patient for a little longer,” ordered Daud.
The men obeyed. One of them saw several frightening figures were surrounding Daud’s house when they were leaving. He didn’t tell the rest of them about it, but he quickened his steps. Later, when the situation was right, maybe he would tell the others about it.
About fifteen minutes later, Daud arrived at Samad’s house with all his equipments. Then he asked Samad to burn the kemenyan and put it in a bowl. Samad showed him the already burning kemenyan in the bowl.
“Who’s kemenyan is this?” asked Daud, curious.
“Pawang Pahar’s.” answered Samad shortly.
“Pawang Pahar?” asked Daud in a different tone. He was actually surprised to hear the name of Pawang Pahar. Daud looked down for a while, thinking. Samad became worried to see Daud acting strangely.
“What’s the wrong with the kemenyan?” asked Samad. He began to doubt Daud’s ability to cure her daughter. He decided if Daud failed to cure Anita, he would call upon Pawang Pahar himself.
“Don’t worry. Everything is under control.” Suddenly Daud voice up again. He didn’t want Samad to lose faith on him. Immediately he took the bowl of kemenyan and ordered for some coconut oil, shallots and a bit of black pepper as well as rice. His request was fulfilled quickly. Daud took a handful of rice and brought his hand to his mouth. He recited some versus unknown to anybody. Then he threw the rice to four corners of the bedroom.
Daud spitted several times at the four corners, and then he sat back at his original position. While waiting for the kemenyan to burn more and produce maximum smoke, Samad lighted a cigarette.
“I am only trying to help, but because you have invaded the rules from my guru the effort would be much harder. I am risking my life to cure you daughter. However, I will still try to heal her. If I succeed, you have to give me goat and chicken liver because sundal bolong will only go away if she is fed with her favorite meal,” said Daud.
“I will give you whatever you want if you cured my daughter,” promised Samad. At that time he was only concerned of her daughter’s health. Money was not an issue to him.
“Take that poison away from me!” yelled Anita angrily. She was so upset when Daud took the smoke from the bowl to her face. The smell from the smoke made her difficult to breathe. She struggled to get free from the smoke.
“Oh… you are still finding ways to fight me, don’t you?” replied Daud in a harsh tone. Then he poured the coconut oil into a small saucer. He put the shallots and black peper on the saucer.
“If you are brave enough to fight me, come on now,” dared Daud while looking straight into Anita’s eyes. Then Daud pressed Anita’s toes as hard as he could.
Anita cried out of pain.
“Let me go! Let me go! I promise I won’t bother her again. But you have to promise to feed me well. Or else, I will come back. I will!” warned the voice which came from Anita’s mouth. It was indeed the voice of Malika, the sundal bolong.
“You are really stubborn. Now take this!” Daud picked up the black pepper and pressed it onto Anita’s toes. Anita screamed in pain.
“Alright! You win! I’ll go away and never return. But remember about your promise. I will return if you broke your promise!” Anita said again but with a lower tone. She sounded weaker.
“I order you to go back to where you live this instant! I know who you are and it is better if you obey my command. Now go back. Go!”
Anita didn’t say anything, but her mouth opened wide. A disgusting sound appeared from her throat, as if she was choked or something. Daud put his right hand on Anita’s mouth and ready to catch the invisible thing which looked like it was going through Anita’s throat to escape.
Everyone saw what Daud did. Daud seemed to catch something from Anita’s mouth and then he put the invisible thing into a bottle. Anita was seen to turn back to normal. Her expression turned back to soft and natural. Daud ordered everybody to vacant the bedroom so that Anita could have a rest.
“Come, let’s leave her to rest. She’s cured now and let her gain back her strength,” said Daud to everyone while he himself got up and walked towards the living room. Everybody in the bedroom followed Daud’s steps. In just a few seconds the living room was full of people. Everybody were surrounding Daud. He became more popular than before.
