[susansloverboy]

I had a best friend when I was growing up, and we were very close since we were little. Our parents knew each other and there would be occasional dinners and even family holidays which we enjoyed together. And being the only sons in either family, we naturally acted just like brothers when we were together! But the good thing was that we rarely fought becasuse we seldom see each other so we really treasured the time when we do meet.

It also became some sort of tradition for either one of us to spend time at the other’s house during the school holidays - we would spend up to a week at each others house just having fun without a care in the world! However, most of the time it was me going over to Jake’s house because his family had some sort of vacation house which was closer to my house, compared to their usual house which was in another state. That was the main reason we seldom met.

Now just a bit of background on Jake’s family - his Dad was a plantation owner, whose business include the cultivation and selling of mainly fruits such as coconut, durian, rambutan and pomelo. And when I say plantation, what I really meant was he owned several pieces of land all over the country, each focused on specific crops. So you can imagine that he would be traveling all over to oversee and manage the plantations he had. As mentioned, one of his houses is at the plantation which was located closer to my home, and he would make it a point to have at least part of Jake’s holiday time at that piece of land. Also, part that land was made to be some sort of little ‘holiday area’ - there was a little field next to their bungalow for sports and games, a pond a short distance away, and also an observation tower nearby. There was even a little stream that ran through which Jake and I like to dip ourselves in on hot and sweaty afternoons! And also, this was one of the larger pieces of land among all of them, and depending on where you stood, you couldn’t even see the fence / boundaries at all! There was also just a single dust road leading in so it was rather secluded. It was total peace and quite away from the hustle and bustle of civilization.

Jake’s mum on the other hand was a very homely person - she used to work but that was many many years ago before they got married. She was always gentle and soft-spoken, neat and tidy and proper when doing things. The one thing (if I had to choose only one) she was amazing at was preparing food - be it proper meals or even teatime snacks! Probably it’s because they were a rich family so she had access to the best ingredients but her patience and culinary skills really shone! It was no wonder how Jake got so fat, but also a wonder that she herself managed to remain relatively slim!! It was always a highlight to taste her meals when I got the chance to stay over. Jake’s mum, whom I will just refer to as L, was not what one might consider attractive; in fact, she was rather average looking - short curly hair, not too tall, not too slim, and for someone as well to do as her, she does not bother to dress up or put on makeup even when going out! So when at home, she would just be dressed in a t-shirt, or those sleeveless blouses which were undoubtedly comfy but plain as hell. Yes, just those with plain shorts to match! I just guess for some rich people, they don’t even bother with dressing up coz they know they have the ‘real stuff’ (money).

So when I do get the chance to spend a chunk of my holidays at Jake’s holiday house, I felt like it was on a totally different world with only me and Jake on it. Why? That’s coz we had this huge piece of land for us to roam around and do almost anything we wanted - swim in the stream, climb trees, catch insects, fish at the pond, and that’s just stuff outside the house! And being rich, Jake also had loads of stuff inside the house - toys of all manner, video games, huge TV and dozens of movies, and comic books of all types! There was just endless stuff to do at any time of day. And what made it even better was that Jake’s father was mostly not around as he had to work, and sometimes not at the piece of land at which were staying. This means we sometimes don’t see him for days. So it was just mostly Jake, L and myself, not considering the workers and helpers they had, whom did not live on that plantation.

So one of the things which first made an impression with L, was that she was very caring, and therefore was not a stranger to hugs and the occasional pecks on the cheek. It could have been because she knew me since I was really young, but it was also because that’s just how she was, I guess. And on one occasion, when we were just about to finish lunch - Jake’s father was at work and Jake had rushed off first to play video games - L had requested that I finish the last piece of vegetable on the table. But instead of handing the plate to me or using a fork to pass me the food, she instead used her fingers to pick it up, and fed it to me using said fingers! And what’s more, she even asked me to lick the gravy off her finger and thumb!! It struck me as odd even though I was so young, but she had done it as if it were a normal thing, so I obliged!

And then, there was another incident which happened, during another stayover when I was slightly older - like 10 or something...