Skills future

[ilikeoldchangke]

Tan walked with a slight limp into the toilet, passing me by without looking at me. Dressed in the cleaning company’s uniform, he hummed a melody as he entered the toilet.
I went to the sink and pretended to wash my hands as I watched him check and inspect each cubicle. No matter how I look at him, he does not strike me as a murderer or someone who would stab another man.

Tan looked friendly and approachable.

I left the toilet shortly after that and waited for Tan to come out. Standing across the atrium which gave me a direct view of the corridor leading to the toilet, I saw Tan limping out with a knife in his hand. It’s a small fruit knife, barely the length of a small ruler.

Tan saw a colleague and they exchanged greetings warmly while pulling out an apple from a plastic bag. They grabbed a chair each near the small pantry nook where the sink is before settling down.
Tan and his colleague started talking and I watch him slice the apple into smaller pieces while holding it in his hand while chatting. No matter how I look at it, he doesn’t look like someone who will stab a man in the toilet.

Pretending to walk closer so I can eavesdrop on their conversation, they were talking about some choke toilet bowl in the ladies. Someone threw their sanitary pad in it or something. Tan also complained about his boss asking him to clean up the staircase of the mall, it’s hard on him because of his limp to go up and down staircases.

It’s just the usual daily banter between fellow cleaners.

I took the escalator down to level 2. This is bigger than I imagined.
They’re connected somehow.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee brought me to a café on level one and I ordered myself a cup of black coffee. As I sipped my cup of joe, I closed my eyes and tried to make sense of what is happening.

First the papers.
Suicide comes first, then the stabbing, then the accident, followed by the lingerie theft.
All 4 incidents happen on the same day, and they grabbed the headlines. So assuming I stop the suicide, the stabbing will take the headline. If I stop the stabbing, the accident will take the headline, and so on. This assumption is based on the time the incident occurs.

Running along this line of theory, Tan will stab Chua, pretend to discover the body before heading to supper with his friends. While eating, he gets into an accident and dies.

There may or may not be some other lines of connection between the other parties involved. I just don’t know them yet.

If I stop the stabbing, does that mean Tan will not go for supper and will not end up as an accident victim ? I put down my cup of coffee and cursed under my breath, reminding myself not to be so brash the next time I see the newspaper seller.
I have so many questions for him. At the very least, I need to ask him how the fuck this thing works.

After my coffee, I went back to the block of flats and bubble wrapped the sharp edges of the old, discarded bicycle. It looks silly but if it’s going to save someone’s life, it’s worth the effort.

I literally covered all edges with the bubble wrap.

Staring at my handiwork, I decided to apply a layer of bubble wrap on all edges near the bottom of the railings as well. Maybe I should buy a couple of mattress and put them there or something.

I took a cab back to office and spent a couple of hours finishing up what I should have done before running off the day before.
After I’m done, I did a round around the botanic garden on foot, hoping to see the old newspaper seller but I had no luck. I thought it was worth a try.


24th December 2018
Christmas eve
Monday

6am

I was up even before my alarm went off.
Today is the day Spencer gets scammed for the 1st time.

I have an idea of how to stop him. I could walk right up to him and tell him ‘hey bro, this is a scam.’ However, I doubt he would believe me. He might think I’m trying to scam him instead.
This is the way the human mind works. If someone tells us something, our mind chooses to be sceptical about it, but if we see something happening in front of our eyes, we tend to believe it.
Anything and everything is more believable, as long as our mind arrives on that conclusion without someone telling us.

Base on this line of thought, I decided to set myself up as a scam victim. Not that I’m going to get scam or anything, but pretending to be on the phone with a top up card in my hand looking worried as fuck is not hard.
The article mentioned Spencer first visited the convenient shop in the morning. It didn’t say what time. I took a taxi out to Hougang and arrived at the convenient store before 7am.

Entering the shop, I asked for a $100 Alipay topup card.

The auntie behind the counter took a card and loaded it with the amount I asked for.
I paid up and walked to the coffee shop just beside the convenient stall.
I ordered coffee and breakfast, choosing a seat that gave me a good vantage point of anyone approaching the convenient stall.
It turned out to be more than 2 hour wait.

At around 9am, I saw Spencer approached the convenient store. He carried a sling bag and wore a cap. He looked nervous and keeps looking at his phone while texting.
I finished my 3rd cup of coffee and brought my phone to my ear. It’s time to put on a show.

I saw Spencer hold up his phone’s speaker to his ear, probably listening to a seductive sweet voice of the scammer reassuring him that once he sends her the details of the top up card, she will let him know the address of where she is located.
Maybe she will throw in a couple of details of the naughty things she can do to him later after payment.

It’s always the same trick but people still fall prey to it. A sweet whiny voice of a girl can be hard to resist when your sperm sacs are full and you are thinking with your dick.

Spencer stopped outside the convenient store and reached for his wallet.

Walking towards him, I frowned and started talking to my imaginary scammer on the other line.

“what is the meaning of this ? I already send you the picture of my top up card, and you want more ? I send a few hundred already you know. “

I paused and from the corner of my eye, I saw Spencer looking at me.

Using a voice in distressed, I continued talking.

“ I really have no more money already. You at first tell me $50, then $100. Now you want $300!. Just send me the address of the girl already!”

I paced up and down the entrance of the store and Spencer is staring right at me as I pretended to pull my hair. Raising my voice, I threatened the imaginary scammer on the other end of the line.

“Oh FUCK YOU.. you think I afraid of you ? Fuck you ah.. I’m not paying you anymore…… FUCK off… what? What ? Gangster ? Gangster ah ? you gangster ? you sure ? COME LA.. come down now.. you here. You sure you here. ? Come here… I’m wearing blue, standing in front of the convenient store… come… I dare you to come… don’t talk cock with me… come down !.. fuck… you… fuck you ah..!” I cursed loudly in an agitated manner that it drew the attention of a few retirees having breakfast in the coffee shop.

I was breathing hard and I made eye contact with Spencer who was staring at me dumbfounded.

“WHAT ?! Never see people get scam before is it ?!?? You never see people kena (fall victim) the sex for credit scam ? What is there to look at? “ I said while glaring at Spencer in an aggressive manner. “I stupid la… I’m stupid… I really think a pretty girl will sleep with me for $120…I’m stupid…happy ? happy or not?!”

He immediately looked at his phone and switched it off.

Spencer turned around and pulled his cap down low and started walking away.

I bit my lips and fought back a chuckle. My face was flushing red and it was so fucking embarrassing but it got the job done.

See, this one is easy.

I ignored the stares the retirees are giving me and ordered another drink at the coffee shop. I just want to hang around a while longer to make sure Spencer never came back.

He didn’t and I’m so thankful he did not.

Surely that exaggerated act of mine is enough of a warning even for the most muddleheaded chap who is thinking with his penis. I mean come on. Even a simple foot and shoulder massage by a auntie in her fifties in Singapore will set you back between $40 to $55.

A sleazy massage shop needs $50-$88 as ‘entrance fee’ even before they pop the golden question if you need a ‘happy ending’. Those are separate charges by the way.

You really expect a pretty and hot 21 year old babe to have sex with you for $120-150 through the night ? Does chicken rice still cost 30 cents at the food centre ?
Despite the widely advertised warnings about falling prey to sex for credit scams, it’s still happening. The message is not getting through to the men.
Perhaps the government should start advertising how much legal sex services cost in Singapore. I mean there are legal, and licensed sex workers in Singapore, it’s 2018 for god sake.
Why are we still adopting the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ mentality at this?

If you can put notices at airports telling tourists how much a cab ride would cost to go to town, why can’t you be more kind to your own citizens?
Put up a damm sign to educate the people how much legal sex services cost, instead of having them trawl banned forums and sites to find out.
Surely having a price comparison would knock some sense into the potential victims.

No one is saying we should be proud and advertise to the world we have legal prostitution in Singapore, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of either. Just make it known to these clueless young punks.
I’m sure it’s not hard to slip in a lecture or two during national service about this shit when there are already so many ‘F’ words being thrown around.

I could still feel the eyes of the coffee shop patrons on me and decided it was time to go.

[ilikeoldchangke]

They probably think I’m an idiot but it’s ok. As long as Spencer don’t jump, I’m fine with people thinking I’m stupid.
They will probably forget about this in a few days.

I took a bus to the mall where the stabbing will be taking place in a couple of days and did another walkabout.

I saw Tan again. He was smiling and talking to a shop tenant while pushing his cleaning trolley. He walked passed the Korean restaurant and waved to someone inside. I cannot imagine how he is going from a friendly neighbourhood mall cleaner to killing a pimp.


26th December 2018
Wednesday
5.30pm

I waited for Sam at the mall entrance and I saw him walking towards me with a old fanny pack around his body. He waved from a distance away, unable to hide the glee on his face that I am buying him dinner.
I have only bought him coffee and water so far. Despite his repeated attempts to ask me out and buy me lunch, I have refused his offers. It’s not nice for a public servant to be dining out with contractors who are footing the bill.
I prefer to draw a line between work and personal life.
Today however, I’m afraid the line is going to get blurred.

Sam was wearing his company’s polo t-shirt, the services he provides clearly advertised on his back. His expression clearly indicated that he is glad to be able to get away from wife and kids.
I could see him holding a file in his hands, the documents I needed to sign off.

“Yo yo yo, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry…” Sam said in a spritely voice.
“ya ya ya, Sam Sam Sam…” I replied in a ‘meh’ voice.

“Wah, you first time ask me come out eat ley…. I going to win lottery…” Sam chuckled as we start walking towards the restaurant.

He lowered his voice a notched and asked if I needed help with something.
I turned and gave him a raised eyebrow look, wondering how he read my mind.

“Actually last month, your colleague Trisha ah, wah liew, she ask my people help her clear one entire patch ah, no money one ok…! “ Sam went on saying the other contractor played her out, left a section of their site untouched and Tricia did not know about it until it was too late.

“But I steady one, I settle for her” Sam said ‘settle’ in a forceful manner, slicing his palm faced down to the front of his chest like he solved a nuclear crisis or something.

“Tricia always doesn’t check her site properly.” I said while asking for a table for 2 at the restaurant. “I’m the opposite of her.”

“She always wear high heels mah, girls wear heels kok kok kok, walk shopping mall and office only.” Sam took a seat and opened the menu.

“Order what you want, my treat today.” I said.

“I kidding with you la Jerry, how can I let you treat ? I buy la, I buy la..” Sam said while gesturing to the staff to place his order.

I told him it’s either I buy the dinner or I’m not signing off the document.
“wah, like that ah. You don’t regret ah… Uncle is meat eater I tell you..” Sam chuckled and started placing orders of beef and chicken.

Sam and I talked about work as the meat was served and left to sizzle on the grill.


6pm.

I was putting a slice of beef in a vegetable wrap when what I saw at the entrance of the restaurant sent a shiver down my spine. I was expecting a familiar face, but I saw 2 instead.

The pimp, Chua is right up front and a couple of bodies behind him, is Francis.
The group file into the restaurant, talking loudly drawing the attention of the other restaurant patrons.

Chua is wearing a black long sleeve shirt that is left tuck out of his pants. The 1st button of his top is undone, revealing a partial tattoo of a demigod. A gold chain sits prominently around his neck and he walks with a swagger into the eatery.

The look on his face is one that is on the lookout for trouble. He has that gaze that readily engages people who are looking at him like he wanted to pick a fight.

He cast a look at our table, no doubt spotting the equally tattooed Sam stuffing a mouthful of cabbage wrapped beef into his mouth. Sam, upon seeing someone stare at him, put done his metal chopsticks and rest both hands on his thigh with his elbows angled outwards.

The old school stare down lasted barely 3 seconds and continued even after Chua joined his friends at the table.
The table of 6 includes Francis, a bespectacled man with the douchbag haircut. Decked out in branded goods from head to toe, he looks like the typical insurance agent that wears an expensive watch and drives a continental car.

Minutes after sitting down, the behaviour of the group clearly riled up other customers in the shop.
The talked loudly and cursed openly, throwing the ‘F’ word about even though there are kids in the restaurant. Chua is also particularly rude to the service staff, shouting at them to get their attention during the dinner peak.

In fact, Chua is the most rude one out of the group. He openly picked on service staff and even tell other tables off when they asked them to lower their voice.

“Not happy ? huh ? beat me la… you want to beat me ? “ He said in a defiant many while pointing to his cheek.

When their orders are finally placed, they quietened down a notch, but just when I thought we can enjoy a meal peacefully, the sound of soju glasses and beer mugs hitting the table noisily started to fill the restaurant, drawing the ire of the neighbouring tables.

One of the guys 2 tables away with his girlfriend went over to ask his friends to lower their volume but Chua commented loudly that this is the atmosphere in the restaurant when he eats in Korea.

I was tempted to tell him that his is Kovan, not Korea when I reminded myself that stakes are a lot bigger than correcting his behaviour and English that night.

“Public space wo !, why cannot talk loudly ? why ? you want to act hero in front of girl is it ? come la beat me, beat me, I won’t fight back, beat me ?” Chua pointed to his face again, giving that really stuck up asshole expression.

Chua’s friend apologised and asked Chua to sit back down.

The group ate noisily and they spat food directly onto the floor. Their used napkins and the small bones from their beef ribs all went straight to the floor.

One of the female staff tried to give them a container to put their waste but they just waved her away in a rude manner. Within a span of an hour, Chua demanded their grill plate be changed twice, scolded a staff for being too slow and shouted at another staff for not coming to help with their meat in a prompt manner.
While the rest of his friends are a little rowdy in their behaviour, Chua is always the loudest one and he speaks in an aggressive manner.

“How to eat like that you tell me ? How to eat this ?! “ He said while throwing a half slab of rib onto the table before throwing the tongs at the staff.

The rib looked a little charred, you can probably scrap off the black bits at the side and its still fine. There’s no need to throw the whole slab.

Gesturing his index finger at the staff, he pointed to the meat he threw on the table.
“I tell you, you eat this and show me. So black !, you want me to die is it ?”

While a friend of his asked Chua to calm down, the others just chuckled as the staff apologised and offered to replace the meat with a new one.

I could see the staff trying to call the restaurant owner, probably to inform him about the difficult table.

Half a dozen empty soju bottles sat on the floor near the group with another half a dozen of beer bottles scattered about the table and floor.
For absolutely no reason at all, Chua started tapping the grill with the metal Tongs, scraping and making a din while eyeballing the overworked staff who was trying to take another round of orders.

“Neh sweel eh… ( breast not bad ). Come my place work want or not ? hahaha.” Chua teased the female staff who quickly took the menu and walked away.

“what a table of assholes.” Sam said while eyeing them in an irritated manner.

“ignore them la, just eat our food.” I said.

Seeing the group drink, Sam asked if we should also order a few bottles of beer.

“You’re driving, don’t drink.”

“I live just 10 minutes away.”

“but you’re still driving right. What if you hit someone, who is going to take care of your kids and wife ? ”


“Wah lau eh Jerry. You very the wet blanket leh… ok, ok, ok. Drink coke, Drink coke.”

7.30pm

This is the time for the last round of cleaning in the toilet. After that, Tan is probably going to be at other sections of the mall.

The newspaper article says Tan raised the alarm of the body at 9pm. Chua is still sitting a few tables from me. It’s going to happen soon I think.
The expression on the faces of staff and other restaurant patrons speaks volumes about the noisy table.

Chua has been harassing the female staff by the name of Brenda for the past hour. He commented on her breast, her legs, how smooth her skin is.
When a male staff tried to serve that table, Chua shouted for him to go away.

“get her to serve us, she got breast, got legs, you got what? Hairy leg ah ? “ Chua said as his friends laughed.

[ilikeoldchangke]

Everyone was looking at Chua and his friends, but they could not give two fucks what others thought about their behaviour.


The final straw came when Brenda was asked over to the table to cut down a few pieces of grilled meat for the men. While cutting, Chua deliberately made Brenda put the pieces of meat into the places of his friends around the table.
Since she is standing at one side of the table, she needs to reach over and stretch to reach the plates on the other side.

As she stretched, Chua openly ogled at her legs, bringing his face close to her thighs and doing the eyebrow raising kind of look at his friends who were all laughing.

“here one hour how much they pay you little girl…come my place work, I guarantee you…. Whoooo… hahha.” Chua laughed as he heckled the girl.” Don’t angry leh little girl…don’t wait you ask your boyfriend come and beat me wor…”

I can’t believe an asshole like him exists.
Brenda set down the scissors and tongs after she’s done and excused herself from the shop. As she walked past us, I could see her eyes are red. She’s on the verge of crying.

Brenda stormed out of the shop and a older auntie from the kitchen came out to tell the group off. She scolded them, telling them if they are here to eat, they are welcome, but if they are here to create trouble, they should leave.

Chua had the cheek to talk back to her in a haughty manner.
“ Please ah, I only want her to work for me ah, not you, ha. Haha.. not you. You no market. Hahaha” Chua said as a few of his equally intoxicated friends roared with laughter.

The auntie stormed angrily back to the kitchen and I could hear Chua calling out to her.
“ehhhh, Take chopper chop me ah ? faster ah..haha.. make sure sharp enough… if not will be painful…chop here… chop here” Chua said while angling his head outwards, displaying the back of his neck towards the kitchen.

The adults at a table with kids shook their head and decided to leave without finishing their meals. I don’t blame them. The way they are behaving is affecting everyone’s appetite.
Sam, however, is still focused on his food. He kept cooking and grilling the meat, rejecting the staff’s help because he says he can do a better job.
“I am the BBQ king when I’m young ok !” He boasted. “beef if too cooked not nice.”

A few minutes later, I saw Brenda come back from the bathroom, she obviously locked herself in a cubicle to cry or something.
As she walked in briskly, avoiding the looks from Chua and friend, I saw Tan at the entrance of the restaurant.

He appeared to be walking or chasing after Brenda, stopping at the restaurant entrance.
Tan is looking at Brenda with a worried look on his face, and right about then, Chua made another pass at Brenda.

“Oei, girl, girl… don’t cry la. Uncle play with you only you cry, next time how to play with boyfriend ? hahah” Chua said while sucking to the end of his chopsticks and shaking his legs under the table.
“Cannot play ah, cannot play don’t come out work la… stay at home read book ah… young people… cannot take stress ah ? “

The expression on Tan’s face has changed as he stared at Chua from outside the shop.
This must be the trigger.
Tan is related to Brenda.

Sam put his utensils down and I could see he too was getting riled up by that asshole.
“oei oei oei, what you doing ? “ I asked.

I never expected Sam to shout across the restaurant.

“OEI, KNN ( fuck you ), can shut up or not. The rest of us trying to eat leh What the fuck, whole evening kao pei kao bu ( making a scene ).”

Chua immediately stood up, pushing his chair back angrily while pointing aggressively at Sam.

“What’s your problem !” Chua wanted to come towards us but was held back by his friends who finally realised their friend is going overboard.

Francis turned and apologised to the restaurant on Chua’s behalf and Sam stood up, rising to his full height, unafraid to rise up to the challenge.

“come la, we go out talk..ai mai ? ( shall we ) lai ah (come on).. you think I scare of you ? I put you one hand ah CCB (I’ll give you a one arm handicap if we fight) ” Chua said aggressively, taunting Sam to a fight.

He even picked up the scissors that was used to cut the BBQ meat and offered it to Sam.

“come take, come…waiting for what? “ Chua taunted.”come and kill me la….waiting for what ? no balls ah ? you no balls ? COME!”

The owner of the restaurant finally arrived and he tried to defuse the situation.

Brenda looked distressed, and you could tell she just wants to get out of the place.

The shop owner offered to give all the tables a discount and calmer minds at Chua’s table agreed that they should stop drinking. The mood in the restaurant mellowed down a notch and Chua while eyeballing Sam gestured a middle finger to Brenda.

“all your fault ah girl… see, wear so short. Attract all the wolves, people gangster want to stand up for you ah. !” Chua said, making an obvious dig at Sam. “wait gangster kill me ah… say I pervert ah…”

At the point, I was tempted to let Chua get stabbed, but I knew at the back of my head we can avoid this. We can still stop this. He’s an asshole alright, but he doesn’t deserve to die because of it.

Sam, to his credit, did not let a comment like that rile him up.

“siao one you know these people… you see.. Singapore so stressful.. everyday got crazy people.” Sam mumbled and continued to cook the beef on the grill.
“KNN, take one scissors want to play hero…he don’t know my lorry got chainsaw ah.hahahha” Sam chuckled and I urged him to concentrate on his food.

I kept a close eye on Chua. He’s riled up so many people already. The moment he goes to the bathroom, that’s probably when it will happen.
Gesturing to Brenda, Sam requested politely that she help us cook the rest of the meat on the table.

“Come come, you help us cook here. That table no more food, you don’t go there. “

Brenda nodded gratefully and Sam excused himself, saying that he needs to go to the bathroom.
“You cook first ah, I high tide… later come back just nice I can eat..” Sam said to Brenda.

After Sam walked off, I tried to calm Brenda down by striking up a conversation.

“They’re just drunk and being assholes, don’t mind them.” I said to Brenda. “ You still in school? “

I struck up a conversation with Brenda, who only looked too happy to be away from Chua and friends and talking to someone who is not drunk.
She has been looking at me since I walked in and I’m not shy to admit I’m the best looking guy within the eatery.

Suddenly I saw Chua walk out of the restaurant.
“I’ve been working here for 5 months when I’m not studying, mostly part time. “ Brenda said. “I’ve never see you here before.”
Without replying her, I took out my wallet and told Brenda to put the bill on my card and we will be back.

“ I need to use the toilet I’m sorry. ”

Running out of the restaurant, I saw Chua walking briskly up the escalator to level 3.

I don’t know if he saw Sam heading up and wants to confront him, or if he really needs to use the bathroom.

I walked quickly behind Chua and upon arriving at level 3, I saw Tan eyeing Chua. That look on his face is not good news.

Shit.

Tan, seeing Chua walking to the toilet, started to limp rapidly towards us, coming down from the other end of the mall.

I avoided Tan’s gaze and walked slightly behind Chua towards the toilet.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Tan abandoned his cleaning trolley and he started limping towards the bathroom behind me.

I exhaled and tried to calm myself down. This is it boy.

Entering the toilet, I saw Sam at the Urinal. He was peeing and whistling.

Chua entered and slowed his approach. He took the centre of the toilet, looking at Sam’s back view without saying anything. If he is here to pee, he wouldn’t have hesitated and just stared at Sam.

I stepped in and before the door shut behind me, Tan’s hand stopped the door from closing.

Tan set up the yellow cleaning in progress sign outside the men’s bathroom and stepped in behind me.

Sam turned around, coming face to face with Chua while I heard the thud of the toilet door closing, shutting the 4 of us within the confines of the men’s toilet.

………………………………………………………………………………….

[hawkeye007]

Great update...!!

Now machiam blue balls with the cliffhanger; can’t wait for the next update..!!

[Ahter69]

Excellent story bro, will look forward to next update!

[koebshaq0_0]

Thank you TS for the latest update! Have a great weekend!

[jlanjut]

Awesome 4some!

Ups for iLock.

[2Dots]

Very nice story, can't wait to read next update

[TheGG]

Welcome back ilock

[shengkaifu]

Cheers to TS, please write more!

[FlatTop]

Thank you James for recent updates.
Can't wait for the next. I've been checking 3 to 4 times a day to see if there is any.
Keep up the good work. You are the best writer on SBF. There is no doubt about it.

[HoJinx]

Originally Posted by FlatTop

Thank you James for recent updates.
Can't wait for the next. I've been checking 3 to 4 times a day to see if there is any.
Keep up the good work. You are the best writer on SBF. There is no doubt about it.

Agreed with you bro. TS is a fantastic writer!

[chenzong]

Originally Posted by HoJinx

Agreed with you bro. TS is a fantastic writer!

I second the secondment of Bro Ho!

[kamayo]

Wonder when is the next update

[DickyWang]

“Fuck, I love this story.”

perhaps it's not Chua's life that Jerry is saving ... it's Chua's murderer's life?

can't wait for the next episode! I came here horny but left intrigued!