The Blink is Dusk.
Where I'm
A maternity room at Bunda Hospital in Palembang City, full of happiness. A young mother has just given birth. Twins are born healthy and normal. Some sisters came to check the infusion, the health of the mother and her baby, then came out. There was something he said to his mother and father-in-law. Who sits in a chair. Meanwhile a girl in pink hijab is busy with her mobile phone. He photographed two of his newborn nieces and he uploaded them on his social media. Two red babies sleep well in a special bed.
"How are you, Reze." Ask her mother-in-law to come closer after all the sisters left.
"Alhamdulillah, good ma'am." Reze answered her mother-in-law's question. The door opened, a young man carrying a lot of groceries. Then he gave all the groceries to the younger sister to take care of.
"Prepare this, Pintan." He pointed to the groceries. The toilet door opened, a grandfather came out.
"Yes, Koyong." The answer.
"Dinda, Bak-Umak, and Gafur are going to Palembang tomorrow. Mansur's brother called Kanda while shopping in Indomaret." Said the man
"Yes, it's okay." Answer Reze weakly.
"Sir, there's a martabak." Said Reze's husband.
"Bak nian's son you are, Katara." Answer Katara's father. "Master." Code calls, indeed Reze's in-laws love peanut martabak.
"Yes Bak, just a minute." Sahut Pintan while arranging food on a plate.
"What fruit do you want." Ask Pintan to Reze. Reze answered what fruit there was. Mother-in-law also recommends eating lots of vegetables and fruit. Because breastfeeding mothers need a lot of nutritional intake to produce ASI. They are a happy family, always chatting cheerfully.
The atmosphere was calm, while eating food Mr. Katara told the incident yesterday afternoon to his family. Father, Mother and Pintan were shocked. They did not expect that Mr. Katara and his wife had just passed through a bad and precarious situation.
"Maybe that good father, got killed." Mr. Katara said lethargic. While her mother hugged Reze while crying. Pintan also glazed over his eyes. Katara's father was silent in a thousand languages, knowing his son and daughter-in-law had a bad accident.
"Do we shut up and let it go, Kanda. Are we not sinners." Tanya Reze was scared.
"You also understand dinda. We owe our lives to that man. We'll find the address, if we need to get the police's help." Answer Mr. Katara.
"Not just us, but two kids too." Said Reze with a whim.
"Then you report the incident to the police. Especially the car they took. Before there was another incident related to that car. Like a bank robbery or something." Said Mr. Katara's father.
...*...
Mr. Katara and his wife had not been able to report to the police. Reze his wife suddenly got a stomachache and was about to give birth. That's why Mr. Katara went straight to the hospital and waited until his wife's delivery was completed and he would report the incident that afternoon. While in the hospital, he called his mother and father to go to the hospital. After telling the story, Mr. Katara and his father finally went to the police station to report.
...*****...
In the hospital, Reza continues to be haunted by guilt. He remembered what happened yesterday afternoon. Before they were so far away. Reze looked back. He saw the scavenger being gang-raped by three people. Reze and her husband also still see the scavenger being stabbed many times by criminals.
"Already Reze, later if you're healthy. We and our family came to their house. If you need a wife or child we give a job, compensation. We consider them our family. Now you're taking a lot of rest. I hope the criminals are caught by the police quickly. Then punished according to his deeds." Said Reze's mother-in-law stroking her hair.
"True mother, Yuk." Pintan said it was entertaining. While sitting Pintan opened his Facebook social media account. He found news that was breaking. About the murder of a scavenger next to an empty house. Pintan reads the news, and shows a photo of the location. Reze confirmed the location. And it also confirmed that the person on the news was the one who helped him.
"The father bet lives, there were five stabs in his body the police said." Pintan. Their mother looked shudder in horror hearing that.
SUDDENLY:
"Ting-Tung-Tung-Tung" Reze's smartphone reads.
"Where's your delivery room, Ze." Ask for voices on the phone.
"Special Children's room, uncle's third floor." Answer Reze. Mother-in-law asked who, Reze answered Uncle Redo. Mr. Redo Katara's father's younger brother.
"Whose side you ride." Ask again. Reze was confused, he glanced at Pintan. Then asked if Pintan would pick up uncle and family downstairs. Pinta is ready, and immediately exits the room.
"Oh, explain it, Uncle. Pintan will pick up. Or uncle to the receptionist." Answer Reze. There was the sound of a baby crying and being quiet again.
"Don't be this hungry, granddaughter." Said Reze's in-law. It was not long before his uncle, aunt, children arrived with Pintan. They booked the delivery of his wife Mr. Katara.
"Bibik Ziwa, healthy." Pintan hugged his uncle's wife.
"Dudi, Futo, you've grown up." Said Mr. Katara's mother calling two of his sister-in-law's children.
"Why Katara's contact is off." Ask Uncle Redo.
"Your sister, and Katara's at the police station." Answer Reze's in-laws.
"Police office." Uncle Redo and his wife were surprised not to be upset. After that, Reze and his in-laws explained the events that befell Mr. Katara and Reze yesterday afternoon.
"Rain, yesterday afternoon. Inalillahi wa Inna ilaihi Raji'un." Mr. Redo said the story ended.
...*****...
The seventh grade room of SMP Negeri 40 Palembang looks calm and neat. All students sit on their own benches. Ready to wait for lessons. Saturday afternoon Indonesian subjects, which are creative writing. Such as poetry, short stories, pantuns, fairy tales, and if - if. If only it were original oral literature from South Sumatra that was fantasy, a kind of fairy tale.
"How, it's the children's duty." Ask the Seventh Class Guardians. Then he goes around the room, looking a little or wondering.
"Yuzaka, what story did you tell?." Ask the Teacher and his homeroom teacher.
"Secret Mum." Yuzaka was timid and closed his writing.
"Sin, what's it doing?." Ask mother.
"Tongue son of Ma." Answer Disin.
"Good." The teacher went back around the room.
"Kayba, make what?." Kayba also closed her writing book. All eyes looked towards Kayba.
"It must be a poem, it would be." Said a male student. Kayba who was fat and tall seemed eighty to hear the words of his friend. There was laughter around the class.
"He, this time it's over." Kayba said as he held out a fist. Everyone laughed at Kayba's behavior.
"Say he wanted to be a famous writer, make a poem from the beginning of class." Knock on the other friend. The room was full of laughter again.
"Pagli, Teram. Don't tease his friend. In our work we have to support each other. So that our work will improve. Enter and suggestions for the good of a work. That's what you need to do. If you want to be great at writing you have to keep going." Advice from the Classroom Guardian.
"Aram, what are you doing?."
"I'm making syarce, Mom." Answer Aram flat.
"What syarce, just heard." Sahut mother teacher.
"The new literary syarce that Aram reads on the internet. Syarce stands for verse and story. His poetry is difficult for everyone to understand. So when combined with the story everyone will understand. Syarce, there is fiction there is non-fiction. Non-fiction means coming from actual events even if presented in the abstract." Aram Obviously.
"Ok, okay. I'm waiting for your work." Said the Guardian Class. He then went back around the room greeting the other students. The classroom was again crowded with their jokes. But they keep writing and doing their best work.
"Saturday ahead, may be shared with friends who want to volunteer to read the work. Or read by the author." Said the Class Guardians. Moments later the lesson ended, marked the sound of the school bell. And so, all of them gathered the written work on the teacher's desk.
"What's good, later mom uploaded on the school website. Or sent to a national literacy competition." Said the mother of the Class Guardians while compiling their duty books. After everything was gathered together, the class of the day was over.
...*****...
The school gate.
*
"Yuzaka, if I'm wrong. I'm sorry, tell my friends too." Aram said softly, but he smiled. Aram gave her a letter.
"You're not wrong Aram. Why apologize, weird. If you're wrong with me, before you ask. What's up, you freaks." Yuzaka replied with a smile, he was happy that Aram greeted him. Unsuspecting, Yuzaka takes a letter from Aram's hand. At first glance he read that the letter was addressed to their Class Guardians.
"It's okay, I'm ahead." Aram said, he then stepped home on foot as usual. Yuzaka said, then sat on the bench in front of the school fence. Watching Aram who walked without looking among the students came home. The elongated iron bench is covered with shady angsana trees. The usual place for students to wait for an invitation. Yuzaka waits for an invitation, his father or brother. Some school children were also sitting around him. While the students of the school continued to flow out. Some are cycling, walking, or biking.
"Yuzaka, I'm ahead." Call a student to class with him. She came home with her ninth-grade sister.
"Yes here, don't forget to play at home later, say it."
"Okk." Shouted Disin while waving his hands.
"Don't forget to take the others." Shouted Yuzaka, and replied to the code okay by Disin.
...*****...
Seven days later Aram's father died. That coincided with the expiration of the rental lease that month. Three days to pay.
"Sir, Mr. Marang's contract is almost up this month. How, he's dead and just a kid." Said the owner of the contract to her husband.
"How else, they can't pay the orphans either." Answer her husband confused.
"Will there be no family." Ask wife.
"They don't know, they say there's a family but don't know where." Obviously husband.
"If you can't pay, according to Sir's rules." Wife says. Her husband was silent, he could not decide how. The pity for Aram also filled his heart. But that contract is also their livelihood.
At about nine o'clock in the evening, the landlord's mother came to Aram's contract. At that time, he was still studying with his brothers.
"Krrt." The door suddenly opened. Aram and his sisters looked at the door, fat mothers entering. Approaching Aram and his sisters. Aram who was bowing turned back up, and sat down. The Aramean brothers silently watched the question mark.
"Aram, your contract is only three days away. If you can't pay, please leave this contract. Keep your things together." Said the mother of contract, cynically. Aram just nodded, he felt the horror of the face and the sight of the fat mother. After that, the landlord's mother left. Aram was so sad, he looked at his sisters. Remembering her mother's message, she had to take care of her sister.
"Umakkp. Baakkk." That was the sound of Aram's heart.
...*****...
THREE DAYS LATER.
*
Aram pushed his father's wagon. The sunlight was already hot enough, around eleven o'clock in the afternoon. Inside the cart: their clothes, school bags, not so many kitchen tools. One dozen plastic plates, plastic cups, one-dozen spoons, cauldrons, pots, hoes, gas stoves, tarps, machetes, kitchen knives, water gallons, plastic kettle, and other tools. Aram did not know where to go, which he obviously stepped in followed by his sisters, leaving the contract. They left before dawn, so no one knew.
"Koyong, where are we going." Figan asked, he looked so great walking and asked for a drink, he was thirsty.
"Koyong, I'm hungry." Luran. Aram remembered the boiled yams he had cooked earlier. Then look for a shady place and away from the highway. He took his three sisters to eat boiled sweet potatoes with weathered plastic mats. Drinking water a bottle of used plastic mineral water.
...*****...
The Aramaic School.
*
"Report is complete, ceremony is complete." Squad leader report.
"Dissolve." Answer the ceremony leader. After that, all are rested, then disperse. Teachers enter the school office, while students rest fifteen minutes before class.
...*****...
The Aramaic Class.
*
"Mother, this is a letter from Aram. Looks like he's not in school today." Yuzaka said, after which he turned around and headed towards his stool.
"Oh, yes." The First Lady took the letter, and put it on a thick map. Then he immediately approved his students. Before his absence he marked Aram's name with permission. Then he started calling his students one by one.
"Someone knows why Aram doesn't go to school." Ask the Guardian Class mother while closing the attendance book.
"Definitely afraid to read his strange work syarce, ma'am." Said Ramda my friend Aram. The laughter of some students was immediately refuted by his teacher.
"Hus, it can't be that." Sangga the Guardian Class.
"Aram sii, a child makes love work. That's why she's ashamed. Njai is not finished yet." Chirp Boby. This time all couldn't help but laugh, so the Class Guardians mother also laughed along.
"Don't joke around with Aram. She's never a boyfriend." Yuzaka defends Aram.
"Yeeeeee." One class of friends sounds like that.
Put Yuzaka to death. In fact Yuzaka is said to like Aram and the severity of Yuzaka is tempted to be Aram's wife. How upset Yuzaka was at the temptations of his classmates so. His face was red and he could no longer speak.
"Stopppp. It's been. Long affair, study now." Said the Class Guardians.
...*****...
Lessons began, one by one reading their work. The teacher and the Guardian Class explained the weaknesses and advantages of their work. Which grammar is wrong and correct. So that everyone understands and understands. Everyone was so excited and excited when it was Kayba's turn. Kayba's poem is not finished. As he read and cut his groove.
"Can't finish." Boby, Teram, and Pagli said almost simultaneously, and the whole class laughed. The First Lady of the Class could no longer help but laugh as well. Kayba's face puffed up red, resisting embarrassment.
"Your mother, make the poem with high feelings and imagination. Not just the origin of writing, like any other work." Kayba's intention was to explain why his poem wasn't finished. The situation grew increasingly boisterous when Kayba's explanation was uttered. The Class Guardian calmed down and asked Kayba to sit down.
"This is Aram's work anyone wants to read." Ask the Classroom Guardian. For a long time all was silent, no one wanted to read.
"Let me, Mom." Tawar Yuzaka's.
"Yeeeeee." Back the sound of a full room.
"Here, go ahead Yuzaka." Said the teacher. Yuzaka came forward and took out a two-sheet white paper on the table. Then move to the middle, front of the class. Stand up to his friends.
*
Palembang, January 2019.
Syarce: Where am I
By: Mohammad Aram.
SHIRTS:
When there was a mother, I laughed every day.
Even though my stomach and my brothers' stomach haven't eaten. Because we always play together. Waiting for mom and dad to come home from picking up the trash. But Mom left months ago. Making my laughter decrease every day. Sad from all the sadness that happened. Seven days ago, my father left. Go after mom, far away. And will never come back.
Only the dad's cart was taken by the police. There's dad's stock of yam bags, and the iron rusts. The police said my father killed a vile criminal. We were crying and sad as if we were not breathing anymore. There is still time to learn and play. Breathe in our days. Until the contract mom comes to tell. Our lease is over.
WHERE AM I
Where'd I.
And my sisters.
Looking for shelter.
From the rain and the sun.
Cold nights and dreaming sleep.
Keman Me.
Pushing my father's wagon.
Down this long road.
What we will eat.
Sleep must be on the floor of the earth.
Where'd I.
This miserable one.
Orphans.
Bringing my sisters.
Finding a way of life.
Dad, Mom why are you leaving.
After my mother left, my laughter diminished.
When dad left my laughter was extinguished.
Just my cries and the cries of my sisters.
Which I still have.
*
...*****...
Yuzaka's tears melted down his cheeks. He sat down and cried. He hugged Yuzaka. All my friends are sad. The Classroom Guardian Mother was also sad. Instantly cheerful they were lost and changed concerns.
"What is syarce, that makes people sad." Halimah.
"It's just a work of literature, it means a lie. Sadness and joy are indeed the effects of literary works, just don't know." Obviously Boby.
"Truly you, we are sad to hear that. How about it's real." Said Saen.
"It seems right, Aram's mother is dead. Aram said yesterday that syarce literature is fiction and non-fiction." Said Guki. Everyone stared hard at Guki.
...*****...
Meanwhile, Aram's homeroom teacher sits at his desk. He opened an Aramaic letter which he thought was a license not to attend a regular school.
*
Assalamualaikum, Tuyahan's mother, Class Guardians, 7.1 grade. Aram is unable to attend Monday's lessons. Maybe even days later. Give Aram greetings to the Headmaster. Sorry I have not been able to pay the SPP arrears. Sorry for Aram's mischief all this time, ma'am. Say my apologies to all my friends.
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wa barokatu.
From Aram:
...*****...
Mother Tuyahan's tears splashed from the sides of her two eyes. Jatu wetting Aramaic letter paper. He thinks something happened to Aram. What is it until the words of his letter are so deep in meaning.
Did he leave? Would you stop? Or because you haven't paid SPP. The question haunts Mother Tuyahan's mind. He decides to meet Aram in his rented with his friends. All agreed, the class ended and entered the first hour of rest.
...*****...
Four transport cars stopped in front of the footpath. A swarm of Junior High School children descended from each angkot. Among them was Mother Master Tuyahan who was pregnant young. Her dress looks a little prominent. Then walk along the path to the Aram contract.
"Sir, the children of Mr. Marang where." Ask the teacher to Mr. Kabas who is folding cardboard. It looks like all around it is strewn with old stuff.
"Your yesterday was, Mom. But this morning was not visible, neither was the wagon. I also wonder how lonely." Answer Mr. Kabas while working. Hearing the noise, from inside every contract out the mothers. Then sit together on the terrace rented Pak Kabas and Tuyahan's mother joined.
"Maybe looking for used goods. Both of their parents are no more. Poor them to be orphans. I've cooked a lot this morning, want to split them." Said Mr. Kabas' wife.
"Mainly, Luran was always the same sister" said Pak Bakir's wife. The mothers told Aram about Tuyahan's mother. So that the mother knows the problem facing Aram.
...*****...
"Pristian. Aramaic." Call Yuzaka at the door. Accidentally, Disin pushed the door. Turns out the door wasn't locked. The rented room was empty, nothing. I just realized that Aram and his sisters are gone. When she asked her contract mother, she said she didn't know. But he was happy to hear Aram and his sisters had left. Just find a new tenant he thought with a smile.
...*****...
Rest Time:
*
"We are not sensitive to Aram." Saying Disin. While Yuzaka was still silent and his eyes glazed over. Yuzaka cares about Aram the most. Some of Yuzaka's female friends come and talk about Aram.
"Oh, that old man that's been mugged by a criminal on that television, Aram's father." Halimah. Everyone was surprised and just found out.
"What a pity, pity Aram." Saen.
"We're just trying to find Aram, if we meet we help what we can do." Halimah's Advice. All agreed, and they searched on holidays, but Aram was never found. So they all gave up and started forgetting Aram in their lives. Only Yuzaka keeps trying to find Aram.
...*****...
