The Blink is Dusk.
Rainy Night
AZAN ASHAR'S.
*
A residential complex at the end of Palembang City, bordering between Palembang City and Ogan Ilir Regency. An archway and asphalt road three meters wide as an entrance. Guard post, always guarded by security guard during the night. All the houses are occupied by the owner.
A house at the end of block B. Fenced iron, canopy taso and roofed zinc aluminum. There's a black car under the Brio brand, parked inside the fence.
"Srett." The fence was open, a twenty-seven-year-old man came out. He put the trash in the sampa tub next to the gate. A three-year-old boy came running.
"Dadahhh." Calling her almost crying.
"Dad, put the trash in the tub. Not going to play out." The answer.
A woman in her fifties takes off her face in the living room of the house. Finish the Ashar prayer. The man entered the house, he carried his son.
"Suspect, let's play with grandma, I want a new break home from work." Said the grandmother.
"Let's play with grandma, new mobilan where." Said the Father. Without speaking he moved his body to come down from the sling of the father, and played. He also played with his grandmother.
"Yes, my single son plays with my grandmother, I sleep for a while." Said the father, watching his son start playing. The boy nodded, his father entered the middle room of the house.
...*****...
QUARRELS.
*
"Kanda, what do you mean always reply messages, call trus, VC too, with your ex. There is no other way to work. How often do we contact each other." Ask his wife who looked sulky and had from earlier the brains of her husband's smartphone. The husband who had been trying to close his eyes, so disturbed.
"I'm marketing that bank, and he works at that bank. How not to communicate. He just got transferred to the marketing department. I don't want to communicate with him. Remember, in work do not play a feeling, professional." Answer her husband while opening his face pillow. Then he came back to close his eyes.
"If it doesn't play out the feelings, why can he be an ex-Kanda." Said the wife pouting big.
"That's the past. Don't discuss." A third.
"But my heart reads your chet every day." Answer wife.
"You are, keep looking for trouble. I'm tired, a lot of trouble. Already the four credits I've been paying are stuck. Every day get angry with the supervaiser, Hhaaaahhh." He said he was starting to get emotional.
"You're looking for trouble, if you take care of my feelings, there'll be no problem." Answer his wife while struggling a little. Her husband couldn't stand it anymore, then got up and went outside while slamming the door.
"Durrr." Room door sounds. Her grandmother and granddaughter were surprised. Grandma looked at him question mark. His heart was secretly offended. Why did his son quarrel, what because he was hitching a ride in his house, the grandmother thought.
...*****...
THE NEXT DAY.
*
They have fought three times in a week. The grandmother's heart became frenzied and felt that she was the source of the quarrel of her son and daughter-in-law. The look in his eyes became sweet, very sad life hitchhiking children, his heart said. What they make noise, what because there is Me so that his wife is always looking for trouble, said the grandmother's heart. That was how the grandmother's daydreams were, and then she finished sweeping the yard while watching her granddaughter play the toy cars.
As usual, every morning housewives are always a lot of work, berberes.
"Let's Mom, I'll just mop. I'm just playing the same thought." His son-in-law. She doesn't feel good her mother-in-law works so. Later when seen by the neighbors he must be said to be a brash daughter-in-law.
"All right then." The grandmother did not mop and she went to play with her granddaughter in the living room. His granddaughter invited to play outside while buying snacks. After coming home, I thought I'd take her grandmother to play with ghosts. While the floor just got on the mop by his son-in-law.
"Well, get caught by Grandma's granddaughter." When he opened the room curtain. Suspect ran into the kitchen laughing, intending to hide again. Suddenly:
"Surrrear. Gobo." Suspected of falling slipping due to stepping on a new wet granite floor in the mop. Then it rolled over and hit the front door frame. The snack in his hand scattered in the middle of the room.
"My son." Shouted the mother. He immediately helped his son. Grandma came out and approached. When he saw the boy's head there was a wound. The child cried for a moment.
"Mother, I'm mopping up why play like that." The son-in-law blamed the in-laws.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, yeah." Said his mother-in-law to her daughter-in-law and granddaughter. But in my heart the in-laws are so sad. Though I thought myself who wanted to play. If not, she must be crying. Grandma feels so guilty. Especially when he saw the look on his daughter-in-law's face was very sour. His son-in-law had considered him negligent and did not think as parents should.
...*****...
MALAMANNIM.
*
As usual her husband came home and his wife told him all. But only according to the wife's version. A little upset her husband's heart to her mother. But no he massacred and did not turn on the mother. It's just that his words with his wife were heard by his mother. Who happened to pass in front of the room when going to the WC.
"Why are you so." Said the husband.
"But Kanda must tell you, so as not to repeat. But don't let me take it personally." Said the wife. They watched their son sleep well and his head was bandaged.
"What did Bu Midwife say." Ask the husband.
"What's wrong, just skin wounds." Answer wife. The husband looked at the clock from the cell phone, the clock showed at 12:21 p.m. The two did not know that the mother heard all their conversations.
...*****...
A new red-branded private car has been rolled down the streets in the middle of Palembang City. Mr. Katara, his wife, father, mother, their twin babies, Pintan and two young boys in the car. Arrive near the red light of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport.
"Right turn, Brother." The young man behind told me. Katara went straight to the right, because of the direct line. The road is straight and crowded, from the top of the LRT there is a sound of a fast train passing by. A while later they entered a small but densely packed hallway of vehicles. About half an hour later they arrived at their destination. They have asked the people several times.
Stop in front of the road. According to the directions of the people they were questioning. They entered on foot. Looks like the rented mom peeked at them. From afar, they saw there was an elongated bed-shaped contract, walled with rusty-roofed zinc roof boards.
"Excuse me ma'am, hire Mr. Marang where ya." Ask Katara. Mr. Kabas' wife who was sweeping the floor stopped and stood on the terrace.
"This next deck, Mr. Marang who stabbed the criminal right." Answer, pointing. A man is out of contract next to Pak Kabas. He seemed to be in a hurry, so as not to greet or reprimand anyone.
"Yes, Mom." Answer Mr. Katara again.
"What's up." Ask Mr. Kabas' wife.
"We want to be friendly. His wife and son are there." Ask Mr. Katara again. Mr. Kabas' wife then noticed the family.
"Let's Deck, Ayuk. Bring the grandpa to the porch, pity the heat. Everyone please sit down." Said Mr. Kabas' wife. They sat on the porch, little boy Pak Kabas came out and sat on his mother's lap. After getting wet, and getting acquainted.
Only then did Pak Kabas' wife tell him all about Mr. Marang. Starting from his wife died, then Mr. Marang also died, until finally his children disappeared somewhere.
The story made Mr. Katara's family sad. How they're looking for Mr. Marang's son. They've gone and lived somewhere. What if they are abandoned. Guilt haunts Mr. Katara, his wife and family.
Mr. Kabas' wife said a little whisper.
"Possibly the son of Mr. Marang was expelled by the owner of the contract. Because the day they left. Last day of the lease." Obviously Mr. Kabas' wife. He knows exactly the nature of the contract owner. A day passed, he did not hesitate to throw out.
"Astag." That's what they all say from their mouths.
"There used to be families who asked to be delayed one day only, not allowed, immediately expelled." The Story of Mr. Kabas' Wife.
"Do they have family in Palembang, Auntie." Ask Pintan.
"Nothing, as far as we know." Answer Mr. Kabas's Wife.
Mr. Kabas' wife told me about the day. He cooked a lot to divide Aram and his sisters. Once a criminal, make orphaned children. Though Mr. Marang is a good man. Which is weird, why people kill him. What is the reason they are so happy. Mr. Marang is just a poor scavenger. What they want from such a person. Those are the words of Mr. Kabas' wife that make the heart of Mr. Katara and his wife sad.
"I'm afraid they'll become homeless and abandoned." Mr. Kabas' wife said, at the end of their conversation.
...*****...
"We'll find them, Dinda." Said Mr. Katara on the road home.
"It's a shame there's no picture of him, if there's any we can ask the police for help." Said Mr. Katara's father.
"Aram, Areha, Luran and Figan." Reze read the records of Mr. Marang's children's names. They want to return the favor of Mr. Marang.
...*****...
*
"Grundunggg. Duuum." Thunder and lightning roared in the night sky. It looks like the rain is going to fall. Time has shown ten o'clock past. Aram was tired of pushing the cart. They don't know where they're going.
"Yong, I'm going to sleep." Figan said, he almost cried.
"We'll find a place first, be patient." Answer Areha. Luran seemed to help push the cart, while Areha tore some cardboard boxes. The small Old Kenten Street began to quiet down. The road here used to be crowded. But since the New Kenten road is finished, make this road deserted. There are still many people in the daytime, too.
Passing through a sharp winding bend, Aram saw a shophouse building extending eight doors that are not rented or there are no residents on the side of the road. The sampa was strewn and the grass almost covered the yard. They light their way to the shophouse.
Aram is looking for a five-foot that's on the roof with the canopy. If it rains the wind they are not wet. The wagon he put down, and observed around. Aram cleaned around the terrace with a broom that he carried in the cart. Pluck the grass that began to grow on the cement floor. A sign that the place has not been occupied long enough. Then roll out a mat that they often sit on and a sleeping mat. Areha blamed the candle but could not fault it because the wind blew quite strong.
While the weather continued badly with lightning and thunder. Before going to bed, Aram divided several pieces of fried food. Aram poured drinking water from gallons into blackened plastic kettles. That was the dinner of four orphaned brothers that night. They can see faintly from the reflection of street lights.
"Koyong, when do we eat rice again. It's been two days we've been eating fried foods and sweet potatoes." Ask Figan who doesn't understand the circumstances of their life.
"Tomorrow we sell our used goods." Just bought two or three kilos of rice." Answer Aram.
"I can eat a lot, yeah." Figan.
"But it's spent ya." Areha.
"Yes. It's over." replied Figan feeling great.
"Luran, you're why." Ask Areha to just keep quiet.
"I'm sleepy, Kopek." The answer.
"Take your fritters, it's sleeping." Said Aram. After that, Luran and Figan lay down. There were a lot of mosquitoes that had attacked them. Aram took a three-by-two-meter-wide tarp. The tarps are the relics of their mother. Tarpaulins are usually used to dry something, such as salted fish. The tarpaulin is used for their blankets so as not to bite mosquitoes.
It has been three months since Aram and his sisters were abandoned. They searched every day for second-hand goods and sold them to the besiegers. Then buy rice or other necessities. When it rains they shower and wash. The buckets and basins they carried became rainwater containers. They sleep in shop-fronts, in uninhabited shop-houses, sometimes on mosque terraces, or at the foot of five uninhabited people's homes.
Remember their mothers who often pick vegetables, wild. Like vegetables genjer and kale in swamps. Aram did too. Sometimes they pick cassava leaves that grow around the way they pass. Sometimes they get cassava containing. Aram dig and they eat together while joking. Their suffering has not been bitterly felt. Because they are still children who are still concerned with playing.
The snoring of three Aramaic sisters from behind a warm night blanket tarpaulin in the cold night air. The snoring was unpretentious to the sound of crickets. Soon the wind blew harder. Then lightning and thunder came. From last day it will rain, now it comes down hard.
"It was raining too. Thank goodness." Said Aram. He got up and took three small plastic buckets, two large buckets, two quite large basins. Then he laid on the tip of the roof of the canopy. Tomorrow they can take a shower and wash clothes Aram thought. After that he also lay down on Figan's side and slept. Figan used to cry if not near Aram. Crying in the thoughts of their father and mother.
"Bakkkkp. Maaakk. When he came home, he hugged his parents. Then playing somewhere. Figan's mouth called out to his parents. It turns out that their father and mother came into Figan's dream and promised to go home as long as he wasn't naughty. Maybe those dreams are what makes Figan not miss his Mom and Dad too much.
...*****...
A mother in her fifties came down from an angkot and stopped at a crossroads into a housing complex. Simple hijab, long brackets up to the ankle. Several mothers and children in school uniforms also descended from the angkot. They have paid for their time on the way. In the gate of the road there are many motorcycle builders. The road is quite crowded because it has become a subdistrict road.
"Mommy's object." Bargain some motorcycle taxi drivers. Schoolchildren and other mothers accepted the offer of a motorcycle taxi driver. But different from that mother.
"No, thank you." Answer the mother. He then stepped along that path. He carried a bag of clothes and a small bag containing prayer tools and the Qur'an. A lot of things go by. The old mother saw four children walking from the opposite direction. The eldest brother pushed the cart full of stuff. There is also a cart section loaded with used goods. They picked up plastic bottles along the way. Grandma was concerned and pitying. Where are their old organs her heart said.
Half an hour's drive the mothers arrived at a house.
...*****...
BARDA'S HOUSE.
*
A young mother is putting her child to sleep. But the boy was very fussy. Always crying and sleeping. Making young mother upset is not a bitch. While he was also heavily sleepy. Last night he stayed up because the little guy was fussy. His mouth was yawning and his eyes were watering.
"Sleep, don't be naughty. Just piss you off." Said the young mothers.
"Tock. Geck. Geck." The door was knocked several times.
"Who is outside. Just get pissed off." Then the mothers rose to the door. While the child he was carrying suddenly cried loudly. The mother's face was so sharp and cynical that it held back her anger. He was angry, but he couldn't.
"Oh, Mommy." He said briefly, then opened the door wide and turned back to the room to calm his baby daughter. His face was very sour and his speech was tight. Another response from the new mother came. Seeing the attitude of the son-in-law she became uneasy and sad. He was not expected to come to this house. Her face was sour and not smiling one bit, the grandmother thought.
"Lasa, why your son.?" Ask the mother-in-law for pleasantries.
"You're sleeping." Answer the sound from a short room. The mother-in-law was silent. Now he was just sitting on the porch after putting both of his bags in the corner of the room. It was like coming to hell. Wants him to leave immediately. The mother's stomach hungry terrace because of the sound of her stomach. But he has no appetite. From the porch of the house he looked at the street. While in the room, Lasa the son-in-law finally slept soundly with her son.
...*****...
In the evening, they gathered in the middle room. A nine-year-old boy is studying. Lasa played with her baby boy. Television broadcasts a soap opera.
"Your mother, what time it's at home." Ask a man in his thirties.
"Around three o'clock in the afternoon." Answer the mother-in-law of Lasa.
"Go alone or between Zetas." Ask son.
"Mother leaves a little afternoon. Zeta leaves early in the morning. I told Zeta's wife that I wanted to go to your house. So take the angkot and ojek." Obviously Mother. He only rode the amber, twice he walked to save money.
"Oh, yes, ma'am." Answer Barda.
"Healthy Dik Yayu and his son, Mom." Ask Barda's wife.
"Thank God, be healthy." Answer the mother-in-law.
"Dad try to teach brother, can't, extra difficult." Said Barda's eldest. Barda then approached her son and taught her homework. His mother kept quiet and watched television. The daughter-in-law entered the room with the baby. The grandmother herself was in a daydream, not knowing what she was thinking.
...*****...
BARDA'S QUARREL.
*
Three days passed, the grandmother in the house of her son named Barda. The atmosphere is normal and there are no problems. But on the fourth night, there was a quarrel between Barda and his wife.
Around ten o'clock in the evening. Barda and his wife were in the room. He was heard by his mother from outside. I don't know what they're fighting about. There was a loud scream and a loud voice.
"Here, there's no bad mother." Barda.
"You think of mother's feelings, don't think of my feelings." Answer Lasa.
"Think what, you're the one who's the one who's the prick. Just suspect what you're thinking." Barda said, saying the name of mad jealous mental illness.
"Yes, that's why you as a man have to understand." Said Lasa loudly.
"The mouth never goes to school. Thoughts like that. Does not understand adab and ethics. Not taught maybe how to behave." Barda.
"Ohhhh." Lasa suddenly cried loudly.
Barda's mother, became uneasy as the son-in-law compared Barda's attitude towards her. He felt guilty that his presence caused the storm of his son and daughter-in-law. Not many children and daughters-in-law can accept in-laws. Sometimes it is just a game of feeling. Parents are too sensitive, and children and daughters-in-law are immature.
After that night, a few days later I didn't know what to fuss about. Back heard Barda and his wife fighting in the room. Barda went to work without breakfast. And their schoolchildren don't eat breakfast. While Lasa shut herself in the room. A few days later there was another quarrel and made the house hell.
Apparently the problem is because of busyness, Barda has rarely given news. He went home and slept tired. Then go to work in a hurry early in the morning. According to his wife, he had changed and was very sure that Barda had an affair or a mistress. The accusation was what upset Barda half to death. He worked hard for the family, while the wife did not want to understand. They also became stubborn.
"That's how life is a child." Barda's mother's heart. One day, at dawn Barda's mother woke up and prayed dawn. There was another clap of Barda repeatedly.
"I'm busy, looking for food, not a girl. Understand, or you animals don't understand. Every day look for trouble." Shouted Barda with a very rude word.
Mother Barda cooks fried eggs and fried rice for breakfast. Seeing his son-in-law not yet awake, the day was already noon.
"Wasinn of Nek." His son said when he tasted eggs, he didn't like salty. Barda's newly woken up wife with a sour face became even more upset. He then fries the eggs again. But the eggs have been cooked. Seeing that the eggs were only three, Barda's mother cooked the eggs one dough. Go to the shop no one is open yet.
Grandma doesn't know how her grandson likes it. Because usually all children like if fried eggs are given a little salt. It turns out that Barda's son likes fresh fried eggs.
That morning, the breakfast was not good. Either because of their quarrel or because of the mother. Clearly, the grandmother was not feeling well.
...*****...
