Baby Amber
Chapter 45 Secrets of Parents Trained

Father forbade me to take Ratih home. Said the Father-in-law, he felt comforted if there was a Ratih at home. I was asked to come home often. Although there is a bad taste because Ratih has become my responsibility, I also do not want to make Father-in-law burdened with the condition of Ratih like this.

"So, please bring Ratih. Don't let Ratih stay here too long." Mom pulled my arm and took me to the kitchen. Whispering requests that are contrary to your wishes.

"So he wanted to bring Ratih, Mom. But you forbid." I said.

"Bring your wife to your mother. Please, don't let him be like this for too long" Mother said, following the tears that flowed from both corners of her net that already contained many wrinkles.

"What's up, Mom, actually. Please tell Hadi. Hadi was confused, Hadi felt he didn't know anything about this." I felt that there was something odd about the request of my Father and Mother-in-law. I want Ratih to stay. However, I want Ratih out of their house.

"Come here, Hadi. I want to speak the truth." Mom asked me to follow her into a room that Ranti used to use.

I drove my car slowly. A lot of things surprised me. It could be that all this time my in-laws hid a very important and fatal thing without my knowledge.

"I'm sorry, Di. Mother forced. Actually Mom never agreed they did something like this." Mom's sobs broke when I moved into Ranti's dressing chair.

"Then, don't you think about Ratih's future, Mom?" I asked softly, afraid that I would offend the parents of the woman I loved.

Mom shakes. Her face was sad, her tears were unceasingly flowing, condemning her own stupidity allowing her husband and son to act silly to make the state of Ratih become what it is today.

This time I went home alone. Ratih is still unwilling to come home with me. While the Father, he already wanted Ratih to stay.

Now I'm increasing the speed of my car. Picking a path in the direction where my mother lives alone. Let the tiredness in the body no longer ignore me. I want to find out if Ratih can still be healed.

At exactly ten in the morning I arrived at Mom's house. The house is apparently empty.

"Your mother's going to the fields, Di. You're just going home alone?" suddenly Mbah Sum came from the east.

"Eh, yes, Mbah. You've been there, huh?" ask a woman my age with my mother.

"From morning, we'll be home soon. You just wait at the Sewah house." Mbah Sum volunteered to hold me for a while until my mother came home from the field.

A glass of hot coffee he served me. Added with fried cassava which is already rather cold.

"Eat, Di. Sumpah only has that. It was fried banyaj before going to the stall." said Mbah Sum and I replied with a nod of the head.

"Eat first. You must be hungry. Departing from the city at what time?" tanya Mbah Sum made me stop putting fried cassava into my mouth.

"Two o'clock in the morning, Mbah." I answered briefly.

"Yet, Mbah. That's why I went home again." I replied briefly. This time I chose to rush the fried cassava into my mouth before Mbah Sum asked more. At least my stomach will be a little stuck while waiting for my mother to come.

"Hhhmmmm." there was a sound of Mbah Sum breathing rough. It seems he was thinking something.

"Bah, let's eat." I offered the cassava that was still on the plate to Mbah Sum to be able to eat together.

"You alone, Di. It was a waste of eating when it was still hot" said Mbah Sum with eyes that looked far away, looking glaring thinking of something.

I dare not ask much. I know, Mbah Sum must have understood my anxiety as well. It's just that he looks calmer than I am.

"What's up, Mbah?" I asked when I saw Mbah Sum as being wrong.

"Then I want to talk actually. It's just.." Mbah Sum's voice paused.

"Why, Mbah?" I'm getting curious about him. I don't know what is in Mbah Sum's mind so you have to think many times before expressing it.

"Waste fear you're offended, Di. In addition, the woman always follows you." said Mbah Sum made me jump in shock. I turned to the left and to the right looking for someone Mbah Sum spoke of.

"But I've never seen him again, Mbah." I replied fearfully. Instantly my shadow was on Ranti's already broken and terrible face was looking at me at this moment. Although I did not see it directly at the moment, but my memory of the face I had met just appeared and was clearly drawn in front of me.

"You're still fragrant, Di." said Mbah Sum while sniffing at me. I who was holding a cassava that I had just bit once could only gawk at the words of Mbah Sum.

"I haven't had a shower, Mbah. Maybe the perfume of the bath." I replied trying to melt the atmosphere. Not very funny if this morning even in suguhi with scary words. Moreover, this is not just a fairy tale or story, but I myself experienced it.

"What's your car perfume, jasmine?" the words of Mbah Sum made the cassava that I had chewed feel stopped in the throat. Immediately I sip black coffee made by Mbah Sum which is apparently still hot and very bitter. Instantly I wanted to regurgitate the coffee that had already entered my mouth, but I was afraid to offend Mbah Sum.

"Why?" apparently Mbah Sum noticed the change in my facial expression. My face suddenly turned red, holding in shame.

"O-anu, Mbah. The coffee is bitter." I replied while grinning.

"Astaghfirullah's. Sorry, Di. I forgot to make coffee for you. You see, Sumpah used to drink coffee without sugar. Wait, yeah. Waste grab the sugar first." hurried Mbah Sum got up from his chair and walked limped into the house. I could only shake my head at Mbah Sum who looked funny in expression when I said that the coffee was very bitter.

I'm recalling last night's events. Where when Ratih was sleeping spoiled on my arm, when it smelled a very strong jasmine flower. Not only that, the smell of seven flowers that somehow contained it was smelled in my sense of smell. Moreover, the attitude of Ratih is not as usual.

"Is it possible that Mbah Sum knew something, huh?" I muttered while bending my head into Mbah Sum's house at the open door. It looks like the aging woman is walking while carrying a jar that I can expect to have sugar issues. From the inside he had laughed widely, showing a row of his teeth that had begun to gap a lot because most had left the place of the dispute.

"Sorry, Di. I forgot where to put the sugar. It must be searched first." said Mbah Sum while chuckling. I also did not realize to laugh at Mbah Sum who laughed amusedly because of his own behavior.