Letter to Atlanta
35. Dad, I'm your son

That morning, Atlanta stood still, watching her reflection in the mirror, staring at her battered face from the attack from Jay last night. He let out a low breath, picked up a backpack, and immediately walked out of the room while holding his stomach which was still painful.

As his foot was coming down the stairs, he slowed down his steps just to see the people eating breakfast. Instead of looking longer at his family, Atlanta chose to lower her gaze, immediately going to the kitchen, as if she had seen no one. Besides, who cares?

"Ata? You want to go to school?" Bi Mirna was a little surprised when she saw Atlanta was neat with her uniform. The man nodded slowly, sitting himself in the chair.

"But you look less healthy, Ata," he sounded worried. The woman approached Atlanta, placing the back of her hand on the man's forehead.

He again took a bowl of porridge that was deliberately made indeed for Atlanta. Keep it on the marble table, then sit down to join the boy.

"Eat first."

Atlanta nodded, staring at the bowl of porridge in front of her. Not wanting to make Bi Mirna disappointed, even though it hurt when her mouth moved, Atlanta still spooned a mouthful.

"Thank you, Bi. I've been treating Ata."

The sound of the sound of*******breath of Bi Mirna, the woman looked more and more at the pale-face goals of Atlanta.

"Actually, what's the problem with Jay?" tanyanya. The woman was convinced there was something between Jay and Atlanta, considering they almost never fought, let alone hurt each other.

Atlanta did not immediately answer, he himself was confused by everything, Jay's speech was still clearly ringing in his eardrum. Not only that, Jay's rant last night was able to make his heart hurt, is it true that he is a real person in this family?

"Bi, doesn't Ata deserve to be happy?"

Bi Mirna was stunned, it didn't take much time for her to understand what Atlanta meant. The woman immediately shook her head, grabbing Atlanta's idle hand on the table.

"Who said that, hm?" he said with a thin smile, while stroking the back surface of the Atlanta hand that felt a little cold.

The man was speechless, reluctant to answer Bi Mirna's question, he was sure the woman he already considered like his own mother understood what she meant. He chose to look expectantly at Bi Mirna, as if she was the sole sustainer of his life for 18 years, as if she were not there she would never have been able to survive this far.

"Ata, with Auntie, yeah. Ata deserves to be happy, very entitled. Every creature that breathes on earth deserves happiness, including you. Maybe many people are blindfolded, but God always gives happiness in various ways, although later you have to fall awake to take that happiness, if indeed happiness belongs to you, if indeed it belongs to you, he'll always be yours, any day, son."

Atlanta digested Bi Mirna's words at the time, filtering out the positives that might be the energy supply for her to live a life that is not as desired. However, it is very difficult to accept all the burdens alone, sometimes he thinks, why does God give such a hard ordeal, does God not love humans like himself?

"But Ata family disgrace, Bi. Why didn't Mommy fall at that time."

The woman again sighed before replying, "No, Ata is not a disgrace. Ata it's a gift to this family, your kind nature and your sincerity, is a very special thing here. If you think why Mother did not fall you, it means Mother loves you, Mother wants you to see how beautiful the world if lived with gratitude." He paused his speech, staring at the glassy bead of Atlanta's eyes.

"There's one thing you need to know. Life is sometimes not the same as hope. There is a phase in which humans are above, and below. Like seawater, there is a tidal phase, and a receding phase. You mean Auntie?" The boy nodded.

"Even now you are in a difficult time, but you must be sure, one day the pain, pain, disappointment that you feel will bear sweet fruit. God's not sleeping, Atlanta. God will give you something far more beautiful ahead, as long as you will be patient, waiting until the time God has prepared. Trust me Auntie, you've come this far thanks to God who loves you strength."

This time Atlanta swallowed Bi Mirna's words roundly, before finally evaporating the porridge that almost did not emit steam as before. On the other hand, Bi Mirna was still watching the man who was having trouble opening his mouth because of the bluish corners of his lips, his mind was still adventurous, trying to study further the child beside him.

There are so many questions he wants to say, such as, how his days at school, how his job at the restaurant, and so on, just to satisfy the worry that always shackles his own mind. However, in the end the woman was only able to fall silent. Just looking at Atlanta's tired face, he managed to convince himself that the man was clearly not okay.

Bi Mirna moved up, picked up the lunch box from the food storage cabinet, and went back to Atlanta, and said, "Here, Auntie made you lunch. Don't forget to eat."

Atlanta smiled gently. After finishing breakfast, he took the lunch box, put it in a bag.

"Thank you, Bi. Ata left first, yeah."

"Be careful, son," Bi Mirna said as Atlanta turned around, walking away from the kitchen.

Not yet he had time to take a bicycle that was leaning on the corner of the wall, his ears heard the sound of a car that was continuously ignited, but again the vehicle died for the umpteenth time. He walked over to his father who was trying to fix the car engine.

"Jay! Help me get the car here first" said the man when he saw Jay running out of the house a little.

"Not yet, Dad. Jay's in a hurry." The man chose to ride his sports motorcycle that was parked in front of the fence, wearing a helmet and then gas.

As a result, Rudi was only able to sigh short, rolled up his old blue shirt sleeve, back struggling with a car engine that he himself did not know had to be flanked.

Bravely, Atlanta tried to approach his father, intending to help repair the car engine. He got closer, and the man regained his senses, glancing at Atlanta. The man immediately took out a small memo, writing something there.

He presented a white paper that had been decorated with neat Atlanta handwriting. Inevitably Rudi threw a rough breath, reading a sentence there.

"You want to help me fix the car."

The man looked at Atlanta flatly before replying, "No need. Later my car is more damaged if you are brain-tick."

Rudi refocused himself with the cable, thinking hard with objects that were very foreign to him. Dozens of times he turned the brain, still not finding a bright spot to save his time is dwindling.

Seeing the father's uneasiness that seemed to want to immediately go to the office, Atlanta took the initiative to take over Rudi's job at that time. Both of his hands held control of the machine.

"Eh, what do you want?" sahut Rudi who was a little surprised by the presence of Atlanta. The boy just smiled glancing at her. Practically made the man there glued, silent sculpting just because he saw the sweet arch of Atlanta.

This time all he did was pay attention to the activities of Atlanta who was repairing his car. Since seeing the smile of the child, Rudi felt his heart as if it was being crushed, there was a sudden pain attacking his inner self. A person's shadow always rotates when he sees the smile of the child, a woman he always longs for his presence even though it is not possible.

Accidentally, her iris caught a bruise on the corner of Atlanta's lip. He frowned to see more clearly the wound. What made him hurt? It was like he asked the trivial things that came to his mind, but the selfishness of his heart always managed to bury all the things he wanted to reveal.

Atlanta straightened up, re-wrote something in her little memo.

"Dad, try to turn the car on."

Rudi walked towards the wheel, blaming the car. Not long after he pressed the start button, he smiled faintly, his car was back on.

"Here you are." Call her. The man nodded, he smiled broadly as he stood beside Rudi. Ah, she was even very happy when her father smiled at her.

Rudi reached into the wallet in his back pocket, took out a few pieces of money inside, then thrust them into Atlanta.

"It's for you" he said inviting the boy's frown in front.

"Yes, your wages. Because you fixed my car."

His heart paled, Atlanta did not know what to react to. No, not his desire to get a dime from his father. Atlanta really just wanted to help her dad.

Seeing Atlanta's silence just staring at the money he was thrusting, Rudi grabbed the boy's hand, giving him a red sheet of money that might be nothing to him.

"This, just accept. You need money, right? That's why help me."

Atlanta just looked at Rudi with a difficult gaze to interpret, his body suddenly stiff. If you can choose, it's better that he gets hit by Jay dozens of times. Because to be honest, when Rudi thought of him like everyone else, and chose to give a wage for having helped him, it was much more painful for Atlanta. The man was also his son, he expected nothing more from the father, except for a confession, a confession that he was also the flesh and blood of the man. Undistinguished. Especially considered a stranger.