Letter to Atlanta
66. Change well

"Where are you going, Bang?" asked Elisha who was sitting beside the wheel while looking at Joni lazy.

If it wasn't for Joni forcing her to go home sooner, surely under the pretext of an urgent reason, maybe the girl would have solved her problem with Atlanta. But now look, his brother even just circled the streets of the city while dizzy looking for something that can attract his attention.

"We buy a snack first for thanksgiving," replied the man smiling meaningfully.

Elisha snorted, rotating the eyeballs. "Size what the hell, Bang. There's-there's just."

"Loh, did Mama not tell me if later tonight there would be a study?"

The girl shook her head. "Who would want to have a wedding at an all-study event."

"Emang who does not attend a lecture should be who wants a wedding? Don't you."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes moreover? Mama wants to have the recitation event itung-itung thanksgiving because you managed to win the competition yesterday. There's no harm, right? The dateng most metemen Mama with Papa, Abang employees in the office also said to come, continue complex people, the most so."

The girl let out a heavy breath, then chose to allow a glance to the side of the glass.

"Why don't you have a dream, Bang? Keep inviting the biduan. Some people already like RT, rich want to do."

"Elisa, if the biduan ngundang his name is not a thanksgiving, but a saweran."

Elisha did not respond to the words of the man beside him who was now chuckling. He felt bad for his brother. Right after that the car they were riding in both stopped in front of a store that sold a lot of pastries.

"You wanna come with me? Or wait here?" asked Joni when she took off the sealtbeath.

"Ikut atuh's. How was Elisha kidnapped? Who bothers later, Brother," he said, and greeted the sound of Joni's laughter is quite tickling.

The girl followed Joni from behind, looking at the entire store filled with various pastries. While her sister who traced each shelf to the end of the room, Elisha chose to stand in front of a large glass facing directly to the highway.

Back with a daydream, even his gaze looked up at the slightly grayish sky, indicating that the rain was about to fall, Elisha sighed, his mind was filled only by Atlanta.

"Atlanta has come home from school yet?" His monologue.

Ah, she was really very curious about the bruises on the cheekbones of Atlanta that she had seen. Who would dare to do that to Atlanta. Elisha reached into his phone, and saw a row of chat that the other day he sent to Atlanta. He snorted, even from that day Atlanta never returned the message, or just read it.

When the gaze was raised again turned towards the highway, Elisha frowned while squinting his eyes, making his vision clear to the figure of the girl across the street.

"Pop?"

Right, it's Popi. It looks like the boy is still selling on the sidewalk. Elisha immediately came out of the store, not forgetting he also tried to contact Joni who was still loyal to choose some cakes in the store.

"What the hell, El. Pake call everything."

"Bang, Elisha wants to meet you first huh. Later Abang followed to the halfway house across the bridge next to the chicken noodle shop Pak Junarto, you know?"

"Yes, you know. But what do you want to do there?"

"Abang kan said to buy a snack, then Elisa there are those who sell banana chips. Elisa wants to buy."

"Yes, you'll be there."

Tut

Elisha closed the call, he put the flat object back in his uniform pocket.

"RAT!" He shouted while waving his hands.

The girl there turned her head towards the front, where her iris caught Elisha there. The boy returned a wave of hands from the girl across the street plus his sweet smile he patrican.

Elisha turned to the right and left side of the highway, making sure no vehicles passed before he crossed, fortunately at that time the middle road was rarely passed by cars or motorcycles.

"Sister Elisha, what are you doing here? Brother just got home from school?" the boy said when Elisha came before him.

"Yes, my sister just got home from school. That, that was my sister from the cake shop there, happened to see you, so my sister deh," said Elisha smiling widely.

Popi just nodded in understanding.

"Oh yeah, you haven't come home yet. It was afternoon."

"Jualan Popi has not abis sak, the responsibility of staying 3 more packs."

"Yes already bought everything," said Elisha who was immediately greeted by the eye from Popi.

"Seriously sis?!"

Elisha nodded, breaking the girl's hair. "Yes, but the power is less if only 3 packs. There's more, isn't there?"

"So, at home there is still a remnant. The plan is to be sold tomorrow."

"What brother bought you?"

"Can kok brother. Come on, brother, come home, let Popi wrap it up."

Back with a nod of the head, Elisa and the girl are now walking side by side to the halfway house which can be reached for 5 minutes by foot.

Just as the two reached the front of the halfway house, the raindrops began to fall in a clustered manner.

"Come on, come in."

Elisha immediately took off his shoes, then entered into a very simple house that, arguably even small enough to be called a house, let alone to accommodate children who are more than 10 people.

The girl sat on the floor with a mat, and her gaze began to move naked every corner of the room filled with small children, some 3-year-olds were asleep on the mat, without a base that he thinks is more suitable like a mattress. Suddenly his heart felt sliced, seeing the child who should have been given affection and adult supervision, had to live the bitter life of a fellow person who had the same destiny, sharing shoulders and fighting independently for survival.

"Sister Elisha?"

He looked up, showed a boy—Adin—who just came home from selling. The shirt the boy was wearing was a little wet, which he believed was due to the gurgling rain out there.

"Teen? Just home?" tanyakanya.

The boy sat down to join Elisha.

"Yes brother. Brother alone here?"

He nodded, just then Popi came over carrying 2 medium-sized black crackers containing banana chips ordered by Elisa.

"Sister, this is enough, right?" ask the boy.

Elisha took over the black crackle, looking at the order.

"Enough. How much everything?"

"170 thousand, brother."

The girl turned to take her wallet in a backpack, giving 2 pieces of money worth 100 thousand rupiah on Popi.

"Take the change" he said.

"Sir Elisha is serious?" said the boy and was given a nod by Elisha. "Thank you, brother."

"Popi, why isn't Elisha's sister being given a drink?" said Adin. The girl patted her own forehead.

"When gapapa, Din. A little bit more brother brother kanya come pick me up," said the girl a little stiff.

"Sister Elisha is a guest, when we did not welcome well anyway. Ata said, we must be good with guests," said Adin displaying a sweet smile.

Elisha was stunned, again the name Atlanta said from the mouths of the children. It seems that the figure of Atlanta is indeed quite influential for them.

"Sorry brother, there's only water." Popi just came with a cup of clear water.

Elisha smiled as he received the cup and gulped down the water.

"Oh yes brother, if Adin can know, why do you buy a lot of banana chips?"

"This, later malem home sister want to have a recitation event, a small thanksgiving anyway."

Adin nodded. "Size in what order, brother?"

Elisha cleared his throat, and poked his lips before replying. "Alhamdulillah, yesterday my brother managed to win the music competition. So Mama's sister initiative to a degree of thanksgiving."

"Alhamdulillah, brother Elisha won? Kak Ata had a story too if you want to join the music competition."

"Thank God. Oh yes brother, Adin just want, brother Elisha has been seperet nengok brother Ata not yet?"

"Snortsighted? Why Atlanta? He feels good at school."

Popi and Adin exchanged glances, even though the two frowns suddenly, practically making the girl even more curious, what happened to Atlanta?

"Elisha's sister doesn't know yet?"

Elisha shook his head stiffly, his gaze increasingly staring at Adin and Popi Lamat asking for an explanation.

Adin sighed before answering. "Saturday, when Ata's brother was about to leave for the competition, in the third of the road there, Ata was hit by a car. Adin saw himself brother, because at that time Adin had just returned from the market. Keep the people who hit suddenly ngeroyok Ata without cause."

Suddenly the girl rounded her eyeballs, even her chest that turned beating fast enough to hear Adin's explanation. Getting hit, then ganged up? Oh, my God, who are they? So that's why Atlanta didn't attend the competition?

"K—you're not lying, are you?" the girl was a little incredulous.

Adin just nodded slowly, the look on his face changed, like feeling guilty. "Sorry, brother, at that time brother Ata really want to go again really, but Adin who forbid brother Ata to come there. Adin is worried."

Elisha was still digesting Adin's words. Why didn't Atlanta say that? Then why hasn't Atlanta ever called him again? Did the man intentionally cover everything up?

.......

.......

.......

After the lecture held at her residence, Elisha was now walking to her room to rest immediately. It felt quite tiring, deliberately the girl slammed herself onto her soft mattress, closed her eyes and took quite a long breath.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, the sound of the phone ringing made the girl gasp again. Elisha held onto his thumping chest, the article in addition to the ringtone, the vibration of the phone rubbing against the nightstand made the sound even louder.

Inevitably he moved, grabbed the flat object.

"Papa?"

Elisha sighed again, raising the video call from the Papa.

"Call, Elisha. It's Papa, baby." Greet the man in front of the screen, displaying a radiant face. And what was that? The darling? Ah, since when did Pratama call him dear?

"Yes, Pa. Elisha knows it's Papa."

There was a sound of the man. Then he opened the sunglasses he was wearing, still displaying a friendly smile that Elisha rarely saw. Instead of feeling happy, the girl was afraid of the change in Pratama's attitude, afraid that if the Papa was hit by something to change his cold and haughty attitude.

"You how are you? How's the teaching show? Smoothly?"

"Thank God be good, Pa."

"Thank God then. Oh yeah, tomorrow Papa's home. Now Papa's on his way to the airport."

Elisha rounded his eyes. "Cock impromptu? Papa's job over there is done?"

"It's better to say it's impromptu, than Papa is suddenly home right? Papa also will not be long in Indonesia, at most a week. Papa just wants to see your Mama, you, and your brothers. Papa kangen."

The girl snorted, pulling next to the lips.

"Pa? Papa gapapa, right? Papa didn't hit something, did he?"

"You are, Papa is fine. Why are you doing that?"

"Papa's illness is strange, changing. Elisha was afraid that Papa Abis had pellets, bumping, or something else" he said lightly.

Pratama again chuckles with the words of his son. Was he that old me, until his own son felt strange about his present attitude?

I heard the breath of the man.

"Elisa, you're right. While you're happy, Papa's happy too, son."

"Congratulations, you proved Papa if you can win the competition. Papa is proud of you. Papa's sure, you must have worked hard on that, right?"

Elisha was still listening to Papa's words which he thought were very rare. However, the water of his face could not cover the taste of haru which at that time added new spices in the midst of the interaction of the two.

"Now Papa will not be selfish anymore, Papa is sure you can achieve your goals and desires. I'm sorry, Papa used to demand things that you didn't really like. Papa is aware, the task of the parents is only to support every step of his children, as long as it is positive, Papa will support you, son."

The girl drew both corners of the lips, until the beautiful arch was clearly imprinted there, as well as tears falling as if to explain the contents of Elisha's heart at that time.

"Elisha? Why are you crying, baby? Papa was wrong to say yes?" pratama panics.

Elisha shook his head, wiping his tears with the back of his hands.

"Engga, Pa. Papa is not wrong. Elisha also apologized, because Elisha never happyin Papa."

"Elisa, you've done enough to make Papa happy, dear. Being born into this world is more than happy. Now you just ask, you stay healthy, Papa won't ask for anything else."

The girl was silent for a moment.

But Elisha's sick, Pa.

What will he say is that he is suffering from severe pain. Can he reveal the truth after Pratama demands him to stay healthy, even though he cannot grant Papa's request.

"You promised Papa, yeah. Don't be sick."

Elisha nodded. "Yes, Pa."

Pratama turned to look at his son with a cool look, then smiled gently.

"Elisa, Papa wants to meet your friend who said he taught you to play the piano, huh?"

The umpteenth time, Elisha was stunned by Pratama's words. He nodded his head in agreement. Then the girl's gaze turned towards the rabbit doll stored on the study table, staring intensely at the doll.

All this because of you, Atlanta. Thanks, because you Papa changed.

"Yes, Pa. I'll take Papa to Atlanta."