MYFATHER
Episode 13's
The incident this afternoon ended anti-climax with the return of Mr. Wayan, even so somehow Yudi felt strange. Not only about the peculiarity of why Wayan could be in the mine but also the screams of the women he heard. He clearly heard the scream...
Unlike the haired object that floated in the darkness, maybe it was just his hallucination, however his eyes could not see well in the dark place so it was likely that a wrong look could occur...but the scream was something else. Her ears could tell the difference between the voice of a woman and a man, and the one shouting was clearly a woman. Funny thing is he did not find a woman in the hallway despite having been searched carefully in all directions, even what he found was Wayan who fell unconscious with a lump on the head.
Yudi was sure, if he did not follow the mysterious screams, old Wayan would still be curled up in the hallway. It was not easy to find the place where the person had fainted, and surely no one would be willing to take a walk inside, except himself – where it is also due to – tasks and will provide assistance as he does. Suddenly Yudi remembered the accident that befell Wayan's friend, old man Seto, who also disappeared in the forest in mid-January and was only found a few days later. Never mind if he did not find Wayan this afternoon the man would also suffer the same fate. That thought made Yudi shiver himself.
Yudi himself felt a little sorry to find the man, it might be good if the old man left him in the hallway, given how annoying his attitude was. The world would certainly be better off without people like Seto or Wayan plotting murder at will. Fortunately the accident had already summoned one of them, and fate ruthlessly required him to be a helper who came by chance for Wayan. Hopefully Wayan remembers what he did this afternoon and stops being so annoying when he has to meet him in the future.
He remembered the message from Siska who entered his pager after he finished entering the results of checking into the report format on the office computer. Because it happened to be still at the desk and the office phone was not monitored at the hours like now, the young man dialed an interlocal number to contact Siska's home in Jakarta. Not up to three times the dial tone is on and the phone has been lifted. Yudi recognized the voice behind the connection which was Siska's own voice, presumably the girl had indeed been waiting for her phone for a long time, really impatient to talk to her soon, she said, it made Yudi curious to know what so urgent matter Siska wanted to talk about.
”Are you alone now?” siska asked when Yudi asked.
”Yes, I'm alone in the room. Why?”
The answer was followed by a sigh of relief from Siska, ”Thank God! I was alone at home too. I waited until my parents got out of town.”
”What is the urgent business you want to talk about?”
Siska was silent for a moment before asking in a doubtful tone, ”Before I want you to answer honestly, okay?”
The question made Yudi dumbfounded, there was as much worry as Siska might know her feelings for Mirna, maybe the girl is looking for the reason why she's been calling less and less lately and has another girl as a reasonable answer. The young man said slowly, ”You suddenly scared me. What the hell is it?”
”You must promise to speak honestly.because..me...” the girl stopped talking for a moment because she heard a deep breath from the connection. ”...I promise I won't get mad because I.sayang same A’a.”.
”All right, I promise. Tell me what's up?”
”I want to know what we do when we get home from the disc?”
”I'm waiting for you to come home because you were pretty drunk back then.”
”Besides?”
”Means?”
”What are we doing besides that?”
”I don't think there is..” Yudi was forced to lie this time because he had an inkling of where this conversation was headed. ”..because as I recall I was also quite drunk in your house.”
Siska groans, ”I've expected..that's what happened..”.
”What's wrong?” Yudi is increasingly hunting because he cannot stand the mysterious question Siska.
The question was even answered with sobs Siska that lasted quite a long time. Yudi just kept quiet, did not dare to reprimand or anything other than waiting for Siska to recover and give an answer like lightning in broad daylight, ”I am pregnant..” the phone handle was almost separated from Yudi's handle, Yudi, what he was worried about finally happened.
***
BONTANG, MARCH 1999, SECOND WEEK
After taking a ticket at the travel office this morning, the following thing Yudi did was ask for leave to the personnel who then gave a form to fill out. Yudi had already thought about the reason he would use in the excuses column for the night off, and looking at his terminally ill father seemed to be the best reason. A best lie, because actually his father has gone somewhere since he was a teenager. If that jerk is really sick, it's fun for him. Fortunately the company did not know her parents were divorced and she did not need to explain it in the registration form.
The form must be signed by the superior, and Yudi can guess the response from the boss once he receives the form softened. He looked at Yudi wryly, ”Sunday? Is that not too long?”
Honestly it was the fastest time he asked for, but because he did not want to tell the real reason to the boss so he replied diplomatically, ”My family actually wished I could stay longer.”
”Dying people can't wait, sir!” Yudi glorify with shrewd. ”Doctor told my family, this week is a critical week. That was also in the hope that my father died before I returned.”
The field supervisor was silent, only able to install a sour look for the reason that the sick family was difficult to argue, so he was forced to put a signature on the form paper, too, ”Have you arrive as per the conditions. This production schedule can be more complicated. Rick is not here. Next week you're following.”
”Yes, I understand, sir! I make sure everything is under control before I leave,” Yudi receives back the form and then waves the object like celebrating a big victory. While the supervisor went to another place Danu came over.
”Ngapain take leave now? How fast?”
Yudi immediately replied with the reason he had prepared before, Danu is indeed his good friend but there are some things he wants to keep from Danu and one of them is his mistake impregnating Siska. Danu do not need to know it..no.. until the time it feels right, ”Dad I hurt.”.
”Yes, geez. What pain?”
”Complications. High blood and diabetes,” Yudi replied while giving a form that their boss had signed, after which he said exaggeratingly in order to make the situation sound serious. ”And now the doctor says his heart is critical.”
”Astagfirullah! Hopefully your father is strong before you go home to see him.”.
”So you fuck my dad dead?” Yudi responded by pretending to be offended when in his heart he laughed at the absurd reason.
”Oh...eh.not..I mean..hopefully your father is healthy once you get home.”.
”Well, it's better.”
”Have you told Mirna about this?”
Danu's question is like cornering Yudi, if only his best friend knew the real problem then the question is getting pierced into his heart, ”But! What should?”
”I think your relationship has been so serious and..”.
”Hey, don't like being pretentious about my relationship with anyone, huh?” Yudi interrupted with a serious face.
So serious was the remark that Danu was shocked to hear the unusual tone of his best friend. He responded with a short, ”Sori, it's up to you.”
After submitting the form to the personnel section through one of the Office Boy, Yudi spent the rest of the day completing various jobs that can be done, including, the real thing wasn't too heavy because most of it was done last week, so all he did was make a few small notes on the machine's blueprint paper. At least, this busyness distracts him from Siska for a while.
Humans are strange creatures. They can bring out high imagination and effort in desperate situations. And less urgent how the situation would be for Yudi if his girlfriend told him that she was two and a half months pregnant. It makes Yudi inevitably act quickly to immediately marry Siska, lest her pregnancy even bring disgrace to the girl of his worship, even though it feels too late.
Based on the plan, Yudi has made a series of activities that must be carried out in the Javanese wedding ceremony, and honestly the list takes more than a week to complete each activity until it is completed, starting from the procession tell his parents to ask for blessing, apply to Siska's parents, and tie the girl to the wedding ceremony as his wife. It seems trivial but Yudi understands how it is not easy for each part of his plan to be done because it depends on the decision of the other party, which unfortunately if not approved then it is impossible for him to continue the next stage.
Whatever the obstacles Yudi had no intention of failing. Siska's been two and a half months. The time to the nine-ten-day limit is to count fingers. Special cases certainly require special lines, though, and although for the sake of building the path it needs to hit here and there Yudi is ready to do anything without worrying about manners or norms of politeness because there is a deadline that must be met.
It has been almost a week – two weeks even – his mind continues to be raging with the Siska problem, not to mention Siska who is acting almost demanding and almost strangles her neck with unnecessary urgency, he said, like for example, the pager message sent so many times today to remind Yudi not to forget to buy a plane ticket to Jakarta.
The young man had already sent a text back telling him that he had already gotten a ticket and was leaving tomorrow, which made Siska pause for a while, before then sending a follow-up message on another topic, namely how to tell about this extramarital pregnancy to Siska parents in the best way so that they can receive with chest space.
It seems that no parent can receive news about the pregnancy of their unmarried daughter is not accompanied by anger. Almost impossible. Yudi understood that so he was ready with all the consequences. Unfortunately, this is not the case with Siska. The girl was so panicked that it indirectly affected Yudi. He even had to repeat his work from the beginning because he had incorrectly looked at the chart of the machine being inspected.
”Pacify yourself, Yudi.” The young man said to himself in order to reduce the fear in the mind. ”. At least you prepare everything to fix your stupidity.”
After working on the final document attachment for the afternoon and doing the division of labor to everyone as she left, Yudi packed all her belongings back into a backpack. Along with several employees who also still want to return to the room in the afternoon, including Danu, Yudi boarded a bus that picked them up from the mine to return to the mess. He didn't talk much during the trip, quite happy that no one in the vehicle intended to talk to him until he could spend the rest of the trip in peace.
***