Revenge By Law's
ARTICLE 1

Fifteen years ago

Abi tried to catch his breath, though he had to feel an outrageous tightness from his chest. Every breath that was successfully inhaled with great difficulty, was always mixed with the scent of blood and charred skin on his body. His face was just lying helplessly on the interrogation table. He tried to look around him, but what was seen was only a formless blurry view.

The only sense that still performs its job well is its ears. He heard the motions of some people and their little chatter. Even though he was dying, he still remembered the sinister face of the two people who had battered him. One has a thick villain-style mustache in Indian films, and the other uses a wide plaster on his left cheek.

It had been more than an hour that he had to receive a serious blow and kick from the two people. They demanded a false confession from Abi's mouth. Something simple, but Abi can't give it to them. He felt he had no obligation to do that, even completely contrary to the principles he held. For him, apologizing when doing something right will destroy his identity, spit on the teachings he has received, insulting his efforts to become a good person.

And that principle not only makes his body have to be touched by punches and kicks. The patience of the two men faded and eventually their stun gun had to run errands. The flow of tens of milliamperes spread across Abi's body several times causing some parts of his skin to burn, especially in the neck. Screams of mercy came out of Abi's mouth as if they had no regard for it.

“Good, I'll apologize.”

The clean words seized the attention of the two men with strong stature. They saw Abi still laying his head on the table. One of them lifted Abi's body and dragged him outside the room.

They move to another room similar to the office. A leader's desk was right in front of the entrance. Nearby there is a set of sofas complete with short-legged tenements. On the couch was a couple and between them sat a teenager in a uniform identical to the one Abi was wearing at the time. His face had some wounds. Severe enough, but still much better than Abi.

“How? Enough already?” ask one of the creepy-faced men earlier.

The couple smiled. Even so with teenagers who look like their children.

“How, Roy?” The father continued the question to his son.

The teenager thought for a moment then said, “I want him to apologize.”

“Calm down, he's willing to do it,” said another creepy-faced man, who was busy propping up Abi's body.

They smiled with satisfaction. It was seen that the couple continued their intimate conversation with the person sitting in the chair of leadership, a man in police uniform with the emblem of three gold beams on his shoulders. He was the head of the police station. Suddenly their attention was diverted with a soft voice.

“I am innocent. He and his friend tried to attack my friend. I just want to protect her.”

One of the spooky men hit Abi in the face until blood came back from his nose. He was upset that Abi again refused to apologize, unlike the last deal in the interrogation room. The AKP snapped as his subordinates tried to dirty his room with blood and a fishy smell.

“Didn't he tell you he was just kidding? All your friends who saw the incident said that you attacked first,” said another creepy-faced man.

“I didn't attack him first. I just held her hand. Precisely he and his friends who first hit me,” refuted Abi.

“That includes attacking him.”

Abi held his chest which was back in pain. Looking at his current body condition, he had already said too much. The oxygen supply locked inside his chest stayed a little longer and he still had trouble breathing. But his stubborn nature made him not want to stop defending himself.

“What kind of logic is that? I know you're trying to lie to me. But unfortunately, I am not a fool.”

The whole room shook its head as if it was getting tired to respond to the teasing of a non-nobody High School boy. The captain finally stood up from his chair then walked slowly towards Abi. After being in front of him, he held Abi's shoulders and slightly lowered their faces almost close together.

“If you're not stupid, you'll know that this country is a country of laws. The law has the highest power in the country. As law enforcement officers, we act in accordance with the law and we understand the law better than a snot boy like you. So, questioning the logic of the law to us is tantamount to insulting us. You must study law first before doing so.”

The police chief's face suddenly changed. Much more terrifying than both of his men. Even Abi's body, which had been suffocated by the persecution earlier, grew weaker just from looking at that face.

Seeing that his superior was already at the peak of his frustration, the two men who interrogated Abi earlier dragged the young man and prepared to take him out. However, instead of feeling afraid, Abi instead brushed off the grip of their hands until his weak body almost fell down. And unexpectedly, he held a badge on the shoulder of the captain to support his body. His eyes were burning as if avenging the anger of the man before him.

“Then, I'll be back. I will study the law and return to avenge all your deeds with the same weapons that you used to torture me today. I will make you suffer so that you regret everything you have done to me today. I promise and although it will happen a month, a year or decades from now, I will definitely do it.”

The whole room was suddenly quiet. Either because of the threat or because of Abi's sharp gaze. Suddenly they laughed. One of the spooky-faced men hit Abi on the head until his body fell to its knees on the floor.

“Learning law? You want to be a lawyer? The prosecutor? Or judge? Look, you're going to jail, which means the school's gonna get you out. You'll also have a criminal record. You think with your circumstances now you can dream that high?”

Abi just kept quiet hearing the taunts. His face stiffened and his teeth gritted. He looked at everyone in the room, one by one. He hoped he would not forget those faces and the pain he felt that day. His heart was filled with a series of promises to avenge their deeds.

                  *

Presently

Abi glanced, there were two police officers dressed in office employees were discussing about a typical Indian restaurant that just opened in the Sunday market. Their attitude is very relaxed, does not look like a person who is torturing his neighbor. From their talk, Abi can identify if the thick-moustached cop is Aipda Carlos and the younger-looking cop is Briptu Donny.

Then they again threw the same question at Abi and again they got the same answer. With an annoyed face, Briptu Donny took out a stun gun and occasionally pressed the button. Aipda Carlos reminded not to hit areas that are easily visible.

Abi did not expect the darkest events of his life fifteen years ago would happen again. Though he has tried to as much as possible not to deal with the police and rich troublemakers like Roy. But it turns out that destiny says something else.

The voice from Aipda Carlos's phone rang. The owner immediately picked up the call and walked outside.

“Halo, Sir. Yes, it's in process. There was a little problem because he insisted that the one who sent the sabu-sabu was not Mischa.” Aipda Carlos stopped talking as if he was hearing something serious. “Not, he's a nobody. We've been investigating his background. He's just an ordinary driver, the son of a big prostitute who lives in the localization, dropped out of high school, previously had two criminal records, namely mild persecution and fraud. It seems like he's about to give up. We'll make him confess if the meth belongs to Mischa.”

The policeman hung up his cell phone and went back into the interrogation room. He smiled when he saw there was a piece of paper in front of Abi, had been laced with his signature. Briptu Donny who was next to Abi also smiled.

“When to do press conference.”

A few hours later, Abi was taken to the front yard of the police station with his face covered in a mask. Withstanding the pain, he walked while being forcibly pulled by one of the policemen. He saw several reporters gathered to a long table above which lay a small brown cardboard box. Abi knows the thing very well, the thing that made him deal with the police again. Then he was directed to stand facing the wall behind the long table.

Moments later, some people came in with rubber gloves. Their faces were very dignified and the look in his eyes was firm. They took their seats behind the long table.

For almost a quarter of an hour, Abi could only hear the babbling of one of the police officers wearing the gloves. He is Iptu Simon, the Drug Case who became the investigator of this case. The man explained the chronology of his arrest yesterday and answered questions straightforwardly. Then Abi recalled some scenes in the interrogation room a few hours ago.

“You know the threat to drug couriers? According to articles 111, 112, 113, 114 and 132, you can be sentenced to a minimum of 4 years and a maximum death sentence. Looking at the amount of goods you brought, it is not impossible that you will be put to death.”

The threat of Briptu Donny. Abi did not answer. He was busy withstanding the pain of the blows they spewed into his body. He realized, after acting as a bad cop, now they will act as good cops who want to help him.

“Think, you don't have to die just to save people who aren't who you are. No matter how much he gives you money, it's not worth your life.”

Abi lifted his head and looked at the policeman with my eyes from the bruise. Then he replied with a clean slit, “But it's not him and I'm not paid other than the shipping fee according to the application.”

The policeman sighed and suddenly shocked his left abdomen with a stun gun. “You just have to say what you saw! Why are you so stubborn?”

While remembering the creepy incident, Abi was about to touch the scar earlier because it suddenly felt sore. However, the police who were next to him restrained his every unnecessary movement.

Suddenly there was a furore of the press. Apparently it was triggered by one of Iptu Simon's remarks. “According to the perpetrator, the drug is not his, but belongs to an artist initials MR. The perpetrator who is the driver ojol only deliver goods containing drugs according to orders made by MR. We will conduct further investigation into the veracity of the information. For MR itself, we have made a call effort, but the concerned is not known whereabouts.”

The entire media covering crew simultaneously raised their hands while asking for their turn to throw questions. Information about the involvement of an artist will be a big news that is a luxury meal for them. For that, they need to draw more information. There were even some reporters who directly threw questions to Abi.

“*Van rechtswege nieting; null and void***.**”

Suddenly silent atmosphere. A loud voice sounded out of nowhere it came from. The police and the media there were scrambling to find the source of the sound.

“A judicial process conducted not according to the law is null and void.”

The voice was heard again. Finally they found the origin of the sound when a man in orange clothes who had always turned his back to them, now turned his body.

“KUHAP article 117 paragraph 1, Description of the suspect and or witness to the investigator is given without pressure from anyone and or in any form.”

Abi took off his mask and lifted his shirt to the chest. It was clear that his face and body were full of bruises and burns.

For the first few seconds, the media crew was only stunned to see a body full of terrible wounds and to hear Abi's loud speech, as if the moment paralyzed their thinking ability for a moment. Then, there was a furore and they immediately captured the scene with their own cameras.

“As a citizen who has an equal position in the law and must uphold the law, I declare all information submitted by the investigator on my behalf is not true and not legal.”

The situation is increasingly stirred by Abi's statement. Some ascertain whether acts of violence during the investigation actually occurred, others ascertain whether MR was not properly involved in the case.

“Article 54 KUHAP, For the sake of defense, the suspect or defendant shall be entitled to legal assistance from one or more legal counsel during the time and at any level of examination, according to the ordinances specified in this law.”

After mentioning the article, Abi sighed then continued his sentence, “I need a lawyer.”