RUSTING BOAT
Chapters. 2

I got off from the private hire taxi that drove me all the way to the end of the road on the boundary that separates my village, Suka Rahmat village with the shaft road that connects Samarinda and Sangatta City.

I was fixated on staring at the gate that stood firm and cold, as if welcoming my return to this village.

Nothing has changed from the face of my village. For about ten years I did not set foot in this village. Everything is still the same as before.

Most of the houses in this village have wooden walls. Even some of them have a lot of weathered eaten age.

I walked slowly down the unpaved road with my head down. To be honest, it was a bit strange after all this time, I walked again on the same street as I used to walk.

A single teak leaf fell right on top of my head. I looked up at the afternoon sky that was slowly turning dark. Maybe because it has started to enter magrib time, plus the cloudy weather and maybe soon the rain will fall, making the atmosphere around me dark.

I sped up my pace hoping to make it to before it rains.

Sometimes I look back hoping to meet someone I know. But. I bit my lips, disappointed.

What can I expect. After ten years of my departure from the village, I don't think I know anyone who passed me by. My footsteps felt heavier because of the fatigue I felt.

" Huh, you know this. I better not come back here again! " I grumbled annoyed because I felt cape pulling a suitcase containing clothes in addition to having to carry a tote bag that contained my needs.

Strangely enough, once me and my brothers, never feel tired even though they have to go back and forth through this road to get to school.

Although the distance from school to our home is quite far, my brothers and I are always eager to go to school without ever complaining. Even though it rained hard.

For my father, education is important. No matter the boy or girl. My father always gave us education.

" The Father cannot bequeath to you treasures, for treasures may run out at any time, but science will not" said the father to us, his sons.

I gazed towards the lush acacia trees that were lined up along the way towards the rice mill there. In the past, my father and I used to walk through this road while carrying the dried grain of our crops to grind.

Harvesting rice from our rice fields that are not more than two plots only, twice a year.

Some of the crops are sold by our father to finance our various needs. Some of them are used for eating.

My father was a simple man and loved to work hard. From morning to evening, he spends more time in the fields or gardens. Sometimes, the father also worked in the fields owned by neighbors. Father said, good for kitchen shopping.

Although he likes to work hard, he is also a very devout figure of worship. Five days never passed, how busy he was.

Another thing I really like about my father's nature is that he is a loving man. Never once did my father scold us for his children. He was patient no matter how big our mistake was.

Remembering my father, makes my heart sad. I love my father very much. If only time could repeat itself. So I promised in my heart that I would love the man more and try to be more devoted to make him happy.

So many wonderful memories that I went through with my father, but all of them were erased just like that by a wound carved by someone in the past.

I let out a heavy sigh, heavy as the weight on both my hands which were now pulling the suitcase and topping my luggage

This is where I am now, forced to go back again just for the blessing of my mother and family. Besides, there's an affair from my past that I haven't finished yet.

I will take care of my divorce officially with Syafrie and start a new life with Mas Haris, the man who has been present to fill the days of my life.

After ten years I closed myself and also my heart. Trying to bury all the love that exists. I also burned away all the feelings in my heart with the flames of vengeance for treason.

The figure is present. Slowly but surely managed to scrape off the scarring, stuck to a flesh inside my body called the heart.

The tenderness and attention given by the figure of Mas Haris, as I called the man, was able to make an Asthma, he said, women who do not believe in a word called love because it was once burned by a betrayal, begin to find again the meaning of a belief and love.

My return is because I want to ask for the blessing of my mother and express the desire of Haris to make myself as her life companion.

Actually, I had strongly resisted Mas Haris' wish for me to return to my birth village and meet my mother. Ask for my blessing on the woman who gave birth to me in this world and the whole family.

However, the man was stubborn. He wanted me to re-establish my friendship with the whole family that had been cut off. I was more precisely the one who decided.

" Yes, Sir! " answer me with a smile.

" Oh, is this really you, Asma? " asked the father as if he could not believe it.

" Yes, sir. This is Asma, Asma's son Bu Syariah."

" Well, Asthma boy. Why just go home now. Fadil is big now. He is handsome and handsome like his father. If it's not wrong to be in fourth grade, now."

" Oh, yeah.!" I answered so because I honestly did not know the names that the father just mentioned.

" You want to go home, right?" I replied with a nod of the head.

" Yes, already. Get in the back. The day is approaching magrib and soon it will rain! " The old man offered me a ride.

" Can you, sir? " tanyaku.

" Hurry up, you want to rush to Musalla. It is time for Magrib! " Without saying any more, I immediately climbed into the back seat while carrying the suitcase on my lap.

" As you can see, a lot has changed from our village, Asma. You should know. Do not stay in the city. As a result you have forgotten your hometown! " said the father.

" Yes, sir. By the way, who is this guy, huh? I forgot, sir!"

" Did ten years make you forget your neighbor, Asthma? " ask the father.

I remember - remember the figure of the father in my memory.

" O God, Tah Sappe.! " groans stuck. I cursed myself, how could I forget the man who was now piggybacking on me. He was my teacher when I was a kid.

Tah Sappe smiled.

" Ten years seems to have turned you into an adult, Asthma. You're getting pretty with that hijab"

" Thank you, my friend!" I was embarrassed to hear that compliment.

" How's Nure doing? " tanyaku. Tetah Nure is the wife of Tetah Sappe. Very kind and loving woman. I remember, Nure always made cakes to be distributed to the children who came to teach at the Tetah Sappe.

" He's always been like that, stay chatty. It's just that his condition is often sick. Understandably, it is old. "sappe replied while chuckling about his wife.

" Why did you just come home now, Asthma?" tetah asked Sappe to break the silence that occurred a while between us.

" There are too many cuts on this chest, you know. I don't know how to take care of him so he can recover!" reply bitter.

" Time has changed a lot of things, Asthma. Syafrie has redeemed all the wounds he inflicted on you at a great price. You should have found out everything. Because there are so many things that you have missed so far" said Tetah Sappe. I smiled bitterly.

Said Tetah Sappe, Syafrie has already made up for all the wounds she inflicted on me at a great price. In fact until this moment, there is not a single one of that price that I have enjoyed.

I stared at the mangrove forest we went through as it passed through a rocky path - a rock. In the past, Syafrie often took me to the beach located at the end of this road. The beach is not very beautiful, but it is quite clean.

While dating and after we were officially married, we spent some time together there. Sit together while telling stories among the mangrove trees that line the beach or walking - a leisurely walk just a breath of fresh air.

I regret my meeting with Syafrie. I also regret my marriage to that man. The man I used to adore so much - puja. His love is so great I glorify. I trusted him so much. Until I leave all my love and loyalty to him. I fell in love, fell - fell on Syafrie. Ironically, it all ended in betrayal.

The love in my heart instantly turned into hatred that scorched all the veins throughout my bloodstream.

The pain of her betrayal made the whole feeling in my heart turn black. I was inflamed, angry and vengeful. Revenge also finally took me away from my hometown with a bloody wound - blood.

I let out a sigh, the tightness felt clumped in the chest. Oh..Perihnya. The wound I thought was healed, apparently not yet, is still bleeding. And the pain was still the same as the first time. I'm back inflamed.

If time could be repeated, I would prefer not to return to this place. Stupidly, I never knew that the wound I was treating was still painful and bleeding.