The Lives of Five Hundred Thousand
Mysterious scream

"How's Nuri, do you want to accept my nephew Andre's proposal?" Mrs Hajj's question made me aware of my long-term residence. Spontaneously I rubbed my face and confirmed the location of my hijab even though there was actually no problem with its location. Not nervous but confused how to answer the question.

I used to love Andre for a dozen years. Wishing she would come to see me and ask me what she said first. But, after finding out she was married to another woman I was heartbroken and when Raihan came into my daily life, my feelings for Andre just disappeared as if I didn't even know him. Do I have to marry a man I don't love anymore like I was married to Surya? I once felt that marrying a man I didn't love felt like what it was and now do I have to repeat it again.

Haji looked at me with a hopeful look. Like asking me to answer his question right now. I could not escape the glare of his eyes and inevitably I looked back at him.

"If only you knew that I love your son, not your niece. If only you knew that I wanted to be pinned by the mother's child instead of proposed by the mother's nephew. If only...." I shake my head to wake up from my delusion.

Bu Haji seemed to lift next to his eyebrows then he asked but it seems he misunderstood.

"What do you mean, Nuri? what does it mean that you rejected Andre's proposal?"

I confirmed my slanted seat and sighed first before I started answering Hajj's question. And I hope that my decision to reject Andre is the right one and I hope that my decision does not hurt Mrs Haji or Andre.

"Sorry Mom, that's not what I mean but frankly I haven't thought about getting married again. You know that I am a woman who has failed to marry and just divorced even when my Iddah just finished one week ago. Honestly, my divorce left a trauma to myself. I married for a short matchmaking even we did not know each other's character. I do not know how the character of my ex-husband and he also did not know how I until we finally divorced. Therefore, what I have experienced will make me learn in the future so as not to rush to decide things that are related to the future or my life partner. I know Andre is a good guy because I first got to know him when he was in SD. But that doesn't mean we already know each other's characters, does it ma'am? have we not seen each other in a long time."

Hajj ma'am seemed silent and listened to what I said."So, you're rejecting Andre's proposal?"

"It's just not ready, ma'am, I don't want to go to the household anymore."

"It's not ready yet, so that means Andre still has a chance if you're really ready right?"

I kept thinking about what was the right answer but I remembered one word.

"Inshaallah Ma."Say me then. Haji ma'am leaned his back after hearing my decision. He did not look disappointed even his usual attitude.

"Ah yes, I understand. I will give the same understanding to Andre."

"Thank you Ma'am, and please say my apologies to Andre ya ma'am."

"Yes Nur, I will tell you later. Then excuse me!"

I nodded and endured it with tak'jim.

"Nur!" Bang Supri arrived and surprised me while watching the departure of Bu Hajj until he disappeared from my sight.

I'm rolling lazy eyeballs."Good thing I don't have a history of heart disease, bang."

"Part of bengong mulu from earlier. But I heard there was a voice of someone talking to you who is Nur?"

"Raihan's mother."

"Ooh, what's he gonna do here, Nur?"

"Applying."Answer's short.

"What!"he said in a high voice and almost deafened my ears.

"It's usual why bang!"my protest.

"Ha ha, I'm just glad Nur. So Raihan actually proposed to you? but it's not the same Raihan.

I shook my head slowly. After that, move on without saying. Bang Supri turned her shoulders to look at me who was already in the door."Nur, Nur, Nur, let's go. You haven't answered my question, Nur." I glanced at him and straightened my eyes and entered.

"Nuri, who'd propose to you if it wasn't Raihan?" I smiled faintly at the screams of the Supri bang on the porch of the house.

When I entered the Maghrib, I rushed to fetch water. But before going to the bathroom I saw Zain playing Lego block in the TV room. While bang Supri was somewhere.

"Zain, you want to pray Maghrib first, son? Zain just play here."

"Yes my mom." Zain said, his gaze focused on his toys and his hands were busy composing Lego blocks of size quite large.

I rubbed his head and rushed to the bathroom. After I finished doing ablution I still took the time to see Zain first and he was still cool composing his Lego.

In the room when I had just finished the Maghrib prayer, I heard Zain's voice talking to someone and laughing gleefully.

I immediately opened my face and folded it. After that, I peeked at Zain from the crack of the door I opened a little and was surprised to see Zain talking to the woman I often met.

"Astaghfiruallah the enzyme." Spontaneously I stood aside and closed the door hard enough to shock Zain and he yelled at me.

"Mama.."

I hurried out because I was afraid that the mysterious woman was hurting Zain until Zain shouted like that. However, after I opened the door and looked towards Zain the woman was no longer there.

"Mama.." Shouted Zain again after seeing me already standing in the doorway. I immediately ran towards him and clutched him tightly.

"Zain don't cry, baby there's already a mama here."I rubbed his back so he would stop crying.

"Oma's missing mama, Zen's sad." Zain in the middle sobbed.

"Oma, Oma who do you mean, son?."

"Oma play Zen."

I was astonished to hear Zain's honest words because toddlers his age did not know his name was a lie. It turned out that Zain was crying not because he heard the door that I closed hard or was hurt by the mysterious woman but the disappearance of the woman and made Zain feel lost. But my question is why Zain called him Oma. Who exactly is this mysterious woman? why is he always around me and Zain? what is my relationship with that woman? A puzzle that feels difficult to break.

"Did I tell doctor Bayu about what I experienced in his house until now." My monologue.

When I was sleeping, I was suddenly startled by the sound of screaming from the side of my house precisely from the direction of the cracker-making factory. Spontaneously, both my eyelids opened wide and sat down."Who's yelling at that?" My lyrics clock stuck to the wall of the room already showed at two in the morning."Am I dreaming? how come at this hour there's someone screaming and wandering around my house."I said as I rubbed my eyes. Just as I was about to cover my body with a blanket, a cry for help came back.

"Please, please, go away!" I put my ears in jelly and it turned out that it was true that what I heard was the cry of people asking for help.

I immediately pulled out the blanket and hurriedly walked out of the room. I got out of the room along with Supri bang who also came out of his room.

"Bang!"

"Did you hear the cries of people asking for help as well Nur?"ask bang Supri while justifying the scabbard.

"Yes bang. Let's look out bang."

"In the meantime, Nur, I want to take a machete with a flashlight first." Then bang Supri walked towards the kitchen. After getting what he was looking for we rushed out.

"Bang, the source of the sound is in that direction!" point me at the cracker production building.

"Yes Nur, let's go there." Then we walked towards the factory. After standing in front of the factory we did not find the person who shouted that.

"No one is Nur." Speak bang Supri while directing the flashlight towards the surrounding garden in tanami cassava and sweet potato.

"We check to the side and back of the bang."

"Yes, come on!"

Bang Supri walked in front of me because she was carrying a flashlight. The side and back of the factory was deliberately not illuminated so it looks dark.

Dugs

"Oh." Bang supri pitted like stepping on something on the ground. Then a flashlight of his was pointed at something he was stepping on. It looks like a white jerrycan filled with liquid lying on the ground and part of the contents inside to the existing partially spilled.

"Jerigen what is Nur." said bang Supri.

"Not knowing the bang."

Suddenly there was a smell of gasoline coming out of the jerry can.

"Cock stinks of gasoline" I said slowly.

"Yes Nur, the smell of gasoline. Uh, look at that there's a gas match." point to the Supri bang on the gas match not far from the jerrycan and I believe it contains fuel.

We look at each other."there's fuel and there's a gas lighter don't nobody want to burn our factory bang."