The Love of Habib
Chapters 19.13

"Yes, my cousin hasn't liked me very much since I lived in his house. She said I was a burden in her house because all my life was taken care of by her parents. My Uncle and Aunt held my parents' money after they died. You know the house price in the city is high, and I think the money is big enough to support me. But both my Uncle and Aunt always felt that I was dragging them backwards. I spent a lot of their money so when sent to the boarding house I was not given a penny." Gisel's story recalls the past, reminiscing about his bad life in the old town.

Dira let out a light sigh, his hands raised patting his best friend's shoulder as consolation.

"Then show them that you can be a successful person. Whatever they say to you, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will repay you. Similarly, for your parents' money swallowed by your Uncle and Aunt's family, one day Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make them vomit it. So be patient and expand your heart." Dira is not a man who is good at words. He is not a poet either. It was just that he had high sympathy with the past of his two best friends who were not much worse than him.

"Of course I have given everything to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." Gisel patted his cheek encouraging himself.

"Let's go in, we'll go to the mosque soon."

The three of them then went back to the dorm building. As soon as they were about to climb into the mosque, they rushed to bring their toiletries to the bathroom. There are many people in the bathroom who will shower. Fortunately they still get an empty bathroom so they can clean themselves up. Because if it is a little late then the bathroom is full and the queue will be long. The wait is very exhausting.

So they get used to going to the bathroom earlier than others.

...*****...

A few days later it was followed by the same monotonous activity. There was no more movement from Leni after that day's bickering episode. Slowly they begin to forget. After how many days of memorizing the amma juz, the three of them went to Umi's house for memorization. It's a shame because there was Nadira also who came to listen. A strange name is Nadira is more polite and smiles continuously when meeting with Aish. He wasn't acting pretentious or fake like last time. This is very surprising and good news. Honestly, Aish was delighted that he did not need to add to the list of enemies anymore. Although he suspected what was a factor in changing Nadira's attitude to him which incidentally is a love rival.

"Alhamdulillah, your memorization is quite good and smooth. It's just that for some letters you're still wrong in pronunciation so I hope you can fix it for memorization next week. In addition, the three of you have successfully completed this task, but you must come next week to repeat it and correct the mispronunciation of your letters." Nadira spoke in a soft and attentive voice with no tone of reproach in her voice.

The humble and sincere attitude made the three of them not ashamed of their appointed mistake. But it makes them more motivated to continue learning.

After that day a few more days passed, and counted three more days would be two weeks. Aish was tormented waiting, and was already impatient. Various kinds of activities are done to drown his longing, but all his efforts are in vain because he still likes to daydream. Thinking about when the habib was still here.

"Now Sunday, I heard that the staff office of the boarding school this morning was very crowded. Many people are waiting to contact their families at home. You're both... How's it?" Dira just came back from the outside.

Dira misses home, lies if she doesn't miss. It's just that he was too angry to call his parents so he never called home. She thought her parents would be looking, but until this week there was no word from her parents. This made him anxious and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to contact his parents.

"I'm not gonna call." Aish answer the task.

"I don't have anyone I call home." Sahut Gisel also had no intention of calling home.

Dira let out a long sigh, her two best friends where it was possible to contact the house person at a time when the people of the house were reluctant to contact them.

"Then I'll go alone. I want to call my parents."

"Don't go alone, we'll come." Aish closed her textbook and wanted to go to the staff office to accompany her best friend.

Dira immediately shook his head in refusal. Aish had recently been studying hard for their exam in a few days. He knew this because of the habib. For the sake of the habib his best friend wants to make a big change in his life and one way is to get good grades.

"I can go alone. You guys don't have to bother. Yes I've walked first yes, coincidentally other friends also want to go to the office so I'm not alone."

After saying that Dira then went following the friends who were waiting at their doorstep.

10 Minutes later they finally arrived in front of the staff office of the boarding school. From afar he could already see the crowd that crowded the two staff offices. Especially for the santriwati line, the length of the row is like waiting in line, seeing it makes Dira's teeth immediately sore.

But fortunately there is a boarding school that has prepared a lot of public telephone barriers so as not to waste a lot of time for people who want to call their families. Half an hour waiting, Dira finally gets a turn. And coincidentally the phone line is next to Aira.

Aira only gave him a thin smile as a greeting, but Dira ignored him and went straight into the phone booth.

The time given by the boarding school is 7 minutes. So Dira has to make the most of this time when talking to her parents.

No one is lifting. He did not give up and repeated it two or three times, but still no one raised.

He did not despair and called his mother's mobile number, but nil, still no one raised. This made him more anxious.

"Oh Allah, may Papa pick up the phone from me. Bismillah."

A few seconds later Papa picked up the phone from Dira.

"Hello, who are you looking for?" It was a woman's voice.

A foreign woman Dira has never heard of.

"Papa, I want to talk to Papa." Dira tries to think positively.

Maybe she was his secretary in the office.

Because his father was a very busy man.

"Oh, you're his son. Dear... There's a call from your daughter."

Buccancy

His heart fell immediately. It feels so painful. His head was buzzing, confused and finding it hard to believe, he wondered if this woman was his Papa's mistress?

So Papa cheated on his mother's back?

"Who called baby?" That's Papa's voice.

The woman across there answered lazily, "Your daughter."

"Whose daughter? Sania or Askia?"

And Dira grew dazed after hearing the great information from her Papa. Who are Askia and Sania?

Another Papa's daughter?

"Not them, but your stupid daughter. He called you and wanted to talk to you." Holding the woman as if confirming that Papa has another daughter.

Dira's heart feels crushed. So hurt.

"The heat? Give me that phone quickly! Why do you keep delaying!" Papa's voice sounded panicked. She hurriedly asked the woman to give her phone back.

Then a rustling sound filled Dira's hearing followed by the sound of footprints. Dira felt that his head was no longer strong enough to withstand the next stimulation. He was afraid to hear Papa's words, afraid to hear Papa's confession.

So before Papa spoke, Dira immediately hung up on him.

"Hiks..." Knees limp.

He was sitting limp on the floor trying to digest all the information he had just heard.