Under The Rain's
Chapter 43—Speaking I

“Mother! Mother! Mother!”

Kaia's sudden shout was like a wolf's howl in broad daylight. The girl ran out of the room, brandishing her phone into the air with a panicked face, as she continued to shout calling her mother.

At that moment Nadia was talking to someone on the phone, and she immediately turned her head towards her daughter with a wondering face. “Mbak, I close first, yes. Soon we are getting more news.” He immediately disconnected the phone and approached Kaia. “What's up, Son?”

The girl immediately extended her arm towards the mother, about to show what she had just seen behind the screen of her phone. “Please see this, deh!”

“What is this, Ka?”

“So, Kaia wants to take a water-color painting class, Mommy. Kaia has a list. But, try Mommy see first what is the name of her mentor!” With a roiled face and rounded eyes, Kaia showed a website page that immediately made Nadia stuck.

“This? Krishna ...?” Nadia initially responded only slowly, but as she continued to scroll down her phone, that response became even more boisterous. “KRISNA! Is this really Krishna?” he cried when he found a photo of the face he knew well there.

“Iya, Mother, Om Krishna.”

“He's your painting mentor, Ka? This Krishna? Which almost makes Papa you go leave all of us?!” nadia's cry could have woken up her neighbors who were napping.

“Iya, Mother. On the page was a picture of him. Krishna Satria ... her husband Reva, ‘kan?” investigate Kaia with concern.

“No, Kaia ... NO! You can't come to her class! Mother does not want!” Nadia suddenly rose from her seat in agitation. Seeing the man's face in a digital photo alone had fed him up, let alone thinking his daughter was going to an art class led by him.

“Iya, Mother. Kaia cancel her class. After all, Kaia has not paid, just wanted to book.”

“Neither! You can find a much better mentor. Mommy doesn't want you to do anything, son.”

“But, Bunda .. means Om Kris will be in Bandung, ‘kan, during the course lasts?”

Nadia who was walking pacing back and forth was immediately stopping her steps, then glanced at Kaia while squinting her eyes. “Eh, really too, yes ...”

For a moment Nadia seemed to think of something, sitting on the kitchen chair in her apartment while tapping her fingers on the wooden table. Then, he immediately snatched his phone to contact someone.

The first link received no response. He continued to stomp his feet unruffled, and anxiously grabbed his own hair while waiting for his phone call to be connected. Then, he again pressed the writing ‘CALL’ on the LCD screen for the second and third time, until finally someone at the end there answered as well.

“ERIN! Where, anyway?” A growling look on his face though he felt relieved.

“So in the bathroom, Nad. What's up?” erin answered on the other end of the phone.

“I have an idea, Rin! Finally, there is also a way out of that problem!”

“This is what we are talking about, yes?”

“Rin, denger. Next week there's a pop-up water-color painting class at Kaia's arts course. Do you know who was the mentor for that class?”

“Who?”

“KRIS! Krishna Satria! The person we have been looking for all this time even though we really want to hear his name!”

“Hah? The real one, Nad? What a coincidence, dong!”

“Totally. Kaia wanted to list. But Amit-amit, if my son ever sees him again! Good thing he checked their website first, and we found his name and photo there!”

“Yes, Nad, danger. Keep your plan what?”

“At least, we knew he would be in Bandung for a few days during that pop-up class. Maybe, secretly we can come there, Rin.”

“We're stalked, you mean? I can, I'll follow you where you go home. Maybe that's the only way to find Reva.”

“I think so too, Rin. We'll follow the car every time the class is over. Maybe you can change using my car or you, let him not suspect.”

“What date does the class start?”

“One to five February. Empty the schedule between those dates, yeah. We go together.”

“Okay.”

***

Hats and sunglasses are installed with ciamik. Do not forget also face masks and hair that are deliberately stroked to cover the jaw. Nadia and Erin were already in the courtyard of a shophouse complex, waiting for their diamond target that afternoon.

Art course where Kaia studied named ‘Yukita Arts’. Kaia came there twice a week after she returned to school. The place is located inside a shop that offers a variety of learning activities such as drawing, sketching, painting and making manga. ‘Yukita Arts’ indeed often invites several freelance mentors for their additional classes. And at that time, Kris, whose name is already known in the world of images and colors, was offered a job to teach children there during the pop-up class.

“Which is the car, Nad?” asked Erin who continued to pay attention to the entrance of the course place from inside her car parked at the end of the shophouse yard.

“Ndon't know, Rin. But on their website, the class schedule was completed at 17:30. Five minutes left, he must have walked out that door. Wait aja.”

“Okay, Nad. Get ready, yes.”

More than ten minutes passed, but the man's nose was not yet visible. Only children of Kaia's age began to scatter out the door. They were Kris' students.

“Not yet, Rin ...”

“Newly finished times. His kids just came out. Maybe he still has business.”

“Oh, okay, deh.”

“Riiin ..!”

“Propause, yes! Wait ten more minutes, yeah. Anyway, new clock this way too.”

The good news, not until ten minutes finally skinny Kris' body was caught also by both pairs of netra from women who were like spies. He was wearing black and carrying a backpack. The way the installment was very easy to recognize, and tattoos scattered on his arms and neck could also be directly observed by Erin from behind the rearview mirror of his car. The bad news, the area is jammed badly, hopefully Erin can immediately interrupt to put her car right behind Kris' car.

“He got into that black car, Rin!”

“Let's record the plate number, yes.”

Erin immediately pulled the transmission lever when she saw the four black car tires start moving. Together, they leave the shophouse area with the help of a parking attendant. Despite almost grazing, Erin deftly clung to the man's car and began to follow.

The car was passing through the streets that Erin could already guess where it was going. Even so, he did not want to lose track, because it could be his prediction turned out to be wrong.

“Eh? This mah want to go to Bi Uma's house like, yes?” Nadia who had also realized where the car was headed immediately commented.

“It looks like yes, Nad. But, it makes sense, anyway. If Kris now lives outside the city, maybe only today he returned to Bandung, and certainly immediately came to Bi Uma.”

“Maybe Reva is there?”

“Can be. That's why we follow.”

“Bakal hard but meet Reva if there is a husband like that. How about you, Rin?”

“We'll see later, deh.”

For a few tens of minutes driving, they finally arrived at their destination. Kris's car, which was parked on free land in front of a village office, began to complicate reconnaissance. The owner got down and walked towards the alley. A narrow alley that will take him to Bi Uma's residence. Erin and Nadia knew that, because they had also gone through the same path. However, at that time there was no way they could also scratch him on foot. It was late and the place looked quiet. They were afraid that Kris would do anything.

“There is only one way to find out if Reva is in the house or not,” Erin said, after she and Nadia had a long argument about what they should do that night. It was also impossible for them to just go home without success, having wasted his time scouting since the afternoon.

“What?”

“Delivery!”

“Means lo?”

“See aja, deh.”

Erin immediately scrolls through the screen of her phone, letting her fingers dance up there. Then, he began to wait, while letting Nadia wonder at his action with a gaping mouth.

After waiting for fifteen minutes, a two-wheeler came and parked his bike in front of the village office. Erin hurriedly approached him, still fully wearing a hat, mask and glasses.

“Kang, direct delivery to Reva, yes. His house in blue paint, white fence, his fourth house anyway, right side.”

Erin gave instructions as clearly as possible to the online motorcycle taxi driver, and she also did not forget to give a tip. “This makes akang. Please help me, yes!”

“Most, Tea ...”

“Nothing. Come on, Kang, just delivered.”

While Erin was flushed back to her car, the young man did as he was told. Carrying a plastic bag containing two large cups of boba tea, he got into an alley and disappeared from Erin's sight.

“Crazy, dih! How will I be found out? No one knows Reva ever lived there other than us!” nagel Nadia was so aware that what her friend was doing was probably dangerous.

“Terus why? If Kris knew, what would he do? We still need information, Nad. So desperate a little worth it, lah.”

Shortly after, the young man returned, and Erin immediately waved her hand from inside the car. “Where, Kang?” he asked worriedly as his glass window was wide open. He was so afraid that Kris suddenly emerged from the alley and saw himself.

“Which name is Reva none, Teh.”

“Whose life is it? Say no, Reva where?”

“Mom-mom, Tea, but Don't say anything.”

“Ya, Kang. Thanks, yes.”

“Sama-sama, Tea.”

Erin immediately stuck the gas as soon as the delivery service was done, drove as far as possible and made sure Kris's car did not follow her behind.

“But, Rin, he can lie, you know. Because he knows that it must have been us, he must have said Reva does not exist,” Nadia said after a few minutes they returned to bulldoze the highway.

“You how again. We can't make it either.”

“So how should we go?”

“In my opinion, we wait until the last day of Kris. On the last day it could be a determination, whether he still went home to Bi Uma, or went elsewhere.”

“Bby, deh. Agree.”

The day ended without success, but they will try again tomorrow. Rafael's condition makes them insist on finding out where his childhood friend is. Hopefully, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow there will be good news.