“Wait for me, girls!” Lita pleaded
to her friends shortly after they exited Braga
Urban outlet. It was not an ideal afternoon; black clouds cloaked the
Bandung sky throughout. Cold, strong wind swept through stands as local
merchants packed their shop. After all, it was not really a good idea for
shopping new clothing when it was almost raining. Nonetheless, the special
edition badge and lower price tag on the clothes was the primary force for Lita
to purchase them after brawling with the storeowner for one hour.
The girls strode the sidewalk to
look for other items they want to buy. Reny wanted to find two sets of blouse
to replace her old one, or else her superior will complain about her faded work
dress. Fenilla searched for a clutch bag, said to Lita that it swung all the
time when she carried it. Tika, meanwhile, were hunting for make-up sets, and
there were several excellent quality product line being sold in Bandung stores
with inexpensive price. They were arguing which store they should visit first,
but resolved after Reny proposed an idea, “How about we go to our designated
store ourselves and gather in one place before going back to Lita’s cousin
flat? It’s 2 pm now, and we probably want to return before four.”
“Done deal.” Fenilla nodded, “I’m
so hungry. Perhaps we can buy some snacks and ingredients for Mikha to make
dinner.”
“It’s fine for me. You guys go
then, I will wait at the new Seven Eleven there.” Lita pointed to a newly
furnished building, painted in the trademark red and green stripes, a half
block away from the store.
“Okay, Lita. We won’t be long.”
Tika said to Lita, her eyes gleamed to sign a request, “Can you order three
cups of latte when we arrive there?”
Lita nodded, “Just make sure you’re
back before it’s raining hard!”
The girls agreed. Each of them went
to separate ways to their respective target. Lita, having acquired the item she
wanted, proceeded to the convenience store and took a seat at a canopy next to
the main building. After buying one cup of coffee, she placed her shopping bags
on the table, and began to focus on her Nokia phone.
She updated her Facebook and
Twitter twenty minutes ago and there was still no sign of the girls. Lita
looked around, and the only thing she saw was the people going in and out the
store while hanging out with their friends or family.
However, an unusual view stung her
head.
A three-year-old boy was staggering
on the pavement. Usually, a child like him was not disturbing because not far
from him would be his family watching over them. The problem hooked Lita to him
was that he was walking alone, without any close supervision from any older
person, not even his sister. She examined the boy more closely. The clothes and
shoes he wore were tattered, with images of cartoon characters slightly visible
due to its dye ripped off the cloth. Furthermore, he did not show any hand
gestures nor approach other people as Lita often found with child beggars in
Jakarta. No, this child was different, she said reflectively in her mind.
Another issue that bugged her as
she drank her coffee was his eyes. He was so striking, with his long hair, flat
brows, and slightly puffed cheek, but she did not see the cheerful, lively eyes
as other children do. This boy was possibly lost, Lita said to herself, and did
not know the way home. Only a few person paid attention to him, and they gave
him some money because they thought he asked for it, but in reality, he just
grabbed it in his palm.
Lita then decided to approach the
boy. She crouched down so that she could speak with him. Before she could utter
one word, a woman passed by, and said to her, “Girl, what happened? Do you know
this boy?”
Lita turned around and answered the
woman diplomatically, “No, I just want to talk with him.”
The woman smiled, “I see. It is
almost raining now. You’d better tell him to go home.”
“I’ll do.”
The woman walked to the bus stop.
Lita continued her attention to the boy. She gave her advice to the boy in soft
voice, “It is almost raining, son. Where is your mom?”
The boy heeded her question.
Conversely, he replied in hollow tone and uncompleted words, “Mom? Sister, do
you know where mom? You take me to her?”
Lita’s throat was stuck; he did not
know where his mom was.
Before she could do anything, the
blessing of the earth poured down. Lita and the boy soaked in the rainfall. She
immediately grabbed him, “Come on, we need to shelter from this heavy rain,”
wrapped the boy in her embrace, and returned to the store’s canopy.
Lita checked their clothes. It was
very damp, and begun to feel uncomfortable. “You must be cold,” Lita said to
the boy.
“Yes. It is very cold.” The boy’s
innocent voice could be heard. She was only wearing long sleeves and black
jeans, but she was certain that the boy was shivering more severe from her, as
the shirts and pants were thinner from her own.
“Guess I have no other choice,” she
murmured to herself. She grabbed one of her shopping bag, and put out the new
jacket she just bought. “We can share this jacket to keep us warm,”
As
they waited for the rain to stop, Lita chose to continue her questions, “I
don’t know where your mom is, but I can take you to her. What about your dad?”
“I only live with mom. Dad gone
long. Mom said he went to heaven, and she will too later.”
Lita could feel her heart fell in
bullet time for a split second. He was an orphan, and did not understand that
his mom was very ill.
“When did you see your mom today?”
“Morning. Mom was sleeping all the
time, so she called uncle Nana to take me out.”
So this boy wandered off from his
guardian and her mom was at the brink of death. It was very deep for a boy of
this age. Lita could not hold this anymore. The water was so strong, as if it
was weeping for the boy’s parents who just passed back to the netherworld and
the air was just doubled Lita’s fright of the boy’s life.
Thirty minutes had passed and still
no sign of her friends or the rain to stop. Lita checked her phone, and sent a
broadcast message to her friends that she would return late. She returned her
attention to the boy, “what is your name?” she asked softly and gave chocolate
bread she bought earlier.
“My mom call me Gippa.”
“Okay Gippa, it seems that the rain
will not stop until Maghrib, so we have to get you home first. I will find
uncle Nana and Sis want to ask something to him after you get home.”
“Thank you, sister. Hey, that’s
uncle Nana” Gippa pointed to a man in shirt and trouser at the bus stop. He was
confused all along even until he reached the bus stop. His eyes were looking
back and forth, finding something he thought difficult.
“It’s great. Let’s go see him.”
Still holding Gippa, closed in her
new jacket, and her shopping bag, Lita walked in fast pace to the bus station.
She approached the man Gippa mentioned, and politely asked, “Excuse me, are you
Mr. Nana?”
“Yes, I am. Pardon me, who are
you?” Mr. Nana introduced himself.
“My name is Lita Mathina. I was
waiting at the store when I found this boy walking without particular purpose.
His name is Gippa and he said you brought him along before he got lost.”
Nana thanked with relief, “Gippa!
Alhamdulillah, you’re all right! I’m so sorry I slipped my attention to you
because I was helping an accident!”
“I thank you very much, Miss Lita.
I thought a child trafficking syndicate or something caught Gippa.”
“Gippa mentioned that his mother
was going to die. Is that true? Who are you actually?” Lita became curious.
“In all condolences, yes, she died
only half an hour after I brought Gippa with me this morning. Post-mortem
report said that she died of type C hepatitis, a disease she had fought ever
since Gippa’s birth. As for me, I’m actually a caretaker of an orphanage. Not
really an orphanage, more like a child rehabilitation center.”
“And his father?”
“He was my best friend. We built
the orphanage together. A great man with a great vision, but not blessed in his
health. He died when his wife reached fifth month of her pregnancy. A traffic
accident, as far as I know.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that” Lita
wept her tears, “So Gippa is going to stay in your orphanage?”
“By her mother’s will, yes.” Nana
agreed with the statement.
Lita made her decision. She knew
what she would do. Whether her friends and family like it or not, she would
continue on.
“I want to discuss something with
you, sir. But now, let’s go back to your orphanage."
*****
“So you were stalking me all the
time, Arfan?” Lita was shocked. She drank her coffee to relief her shudder. Her
brows accentually frowned, with Gippa playing a car toy on her lap “You shadowy
plump! What are you doing in Bandung anyway?”
“Well, I couldn’t help it,” I
smiled to her, “I was visiting my family there. I went around the town for a
while and I spotted you at the Seven-Eleven before it was raining. I followed
you then, but not before I picked up a five-year-old girl before I found you and
she was very much like the boy you brought in. Besides, your mother asked me to
take care of you should you run to any trouble. I was the one who took you to
Mikha’s apartment when you were too cold and tired to walk and just slept when
you got into my car.”
We spent our time in a humble café at
the Kalibata Riverview. It was a cool afternoon, if not crowdy, since it was
Saturday. I brought Mia with me, a five-year-old girl I adopted last week at
the same time Lita adopted Gippa, and unbeknownst to Lita, a ring. After all I
saw in Bandung, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to say it to her after
knowing each other since we were kids.”
“So you knew everything I did in
Bandung last week?” Lita said.
“Yes.”
“And what do you want me to do
here?”
“You know, from what I saw you last
week, you are not like what you seem to me in our childhood. You have grown…
matured… to be a motherly figure. I always know that you will have this trait
somehow.”
“I know. Women will show their
compassion and true self when they have children with them.”
“And it brings me today to my request.”
I grabbed my ring’s case.
“What is it?”
“I want you… to answer me… as these
children became our witness… would you like to be my wife, the half of me, and
unite in a holy matrimony, forever, until death tears us apart?” I opened the
case and showed the titanium alloy ring with emerald to her, much to her
amazement.
“Arfan..., but we’re just friends…,
you never told me that you loved me…”
“Well, actions speak louder than
words, am I correct?”
“I do love you, but, I think this
was so soon…” Lita voiced her hesitance
“Not really. We were just
graduated, weren’t we?”
“If so then… Yes, I do.”
I held her in joyful feeling I’ve
never felt before. The whole café seemed to notice it, and gave their applause
to us. Gippa and Mia asked us, “What happened?”
“You will have a whole family
again, children. Your dad and your mom. We will stay as a family together,
forever.”
FIN
