WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

UPPSS!!! I JUMPED into the Metromini which began to move slowly. Always, always in a hurry every time they get on or off the vehicle, the car drives on regardless of whether the passenger has really boarded or really got off, it seems that the drivers have their own s.o.p - standard operating procedure or agreement on how they want to run the vehicle, passengers must accept it. No complaining and please understand. Just like the sticker attached on the door, 'pay today, free tomorrow.

Sitting by the door became my favorite spot. I enjoyed the fresh breeze on a hot afternoon more than anything. It was a joy to see the bench near the door still empty, it felt like a throne waiting for me and inviting me to sit on it. Thank you, I muttered cheerfully.

The sound of loud crying ambushed me, several other passengers looked toward the source. A little boy in his third year was lying on the long back seat crying his heart out. There was no adult nearby. Suddenly, the conductor was standing next to me, tinkling with a small change in his hand. I handed him two thousand. Ah, apparently the conductor was a woman, I thought she was a man. I knew now that the little boy must be her son.

"Why his, mom?" I asked while throwing a look at the child.

"It's normal teh*, it will stop by itself." She said as she walked away.

Some passengers looked at each other not knowing what to do but just letting the child cry, trying to accept the deafening sound of his cries. Fortunately, not long after, the sound of crying weakened, weakened, and then disappeared. Apparently, the child fell asleep unable to resist the temptation of the naughty wind on that hot afternoon.

Pufffhhh... I breathed a sigh of relief.

For a moment, my eyes met a man sitting across the front, behind the driver whose seat was facing sideways. His appearance was decent, but his face looked rumpled. His eyes were fragile and full of tangled threads. What was he thinking about? Do I remind him of someone she once knew? His girlfriend, his sister, or his mother. Gee... why am I the one bothering to think about it?

A passenger stood out of his seat, as the female conductor standing at the back door tinkled coins on the car window, shouting "Left...

One down. Three up. Drink sellers, cigarette tissue candy, and snack sellers. This is one of the things that are actually quite fun. When you're thirsty, a drink vendor comes by. When you're hungry, tofu and lontong*) come to you. What else is missing? So I remembered a friend who lives in Singapore, one of the things he misses about Indonesia is times like this. When there are not many rules, you can buy and smoke anywhere. Riding a vehicle can get on and off at any time. Over there... blah blah. Just spitting is a problem. That's why I'm really grateful and enjoy moments like this. A time when the things I need I can easily get. One day, in a matter of time that is not too long, maybe this kind of atmosphere will no longer exist because it has been disciplined by the rules, or maybe the rules have not had time to be orderly but I have gone first.

I caught the man stealing glances at me again. He looked away. There was a sense of pity to see his anxiety. It was only for a moment, after which the hawker who passed by earlier, again caught my attention.

There are items that are not too important but necessary, which if you deliberately want to buy, you might not think about it, to items that are unnecessary but important. Starting from stationary equipment, manicure pedicure equipment, battery chargers, power banks, selfie sticks, coloring books, mini sewers, car rags, coloring books, children's watches, ginger candies, and ten thousand three storybook children.

Usually, if there is something cute, unique, and cheap I just buy it and keep it at home, when there is a Bright friend or neighbor's children who have a birthday, just wrap it up.

Once I bought an automatic shaver for my husband, the reason was simple, if you deliberately buy it at the store it costs 100 thousand, but here it's just ten thousand, the merchant said. And when I got home, my husband only commented

"What is this? Fooled again huh...?"

"Yes," I replied casually. There was no need for me to argue with him. But it ended up being used anyway.

And, for the umpteenth time, that man's gaze snapped me out of my long daydream. I cast my gaze out the window. The bus was traveling slowly as it approached a red light. Suddenly someone burst out running through the door in front of me, at the same time a woman shouted frantically

"COPET!!! COPETT! COPPETTTTTTTT!!!"

I saw the back of the man in white running fast, chased by the woman who kept shouting copettt. I looked at the seat opposite, it was empty. Yes, that's right, it was the man from earlier, the man who had repeatedly watched me.

Seeing the woman running and shouting pickpocket, the people around her helped chase the man. AHHH!!! I saw the man fall down in not too long. No doubt his body became an easy target for the people who were chasing him.

BUK BUGG BRUGG BRAGG!!!!! Punches and kicks immediately landed on his body.

Little did I know, it was the handbag on my lap that caught his attention. In fact, it would have been easier for him to grab my bag and run out, I'm sure he would have had a better chance of success. But he chose to grab the cell phone of the woman sitting in front of me with her back to the door. The man never expected that the woman would quickly realize and fight back, quickly getting out of the car and chasing while continuously shouting Copett.

DUGG DAAKK DUKK! BRAKKKKKK!!! Mercilessly, the people who ganged up on him seemed to have found a place to vent their problems and poured them out on the poor young man. Fresh blood spurted from his nose

I looked away. A pain in my side.

The traffic light has turned green, and the car moves and starts moving. I can no longer feel the fresh afternoon breeze from behind the door. It would be Citraland Mall in a while and then the car would cross into Grogol terminal. From there I had to change vehicles and continue my journey to my prospective customer's house in the Slipi area.

From a distance, I saw the man shuffling in the crowd, probably heading for the nearest police station. I really didn't know what to feel. How should I be grateful to escape the target of evil, seeing that poor man bleeding all over his body? I could see the man's eyes again. Now I understood his giddy look.

Arriving at Grogol terminal, the car braked suddenly, and the small child sleeping in the back seat fell down and cried. His mother, the conductor, carried him while shouting. "Grogol finish... Grogol finished...!"

On a hot afternoon, in the midst of the crowd, my heart was lonely and quiet.

I walked like I was floating...

***

*)teteh, call to sister in Sundanese (west java province)

*)Lontong is a typical Indonesian food made from rice wrapped in banana leaves and steamed

*)Copet, Pickpockets