EIGHTEEN

Daylight has arrived. I just got up from my bed. My eyes looked at the clock on the wall and it was 11 o'clock in the afternoon. I didn't expect to fall asleep this morning. I felt bad for Mrs. Kartika.

I opened my bedroom door carefully. My feet came out slowly. I intended to walk to the kitchen because my stomach was rumbling. But I hadn't reached my destination yet. I saw my father in the dining room. He was squatting and patching the wall with cement. I approached him.

"What are you doing, sir?" I asked casually.

"I'm patching the wall. Are you hungry, Ri?" he asked as if he knew from coming back here. I hadn't eaten anything yet.

"Hehehe, yes. Riri is really hungry, sir."

"You take the food from the table. I bought some packaged rice for you," he explained with his hands still busy doing men's work.

"Have you eaten?"

"I'll eat later, when this is done. I'm not really hungry," she said without looking at me.

"Yasudah Riri will eat first, sir."

Father nodded, I immediately opened the serving hood that was behind me. It was right on the dining table.

There was packaged rice inside. I opened the rice wrapper. There was rice and a side dish of fried chili sauce and eggs.

I haven't seen Mrs. Kartika yet. I think she's in the kitchen. Because my ears heard kitchen tools touching each other. It looks like Mrs. Kartika is frying something.

I wanted to go over to her. But I was a bit lazy with her jutting attitude.

I continued eating my lunch. My throat felt tight. I actually wanted to eat rice with vegetables. But this packaged rice was all I could eat.

I chewed by tasting the fried chili sauce which was quite spicy. Then I drank some water.

After eating, I tried to walk to the kitchen. I saw Mrs. Kartika's child lying on the stroller and Mrs. Kartika busy frying so much tempeh. Was it her business all this time? I guess so, because there was a lot of tempeh on a big tray made of wicker. Then there was a thick packet of pasta.

"Do you sell tempeh, Mom?" I asked gently while looking at the frying pan.

"From now on don't call me mom, I'm not your mom. Call me mbak," she explained in a chatty voice. Her face did not turn towards me at all.

"Yes, ma'am." I replied briefly. Although I was actually very sad. I wanted a mother figure now. Because mom is still nowhere to be found.

I really wanted to be close to Mrs. Kartika, but her nature disappointed me. Well, I'll just keep quiet. After all, I'm just living here.

"Can I help you, Ma'am?" I asked as much as possible to make my father's wife unemotional.

"You take her outside, Bening. Take care of him." said the woman still busy with the frying pan.

I followed her words. I pushed the stroller out of the kitchen with a feeling of annoyance. Even though I was sincere in helping her. But her face was very ugly to me.

I passed the father who was sitting and eating his meal.

"Where are you going, Ri?" he asked looking at me.

"Ms. Kartika told me to take you out," I explained with a flat face.

"Sister? Since when do you call Kartika sister?" asked my father with a widened eye.

"She asked me to call her mbak," I replied.

"No way!" exclaimed the father with a tense face. He approached his wife with quick steps.

I quickly pushed the trolley and followed him. I was afraid there would be an argument.

"Kartika, why did you tell Riri to call you mbak?" asked the father with a face full of emotion.

Mbak Kartika stopped her frying activity. She looked at her husband's face sharply.

"So what, she's not my daughter after all. My daughter is Bening, not her!" She said in a high tone. She looked at me with a glance. His face was so cynical.

"But you're married to me! That means Riri is your child. What's wrong with thinking of her as your child. After all, her mother hasn't been found yet." explained the father fiercely.

Kartika was silent. The woman resumed her activities with her jaw tightened.

"Still! I don't want to consider him as my son. I also never considered you as my husband. Is that clear? I want to continue cooking!"

I was shocked to hear the woman's words. How could she not think of you as her husband?

I looked at her with a downcast face. Then he left slowly.

Poor father, it means his life has been unhappy all this time. Is this karma from God? Maybe so, because you used to be so rude to mom.

I quickly took Bening with me. I pushed the stroller outside the house. I no longer saw my father. Maybe he was away for a while to calm his chaotic mind.

Now I was on the floor outside the house. Bening whines and I gently push her back and forth. Eventually she stops crying and falls asleep.

The scene in the afternoon is quite quiet. Hardly anyone passes in front of Mbak Kartika's house.

"Riri!" called a familiar voice. I looked over. Zahra was beside me. She was in the yard of a house. The house had a red gate.

I gave her a surprised smile.

She immediately opened the gate and came running to me.

"Is this your father's house, Ri?" she asked, sitting next to me.

"I didn't expect to see you again. Yes, this is my father's house. I mean his wife's house," I explained, trying to smile.

"Oh this is your sister, Ri? It's so cute, it's so cute when you're little like that," Zahra said looking at Bening who was asleep.

I just smiled and looked at Bening. Maybe she's about five months old now. I feel bad for her if she has to hear her parents arguing like that.

"Eh, let's play! To my boarding house," Zahra said excitedly.

"Later, I don't feel comfortable with Bening's mom," I replied, looking at her.

"Oh her name is Bening huh? Hem, it's okay but later promise me you'll play at my boarding house," Zahra made a scary face at me.

"Yes, I will definitely play at your boarding house," I replied by painting a soft smile.

"Ok, I'll wait! Oh yeah! I talked to my friend Ri this morning. He said that the restaurant in front of my hospital has a job opening. You can try to apply there," she explained, making my face light up. Thank God, at least I got some good news today.

"Wow, it's close to my house. Okay, I'll go there tomorrow morning to apply for the job. Hopefully I can get accepted, right? I really need the money. I don't feel comfortable living here," I explained, exploring the view of my father's wife's house.

"Alright, I'll help you pray! So that you can get hired at that restaurant," Zahra said with a sincere smile.

"Eh, I forgot to turn off the faucet, I was washing clothes. I'll stay, Ri." She said with worry.

I just nodded hard then she went running away from me.