Heri

Heri remembered that his name had been on Mr. Ali's blacklist twice, and now it seemed like it was the third time. This teacher could always find something wrong with him.

"Why are you skipping class?" now, in front of Heri, Mr. Ali looked different from usual. Without the friendly smile that he always showed, Mr. Ali looked like a person with a cold personality. Could it be because there were only two of them in the teacher's room? Maybe it was like that. It might also be because Mr. Ali was already annoyed with Heri's behavior which made him blacklisted again.

Heri could only bow her head as he said. "I have other business outside, sir" There was no defense, Heri just wanted to get out quickly.

"Is that business more important than school?" Mr. Heri sat at the table and looked at Heri with unfriendliness. "Isn't school the most important thing for kids your age?"

Heri couldn't answer that question. Even though he had secretly left through the back of the center building, Mr. Ali was able to find her and now here he was. Waiting for the teacher's punishment.

"Sorry, sir." That was all Heri could say now.

"Congratulations, you have entered three times into my records." Only now did Mr. Ali show his smile. However, that smile felt different than usual. Heri got goosebumps from it.

"What's my punishment, sir?"

"That's later. You can come out now." Mr. Ali pointed to the exit. Inviting Heri to leave the teacher's room.

"Later, sir?"

"Yes, later."

Heri scratched her head in confusion. Usually, he would get a direct punishment, like standing in the middle of the field or something. However, this one? He had to wait for the punishment. Heri wondered what he would get later. He thought it would be a punishment like cleaning the toilet or standing in the field.

He walked out of the office and looked around. Confused about what to do, he finally chose to go back to his class. Heri knew that there was a high probability that his attendance would not be counted because he entered in the middle of the lesson, but so be it, the important thing was that he could meet Selin.

Entering the classroom, it turned out that there was no teacher teaching. Heri breathed a sigh of relief. The social studies class was only busy with the task of summarizing one chapter. Selin, who saw Heri enter the classroom, asked, "It's been a while since you skipped class."

"Arrested by Mr. Ali."

Hearing that, Selin laughed because of the wrinkled look on Heri's face. "What a pity. You've been in his book three times already."

"Three times?" Karin, who had been busy summarizing, became interested in what Selin was saying. "Really three times?"

"Yes? The first time he was late, the second time he brought a cigarette, and the last time he was caught skipping class." Selin tried to give Karin a clear and concise explanation.

"So what's the punishment?" All of Karin's attention now turned to Heri.

"Later." Heri shrugged her shoulders, trying not to care about the punishment.

"Later?"

Heri replied with a slow nod. He then sat on his chair and chose to try and sleep off the problems that had just occurred.

"Later6?" muttered Karin quietly trying to guess what would happen. Karin hoped it wasn't something dangerous. 

***

It was almost two in the morning, and Heri was still outside his house playing with his friend. They were at a stall that had become a place or you could say, their headquarters.

Here he worked as a waitress serving people. Heri has to go back and forth to deliver orders. When he is free, he will go to his friends to rest and eat their food.

That's how Heri lives every day. He goes to school in the morning and works at night. The reason he skips school or is late is because of this. He has to deliver schoolchildren's orders, such as cigarettes. Some students don't dare to bring their cigarettes to school. Therefore, Heri utilizes this opportunity to become a seller to them. Heri only had to deliver the cigarettes as requested. As a result, he was late several times and counted as skipping classes. Apart from cigarettes, there are still many things that Heri can deliver to the class. Everything is according to the customer's request.

They spent the night with many stories. Heri sometimes had to go back to serving customers because usually the later the night, the more people came.

He could finally rest when the call to prayer for dawn echoed through the quiet streets. At this hour, the crowd of customers had dwindled, and Heri's only task left was to return home. The journey from the shop to his house took about 30 minutes. If he left on time, he could at least manage to sleep for an hour until half-past six. After that, he needed to get ready for school.

"Ma'am, I'll be heading home now," Heri said to the shop owner.

"Alright, take care, dear. Send my regards to your mother."

"Will do, Ma'am."

After bidding farewell, Heri pedaled his bicycle at a steady pace. He needed to arrive home as planned to get that precious hour of sleep. As he rode through the still-quiet streets, he hummed softly to himself.

Suddenly, Heri had to slam on the brakes as someone appeared in the middle of the road. To be honest, Heri felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of this figure. A part of him feared that this wasn't a human being.

"Excuse me, sir?" Heri called out cautiously, observing the person in front of him. The figure seemed to be wearing multiple layers of clothing and a brown hat. Due to the dim streetlights, Heri couldn't make out the person's face. "Sir? You're human, right?"

Without warning, the figure kicked Heri's bike, causing him to fall to the ground. Realizing the danger looming over him, Heri scrambled to his feet in an attempt to run away. However, his foot got caught on his bicycle, making him fall a second time.

At that moment, Heri glanced at the mysterious figure. The last thing he saw was the person swinging something toward him before everything went black.