Beautiful In Dark
09. This Place
The same could be a coincidence, though,
or destiny too
---
It was the coldest day for Darka. While carrying a bouquet of roses, the young man walked straight ahead. Complete with all-black clothes attached to her body, Darka walks into a cemetery.
He was busy looking for the tomb he was looking for. While stepping, the young man tried to remember the location. Understandably, it feels like it has not been here for a long time. He never misses to come here once a year.
Every day and date comes exactly.
After a few minutes, he finally got the tomb he was looking for. The young man then crouched down next to the tomb. His gaze turned heartily when he saw the name of a person on the tombstone. Someone he loves the most.
Sifa, his only puppet sister and his beloved sister.
“Hai, sister,” lirih Darka while pulling both ends of her lips in a smile, put the bouquet of roses beside the tombstone. “Kakak dateng again.”
Darka rubbed the headstone, unconsciously his tears dripped. “Sorry sister.”
Again, every time he came here that was all that a Darka Samudra could say.
Sorry, sorry, and sorry.
After that, he will cry incessantly. The last time he roared, crying until he was completely exhausted.
The same reason he always carries with him every apology, which is guilt.
“Kalo aja brother is not stupid, you can not be like gini,” isak that young man. “You must be big now, beautiful, tall, and a model like you want,” she said while saying the girl's dream when she was alive.
The young man tried to stop his tears, but he never succeeded. He bowed his head, as if begging for forgiveness for what he did. Darka gave up on remembering his sister.
When her friends told her of their frustration with her sister, Darka secretly wanted to feel it too. When her friends protect their younger sister from a man who only wants to play tricks on their younger sister, Darka secretly hopes to do so to her younger sister. When she saw the small quarrel between her friend and her younger sister, Darka could only look enviously at them.
Darka wants a brother. Male or female. Darka wanted to take care of them, at least once in his life.
But what Darka did to his sister was all in vain.
He failed to become a sister to his sister.
Especially when this date arrives in the same month. The young man will come here, remembering his long-gone brother. Recalling the times he had with his sister, he expressed hope that he would wake up from a nightmare about his sister, who was gone for good.
But he must be conscious. This whole thing is not a dream. This is the real reality. The harsh reality he had to accept and which he had to live.
Her sister is really gone.
“Sorry sister has not been able to come with mama and papa,” said Darka full of regret. “Kakak can not..kakak really-can not come with them.”
Darka again remembered the quarrel with his father some time ago. It again made him slump, as if it was true that he was the cause of his sister's death.
Every year Darka goes alone to the cemetery. Not that his parents were not present, but he did not want to come with his parents.
Both of his parents arrived early. Darka deliberately stalled time so as not to come at the same time with his parents. He even arrived two hours later so as not to meet his parents.
Darka rubbed both of his cheeks that were already moist with tears. Slowly, the young man closed his eyes and lowered his head. Sending prayers to my sister.
In Darka's mind there was a prayer he wanted to convey to the Creator. May his sister forgive all her faults, her brother be quiet in nature. And if given the opportunity, Darka wants to meet his sister even if only in a dream.
The young man then opened his eyes, rubbing the gravestone once more. Then he stood up, leaving the tomb.
But all he did was stand on the spot, not stepping in the slightest. The young man actually accidentally caught the sight of one of the people who was some distance away where he was standing now.
The red jacket.
“Jeli?” The young man's reflex says the name of the owner of the jacket. The call he made to the girl.
****
Lita was still squatting in front of the tomb she had met. The girl hugged both her legs while propping her chin on her legs. Secretly the girl sobbed, her chest felt tight to hold back the longing for someone who had left her.
Her mother's.
The tough woman he loved the most. The woman who should have been her strength all along. Strength in the face of all adversity because of the advantages he experienced.
But the girl considers that what she has now caused misfortune for herself.
“Mother, I'm afraid.” Whine the girl.
“Because I fainted because of this damn power,” said Lita alluded to what happened to her when she accidentally came into contact with Darka and ended up being taken to the young man's house.
The girl came back to curse herself. Blaming the power that was on him.
That power should be a gift. But for Lita it was a bad luck. He considers himself abnormal. He just wants to be an ordinary man. A normal person who knows nothing about nature. Really am. He wanted that so badly.
“In his house there are also many ghosts. They all bother me, Mother,” Lita getting down lethargic. “Lita is not strong. Lita wants to know no.”
“Not to mention that I went to the party, Mom. But..hiks...but Lita messed up the party.” Lita pulled her sobbing slowly, trying hard to continue her words.
“Lita hates, Mom. Lita hates seeing herself Lita herself.”
The girl tried to hold back her tears. He wants to look tough too, just like his mother when he was alive. The girl wanted to be strong, put on a flat face so that not many approached her. Put up a defensive fortress between him and everyone else. He was afraid that someone would know the privilege he had.
At least that's all he can do. Because no matter how hard he fortifies himself among the ghosts, everything is bound to collapse just like that.
Ever since the mother left, the girl's life collapsed instantly. He lost half his soul.
Nothing else reminds him to stay strong. No one encouraged him anymore when he was afraid of the ghosts that always disturbed him. No more that he listened to every story after touching someone, telling the dark time owned by the person he touched it.
The girl felt empty for a moment.
***
A moment later Lita left, Darka quietly stepped towards the tomb that Lita had visited earlier. Quickly the young man stepped up, ascertaining who the girl was coming to his grave here.
Darka stood at the tomb, reading what was written on the tombstone carefully. After he finished, the young man immediately widened his eyes. Can't believe what he just read.
“This is the tomb of his mother, after all,” muttered the young man while nodding his small head.
The girl's back became more and more invisible, making Darka step back. Just one step away, the young man turned back to stare at the tombstone.
“Happy to meet you, his mother Jeli.”
****
Lita pulled the hood of her jacket further forward, almost covering half of her face. The girl tried to walk on, not caring about the bad premonition that suddenly hit her.
Somehow his hunch said that now he was being followed by someone, but tried not to care. It might just be the person who also happened to be walking in her direction.
“Hey, there are people following you.”
Lita swore in the heart. The ghostly voice of a middle-aged woman surprised him.
Damnit.
Lita should be used to all this, but still she would still be surprised if she heard a sudden scream like that.
“Tante can be retrieved?” the girl grumbled, glaring sharply to the side, where the middle-aged woman was standing.
Meanwhile, right behind Lita, Darka was surprised the girl in front of him stopped, moving his head towards the side. Reflexes, the young man stopped.
“Mampus was able to be found out I was discovered, discovered,” Darka's inner turbulent while pecking at the girl.
“Ihh arguablyin even ngeyel you.” The ghost omel. “Kalo don't believe, turn back. See itself! Nyesel you about the guy who followed handsome.”
What say? Cute dude?
Lita fell silent. Swallowing his saliva slowly, it was certain what the ghost meant was a human who was bothering him these past few days.
“Tante seriously?” ask Lita to make sure of it once again.
The ghost nodded, “He now stopped. Afraid of getting caught again.”
Lita so straightened herself, stepping slower than before. The girl really had to give the sassy young man a lesson. Let him be surprised, not playing later.
Darka stroked his chest. It turned out that he was not caught following the girl. According to his estimate.
Actually just waiting for time. Lita turned around, then all of Darka's plans of following the girl fell apart.
For five minutes they walked together all seemed calm. Except for Lita's hearing that has been noisy since. The subtle-creatures bother Lita. He told her that the girl was being followed by someone.
“Can not follow me.”
The cold voice surprised Darka. To the extent that his eyes bulged like they were about to come out.
“Gue know it lo, Darka.”
Darka****her lips are deep, clearing her throat slowly to control herself to stay calm. “Ap—what the heck I just happened to pass by doang kok hehehe.”
The girl turned around, walked closer towards the young man, staring at Darka from top to bottom. He then raised his eyebrows. “Ngikutin people in all black clothes? You intend to kidnap me.”
Darka looked at Lita in disbelief. “Nyulik? The elo? I—gakarlah dare,” said the young man weakened.
“Ngapain you follow me?” ask Lita.
“Gue no intention to follow you,” elak Darka. “Gue happens to be passing by so yes want to go home. The way I go home is this way,” continued Darka reasoned.
Lita grunted violently, turning around leaving the young man unconcerned. In his heart he was grateful to have met this young man. Just thanking her for being her savior at Tia's birthday party yesterday.
“Jeli, waitin.”
The young man half ran after the girl who was shorter than him. “Gila .. lo cepet really running.”
“Gue road, btw.”
“Ah, that's my point.”
In the end, they walked together. Enjoy the wind that hits their faces. That wind as if present became a medicine of tranquility for the two of them. The calm they seek in their tranquilizer moment has gone.
“Gue accidentally saw you earlier in the tomb.”
Lita flinched, but she didn't show. He did not like anyone to know that he went to the tomb, visited someone's grave.
“Gue happened to be there. Visiting my adek's grave.”
The girl breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness this young man didn't ask her anything more. May this be a sign of the sensitivity of Darka Samudra, that the girl does not like to be disturbed by her personal affairs.
“I have long since died. And today is the anniversary of his death.”
I don't know what possessed Darka. He revealed the biggest reason for his weakness. Which even his friends don't know about.
“Lo know? When everyone says that my life is fun, I am proud. Proud to have hidden the fact that I am the unluckiest man because I lost my adek.” Lita looked at the face of the young man, who was now looking down lethargic.
“Gue is that whimsy. Really inauspicious.”
For a moment their footsteps stopped. Darka bowed limply, once again. Showing the fragile side that had been said to ghost Lita some time ago.
Lita fell silent. It's just confusion. Honestly, she did not know how to calm someone down while crying.
She cried and calmed herself down by eating pop noodles. Does he have to take Darka to the minimarket to eat pop noodles too?
The girl slowly raised her hand. Moving stiffly towards the young man's shoulder. He hesitated, confused whether what he did was right or not.
Until finally, the girl placed her hand on the young man's shoulder. Swiping, then patting her slowly.
At least in this way, Darka was able to calm down after telling Lita everything.
He just hopes, may Darka understand. That Lita also felt the same way that Darka felt.
Feel the loss of those they care about.
***
