CORONAS

11. CLUE

I turned my gaze toward the source of the sound. Then I put on a smile. A woman I knew was standing right on my left side exhaling her cigarette smoke.

“New home from work, Brother?” reply him.

“Young people today are getting disrespectful. Can-can ask back before answering my question,” umpatnya a little upset.

The sound of my laughter ran into the air. Then I told her a little bit about how I could sit in a place like this. Brother Alma went to the next swing whose support pole was still one with the swing that I had. This is a simple hanging swing with only one holder with small circular pieces of iron connected together to hang it.

“This is my favorite place to get rid of fatigue,” muttered Kak Alma. “You saw for yourself, right? By sitting here, you can look directly at the twilight sun even though it is slightly blocked by the dense leaves. But still does not prevent you from seeing the sky and mega that come golden.”

I'm asserting. Brother Alma started playing his swing. While sitting on the swing, her legs retreated backwards a few steps, then pushed her back firmly. He also slid forward quickly with his legs stretched straight forward. With a smile on his face, he invited me to swing as well. My head nodded, and I did as he asked.

“How? What do you feel when you enjoy this swing?” ask Alma who is still swinging happily.

“Sweetness, Sister. My body also feels cool because it collides directly with the air,” reply me who is also still swinging with him.

“Only that? No feeling of anything else?”

“Means?”

“Haha, yes, it should be. You just feel pretty happy.”

His words stuck to my forehead and made him wrinkle. Brother Alma who was sensitive to the change in look on my face stopped his swing. Along with him, I stopped swinging. By moving her legs, Alma again swung without pushing and throwing her. He just seemed to play with the flickering of the swing.

“Ngerti?” ask again.

I'm shaking. He opened his mouth wider.

“Listen to no sound, when I swing like this?”

“The sound of his swinging squeals?”

Brother Alma nodded. “When we swung earlier, actually this voice also sounded clear, right? Did you realize it?”

“Iya,” answer. “But I ignored it. His voice is still not worth the pleasure we get.”

“Fright!” sahut Kak Alma's. Then he stopped his swing. “Isn't this the same as us?” ask again.

“The caldier users are these swings, while the people who ride the swings are those who live normal lives without disease. Our job as a swing is to make normal people happy with help. But our squeals are not heard by them at all. They are just lulled in the pleasure we give without caring to take care of them. When the swing is broken, then they fix it. Or worse the swing will just be thrown away and replaced with a new one. The difference,” brother Alma took a pause to breathe a moment. “If we're broken, we can't be fixed. That means we're dumped, right?”

The words of this adult woman with this flashy makeup permeated well into my mind. I hate to admit and want to reason naively, but his words are true and I cannot deny.

“Will but,” continued Kak Alma again. “After all their views towards us, we should remain grateful. If there were no caldier, we would have been dead a long time ago. The inventors of the caldier also designed this system not to make us as their dairy cows. They have the noble intention to give us a chance to live longer without having to lie helplessly in the hospital. I believe it, kok.”

Sometimes I think, does everyone who looks from the outside creepy have a good heart like this Alma Brother? At first glance when viewed just like that, Kak Alma's appearance impressed haunted. With dark-colored clothes and thick leather jackets. Knee-length boots and black jeans. Coupled with the make-up style of a rock singer and a cigarette that is often smoked, surely people will think he is a bad person. But the truth is, he's really a good guy.

Time shifts the reddish color of the lagit to dark. Without feeling the two of us had spent time chatting until the sun had completely sunk into the dispute. Street lights and lights in the park are already on. But the streets are still crowded with passing vehicles.

“It looks like it's time I get back to work, I go first huh?” says goodbye.

“Still working again?” many wonder.

“It's my main job at night. I will have to sing in certain places with my band members.”

My mouth was open for a moment. Alma is a vocalist of the band. It was fitting that his appearance was always striking like that.

“Be careful on the way home. You saw the news, right?”

I nodded in confirming. At first glance I think back to the criminal news that happened lately every day. And all of that happened in this city. I also said the same thing to Brother Alma to warn him as well.

“Oh, yes,” Kak Alma said again before he left me. “Two days ago I once saw Yuva get off a car on one street corner at night. Late at night, or maybe I call early morning – around three in the morning. I haven't had time to greet him, he immediately stopped a taxi. Awkward, yes?”

Hearing that I gasped. Then I got up from my position still sitting on the swing to get close to Brother Alma. “So sure that Big Brother saw it Yuva?”

Brother Alma nodded. “What's up? How come you guys aren't together? In trouble, huh?” the canal.

I'm shaking. Then my mind jumped again.

Brother Alma who looks as if he understands what I think is trying to comfort me. “Young time,” said. “If there is a problem, immediately solve it. That problem if hung-hanging can even cause other problems loh.”

From his words, the problem he had in his mind must be different from what happened. He would only suspect we had problems like teenagers in general. It's more weird than that. The intention to tell the truth is also not yet revealed. It's still a guess. Not necessarily my suspicions are true.

“Thank you, Brother, for the info. I'll check it myself.”