FLOWER WARS

Chapter 4. Secret Plan.

Flowers were walking saggingly beside the small wooden pavilion behind his house. He was always curious about some men who almost every week gathered there with his father.

The girl pressed her ear against the pavilion wall and sharpened her hearing. He wanted to know what the men were talking about.

"In the next five years."

"Is it not too long, Mr Wirya?"

"I'm so sick of those invaders."

"Don't be rash. Our preparations are far from ripe."

"Our task is to capture as many factory and plantation workers."

Flowers tried to digest the talk of the men. They sound so serious. He was curious to listen more.

"Nukhuk?"

The flower jumped when his shoulder was touched by someone. He immediately turned his body and found the mother standing not far in front of him while frowning.

The woman, Ratih, approached the princess. "You eavesdropping?" tanyakanya.

"Oh, i-it, Mom ...." The flower scratched his head. He felt awkward being caught off guard by his mother eavesdropping on the talk of the men inside the pavilion.

"Can't eavesdrop, Bunga. Later found out you can be scolded." Ratih holding the hand of the princess into the house.

"What are they doing, Mom?" ask Flowers when both are inside the house. Sit in the bamboo hall in the kitchen.

"Talking about important things," replied Ratih while taking a kettle from the top of the furnace, then pour the water into glasses that have been filled with tea and sugar by Mbok Pai, who was then pouring the water, who has been in the kitchen since.

"What's important, Mom?" ask Flowers.

"The parents' mouths. Little children don't need to know" replied Ratih. "Is the snack ready, Mbok?" He asked the maid.

"Already, Ndoro." Mbok Pai took a large plate of fried bananas and boiled cassava and placed it on a tray, side by side with tea glasses. "Delivered now, Ndoro?"

Ratih. He then took the rest of the snack on a small plate and a glass of tea to give to Flowers.

"Said you yesterday to go to the river with the boys?" tanya Ratih shifted the topic of conversation with her daughter.

Flowers shudder. "Actually not to the river, ma'am," replied Bunga honestly.

"Swimming pool."

A pair of eyes of Ratih rounded. The only swimming pool in Semarang should not be entered by natives. "How did you get in there?" Chest thumping. His face looked worried.

"Mom don't tell me, huh?" pinta Flowers. "I went there with a schoolmate. Jacob."

Hearing the name called by Bunga, it is definitely not a native child. This made Ratih feel anxious. "Mom won't tell Dad. Just don't you repeat, Bunga."

"Absolutely I can't hang out with Blijver's son**s?"

"It's not that problem, Bunga. I'm just worried you'll have nothing later."

Flowers are singing lips. "Mom, why do the Dutch equate us with dogs?"

"Because they are higher in this country."

"Why can they occupy our country, ma'am?"

Ratih breathed heavily. Flowers, who are eleven years old, are starting to think critically. "They've been here for hundreds of years" he explained.

"We're okay, huh, ma'am, living under the rule of a stranger?" ask Flowers. He began to realize significant strata differences between the natives and the Dutch.

Train a bland smile. When he was a teenager, he had witnessed an indigenous rebellion against the Dutch government. And that already gave him the answer that they weren't okay.

"But Jacob is different, ma'am. He is not the same as the others. He's nice and never thought I was a dog."

"Jacob might be one in a thousand. But, still you will get in trouble if you get too close to him."

"But Jacob is my best friend, Mom."

Ratih stroked the princess's arm. "Yes. But, things won't be the same when you grow up."

The flower is singing the lips. It was great to have a friend like Jacob. Regardless of being a Blijvers, Jacob is a fun friend. Flowers even forget that they are two different children.

At school, Bunga and Jacob sometimes spend their breaks reading books in the library. Sometimes they play in the back garden.

Several times they also visited places of fun in the city of Semarang. Although must find the right time so as not to be known by both parents each.

***