FONDEST MEMORIES
6. I Like You Mel...
On the second floor of her luxurious house, on the balcony in front of the bedroom, Ari sat cross-legged on a long chair made of wrought iron. The guy's down. Both of his eyes were fixed on the tablet screen supported by his two folded legs.
The blog of someone who was once inside the stomach of Esa’ala Cave, in Papua New Guinea, with the documentation of spectacular photos, sucked Ari's attention completely. Until when the phone he had placed on the table just to the right of the long chair was shouting an incoming call, it cut off its concentration. He immediately hissed irritatedly.
The communication tool is lazy, ready to end the call without creating contact. The thing he does every day, with annoyance, against eighty percent of incoming calls. But one name that appeared on the screen made the guy instantly snatch his phone, as if it could vanish in an instant.
”Maaa!?” shouts instantly.
”Ari healthy?” Across, the voice that had disappeared long ago asked softly.
”Health, Mom..”
”Udah to eat?”
”Udah, Mom. Ari ate. Back home from school.”
”Do not eat unhealthy food, Ri. Burger, fries, and such.”
”Ngak, Mom. Ari ate at warteg.”
”Warteg?” At the end of the connection, Mama's forehead creased. Ari's reply clearly shocked her.
Ari laughed softly.
”Iya, Mother. Warteg. But the look of the food is like that at the hotel. Warteg is now a mandatory place. I don't know if I haven't been there.”
”Oh. Same who?”
”Self.” Ari answered what it was. Ridho and Oji were not always able to accompany her, and she had indeed decided to start learning to accept her living conditions. So, his two best friends do not always have to accompany him.
The short and straightforward answer, which Ari gave without any intention because it was the way it was, instantly broke the mother's heart. How often did this Sun that was forcibly snatched from him go alone? All those years of questioning had actually sliced through it in a way that he could even feel like the tip of a knife slicing through his heart.
Mama quickly wiped her tears and kept her phone away as she quietly brushed her nose.
”At any time Ari is not alone anymore. Ata wants to move to Jakarta. I want to go to school in Jakarta again. The Ari.” school
Ari froze. The tablet in his hand slipped involuntarily and inevitably plunged freely into the floor.
It's totally beyond belief. When Mama and Ata went to Jakarta some time ago and every time Mama called her, there was little indication this would happen. Until in the subconscious Ari formed a conclusion. If he wants to meet Mama and Ata, the only way is to fly to Malang. There's no other way.
At the end of the connection, Mama could feel the turbulent waves of emotion from her words just now, even though the silence was a thousand kilometers away from her. The information he provided must have greatly shocked his son whom he had only seen once during their nine years apart. But this is the first thing that—dia swore— she would instantly do once her missing son was found, which was reunite him with his twin brother.
”Ma..” Finally Ari voiced, hoarse and like choking in the throat. But he suddenly shut his mouth again, canceling his intention to say: Please don't suddenly not exist. Please don't leave so alone, be lost, and never be found.
”Ari want what name?” It was the softest sound Ari had ever heard from her mother's lips. But the guy chose to kill the rest of his sentence and throw it out of his fear. He did not want his words to be a sign.
”After.”
”Kok Mama never told me?”
”Mama intentionally not a story. Ata also Mama forbid to tell Ari. Surprises. For the child Mama who is engaged do not see Mama. Not Mama take care of it either.”.
Ari could hear, very clearly, Mama's voice trembling. After ordering in a hurry to keep Ari healthy and not to eat late, Mama ended the conversation.
Moments after the phone call ended, Ari was left with both hands clasping tightly onto the balcony hall. It's happy news, but his body shivered at it.
Nine years was too long and he had too many battles that ended in defeat. Countless new spirits were constantly trying to melt him. Unquestionably the slump he experienced when the spirit was untenable and finally extinguished.
He's afraid this isn't the truth. He was afraid this was just an illusion of his defeat.
No one knows, not even Ridho and Oji, that Ari has stood on the brink many times with a tattered spirit. When Ari was able to stand back up minutes later, even though both of his eyes were covered in a clear layer of tears, laughter tried to appear with a smile on his lips.
Due to the unexpected news, Ari rushes to the floor. Her bare back rested on the beautiful but coldly biting pillars of the balcony. With a light feeling he grabbed the phone that he had not realized he had let slide out of his grasp and lay on the floor, next to the tablet which now had its screen blackened.
With an impatient gesture Ari touched a name on his phone screen. Not yet had the person across say hello, the guy had already called out loudly. ”Dho, Ata want to go to school in Jakarta again!” then the phone was immediately closed. At the end of the connection, Ridho who was interrupted from his seriousness doing schoolwork for tomorrow, only had a wide gap.
Oji's a little lucky. He had said hello before a second later Ari's shout made him immediately keep the phone away from the ear. As soon as the phone approached again, the contact was cut off.
”By the way what was Ari earlier?” confused muttering. Soon the guy contacts back. But until the fifth attempt, his call was ignored. Finally Oji contacted Ridho. The short information that was clearly delivered Ridho in a condition still twisted acceptance, when it also dragged Oji into the same acceptance.
”Lo seriously? Ari said Ata wants to move schools to Jakarta again?”
”I have not been wrong, yes. Ari said that.”
”Oh!”
Ari was just about to touch the third name when she suddenly stopped her movements. For someone he found when he was about to kneel down and leave everything to despair, he would not shout this happy news over a cell phone.
Ari rushes into the room then opens the wardrobe and grabs the first T-shirt that catches the eye. While wearing the T-shirt he walked out of the room towards the large wooden cabinet in the second-floor main room. There are some drawers in that closet.
Ari pulled one of the drawers. It was a special drawer where he got rid of all the gadgets he no longer wanted to use. The newest occupant is a unit of the phone that he just got rid of two weeks ago, after being used in a time that is also only two weeks, he said, just because Ari does not like a phone that is not grasped in five fingers and not accommodated in the front pocket of his jeans.
After putting the latest drawer occupant's cell phone into the front pocket of jeans, Ari stepped quickly towards the stairs. He went down the two-by-two stairs, grabbed his black jacket on one of the couches in the living room, and two minutes later the man had driven his black motorbike towards the gate of the complex.
If Mama Dance has always been friendly, Papa Tari is typical of almost all fathers in all hemispheres who feel their daughters are underage to have a boyfriend.
Damn for the arrival of Ari this time, because papa Tari was on the terrace, sitting down, reading the sheet of paper in his hand. While Mama Dance was not seen at all. Ari once pressed the bell and what appeared was Papa Tari. One meeting and enough for Ari to know that his life story is not tragic enough and is still far from heartbreaking to be able to get permission to meet Tari
