Hear My Wish's
Chapter 8 – Noel
“I have an aunt who married a Jakarta man. I kept, I could stay in
here when I was a kid. But, just for a second. Yeah, about four years. His mother
I've never told you, have I?”
Dean didn't answer Charlotte's question. He didn't heed his sight
from the capital's highways on weekends. Cold attitude until attractive
attention of taxi drivers who occasionally glanced towards the middle rearview.
The girl could only smile bitterly when she realized Dean was impliedly willing to
to shut up and stop talking to her by showering a pair
his ears are a thousand words.
He bowed while playing both of his thumbs, which is what always
done by Charlotte if her heart suddenly shrouded in awkwardness.
“Anu... Ma'am, earlier... Where are ya down, mbak?” ask the taxi driver
little doubt.
“I got off at Taman Anggrek Mall,” replied the girl while raising
his head, looking straight ahead.
The man in the light blue shirt nodded. “Mbak this bule man, yes,
mbak?”
Charlotte smiles thinly, “Yes, from
the United States of America.”
Supposedly, it doesn't need to be asked anymore. Her hair is hanging
touching his shoulder, his speech that sounds quite strange even though he can
string Indonesian words correctly, as well as eyes
its beautiful sparkling green-blue resembled a fluorite stone already said everything.
“Away dong, mbak.” The man was smitten.
The girl chuckled softly.
Along the way, just a question-and-answer conversation about life experiences
each between Charlotte and the driver of the yellow-plated vehicle.
***
“Try, if this one reads what?” ask Edwin while directing
point it at a sentence.
Noel noticed the row of letters. “They're all..
happy... forever,” although not too smooth, he is already quite adept at reading
text on a Hungarian fairy tale titled ‘Pinko’. Not only that, he has
understand the story well. In the story, a child is told
named ‘Pinko’ who should help the lumberjack's grandfather work for three
years only because he stole the old man's lunch cake.
“Smart,” the young man praised him. “Means June later, Noel can
school.”
The boy did not smile even though he knew that praise was reserved for him.
Edwin placed the book he was holding on the table.
“Noel why? Tired of learning?” ask her a little, looking down,
“Yaudah, if that's the first play, yuk!” he smiled thinly.
Noel just shook his head.
He did not speak yet to explain, the sound of the bell silenced his mouth.
A middle-aged woman immediately rushed to open the door. Bi Nara is still
recognize the young man standing before him. Amadeus Jonathan Wijaya, son
his employer's eldest, Edwin's older brother. Aunty smiled as she let the young man in.
The two porcelain cups containing the warm tea were carefully placed by the aunt
above the coffee table.
Dean's gaze continued to fixate on a child who was slightly cramping in the back
Edwin. Thousands of questions enveloped his mind. It's a wonder it's not a bitch,
because he had never seen the boy before.
“Noel, this is Dean's brother. She's Edwin's brother who went to college
America,” the young man slightly lowered his head, staring at the confused Noel looking
two unknown people arrived. “Come, greetings first,” he said
smilingly.
The boy stretched out his hand. However, Dean did not intend to
moving his right hand to greet Noel who was about to shake hands
with himself. He turned and passed, leaving them.
Although the two bright brown irises were glittering following Dean's movements, his body was just silently sculpting.
***
“Cih.”
Noel immediately lowered his head and quickly passed. The boy is not brave
returning Dean's gaze that always impressed ‘sinis’ when passing by him.
Yeah, that should be a normal thing for Noel. As he became
street children, pedestrians, motorists, even almost everyone
looking at him like that. The glare of their eyes always implies hate, no
love, or disgust.
Usually, Noel never cared how people judged him. But, uh,
for some reason since a few days ago, his chest felt so tight as he
aware that cynical glances were aimed at him.
“Noel why?” edwin asked while slightly bowing.
Noel did not answer. He just kept quiet.
From the look on his face, this was all clear to Edwin. Noel must not
comfortable being in the same place as her brother, Dean. Because the boy did not
ever walk down and run around little want to lock yourself in
her room. He was always pacing back and forth to see bi Nara cleaning the carpet
with a blue vacuum cleaner
named ‘Nunu’ by him because it looks like one of the characters in the cartoon
ever seen it. Or even press the piano keys without a care
tone.
Edwin placed his car keys near the living room television
approaching brother. Haven't had time to open his mouth to call ‘Kak’, Dean
preceded him.
“Why?”
The young man sat beside his brother. Actually, a sense of complete disinclination
her heart. He was reluctant to question Dean as he would.
“Kak why the hell?” tanyanya, “From the beginning, brother kayak is not happy to see
Noel.”
Dean closed the book he read.
His sister's accusation was not wrong. It was real. Not only
Edwin, everyone can feel that.
“Indeed,” he did not hesitate to say the answer was raw from his mind
without being filtered at all.
Edwin gasped at hearing it.
“You want to ask ‘why’?” Dean looked at his sister, “Try you see him
all right, from top to bottom. Her hair was cut, she cut,
how good his clothes are. Noel is still the boy you picked up from the street.”
“Ya, but right..”
“Letting you return him to his place of origin. If he were here he would just
add problem doang.” The young man got up from the sofa he was sitting on, “You
definitely will also be sprayed all-out with papa if he sampe know you
carelessly pick up children from the road.”
Dean's argument seemed to imply Edwin was a fighting fish
the river to save a fly in the rock. It will not produce results.
Over time the fish will feel tired against the current stronger than him.
Then the fly will fly away leaving it. Making his efforts feel more nil
doubled.
The parable really illustrates his current position. If it is
still insisting on taking care of Noel like part of his family members,
he must be strong against his father. A hard and firm middle-aged man
as for his opinion, just like Dean, his first son. If he fails, he
leg lift.
But, in life there are ‘possibilities
impossibilities’.
Edwin clenched his hand. He was determined to strengthen his heart. If
circumstances cannot change on their own, it is the person who has to change them.
It's been almost a month and two weeks that Edwin hasn't ignored Dean. Similarly
the contrary. These two brothers ‘cold war’ since they fought back because
noel's Presence. One wants Noel to live as a member of his family, who
one does not want his presence at all.
Edwin may have preferred to care about strangers rather than older brothers
own birth. To the extent that its warm and friendly nature changes
one hundred and eighty degrees, almost similar to her brother's upbringing.
His attention was suddenly turned to a book in spiral binding
lying on a dark brown coffee table. Dean scrunched his forehead as he looked at the book closer.
Who has the idea to put the marine animals in the green field
it open?
His fingers began to overtake between the cover and the first page of the book.
‘This book belongs to: Noel’
This kid's writing is really ugly, almost unreadable.
Resume.
Dean turned the page, headed for the next page.
“It's Saturday.
I'm Noel. Bi Nara said I was like 7 if not
8 year.
This is my first story. Edwin said, this book is for me, so I can write.
I like chicken.”
The young man smiled amusedly, he tried to hold back his laughter. Final sentence
what Noel wrote is completely out of
topic, nothing to do with the previous four sentences. Story
short or maybe more similar ‘diary
entry’ written by Noel is indeed ridiculous. But that's exactly what
inviting Dean's curiosity. He turned the next page.
“Day Sunday.
I don't like chicken. Brother Edwin used to keep
goldfish chef.
He said the fish was funny. I like fish now.
So, yesterday I bought the same sticker, brother Edwin. Exists
pictures of fish, jellyfish, octopus, squid. It's all funny, so everything
I'm pasting in book.”
Again he held back his laughter. This kid is too innocent. Exact behavior
like a Kindergarten kid, he should be a little more mature than that.
Dean continued to turn over one by one the sheets of green, extinct paper
light blue on it. Until one of the pages is interesting
his attention. Unlike other pages that are written briefly with writing
not bad, this page contains a fairly long story with a little writing
more neat than ever.
“I can write a story now. I'm Noel. My age
about 8 years. I have a new home and family, his name is Edwin sama bi
Nara's. They are so good with me. Every day, I was given good food. Go on, keep,
we like to play together.
I am so happy to be able to stay here with them. If
I made a mistake, I was never beaten or shouted at. I was just told to
apologize to you. Not kayak yet.
In the past, I was always getting angry, getting hit, getting hit,
sometimes kicked the same bang Gondrong fitting for wrong. At night, I didn't
being fed.
There is also a good like brother Edwin. Name's Sylvia. He's bigger than me.
He always dared to take the food of others continue to be given to me. Let me
not laper. Sylvia sometimes likes ferociously the same as me, but she's still nice
kok.”
“I don't pantes
stay here with brother Edwin and bi Nara.
But I don't want to live in my old house either. I don't want to be beaten again.
Being hit is sick. I know, because I've been hit by bang Gondrong until
nosebleeds.”
Both of these words made him pause for a moment. His mind was crushed
with the guilt. All this time, he didn't
never knew that Noel had to deal with the rigors of life despite his age
haven't stepped on a decade.
***
Noel opened both of his eyes.
This morning, he woke up earlier without having to wake up bi Nara. Chirp
the melodious birds sounded earthy from outside the window.
Noel stared at the calendar hanging near his study desk. Red circle
seen around today's date. The day the new school year begins.
Face beaming. The joy can no longer be hidden by him.
First day of school. The school is quite different from other kids.
Where other children had to leave early in the morning to get to the building
school before the entrance bell rings. But, it just needs to
sitting in the living room, waiting until his private tutor came here. But that thing
not discouraging him from going to school.
Noel's hand reached for his spiral bound book. The new sheet will
immediately he wrote it with an outpouring of his heart that burned the flames of spirit this morning.
His eyes glanced at a sticky
yellow notes attached to the cover of the book.
‘Envigorous learning.’
The writing is straight. An impressed handwriting
‘estetik’. Noel looked up to see it. That's his dream writing. It
I want to have such writing!
***
The ancient clock struck eleven times in a row.
Despite the faint-heartedness, his voice could still be heard from upstairs.
Edwin straightened both hands that began to feel sore after almost four hours of continuous moves to relentlessly press the row of black keyboard keys were alternating. He blinked. The drowsiness that struck him made his fertilizer feel so heavy to open.
Speed against time is not easy. School graduation is happening faster than it should be. That forced him to enter the lives of college students one year early. But apparently, reality is inversely proportional to his delusion. Getting a college degree with a period of less than eight semesters is not as easy as turning the palm of the hand.
"Win? Not sleeping?" the voice sounded along with the creaking of the open door of the room.
The young man gasped. His heart immediately reacted quickly, pounding on his ribs. Edwin stroked his chest slowly. Luckily, he had no history of heart disease in his life. If not, we can be sure what happens next.
Dean stepped towards Edwin who was sitting opposite the notebook screen.
No matter the age that his younger brother was in his twenties, he touched the strands of brown hair and shuffled them.
"Sana sleeping. Brother was going to ask for help to take you to the airport doang, really. But no, your face is like a person staying up for three days" a faint smile was etched on his face, "Sister wants to go to America. There's important business. Take good care of yourself, yes. Take care of Noel too."
Edwin sat up staring at his brother.
The last sentence spoken by Dean successfully made his brain think hard.
Since the beginning of the face-to-face meeting with Noel, hatred has been made clear by Dean. But, why did the young man now do the opposite?
