Linger

Reasons They Survive

Elsewhere, in a quiet, dim corner of the club, where the music played by disc jockeys began to sound faint, a young man sat in his place playing a cell phone. He was waiting for someone.

About thirty minutes waiting, the young man smiled brightly when he found the figure of the Midshipman appearing and walking towards him in a short-sleeved light blue shirt suit and black material pants. Amidst the dim lighting around, the young man could see the glowing lightning from both eyes of the Cadets. Lightning that always amazed him and made the figure of Taruna as a role model.

"Sorry, I'm late." It was the first sentence that Taruna said once he arrived before the young man.

The young man, Raga, stood up from his seat and immediately raised a pat on the left shoulder of the Cadets. "It's ok. I know you've done a lot of work."

"So, how?" ask Taruna after taking a sitting position opposite Raga. He pulled the phone out of his pants pocket while waiting for Raga to sit back in his place.

"Safe." Raga said after returning to his original position. Behind her body was a brown envelope that she had been guarding like a vulnerable newborn. Then, the brown envelope he thrust to the Taruna while showing off a satisfied smile for his own work. 

The couple received the envelope with pleasure. His hand moved slowly opening the envelope to see the contents inside. And when one by one the inhabitants of the envelope began to appear, Taruna could not help but slanted smiles that escaped. 

"Good." The praise was directed to Raga. 

The cadets raised their gazes, staring at Raga with bright twinkle in both of his eyeballs. "A little more, Ga. Please help me a little more." 

Raga certainly did not mind the request, so she immediately nodded her head before Taruna repeated her sentence. "Lo calm down, Na. I will help you until the end. Because..." Raga straightened her back. Leaning his body towards the Midshipman and linking his two hands resting on his thighs.

"Lo saved my life. If it wasn't for you, I might have died. Or worse, maybe I am still a drug addict until now. My life must still be a mess and I will not be able to rise to grow into a human being like now." Raga said while reminiscing about the dark times in her life. 

For many years before his meeting with Taruna, Adipati Raga was just a drug addict who often went in and out of prison. Growing up on the streets made him fall into free association. In addition to drugs, Raga is also a liquor addict and*** is free. I don't know how many women he slept with, some may even have been pregnant with their children.

A Duke of Raga is not an abandoned child born to a poor family with many children. He is the second son of a state official whose name is often mentioned in the news because of his generous image and family affection. He has an older brother who is two years older, but Raga never felt he had a brother because his parents were too proud of him.

Raga's life is still fine even though on many occasions she feels alienated in her own family. Until one day, he finds a lover of the heart he so adores and keeps half dead sleeping with an older brother he so despises. Apparently, the two of them had been having an affair and often slept together without Raga's knowledge.

Raga's heart was broken, of course. But that incident is not the only reason why Raga could end up being a delinquent.

Three months after the heartbreaking incident, his father was arrested by police for involvement in a corruption case involving the procurement of social assistance funds for the poor and people affected by natural disasters. Her shy mother hanged herself and her only brother she had fled abroad to save himself.

Raga was left alone. He was lonely and required to heal his wounds alone without anyone trying to stretch out rocks.

And the young man was Taruna, who was now sitting before him with a much more rigid appearance than when they first met.

Since that day, Raga has been determined to abandon all kinds of illegal drugs and reduce the intensity of drinking alcohol. He also no longer sleeps with just any woman because Taruna has told him that it has a high risk.

With his kindness, Taruna managed to make Rata grow into a better human being.

And as a thank you, is not it natural that Raga now devotes himself to helping Midshipmen out of all the problems that befall them?

"Now, I live for you, Na. To help you finish anything." Raga, without a hint of doubt. 

"Thanks, Ga." The midshipman kept the brown envelope on his side. "Gue appreciates that."

"Gue always appreciates whatever you do for me, Na." Raga smiled and Taruna returned the smile.

Raga probably thinks Taruna saved his life. In fact, it was Raga who saved the life of Taruna.

The night when Taruna finds Raga lying on the side of the road with her foaming mouth, Taruna is planning to take her own life. The car he was driving in was going to take him to the ravine and he was going to jump from there. Hoping before the car touched the bottom of the abyss, his life would be taken first so that he would not feel too much pain.

Grief over Dyandra's departure really makes Taruna lost her mind. Coupled with the fact that Sierra was born with little problems in his respiratory organs. The child was diagnosed with bronchitis, which is a disease caused by inflammation in the bronchial area resulting in narrowing of the respiratory tract. When it is relapsing, Sierra will feel shortness of breath and Taruna does not have the heart to see it. I think if he could ask God, he would want the disease for himself, not Sierra.

But God always has a miraculous way of turning people's hearts upside down.

While taking Raga to the hospital and waiting for the doctor to provide treatment, Taruna seemed to get a new glimmer of hope for life. Like how he helped Raga to regain his chance at life, Taruna also wanted to create that opportunity for herself.

So here he is now. Stay alive to fight for what has become Sierra's right. The cadet had sworn, she would not die before she could bring justice to offer to the boy. Also to Dyandra who has died embraced a long loneliness.

Wait a little bit more, yeah, Sierra.

Seriate