Mothers

11 Three Hearts

Renata massaged his head for a while as he felt dizzy. The more he traces Kinanti's past, the more it gives her a headache. 

"Are you okay, honey?" ask Herlina and give her a glass of water.

"I'm fine, Grandma" said Renata smilingly trying not to show anything before Herlina.

"Mahendra, just continue the interrogation" Renata told Mahendra.

"good. Ms Nina, when was the last time you met Ms Kinanti?"

Nina fell silent. He felt uneasy when asked like this. Nina squeezed her finger. He dared not look at Renata, Herlina or Mahendra.

"I. I.."

All eyes were staring at Nina. Waiting for Nina and Nina's answer remained uneasy. Herlina looked at Nina with anxiety.

"What's up Nina? You can answer that, right?" ask Herlina cynically to him.

Nina started to feel weak. One day someone will ask him about this.

"I last saw him about a week ago."

"A week ago?" reanimate Renata curious. 

"Yes. A week ago..."

***

A week ago...

At that time I went to Kinanti's house. It looks like there's a Renata. I came with a troubled heart. I pressed the passcode button of Kinanti's house and I found her folding clothes.

"Nina's? What's up?"

He asked me as if he was worried about me. Whether it's true or not but I came to him because I got hit by Candra. I cried and at that time I could only come to Kinanti.

"Kinan, I'm sorry, sorry. I don't understand your feelings. I didn't know Candra liked to beat up."

I cried and covered my bruised face. Kinanti then came to me and saw my bruised face. He looked at me but there was no expression on his face.

"Did Candra start beating you?"

Kinanti asked me while picking up the P3K box. Then I sat down on the sofa and Kinanti started opening the P3K box.

"Yes, Kinan."

"With what?"

"You mean?"

"He hit you with a device or not?"

"No, he's just wearing gloves."

Kinanti started giving alcohol to my wounds. I looked at him but Kinanti was too busy treating me.

"Fortunate are you"

"Why? How do you talk like that?"

Kinanti was almost done treating me.

"Because if you hit you with wood or a golf stick, your body could be destroyed."

"Are you serious, Kinan?"

"Why am I lying?"

****

"That was the last time I spoke to him."

"LIED!" Herlina suddenly shouted and kicked down the table.

"Mother, why?" nina asked in surprise.

"My son can't beat a woman like that!" Herlina hysterically doesn't believe Nina's story. Now Renata is getting confused about what's behind all this. As for Mahendra, it looks like she needs a little longer to dig deeper into Kinanti's past and her husband's.

"You're lying, Nina! Has Candra ever beaten Kinanti or you. I've never seen that!!" Herlina is getting hysterically out of control.

Renata held Herlina's arm and calmed her down.

"Miss, relax, Grandma. Don't act like this. Calm down first."

Nina could not say anything more. He could not prove anything to Herlina about the true events.

"Miss. Be calm. To know the truth, sometimes things hurt" Renata said after Nina left the living room.

"But Nina, I've never seen Candra do such things. What about you? Have you seen him?" Herlina was still agitated when she found out that her son liked to beat his wife.

"Miss. Calm down." Renata began to speak firmly with Herlina. "We'll find out. We'll investigate all the reasons why Mom just died. There must be a reason and most importantly there will always be evidence, Grandma." 

Mahendra stood up and decided that this was not an ordinary case of suicide. He will ask the Chief Prosecutor to extend the time of his investigation.

"Alright, Mom. Our interrogation today. Please cooperate, ma'am. Because we will investigate this case to the end" said Mahendra.

"Miss. Be calm. There is no definitive proof. We have to investigate slowly. Grandma, work with us." said Renata hugging Herlina. Herlina hugged Renata back.

"You are strong too, my dear. Grandma knows it must be hard to lose your mother plus you have to know her past" said Herlina worried about Renata's circumstances.

"It's okay, Grandma. I did insist on knowing who Mother's killer was."

Herlina took off her embrace and stroked Renata's hair.

"You don't work anymore, do you?"

Renata shook his head and smiled

"No, Grandma."

"alright. Take good care of yourself and call Grandma if you need anything."

Renata nodded. "I'm sorry, Grandma."

Herlina smiled at her only granddaughter and told the maid to deliver her to the gate.

***

Mahendra sighed when he got in the car. Renata is the same.

"There seems to be a bright spot in this case" Renata said.

"It's not enough. I need more evidence that your mother did experience violence from your father. And it doesn't seem like your mother is all I have to check. But it can also be related to your father ", explained Mahendra.

"Yes, I know. It must have something to do with each other."

"But something's a little hard for me." Mahendra looks worried.

"What's wrong?" Renata.

"Your father is the heir of the Seijin Group."

"Then?"

"Are you confident against the Group?" mahendra asked a little worried.

"My grandmother gave her consent. Then especially?"

"I'm not sure your grandmother would just expose your father's flaws. If indeed your father did violence, it would be a reproach for your family as well as the Seijin Group."

"We investigate first one by one. The problem is I've never seen my father do violence to my mother either." Renata began to lower his tone intonation.

"alright. We investigate slowly. And I'm going to put in extra time to investigate this case" Mahendra said, turning on his car's engine and then setting off the gas.

****

Herlina called one of her office staff and asked about Candra's business duties outside the city.

"How is Candra's business trip now? Walked well?" ask Herlina over the phone.

"alright. Find out what Candra's working on now."

Herlina had anxiety in her heart. If Candra is caught publicly abusing his wife to die, this will be a reproach for him and his company..

****

Nina looked at her face on the dresser. The thick makeup on his face covered all the blue bruises present. But Nina felt sliced. Until when did he protect Candra from her bad attitude? His face grew increasingly irregular. And until when should he pretend to be strong when his heart is weak?

Nina began to remove her thick makeup and locked the door of her room so that no one would come in. He looked at his face full of bruises and scars. His long sleeved shirt he rolled and he stroked his wound.

She cried. How collapsed he was now when he remembered the words of Kinanti.

"If Candra doesn't love you anymore, you'll be considered a sandbag she can beat and kick every day."

Nina started dropping her tears. In the past, he did not believe in Kinanti and considered Kinanti always talk nonsense. Now, what Kinanti said, brought disaster upon herself.

****