My name is Maira

- Nia's Story -

***

We arrived at nia's house at about nine pm, we immediately went up and collapsed in nia's room due to fatigue.

"Udah on the meal yet", asked aunt rosa as she walked into nia's room to offer us a meal.

"Udah aunt, was invited to eat alan on the road" said rani.

"Our aunt comes home tomorrow" mia told aunt rosa.

"Udah ask permission to your parents if you want to nginep", asked aunt rosa.

"Udah aunty", we answered in unison.

"Of course you can" said aunt rosa in her soft voice.

"Thank you already nemenin today" said aunt rosa added.

"Together with aunt, we also like to play with her", I replied, and tried to keep my eyes open.

"Nia's still under aunty" asked mia to aunt rosa.

"Still, he's talking to his father again" said aunt rosa.

"Yes, you have rested, it seems you are tired" said aunt Rosa.

Aunty Rosa then walked out of nia's room and immediately closed the door.

My eyes are so heavy, I can barely hold them anymore.

Rani, kiki, and mia had also fallen asleep, I then caught up with them.

*

The next day I woke up when the sun touched my skin.

"Who opened the curtain" I said with my eyes closed.

"Udah is almost this afternoon, let's get up" said aunty rosa who was already in nia's room and getting ready to open the window of nia's room.

I pulled out the blanket and covered my head.

"Still sleepy bun" said nia with her voice still half asleep.

I woke up shocked to hear Nia's words.

I then checked and made sure that the answer to aunt rosa was nia's voice.

Not only me, the kiki sleeping beside me also woke up.

And true, indeed the voice of nia that we just heard, I immediately felt relieved, because finally nia returned as usual.

Aunty Rosa then hugs nia and tries to wake nia up.

After nearly fifteen minutes, aunt Rosa finally managed to wake us up, and asked us to come down and have breakfast.

As I was descending, I saw om rusman sitting relaxed while reading the newspaper at the end of the dinner table.

"For om", greet us to om rusman.

Rusman then looked at the watch in his hand.

"This afternoon" he said.

"Child now on the wake of the afternoon ya bun", asked om rusman to aunt rosa.

"Yes understand well, then they play all day" said aunty rosa, smiling at om rusman.

We then sit at the dinner table, auntie rosa has prepared various snacks market and cooked quite a lot of food for us.

However, we are still very sleepy, so less focus on the amount of food at the dinner table.

"When you're about your age, at five o'clock in the morning you have to wake up, exercise in the morning, then sweep the page" said om rusman began to tell stories.

Only silence without refutation or answer, because none of us answered.

We are still struggling to fully open our eyes.

"Udah well let them eat first" said aunt rosa, then rubbed the back of her father who was looking at us with a look of disbelief.

After finishing breakfast, Nia asked us to sit near nia.

Finally she opened her voice regarding the cause of her quarrel with aunt rosa, her mother.

So about three weeks ago, there were two women, one of whom was much older than nia, and the other, who was about to sit in the middle of Junior High School.

When she came home from college, she saw an older woman pulling her collar.

Nia immediately ran and tried to remove the woman's hand from the collar of her mother's shirt.

The older woman immediately looked at Nia with a gaze that everyone could realize, that she was in a rage.

The woman immediately yelled at nia, and said "Barthy child", with very high intonation.

Until nia feels all her neighbors, can listen to the speech.

Then the two of them left after his shout at nia, auntie rosa immediately sat down, and began to cry.

Mother Nia did not say anything, until finally her father came home at the end of the week.

Once home, her father immediately saw the state of aunt rosa and invited her to talk afterwards.

"Nia, I think it's time you know, because you're an adult, I don't want to hide this anymore from nia" said nia's father, in a gentle tone, according to nia.

Nia's father began to tell me that his mother, or aunt rosa, was his father's second wife.

They were legally married in the eyes of religion, but in the eyes of the state it was not recognized.

The two women who came and were angry at nia and her mother, were siska and fina, daughters of nia's father, from the first wife.

Hearing her father's words, she immediately pulled out her hand, which from the beginning was held by her father.

Nia did not say anything and went straight up to her room then locked the door.

Nia then cried, nia felt that she should not have been born.

For what he was born for his life would only be a stain as the son of a second wife.

Nia was angry because she felt ashamed, her anger was based because the community often labeled the second wife, with the name of the snatch of the husband of the person.

Nia felt ashamed that if others knew, she was afraid that they would judge her, and scorned her.

"It's not your fault, you don't have a hand in their decisions, you just happen to be born and complete their happiness" Kiki said as she pulled her hand and held it.

Nia then continued her story, nia did not leave the room for two days.

He just went out of his room to go to college.

Every time she saw her mother below, she became very angry, and chose not to speak to her mother.

Mother Nia always told nia, if the mother had no other choice, but she chose to ignore each of her bundas trying to give nia an explanation.

For two weeks, nia always leaves early in the morning to campus and comes home quite late.

Aunty Rosa who initially tried to understand nia, eventually became furious and scolded nia, but it did not make nia afraid, instead making nia even more angry.

One of them was a nia shout at aunt rosa two days ago.

We then hug nia after hearing nia's story.

We're young, so we're just saying that it's nobody's fault.

Until finally, last night nia's father invited nia to be more open with nia.

According to nia's father, aunt Rosa was her father's first girlfriend when she was in high school.

Unfortunately, after graduating aunt Rosa did not continue college and chose to work in a factory.

This makes the parents of nia's father disapprove of the relationship between father nia and aunt rosa.

Until finally the parents of nia's father betrothed nia's father to another woman.

Nia's father complied, and left aunt rosa.

The marriage did not make her father stop loving aunt rosa, instead making guilt appear every father nia remember aunt rosa.

Nia's father then tried to find aunty rosa back, to apologize, for marrying another woman.

They meet again three years after nia's father is almost desperate, and tries to accept reality.

They were reunited in east Jakarta, when his father was visiting one of the factories in east Jakarta as a representative of his office.

At that time auntie rosa worked in a garment factory in east Jakarta.

The hope that nia's father thought had been dashed, re-lit.

It took two whole years for her father to persuade aunt Rosa to return to her side.

Although aunt rosa always refused with the offer of her father, but her father never once gave up.

Every day his father met aunt rosa in the factory, begging by kneeling to aunt rosa, also dozens of times nia's father did.

Aunty Rosa then falls down and accepts an offer from her father, however, aunt rosa still loves her father very much, and she needs a figure who loves her enough to lean on.

The condition of aunt rosa and her family was very bad at that time, an offer from om rusman that finally made the family aunty rosa survived debt bondage.

"When you want to be angry, angry with your father, punish your father, not your mother" said the father last night.

"Father sick nia, see treat you to mother" said nia's father with teary eyes.

"The father just wants to be happy in this life by having your mother at the side of the father, so I beg you, do not hurt your mother for marrying the father", said nia's father who finally shed tears.

"Although your mother is your father's second wife, but I try my best to give more than enough love to you and your mother", said nia's father again who made nia start to decompose with tears.

"Did you ever leave, not take responsibility for you" asked nia's father while wiping away her tears.

"Father's love for your mother is very big nia, so I beg you very much, do not blame your mother and please treat your mother well" said the father nia, said, which makes the tears even worse.

Aunt Rosa, who heard them crying, came straight for them.

Then she hugged auntie rosa.

"Mothers sorry for being selfish and only thinking about her feelings, sorry also feel embarrassed, because she was born a mother's child" said nia while crying.

"It's not wrong, you understand, you also apologize for keeping this from nia, you just want to protect nia" said aunt Rosa who then helped shed tears.

"Nia promised not to repeat it again" said nia.

"Nia also promises that nia will always love the mother until anytime" said nia still with tears.

"Nia must also promise to always take care of mother for father" said nia's father.

They apologized and embraced each other.

We who heard the story did not feel like we were shedding tears.

"Yes, your father was right, it's not your fault" said Rani.

"Why don't you try to connect us, and our same story" Kiki said, wiping her tears.

"Honestly I'm ashamed, I'm afraid you don't want to be the same as me" said Nia smiling as she lowered her head.

Rani and Kiki directly hit nia's back.

"You're wrong, you think our friendship is that shallow" said Rani a little angry and still crying.

"We have promised to accept each other's shortcomings and advantages" said Kiki.

"Yes nia, you do not want when parents rani divorced when we were second grade, we always support rani, not staying in rani because it is a broken home child" said mia.

"It also applies to all of us, we try to always be there to support each other" I told nia.

"But I'm still angry because you didn't call us when you needed our support" Rani grumbled.

"Ran I know you guys are busy facing the midterms, besides, you are very busy with the campus organization, and you ki, I don't want to disturb your time with the waiter", nia explained.

"You why don't you tell me" I said after she finished talking.

"I'm on a phone, but when I ask you where you're going, and ask what your activities are after you finish college, you always say you want to spend the same time in dimas, you also mia, morning, afternoon, afternoon, afternoon and even night always meet seto, you are not bored", asked nia while looking at mia after giving me an explanation.

"Hehe he is not" said mia cengengesan.

"I'm sorry we are, because it's been busy, but if you say you have a problem, we must come immediately" I said feeling guilty.

"Yes, we will always be there for you" said Kiki.

We then hugged nia, and again filled our nia room with our laughter and jokes until the afternoon.

we went home as soon as it got dark.

Om Rusman gave us chocolate from Jakarta, to take us home.

On the way home I felt angry, why should people always blame women like aunty rosa, but I felt, of course because I felt sympathy for nia who was my best friend, and aunt Rosa was always nice to me.

***