SET DUSK

The Part 55

The boisterous sound of passengers who had just descended when the bus stopped, made Ida wake up. He was still trying to gather his consciousness as Laili patted his shoulder softly, "Mother, it looks like we've arrived."

Ida blinked her eyes, looking out the window. The outside is not yet too bright, but the bustling terminal bustle, signifying that the day is approaching early in the morning. The bus engine had been shut off, the smell of smoke coming through the window made Ida cough.

"Sal, Ima ... Wake up," said Laili woke up his two younger siblings who were still sleeping with enthusiasm. As if unperturbed by the boisterous sounds of passengers at the terminal and the cry of the busy kernet unloading goods from the top shelf of the bus, they were still drifting in the air. After Laili woke up several times, Ima woke up first, he rubbed his eyes then without much talk, came down from the bus followed by Salma with a face still looks sleepy.

The cold morning air in the town of Bukittinggi was welcoming, as they got off the bus. Ida looked around the terminal. Much has changed from that city. Of course, eight years is not a moment, a lot of things will change. But the longing for peace in Ida's heart remained the same.

"Mom, where are we going now? The stuff's been taken down." Laili's voice broke Ida's daydream.

"Oh ... We'll just go to the station, Li. Take the train this morning to Payakumbuh" said Ida. "Let's find bendi" he asked.

"When to the village, Mom?" ask Laili back.

"We meet your mom first, ask her opinion. He's your bako[1], the closest brother we have now. Patience a little, if your soul mate is Basri, the path will be smooth," kekeh Ida teases Laili.

"Ah, amok ... That's not what I mean," said Laili blushed.

Bendi slid off from the terminal. The sound of horseshoe-brained and iron rattles on the horse-controlled ropes, splitting the morning silence, leaving the boisterous sounds of passengers in the terminal, led them to the station.

Unlike previous years, the station that day seemed deserted. "Most passengers have switched to Oto [2] because it's faster to get there" said the station guard when Ida asked why the station was not as crowded as he remembered.

Too much has changed from the city. The edge of the rail that was once quiet, has begun to build many houses lined up. Shortly after they sat in the carriage, the old locomotive began to slowly leave the station accompanied by a whistle that screamed. Laili, Fatimah and Salma fell asleep again as the old man moved away.

Ida was still awake, looking at the tired face of her sleeping children. His mind was busy thinking about how this reaction of Madah, his brother-in-law, after so many years he left the Minang realm without news. He only realized, during Pematang Siantar, he never once told his brother-in-law, he, even when leaving, he forgot to say goodbye because he had blinded the hope of a more decent life for his children.

The feeling of life during the wandering makes Ida unable to just send a letter to her sister-in-law. Worries began to run its way, what if later her brother-in-law changed because of disappointment with her. What he had to say to Ni Madah later when he met, after all these years disappeared.

Ida tried to turn her attention out the window, looking towards the blue-looking Mount Marapi, as if calling to return to her homeland located at the foot of the mountain. A song of longing as if chanted by the hiss of the locomotive engine and wheels that swipe the rail. Remembering him the face of Amai called out there.

"Amai, Ida really misses," he groaned in a daydream.

After passing through several stations, the train began to slow down, houses on the edge of the rail that had seemed to be chasing were seen more clearly. As she approached the station, Ida's heart began to beat irregularly. What will he meet later in the city after a long time did not set foot there. Will he be able to make peace with all the memories he has left behind in those years, or will his feelings still remain the same?

Payakumbuh not so much changed, only a few buildings that look new standing in some places towards the road towards the house he occupied first. The weather is still the same, the air re-emerges memories that are almost buried in Ida's heart.

When they arrived, the house and its surroundings seemed deserted. Ida was about to knock on the door.

"Does Maktuo still live here, Mommy?" asked Laili who looked as uncertain as Ida, "the house was completely deserted, as if it was uninhabited. What if Maktuo isn't here?"

"Let's just knock, Li. Who knows if you're behind" Ida said. He sat on the second step from below with Salma. Just felt tired after a few hours of driving. He offered his legs to just relax his muscles that felt stiff.

Ida was still paying attention to the situation around the house that looked quiet when the door was opened. Laili and Fatimah cried out with their broken cries.

"Oh yeah!!!" they shouted at the figure who opened the door.

As if not believing her hearing, Ida turned her face towards the top of the stairs. There, at the end of the stairs, stood a man who was also crying with his children. The man she had always hoped to meet again. However, the reality that was plastered in front of his eyes seemed difficult for him to digest. He and Salma were still unmoved at the end of the stairs. Salma, who did not remember the figure of her brother, stood with Ida.

"Da, why are you still there?" greet Burhan in between his sobs.

Salma looked up waiting for Ida's reaction.

"Is that Salma?" burhan asked to meet the two women who were still at the end of the lower stairs.

The look of Burhan has changed a lot, his thick curls that were once black and always neatly combed seemed to start overgrown with messy white hair. Her once cheerful face and witty smile, turned haggard. His facial skin began to sag, a dimple that used to trace deep on his left cheek when he smiled, only looking like a long line that added to the wrinkle on his cheek that had been thin. His eyes were always staring at Ida sharp, seeming concave full of burden.

"Sir where have you been?" Finally Ida was able to let out her voice that had been choked earlier.

"Where have you been, Da? I'm tired of looking for you." Burhan asked back. "Let's go in first" Burhan pulled Ida's hand up the stairs.

Like a buffalo poked in the nose, Ida followed when Burhan herded her into the house, her brain still unable to digest the encounter.

"Salma forgot my brother, son?" burhan asked with a trembling voice.

"So where have you been all this time?" ask ida when the sedu sedan of his two children has begun to subside.

I don't know why there's a sense of awkwardness created. Although Burhan still filled the space in his heart, time seemed to make a distance between them. The empty space created by the span of time, seemed to make them into two strangers who had just met.

"Tell me, Sir. What happened to the Lord all this time. Why why. You don't know the way home" Pinta Ida.

"Ah, not that I don't know the way home, Da. The feeling of my life after the boat capsized sets me apart from you guys ... I was swept away by the current. Someone saved me when I was dragged down ... Take me to Bengkalis ...." Burhan's gaze glared.

"It turns out the man who took me is being sought by the police. When they got caught, I got carried away. I spent two years as a patient in a bui. No chance to defend himself ... Once released, I didn't have a dime to return, forced I had to hang around there looking for a job to get the cost to go home."

Pause, Burhan's tears back up, his lips quivering. He saw the faces of the children who had been separated from him for ten years, alternately looking at the face of the woman who had given birth to her children.

Ida was unable to speak. It turns out that Burhan's life is also not much different from him, forced to bear a miserable life.

"Every day my mind cannot be separated from you, the weight felt in my heart to bear the longing. What else remember will rage, worry my heart. I couldn't save him, I prayed every day for him to be safe. But it turns out, only I know, that I survived myself .... "

Ida's chest tightened again, remembering the face of Mak Halimah last time. Remembering how she had waited for news of her husband who never came. The man who had been waiting for so many years was in front of him. But the distance he felt was somehow suddenly so far away.

"Who's coming, sir?" the female voice from the hallway towards the kitchen surprised them.

Ida's blood suddenly felt frozen and her lips felt faint when she saw the face of the woman who had just entered.

"Ana?" ida asked as if asking Burhan for an explanation.

"Where did you come from?" point Ana at Ida. "Why are you back?"

"Sir, why is there Ana in this house? Did my guess happen?" ida asked as if she could not believe what she saw.

Not yet Burhan had time to open his voice, Ana again said, "Me and Mr. Burhan are married, please do not disturb us with your past story," Ana said. His face looked unfriendly, clearly hostility was imprinted on his face.

"Ana, I'll take a minute. You don't have to interfere first" Burhan snapped.

"Oh, now you can say that. Yesterday sir was like a lost man, I took care of it." Ana's tone grew higher, her face red.

"Ana, I'm asking for a little understanding ... These are my children, my flesh and blood" Burhan harrumphed.

Ida and her children were just glued to Burhan and Ana's quarrel. Clearly there was a sense of disappointment on their tired faces. Moreover, Ida, the man who had never separated from his heart, turned out to have obtained a replacement for him.

"Yes! Do as you please, sir!" Ana left them with a face full of anger.

"You don't have to worry, Na. I'm not here to take your husband. I'm not a woman who likes to disturb people's households. I mean my heart came here just to tell her that Laili is getting married. I never expected her brother to come back" Ida said staring at Ana coldly.

"You want to insinuate me?" Ana turned to look at Ida, her face growing red.

"That's just your guess," said Ida indifferently.

"Ana, help you understand a little" Burhan asked to mediate between the two wives.

Ida's heart seemed to be torn deep into helplessness. When his heart began to warm when the lamp that had once been extinguished was again lit, at that time the lamp had to be extinguished again. Laili and Fatimah also witnessed the scene of the quarrel of three adults before them, as if trying to digest what was happening.

I want to feel Ida passed from the quarrel of two people who have now become husband and wife. His mind felt empty, but he tried to strengthen his heart to convey his meaning to Madah, Ida had to wait until she met ni Medah.

O time, why did you create an empty space in your heart that compels it to be filled. Why don't you just leave that space empty until the owner comes back. O heart, why do you leave your door open for another heart to occupy. Don't you remember the one heart that would be hurt if he asked for his place back?

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Note :

[1] Bako \=family father.

[2] Oto \= Mobile