The After I Die

A Wound

The night was late, when all the villagers of Damung were sleeping soundly in the warmth of their respective blankets, among the sounds of low boisterous owls on the branches of trees, and, followed by the sound of crickets and small insects in the grass, a crying sound was heard from a large wooden house on the edge of the forest, with the dim light of a wall lamp in the corner of the room, a long-haired woman stood by holding a whip in her right hand

“A..Am....pun.”.

The boy fell to his feet, his tears rushing down the cold tile floor, his hands trying to hold his body against the wall so as not to lie down, the shirt on his back was torn apart and painful followed by an elongated wound with flowing blood

The woman stood behind Nukas, she said nothing, her face indecipherable, flat and cold, Nukas coughed, choking on his own saliva as the woman's hand again swung a whip to her back, not once twice, but several times, but several times, it was enough for a seven-year-old boy to scream in pain while curling up against a wall

“Sorry..Hix..Nukas apologise.”

With a faltering Nukas trying to look up at the woman's face, but the woman did not seem to like the look, she kicked the boy's head.

“Am..pu..n”.

Nukas stammered, his entire body trembled in fear, his breathing faltered, his head dizzy from crying too much, sore and poignant, his body could not tolerate this much pain.

Since living in this house this woman he loved so much behaved so strangely, he could not do something that made the woman angry, he said, and today he must have done something he could not.

The whip was heard again, Nukas could not hold it anymore, he screamed with all his might, crying all over, his body trying to crawl away from the woman, but his hair was pulled back.

“Sa..k..it..stop...”.

He thrashed, his little hand strained the woman's hand, hoping that the pain would lessen, looking up forcefully at the woman's face, he cried out when he saw that face change, peeling like a snake that had shed its skin, then flushed, as if melting on fire, a disgusting sight for her beloved woman, she screamed again loudly as the skin of the face fell to the floor and her face

“A..mpu..N.”.

The last word he said when his body crashed into the wall to make him lose consciousness instantly

*

Today exactly one day after he had a fight with Arna, he entered the classroom lazily, the dark circles in his eyes were printed clearly because he was sleep deprived last night, the shadows of Nukas face, Nukas face, granny Niba and the old well turned around in her head, after Nukas pointed at the well, he was immediately kicked out of the boy, making her wonderfully curious

He sat in the chair he occupied on the first day of class, the atmosphere was still the same, dusty and still a lot of garbage, Arna appeared and sat in Dayuti's chair

Dayuti appeared shortly afterwards, carrying a cloth bag containing many books, he looked at Arna who was sitting in her chair for a while and immediately sat in front of Kina without words

Unlike Arna who wears short clothes, skirts above the knee, tight clothes, long hair decomposes, and the smell of perfume stings, which is very strong, which is not at all suitable to be worn in a village school like this, the appearance of Dayuti impressed perfunctory for a teacher's child, his short hair almost covers one eye that looks cute, and his, his clothes were not very neat but still comfortable in view, the bag he was carrying in his hand was just a pale blue worn cloth bag

Kina did not care much, nor did Dayuti, they just kept quiet until the break time came, when everyone in the class came out, Dayuti turned her body and looked at her. His look looks different

“What did you do at grandma Niba's house two days ago?“

Kina frowned, confused

“Where did you know I was there?“

“I saw him” Dayuti said briefly, he pulled his chair closer

“Do you live in this village? I don't know about you“

Kina almost knew all the villagers

“I just moved in with my brother two months ago, in front of the Mursa” family home

Kina nodded, deserved Dayuti to see it, his house must be a rented house owned by Mr. Mursa

“That kid..a little weird“ continued Dayuti he tapped his index finger on the table.

“Nukas?“

“Yes, I've never seen him with an adult, except Mursa's mother, where's his mother?”

“That's it, rather than being weird, I feel sorry for him, he looks unkempt“

Kina remembers – Nukas' appearance, the clothes he was wearing were really not decent, his clothes were oversized and almost covered his shorts, the sandals he was wearing also looked worn

“If his mother is not there, can the Mursa family let a child stay to take care of an old grandmother alone? that's impossible, right?“

“I.. don't know”

Kina replied in a stammer, confused to answer Dayuti's question

Their conversation ended when the sound of bells rang, a sign that the break was over, one by one the students began to enter the class, preparing to start the lesson.

*

Dusk greeted again, Nukas came back to the mother quinine stall while challenging and a piece of money, his appearance today looks not good, his face pale and his eyes moist, whether out of tears or waking up, he said, there was a bandage on his left hand, behind which Mursa's mother followed

As usual, I emerged from the kitchen, carrying the porridge for Niba's grandmother, they talked when Kina had just come out of the dishwasher, with a wet apron and gloves

Nukas got up from the plastic chair and ran towards him, his pale face looking sparkling happily hugging him while laughing, Mother Mursa just smiled knotingly looking at him

“Nukas want candy?"

Kina picked up some candy from inside the container, her eyes accidentally looking at Nukas back behind his big shirt

A scar?

Kina extended her candy-filled hand towards Nukas, who was immediately greeted with joy. He jumps for pleasure

“Nukas doesn't say much huh?“

Mother Kina opened her voice after being satisfied to pay attention to the behavior of Nukas

“He can't talk"

Mursa's mother replied with a slight ruckus, her hands waving towards Nukas telling her to approach, the boy looked a little hesitant, but still approached and hugged Mursa's mother.

“Bisu ?”

Mursa's mother did not reply but stared sadly, Kina frowned, as she remembered yesterday Nukas spoke a lot and even called her Kak nana

“He had a little fever today"

Mursa's mother did not switch the conversation, her hand moved to hold the boy, then stroked his back slowly

“Where's his mother?"

“It works in the city, new night home“

Mursa's mother stood with Nukas' hand

“We went home first, it was late“ they walked side by side out of the stall, leaving a big question mark on Kina's head

“They live in grandma Niba's house?“

Kina looked at her mother, asking for an explanation

“Yes, where there are wives who want to live at home with honey who already have children"