The Diary Rere

Dua

“Learning a cool ya, Re” Daddy dropped me off his bike and took me to SD gate Rose 1, the elite and favorite elementary school in my city. I just stared at her bright face and held her big, rough fingers tight.

“Sorry sir, the introduction is only allowed to drive until the front gate” A well-built man in a black uniform holds Dad who is about to step foot into the gate. Dad smiled at the man and gave him a thumbs up.

“Dad left for work huh, Re. While Rere schools well here. Later in the afternoon Om Bimo picked up Rere, he said, I told him that Rere was coming home at 12 noon” Dad rubbed my head after he finished speaking and then gave him his right palm so I could crucify him. My short footsteps headed to school accompanied Dad's departure on his motorbike to the Capital. Today is my first day of school!

My experience at SD Mawar 1 may be a continuation of Mbok Nati's parenting that will shape my personality to become the present Rere. I haven't been able to tell you what my “personality” is like. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, it may be a mixture of both. All I can tell you is that my story is not special at all. This is your story, maybe. I think it's about all of us the story of the journey and the struggle to find ourselves.

I don't remember many things in my first or second years at Rose Elementary School 1, which I remember very clearly was my father dropping me off on my first day of school. On a sunny day when I was in High School, Dad told me that he also remembered very clearly that day. The day he took his first daughter to school. Dad said he was very sad when he saw me who at that time was wearing a red white uniform, carrying a bright pink bag with a barbie that was the same size as my body, step foot into the gate and blend in with the other kids who look just as confused as I am. I didn't know it was such a sentimental moment for Dad.

Maybe I started saving memories of school at Rose Elementary School 1 since I was in 3rd grade. I remember having a pair of friends who were big brother sisters, I forgot if they were actually a pair of conjoined twins? The point is they're both siblings. Her name is Vina and Vino. They were both labeled by us as stupid kids. They seem to be of Chinese ethnicity due to their narrow-eyed and light skin color. Both Vina and Vino wore glasses. Their glasses have a hook so they can be clad when they do not want to wear glasses. Like grandpa and grandma's glasses.

I wasn't close friends with them, but we were one class. Oh yeah, why are Vina and Vino labeled as stupid kids? Well, as I recall because they were very slow in doing a problem or when asked by the teacher about a material that has just been described. Maybe at that time the whole class was very anxious with their slow learning. I don't remember ever feeling the anxiety over “ inaction” Vina and Vino. I just remember that all the kids were staying away from them, so they could only play with each other.

Vina, Vino, if you read this story of mine, Renjana Dusk Kala or commonly called Rere, which I make sure you will not remember me because I was not one of the prominent children at that time, I want to apologize to you for what I've done. Although I also do not remember what I have done to you, just in case you still remember me and maybe I have done wrong to you.

Another story I remember was the first bullying I got from a transfer boy named Aruna. Aruna is a boy with a grim and ignorant temperament, brown-skinned and his body slightly contained but could not be categorized as fat. Pretty ideal. I don't know what sparked the debate between me and Aruna at the time, all I remember is that we fought each other and chided.

“Basic fat!” Aruna poked her tongue at me.

“From lo, item! Huu!” I retorted his torment, not forgetting to glare at him hoping he was afraid, which happened just the opposite. Aruna was more and more excited about me and talking to me, she did it laughing and joking, while I struggled not to cry.

Aruna also once threw sand at me, precisely to both balls of my eyes. I was crying and Aruna could only watch me cry hysterically. My friends came up to us, the girls patted me on the shoulders and tried to comfort me, they took me to the UKS room and complained to the teacher if they met in the hallway. Most of my classmates also disliked Aruna. Aruna, like Vina and Vino, was shunned in class. But as far as I can remember Aruna was shunned not because of her ignorant behavior, but because she was browner than the rest of us. Maybe my guess is wrong, but indeed his nickname in class is “Aruna the buluk”.

Regarding my close friends, I remember starting to have ‘gang’ when I was in 4th grade. Our gang consists of 4 people: me, Jani, Aira, and Vanka. Jani was my first close friend, he was tanned and had beautiful eyes. Jani's distinctive feature is his shaky teeth and the tompel on his left cheek. But I think with all those unique features, Jani is really sweet. While Aira has the brightest skin among the four of us, or what we usually say is ‘white and smooth’. Aira is good at English because she takes extra lessons outside of school and she also belongs to the category “beautiful girls” in class. Finally Vanka, Vanka's trademark is his height above average, he is much higher than the three of us, he was, in fact, he was taller than all the boys in the class who at that time just wanted to pubescent. The four of us used to spend a lot of time together by accident, and all of a sudden our gang formed.