THE FLO!

Bag. 2

I was just about to ask what the man meant when I heard the sound of a car horn coming from behind us. I turned my body around and saw that my mom got out of the car. She ran and hugged me and cried. I returned my mother's embrace without trying to comfort her. I could only gently caress my mother's back.

"Why would Freya do this to Mama? Leaving Mama?" screeched Mama in between her cries. I breathed a heavy breath. When I lifted my head, I could see Papa's face as open as my own.

"Don't come here, let's go inside" Papa asked. He looked at the man who was talking to me while pointing at my suitcase. "So, please take this suitcase to the second floor."

The man named Yadi nodded while looking at me in confusion. It seems he doesn't know me. I smiled at her and thanked her and helped my mother into the house. My father stood beside my mother while embracing her. I just let go of my mom when we were in the bedroom. I sat my mother in her bed. I sat in front of him while looking into his puffy eyes.

"Mama doesn't know why Freya did all this to Mama. Why would she leave Mama?" mama whispered so tormented. I could not say anything and could only caress my mother's cheeks gently, trying to wipe away her tears.

"Now Mama is resting. Flo will be here. Flo promise," I said as I gently laid my mother's body down. I covered my mother's body and gently kissed her forehead, something I had never done before.

When I saw that my mother had fallen asleep, even though I still heard a hiccup, I was called by my father to follow her into his study. I took off the jacket I was still wearing because I was getting hot. Strange, at that time I was unable to feel anything but when I saw my mother finally my consciousness returned. I sat on the bench across from my father. It looks like my father is still in shock with Freya's death but he is able to hide his feelings well. My father seemed to breathe a few times. I grabbed my father's hand and held it tightly.

"Papa's fine, Flo," Papa said gently as he looked at my father's anxious face. "It is you who makes Papa anxious. You look calm."

Said who? Thought. I'm as shocked as you guys. I try to be calm because I do not want to add to your feelings of grief. But I didn't speak my mind and looked at my father instead. He looks older. The wrinkles on his face were getting more and more. Maybe because Freya's death hit Papa so hard.

"Papa doesn't know what to say" Papa said as he returned my hand, something he never did again after Freya was born. "Honestly, Papa didn't know what to say when Papa called you yesterday. Papa was shocked to see you coming. Papa thought you'd wait until things calmed down."

I can only smile thinly. "You need me here."

"What about your job?"

"My job can wait. After all, there is still Brenda, she will handle everything" I replied as I looked at my father.

There was silence in our conversation. I don't know what to say. All of these events are still not able to be fully digested. But there's something I've been wanting to ask you ever since. About Yadi's words when I arrived.

"Papa... Papa has to tell me what happened to me. We were still talking the day before her death" I said softly while trying to remove Freya's name in our conversation for fear that I would cry in front of my father.

My dad seems to be breathing heavily. He pulled his hand from my grasp and instead folded his own. He lowered his head.

"Papa doesn't understand either. He left earlier than usual. He still uttered the 'drug' to Papa and Mama before he left. Suddenly Papa is called by the school and says that Freya has..."

I understand why Papa didn't continue. The feelings of grief my father experienced must have been much greater than my feelings of grief. I looked down, trying not to let my father see my tears.

"Papa was not only shocked when he heard Freya died, but Papa was even more shocked when they told Papa that Freya was pregnant. Papa's Son... The child who had been a good student turned out to be pregnant out of wedlock and decided to commit suicide."

This is the first time I've seen my father cry. Slow but it sounds painful. Seeing that cry, my heart was like it was slashed. I couldn't hold my cry any further. In the end, I cried with my father.

...***...

I stroked the photo of Freya hanging on the wall of her room gently. I caressed Freya's entire room. Room dominated by pink, Freya's favorite color, make my eyes again watered by tears. There's still Freya's fragrance here. I stared at the laptop we were still using two days ago to communicate. I sat on Freya's soft bed and lay on it. I stared at the ceiling adorned by the glow in the dark various shapes that I had once bought for Freya for her birthday. I didn't come to Freya's birthday party but I sent out various gifts to Freya and this patch was one of them.

I got up from my sleep and walked towards Freya's closet. I stroked each of Freya's clothes with a smile as I saw the clothes I sent were at the top of the fold. Not only that, the jacket I sent also looks dull color, as if often used. My forehead shriveled when I saw a box at the end of the closet. I pulled out the box and opened the lid.

I couldn't understand when I saw the box.

It's Freya's uniform that's strangely ripped off. Not just one but several pairs of other uniforms were also the same. I bit my fingernails, I used to get confused, and ran to Freya's laptop.

I opened Freya's laptop and fell silent when I saw that Freya's laptop had a password. Since I didn't want to wait too long, I unloaded Freya's laptop and plugged her motherboard into my laptop. I'm used to doing this because it's my job. No need to wait long while Freya's laptop motherboard is connected to my laptop. I opened every folder on Freya's laptop. I felt strange when I saw that there was a folder that was coded by Freya, as if I was afraid that someone would read the folder. I let out a long sigh and started typing as fast as I could to decode the folder. I frowned when I saw the title of the file that was inside that folder. The title is the month and year the file was created. I opened one of the files with the most recent month.

October 1, 20xx

Dear Brother Flo.

I don't know what to say, Brother, but Freya misses Brother. Freya needs a sister here. They're Freya's usilin. They say that Freya is nothing more than a hooker. They even threw Freya's uniform in the trash. If only Brother were here.

October 2nd, 20xx

Dear Brother Flo.

I can't stand Brother. Mama and Papa are fighting again. Papa even slapped Mama and Mama yelled back at Papa. If only my brother were here.

October 3, 20xx

Dear Brother Flo.

I don't know what to say, brother. But Freya needs a sister here. If only my sister had been here and comforted Freya.

October 4th 20xx

Dear Brother Flo.

They threw Freya's book away, brother. They even laugh when they see Freya picking up Freya's falling book and pushing Freya instead. If only my brother were here.

Freya's school isn't as good as you think. They laugh at Freya, hide Freya's clothes, shred Freya's uniform, call Freya disgusting. Freya can survive because she knows Big Brother will definitely come back and defend Freya. Freya lied to Brother by saying that Freya is okay because she does not want to make Brother anxious about Freya. Freya does not want Brother to hate Freya, especially because Freya is the reason why Brother is not happy. Freya apologizes for being born in this world, brother. If you go home, Freya will immediately delete this file and try if Freya's life is as good as you think. Freya loves Flo.

I closed my mouth using both hands. Why have I been blind all this time? Why can't I see Freya's suffering? Unknowingly, my tears flowed. Not only because of my feelings of grief but also my guilt. Why am I so stupid? Why don't I pay more attention to Freya?

I immediately closed my laptop and wiped my tears when I heard the sound of the door being knocked. My mother's face came out from behind the door and looked at me. His eyes looked pushy when he saw me who was crying.

"You always hide your feelings and let go when you are alone. Mama is not surprised to find you here," Mama said gently as she stroked my face. I smiled and held my mother's hand.

"Mom why not rest? Let Flo do the job here" I said slowly but Mama shook her head.

"Let's just have it all in its place" my mother said quietly. He walked towards Freya's bed and lay on it. "There's still Freya's fragrance here" she said, kissing Freya's pillow and crying again. I don't know what to say. I just kept quiet while lowering my head.

"Are you going back to America?" mama asked, looking at me begging. I nodded slowly.

"But not now. I'll be here until Mama is stronger" I replied without trying to lie. My mother just smiled faintly as she looked at the photo of Freya and myself at the small table beside the bed.

"Freya put the photo there so she could see it at all times. She loves you and she always says that you are the best sister in the world. Every time he talks to you, he'll tell us at the dinner table. Ever since you entered MIT, she's been telling everyone who her sister is. Especially when you succeed in becoming a programmer, make him even more proud of you. He even said that one day he'd be like you..." Mama was unable to continue her story due to sobbing.

I can't cry. I don't understand why I can't cry. I'm even angry. I got up from my seat and grabbed my laptop.

"Mama, Flo's gonna take a break. Jet-lag," I said. My mother only nodded as I stuffed not only my laptop but Freya's laptop into my backpack.

I went into the room I used to live in. The room was being cleaned by the maid but I asked them to leave me alone. I locked my room and took out my laptop. I searched every trace Freya left on her laptop. Find out which folder he opened the most recently. My attention was shifted when I saw a video file and I immediately watched the video. I gasped and closed my mouth when I saw the video.

Freya, who was being pushed against the wall behind her. Some girls were pouring black liquid over my sister's head. Freya was silent while biting her lower lip while the person who poured the liquid laughed out loud. Not only that, they called Freya with disgusting words. I closed the video and lowered my head. It turned out that what Freya had told me all along was just a lie. She was never happy with her school friends. They even bully Freya. Why did the school do nothing?

Why am I so blind?

I clenched my hand. It may sound crazy but this is the only way I have in my brain. I took my phone in my bag and called Brenda.

"Thank Goodness, you call me too. What's going on?" tanyakanya.

"Freya killed herself" I replied quietly and I could hear a gasp. "My story is not finished. She's pregnant and a victim of bullying."

I could hear Brenda cursing softly. "Then what now?"

"I'll be in Jakarta, six months at most, to investigate Freya's death. I'll talk to the headquarters about my leave. I'll finish my job and send it to you as soon as I can. Anyway for six months, you don't stay away from the computer."

"Don't worry about it, Flo. Whatever happens, let me know. And if you need anything, just call me. Okay?"

I smiled and hung up the phone. I closed my eyes.

All right, Flo, you're crazy.

But you'd be a lot crazier if you didn't figure out what's behind Freya's death.

I opened my eyes and looked for the name of my closest friend on my phone who arguably had a black track record. I exhaled before I called him.

"Hey, wassup, Flo? This is the first time you call me since... I don't know. Two years? Three years?" that heavy sound. I closed my eyes.

"Yeah, I know and I miss you too, Brax. I need your help," I said. Braxton is, arguably, my closest friend. I helped him escape the police chase because he was Brenda's twin brother and the one who always helped me.

"Woah, what is it? What do you need? The passport?" tanyakanya. Yeah, Braxton is an expert at document falsification and I need his help.

"Not passport" I replied. "It's something else."

"okaaay. What is it?"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I need you to fake your birth certificate, SD and Junior High School diploma and make it look like I'm a foreign graduate and make a letter moving from High School there."

"Woah... Hang on there's. Why do you suddenly need all those letters?"

"I want to do the craziest thing that ever crossed my brain."

"Aren't you crazy enough to lose Bill Gates?"

"It's a lot crazier" I said and took a deep breath. "I'm going to High School."

"WHAT!?"

"Well, and if Brenda finds out, you're dead!"