The River House

24. Flowers and Beetles

By midday, the rain did not stop. The sound of the swift flow of the river beside the house was heard to the living room. Bayu and Ellie are still sitting on the sofa waiting for her friend's friend to return.

"Bay, I think Zainul's a little weird. In addition to bandages all over the body of course," Ellie reopened the conversation after a moment of silence.

"What's so weird? Her house?" Bayu asked as he glanced at the large clock installed on the wall. At exactly 13 o'clock.

"The hobby is weird" Ellie said slowly.

"Hobby?" Bayu looked at Ellie this time. He did not understand the meaning of the interlocutor's words.

"He collected all kinds of imported plants."

"What's so weird about Ellie?" Bayu shook his head.

"The kind of plant Bay. He kept the manchineel tree in a large pot," Ellie raised her tone.

"Huh? What tree is that?" Bayu doesn't understand.

"One of the most poisonous trees in the world" Ellie said.

"Oohh, is there any sign of being forbidden to approach that huh? Next to this house, right?" Bayu remembers.

"Yes. Why would he keep a tree like that?" 

"Emmm, could his taste or favorite be like that?" Bayu.

"Castes? You know not all parts of the tree contain poison. Burning the branches or twigs can make you tight and can also cause excessive eye pain and even blindness" Ellie explained. 

Bayu seemed to think of hearing the sentence spoken by Ellie. He sat pensively, propping up his chin.

"What are you thinking Bay?" Ellie asked after noticing the man before her sitting in her seat.

Bayu was about to answer, when from the direction of the front door came Hendra and Iva. Both of them look cold.

"Where?" Ask Bayu to Hendra. But only the head that Bayu got.

"There's no sign of Mella to the front page. Even the footprints in the muddy ground because of the rain were only our tracks," Iva chimed in.

"Denis and Norita haven't come back yet?" Hendra asked, rubbing his wet hair.

"Yet. I hope they don't go too far" Ellie replied this time.

"As of now, what should we do?" Hendra asked again.

"We wait for Denis and Norita, after which we have lunch while waiting for the rain to subside" Bayu said his proposal.

"After the rain?" Hendra kept asking.

"We might be able to find Mella back. Or we can go to the forest to pick up Galang" Bayu replied.

"You're funny Bay. It was you who went with Galang to the forest and left him there. You set the motion every step we have to do. If you may think, you are the most annoying person among all of us who is here" Hendra smiled cynically. Iva nodded in agreement to Hendra's words.

"What do you mean?" Bayu stood up from his seat.

"I don't mean what. I just want to remind you, don't be our pretentious nag. I can't believe you at all" Hendra pointed his index finger right at Bayu's face.

Bayu fell silent this time. He looked at Ellie. And the woman shrugged both of her shoulders. It seems Ellie is reluctant to defend one of her old friends. What Hendra said just now has a point.

"OKAY. All right, now I'm not going to set you guys up anymore. We move on our own, according to what we want and believe. But I hope you are careful and alert," Bayu sighed, relented.

Bayu did not think, why the two friends felt jutek and did not like him. What has happened and what have they both planned?

Hendra and Iva then sat on the sofa, taking a considerable distance with Bayu. The television lit up with an infotainment program that discussed the gossip of the hottest artists. But in reality, the atmosphere in front of the television is much hotter.

Meanwhile Norita and Denis gasp for breath in the bathroom. They sat in the bathroom court in an undressed condition. Denis is back to smoking. The third cigarette he had lit all afternoon.

"Den, can you not smoke now? The bathroom is narrow and stuffy, it can die from your cigarette smoke I'll, '" Norita protested.

Denis smiled briefly, took a sip of his cigarette once and then threw his long butts into the sinkhole. She gently stroked Norita's head.

"Can you come to my room tonight?" Whisper Denis.

"Hhh, isn't it enough?" Norita smiled spoiled.

"Do you remember I used to remidiize daily maths replicas?" denis said as her finger played Norita's clean, reddish-white earlobes.

"Keep why?" 

"Yes, I want to remidiize with you later tonight" Denis grinned.

"Have. Delicious in you dong," Norita rolled her eyes while manyuning.

"You are like mathematics. Complicated, and difficult to solve. But everyone wants to conquer you" whispered Denis again.

"Gombal. Tombal king," Norita hits Denis' arm slowly.

"Emm, but maybe we're safer if we both sleep together. I remember the death of Dipta being horrified," Norita shuddered to remember the tragic fate of Dipta.

"Hey hey, by the way, you were bathing with Dipta yesterday. Was it you?" Denis asked full of questions.

"Yeee, what am I? Anyway me and Dipta had not had time to take a bath instead saw the hand piece that was drifting in the river," Norita bent her knees. His body feels cold.

"really to? Any hands drifting? You didn't see it wrong, did you?" 

"Make Deniiss. I'm sure it's a hand. There was a red liquid that seemed to be blood around that piece of hand. Even though it was almost evening, the lighting was gloomy, but I could see it clearly. And I also saw a person who had thrown away the piece of the hand in the upper part of the river," Norita stared intently at Denis.

"Who?" Denis gulps. She was a little horrified to hear Norita's story.

"Not clearly visible. But I'm sure from his stature, that figure is a man" Norita replied confidently.

"Couldn't it be Mr Mardoyo?" Denis leaned his head against the bathroom's ceramic wall.

"Can be. But the thing is, whose hand is Den?" Norita felt her nape cold and the fine fur on her arm standing up.

"I thought about Yodi. Isn't it a coincidence, when Yodi was lost, you saw a hand piece drifting in the river. What if it's Yodi's hand? Mr. Mardoyo finished off Yodi who was in the guest room, then removed his body parts to remove traces," Denis stroked his own beard elus. He felt like a detective who solved a case.

"It's ah, you're scaring me Denis. We better get out of the bathroom and into the dining room, I'm hungry" Norita said.

However, Norita did not take a step, Denis pulled her hand and hugged her from behind.

"You smell Nori. Like a flower containing honey, I was a beetle about to suck your nectar," whispered Denis up close, his lips pressed against Norita's earlobes.

Norita smiled, then turned around. And finally, they did it again.

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