
"A-a-pa?"
"What is my less clear speech? Get ready, now I will take you back to your village" said Rayyan.
"Really?"
"Ten minutes to go."
Ray passed from the presence of Suci and Mbok Asih then climbed the stairs to his room on the second floor.
"Alhamdulillah, Nduk. Mr. Ray would be kind to take you home" Asih said.
"I'm picking up young master Arsen huh, Mbok."
"You don't have to worry, as long as you're in the village, Mbok will definitely take good care of young master Arsen."
Ten minutes later, Rayyan approached them again. The leather jacket and glasses he wore made the widower of one child even more handsome even though his face was still full of sideburns.
"I'm going to leave the house, Mbok. If there's anything, let me know quickly" said Ray
Mbok Asih nodded in understanding.
"I say goodbye, Mbok," said Suci while kissing the back of Asih's hand.
"Be careful, Nduk. Say hello to your father."
"Assalamu'alaikum."
Saints and Ray left the house.
"How long does it take to get from my house to your house?" ray asked after his car drove.
"If you take the bus for about four hours, sir."
Initially the journey was smooth, but after about an hour, Suci began to show signs if he was drunk on the trip.
His face looked pale, his body was cold hot, and his stomach was so nauseous.
"Why you?" ask Ray.
"It seems like I'm drunk on my way" answered the Saint, who chuckled at the master.
"Aren't you ever in the car?"
"Nearly never, take public transportation only when it comes to the market."
"It's just worth it."
Ray then shrank the AC of his car. "How is it, now better?" tanyanya.
"Yes, it was cold. Why is it warmer now?"
"Of course, I turned off the car's AC."
Suddenly a distinctive sound from inside Rayyan's stomach indicates that she is now being attacked by hunger.
"What's that sound?" ask Ray.
"Didn't that sound come from Master's stomach?"
"Don't just accuse."
The atmosphere was silent for a moment, but it made the sound more clear.
"If you are hungry, we stop to eat" said Suci.
"I'm not hungry" he argued.
"Is a handsome guy always like this? Confessing hunger alone prestige," Sacred mind.
"Aww!" About ten minutes later Ray held onto his stomach while complaining of pain.
"Do you have to wait for a stomachache to stop and eat?"
"I just remembered, I missed lunch this afternoon because of a sudden client visit. Is the restaurant still far from here?"
"There's a restaurant. The most we meet on the side of the road are meatballs and chicken noodle dealers."
"What food is that?"
"Have you never heard of the food?"
"I have been eating ready meals more often. I eat rice at home sometimes. It also has to mbok Asih who cooked it."
"So, how? Do you want to eat chicken noodles at a roadside stall?"
"Wa-wa-rung by the roadside?"
"Yes. Didn't I tell you there's no restaurant along this road?"
"Well, whatever, what's important is that my stomach is filled."
Five minutes later Suci asked Ray to pull over.
"We're sure we're taking me to eat here?" ask Ray.
"After this stall that we will pass is a mahogany forest without settlement for approximately five kilometers. To find a food stall was still quite far away. If you can still hold your hunger, just continue the journey."
"Krucuk .. krucuk.." Ray's stomach was now louder than before.
"Yes, it's okay to eat here," said Ray. The two then got out of the car and approached the blue-tented chicken noodle shop. There was a sense of discomfort when Ray started to sit on a wooden bench inside.
"A serving of chicken noodles and a glass of warm tea, sir "sacred the merchant.
"One serving only?" tanyakanya.
"Yes. Can't I just order one serving?"
"ah! It was like he was never young. Ma'am and mas are definitely newlyweds, they want to eat chicken noodles one bowl together" said a middle-aged woman who was also in the stall.
"We're not a pas- …"
"Where are you going?" ask the man who owns the stall while putting a bowl of chicken noodles and a glass of warm tea that still puffs the smoke on the table.
"We are from the city going to the village of Makmur" answered the Holy One.
"Please, we stay behind first."
The couple then walked towards the back of the tent. If heard from his voice, both are washing bowls and glasses of former visitors.
A bowl of noodles with a sprinkling of ground chicken and fried onion was presented in front of Ray, but he just looked at him.
"Master is hungry, isn't he? Is just looking at him able to make your stomach full?"
ask Ray.
"Master likes spicy food?" The saint asked.
"Not really like."
Suci poured soy sauce, sauce, and a spoonful of sambal into a bowl and stirred it.
"Please."
"Just be eaten?"
"Would it be wrapped?"
For the first time Ray enjoyed the food sold by the roadside. He had thought that the food sold in that place was only made carelessly. However, what was felt when the first spoon entered his mouth was so unexpected that he did not want to stop eating it. Within minutes the bowl was empty.
"One more bowl, sir!"
"Master hungry what doyan?" holy asked while holding back a laugh.
"It's the most delicious food I've ever eaten."
"really? Isn't the food in expensive restaurants more delicious?"
"I've been wrong all along to underestimate the food being sold on the roadside like this."
"Everything, don't judge a book by its cover alone. Not far from my home in the village there is also a chicken noodle seller."
"I'll try it too."
A few moments later the second bowl was presented in front of Ray.
"Well, how do you eat by yourself? His wife wasn't being suckled?" ask the woman who owns the shop.
"We are not husband and wife, sir. She's my babysitter in town. I want to take him home because his brother died."
"It's so good this one. Rarely, there is an employer as good as him," said the woman who owns the stall.
Saints only responded to the remark with a knotty smile on the lips.
"How much is it, sir?" ray asked after he gulped down his second warm tea glass.
"Thirty thousand, my dear?"
"Did I hear wrong?"
"Two bowls of chicken noodles cost 24,000, and her warm tea cups cost 6,000, so all of them are thirty thousand," explained the shop owner.
"If I had eaten in a restaurant until this whole thing would have run out of hundreds of thousands" said Ray.
Ray took a hundred thousand pieces of money from his wallet and gave them to the shop owner.
"Ouch! Just a little money, Mom."
"I don't have any small money, sir."
"So, how? I don't have any change either."
"Here you go, just take the change. I think this particular meal would be too cheap if it was only valued at thirty thousand."
"Thank God, thank you, Mom. I pray that Mas's sustenance is plentiful."
"Aamiinu. Then excuse us."
"Ehm .. be careful, Mas, Ma'am. I heard that on the deserted road around the mahogany forest there are often actions of division, especially in the afternoon before this evening," said the owner of the stall.
"Thank you for the information, sir. So we can be more vigilant and careful" Ray said.
Suci and Ray then left the stall.
"What does the owner of the stall say if on the road near the mahogany forest there is frequent sealing?" ray asked after returning to his car.
"A few months ago, I read a newspaper about the crime at that place. The perpetrators of the crime are not only targeting the property of the victim, they do not hesitate to hurt the victim if the victim fights."
"It's terrible too."
How many minutes later the car began to enter the mahogany forest area. As far as the eye looks on the left right of the road it only looks big mahogany tree visible home or shop.
"Suddenly my feelings are not good like this, sir," said Suci.
"Calm down, you'll be safe with me."
The Sacred countenance turned frantic as suddenly two burly people appeared from the direction of the forest. One of them signals Ray to pull over his car.
"Don't stop, sir. I believe they are the perpetrators of the crime referred to by the owner of the stall earlier," said Suci.
"Look, they're blocking our way. Should I hit them? I could be in jail for being accused of killing people."
"What's up, sir?" ray asked after pulling the car over.
"Give me your car if you want to survive!" threaten one of the men while pointing a knife towards Ray's face. While the other men also did the same to Saints.
Ray and Suci looked resignedly out of the car while raising both hands. However, it is not Sacred in name if it does not fight when it is hurt or oppressed. Suddenly, the tomboy girl snatched the knife from the man's hand. Circumstances turned around, now the man who was under his threat.
"Get out of this place or I'll make your friend into a pedal!" threaten her.
Ray also took advantage of the negligence of the man who threatened him by kicking his groin. The knife he was holding was thrown far enough away.
"Let's go before we die silly in their hands!" yell at one of the men.
Both of them left the place.
"I didn't think you were such a brave girl" Ray said.
Saints smile.
"From childhood I was taught by my father not to be oppressed. As long as I'm right, I have to fight."
"I salute you by educating your father" said Ray.
Saints responded to the remark with a faint smile on the lips.
"Deg! Why do I feel like her smile is similar to Arini's?" inner Ray.
Connect …
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