The Woman Behind The Scenes

Chapter 35 - Happening Again

“Quick. We'll be late. Pasteur's clock is jammed.” Tomi is busy hustling to raise ***** the whimper they will bring. Among them a backpack containing their clothes, a children's backpack containing toys Kio, and a large bag of souvenirs from Bandung.

“Street sir. A little quick, yes.” Ask the taxi driver who has been waiting for them for a few minutes. Tuesday afternoon after their work in the office was completed, Dara, Tomi, and Kio immediately rushed home to pick up the items they had prepared, to go to Jakarta to see Dara's in-laws.

Ros was left alone at home, because the woman turned out to be easily drunk vehicles. Dara had already left him some money for his provisions for two days and a night when they were not home. Though the visit was very short, because they had to return later on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday they had to work, but innately they were very much dominated by-by.

“Fieh! Now you can sleep, baby. Achy right definitely?” tomi said while embracing his wife's shoulder when they finally were in the van of a travel company that is always crowded.

“I wait for Kio to sleep first. I'll sleep.” Dara refused when she saw Kio still busy pointing out the window, trying to tell what he saw along the way.

“Kio happy? Daddy and mama are also happy,” asked Tomi to his eldest son.

Dara fixed her sitting position. With the age of the womb is quite old, he began to be uncomfortable sitting for long. Sometimes his legs will be swollen, sometimes he quickly felt the urge to urinate suddenly.

“Why dear? His waist pain? Just go to sleep, baby. I'm taking care of Kio.” Tomi said as she stroked his wife's huge belly. Dara nodded in agreement, then laid her head on her husband's shoulders and fell asleep so quickly.

Ting! Ting! The sound of the notification tone from Tomi's phone woke Dara from her sleep. The bus was empty. Uh! At the rest area, he had been asleep for a long time. Dara could see her husband was teaching Kio how to relieve stiff muscles from sitting for hours. But ... What notification is that? Dara could not shake her curiosity, and opened her husband's phone that still uses the same password.

Handi: [come right. I am ready aa. Anyway just come fly. ]

Weird ... There was no other message before that, so it was difficult for Dara to translate the meaning of Tomi's friend named Handi.

“Sayang. This is me buying you a dimsum. At the first meal, dear” Tomi's voice surprised Dara. He quickly pressed the key button on the phone.

“Sorry darling. Earlier I wanted to borrow your HP to chat my mama, but there is a message to open from Handi.” well, at least it should not look suspicious, Dara concluded in his heart.

“Oh Handi's. It's nothin. Just read. The most guyon. Young kid. This is eating first baby, Kio had eaten a lot.” Tomi replied casually, with a smile while giving a box of dimsum to his wife.

They immediately sat down sweet again, and Tomi returned to look after his son because his wife was eating the dimsum he had bought earlier. The van was walking again down the motorway which was quite dense.

“Enak? Really fast eat it. Know as soon as I bought more earlier.” Timpal Tomi when he saw the dimsum box that was almost empty.

“What would be good if you were hungry again, right, Daddy?” dara answered with her candle.

“Alright, bumilku.”

“Kak Dara!” tami shouted as she saw her brother-in-law get off the van that stopped at the pool. He approached his brother-in-law with a half-laughing smile.

“Kio!” he took the boy and laughed with him.

“Kak. Oh my God, is this big like his stomach? Hi grandpa! It's aunty Tami ..” she stroked Dara's bulging belly. Dara gave a warm hug to her sister-in-law.

He took his little sister's family home, in a car he borrowed from his aunt.

“Mah! This is Brother Dara. Here see his belly dong, mah!” shout Tami. Dara immediately approached her in-laws, who as usual was always in her room cooling the body in the air-conditioned room.

“Healthy, mah?” he said, kissing the back of his in-laws hand.

“This is again unhealthy. This AC is not good as it looks, maybe dusty so easy to cough.” complaints in-laws become the opening words of their conversation after that.

“Does anyone clean up, mah?”

“Mana. Tami can't be expected,” said her in-laws with an annoyed tone.

“Ya already later just call the AC handyman only. Let cleaned,”

“Just change it. It's been his AC for a long time, too, Dar. Aa where?” answer in-laws.

Kriet's!

The door opens, and Tomi enters with Kio. Like a courier, he carried so many souvenir parcels.

“Aa. This is your AC replaced, yes. It's been a long time his AC began not good.” woo his mother.

“Breaths yet, mama. Already directly loaded new AC.” protest Tomi while shaking his head.

Dara listened to the conversation of the mother and child. If it is about buying, he does not want to give too much advice.

“Ya. Later aa change AC tomorrow.”

“Well so dong. So the child must be useful.” said his mother in a half-mocking tone.

“Honey, would you like to sleep here or in our apartment? I can take between.” asked Tomi to Dara who looks sleepy.

“In apartment only. Not good later Kio can make a fuss at night if here.”

The apartment is still neat. The last time they visited there, Dara had already filled it with furniture, in order to become a comfortable vacation spot for her small family. Only thin dust could be felt on the floor of his balcony.

“I'll be going to the pool for a minute, on the 2nd floor. I want to meet Handi,” Tomi said as she laid Kio on the bed.

Dara nodded. It was what she always did when her husband told her any plan. Her bitter experience of arguing over such things, made her a dominant wife assenting her husband's will.

“You want to come?” ask Tomi again to his wife who is lying down while playing a game on her smartphone.

“Neg. Kio sleeps again anyway.” replied Dara briefly.

“Ya. I'm down yeah, waitin Handi.” Her husband said goodbye and then went to his place to make a pact with Handi.

Dara stared at the balcony of her apartment, as her mind began to point to and fro. Imagine what her husband was talking about, and what he was doing with his friend. He was still thinking about the short message sent by Handi earlier. Guyon's? Did Guyon get to that detail?

Dara shook her head, trying to shake off her bad prejudices. He did not want that prejudice little by little provoked hormones in his body so that his mood changed and triggered their quarrel.

He stood up, headed for the kitchen and opened the cupboard above his head. He quickly lit a gas stove, boiled water, and cooked a packet of imported instant noodles from Korea. Pensively, he devoured the bowl of hot noodles on the balcony of his apartment.

“Honey! Sweetheart! Where?” tomi's voice sounded from inside the apartment. Dara immediately went in with her noodle bowl. Tomi had only left for 20 minutes, but had returned with a package in her hand.

“It. You like martabak with sticky rice, right? Let's eat yuk, both mumpung Kio sleep. When will there be time for the two to eat martabak. Hehe.” Tomi jokes managed to make his wife smile.

The couple sat on the balcony of the apartment, with a gentle breeze and the sweetness of the glutinous martabak which he said was a gift from Handi.

“So. Who will our child be called?”

“Emm. Who do you think bi?” Dara asked back.

Tomi chews a martabak in her mouth while looking up at the sky, like thinking and expecting ideas from up there.

“Kayla? Hows it? You like?” ask Tomi after swallowing the one in her mouth. Dara smiled. Kayla ..a beautiful name for their baby girl.

“Good. I like.” The answer is short, because there is nothing more to argue about the beautiful name.

“just a second, right? You are patient yes, soon his waist pain is over,” Tomi's attention this time makes Dara blush. She never got such good attention when she was pregnant with Kio.

“Iya. His waist pain was replaced with sleepy eyes staying up,” looks Dara, greeted with laughter from Tomi.

After finishing the box, Tomi takes his wife to bed. Massage on his wife's calf, immediately made the woman sleep soundly. Tomi's not sleeping.

He was busy doing something on the balcony. From the pocket of his jeans he took out a small folded white envelope. The wind on the balcony was strong enough to fly the dried cannabis leaves so he had to bet to turn his back on the wind. Obviously, Dara could have seen clearly from the glass of the balcony door, but the woman was already sleeping soundly, he thought.

“What else are you, bi?” not yet ... the woman is not as careful as she imagined ... Tomi was caught, but did not try to hide the marijuana that was ready to be rolled.

“Astagfirullah, dear.” only that can come out of Dara's mouth see what is in front of her husband. No longer crying, Dara held her chest, holding tightness and her head that instantly rotated.

“Darling, you why?” Tomi immediately stood up to catch his wife who looked staggering. Dara was completely exhausted, and her eyes began to blur.

“Sayang. Build dong.” Tomi patted his wife's cheek softly, her lips looking so pale. He quickly laid Dara down, and took a glass of water and helped Dara sit down for a drink.

Tears finally came out. Dara cried but could not hysterically, holding her voice as hard as possible so as not to wake Kio up.

“Why? Why else is it like this, bi? Less shit what before?” asked Dara with her tears.

Tomi lowered her head, hiding her face from his wife's sad and furious gaze.

“Sorry. But ... is hard, baby. This part is not a danger kok.”

“Not a danger? Make what? For health? Can't this get you to jail? Do you think it was?” Dara did not believe her husband's plea. Tomi can't do much just duck.

“We have been through a difficult time because you have to rehabilitate. Continues to? Why should I go back?” continued.

“Rarely really, baby. Not every day.” still, without guilt, Tomi defends herself.

“Oh! Just when I met Handi? Do you want me to take him to the police? What is he who has no brain? Did he intentionally so you fall into a“

Plaque!

A slap landed on Dara's cheek. Hard enough to leave a red mark, and a numb but painful feeling that slowly feels. Dara's tears can't be contained. She sat in a doldrums, shocked by the slap she had just received from her husband.

“I'm out. This is what I don't want. Let me go first.” without an apology, Tomi left his wife.