Dul
021. Bereft

When breaking into the house, Dul saw Mbah Wedok coming out of the room in a row. The woman's face paled and screeched.

“Bara again! Call him again using your mouth!”

Dul realized that night was very chaotic. His mouth is still throbbing. The cries of Mbah Lanang rebuking his father sounded very loud. He was sure that all the neighbors would hear him. Mbah Wedok who was still very pale staggered walked over to him. Mbah wedok— who is actually afraid of blood—dare to release the hand that had smothered his mouth since.

“You want to be a wise parent, huh? Too late! You guys have eaten a lot of my money.”

His father kept shouting. Sometimes Dul hears what his father says. However, sometimes the man's words are unclear because he is also busy shouting his mother's name. Dul dunked his face behind a pillow. He kept shouting, crying roaring, asking Mbah Lanang to call his mother.

“I want Mom ... Phone Mom!” Dul continued to roar. Then, thinking of something, he opened his pillow to turn to Mbah lanang who stood his back to the living room. For a moment his mother flinching. And he realized that his father was invisible at the door.

Father does not exist. But is it safe for you to come here now? If you get beaten up again, it must be my fault for being too whiny.

Dul is now really sitting up straight. It turns out that his father was no longer there. Mbah Lanang turned around and grabbed his phone next to the television.

“You came here the Dul hit his father. Mouth's bleeding. He cried asking you to come.” Mbah Lanang then put down the phone and sat under the door to the kitchen.

He no longer roared. But her tears are still plenty. Pouring so hard because of the pain he felt in a different place. Not his mouth, but his heart. Now his heart hurts more than the wound in his mouth caused by a man named Father.

Some time ago, he had felt like a child who was loved, appreciated and expected social existence. He only knew the love of his mother. A swab on the head, a pinch on the cheek, a pinch on the chin, a gentle massage on the shoulder or a warm hug on his thin body. It was all he felt from his mother.

However, after Bara entered into the life of he and his mother, the man added something similar to him. Exactly alike. Even the way Bara held her whenever they were just the two of them, was very similar to what her mother did.

At that age he can already judge how great sincerity Bara. The man never over-treated when in front of his mother. In fact, for him Bara was very sweet when his mother was not near them.

Mbah Wedok comes from behind thrusting the singlet while the baby is wetted with water.

“Close this so that the pain is less,” pinta Mbah Wedok.

Without answering, Dul took the singlet and used it to keep his mouth shut. Singlet who was given cold water it was soothing. The throbbing feeling on his lips gradually diminished.

He was enjoying his cool lips for a while, when his mother appeared in the front doorway.

“Why Dul sampe kayak gini? Why?”

Her new mother threw the bag and cupped both sides of her face to check for wounds. His mother's scream was almost as loud as his father's scream. Many times his mother shrank her eyes and felt his face.

People who should be respected for their age and family relationship status make it easier to hurt them. As if, because he 'just’ a helpless child, the person called ‘Bapak’ felt he had the right to hit him.

Surprisingly that night Mbah Lanang looked a little defensive of him and his mother. And Dul increasingly does not understand, actually on whose side Mbah Lanang.

“I was wrong! Me! I threw the man away so he wouldn't be near me anymore. You think because I'm scared of Fredy? Da? No, Sir. I am ashamed of my own situation. My status, my family's condition …. I'm resigned if it is to die I gini-gini aja. But …. Mbok, yes, not my son!”

“Stop gambling! Don't take anything else from him. You think I've been refusing her money because what? I don't want us to be his slaves anymore. You said I was almost dead, almost crazy because of him. But you don't want me to get away from him. Then where should I live? Yes, Gusti ...”

Dul roared again.His mother cried while beating her own chest, beat her head repeatedly and smashed her fist into the wall.

“Mother ... don't ..”

That night, he had no power to prevent his mother from leaving. He heard Mbah Lanang read a series of addresses where his father was. Hearing that, Dul did not dare.

His mother said she would pay her father a debt. Whose debt is it if not Mbah Lanang's gambling debt at the stall? Mbah Lanang has used too much of his father's money.

As his mother stood up, Dul caught his leg. Hugging him very tightly in the hope of his mother undo the intention of meeting his father. That night his mother should not have left. It's been quite a night and his mother's condition has collapsed. There was clearly fatigue on her mother's face that had not let her body rest that day. And most likely, he and his mother are the same. We haven't had dinner yet.

"Mother ...." That's all Dul can say. However, the woman who gave birth to him did not answer in the least. Not even looking at his face.

Dul hardened his cry. Hoping that his wailing would prevent his mother's feet from stepping out the door. That night was the last night Dul could see his mother.

And that night, he heard no more news. His mother didn't go back there. Mbah Lanang and Mbah Wedok said nothing. Dul assumes that his mother returned to the boarding house.

Mom will come tomorrow. I'm gonna ask you about my wound. Or maybe you go for Om Bara's help?

In fact, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the next week, his mother did not appear. Dul did not know what the cause was until one day the conversation between Mbah Lanang and Mbah wedok opened his mind a little.

"Rpa ... Sir. That's your youngest son, sir. What are you doing or what? Said he was treated again. You must've heard it but you're on it."

Again Mbah Lanang was silent. From the way he gulped and a little bit of his brows furrowed, Dul tried to understand what the old man was trying to convey.

"I'm also dizzy. That's Fredy's older brother who's been feeding me twice to the stall. I don't know what happened to Fredy. I want it but I don't know where to ask."

To Be Continued