Dul
025. The Mbah Lanang

That afternoon Dul remembered it as a somber afternoon for all who came to his abbey house. The understanding of the departure of someone leaving this world again filled Dul's mind.

Mbah Lanang had slept too long. And Mbah Wedok felt compelled to wake her husband up. Dul just came in from the front door. He had just come home from watching his friend play marbles guessing.

“Pak .. afternoon wis. Tangi ndang? Durung dahar cloud, kok, wis sare. Tangi, Sir ..” (Reg ... It's afternoon. Wakes up. No lunch yet, no sleep. Wake up, Mr. ..)

Somehow Dul was pecking at the doorway seeing Mbah Wedok sitting shaking Mbah Lanang's unmoved shoulders. One more shake, then one more shake. Mbah Wedok rubbed Mbah Lanang's face and lowered his head. His shoulders shook and Mbah Wedok started crying. Until there, Dul did not understand what the cry of Mbah Wedok.

“Oalah, sir .. kok, until lungo left me shik? Kudune kawke dewe iki pethuk karo Sik. Sampeyan tego left to me dewekan ngadepi kabeh iki." (Oah, Sir ... How did you leave me first? We should have met Dijah first. You have so much to leave me alone ngadepin all this.)

“Dul ... Dul .. call a neighbor, Dul. Mbah Lanang is gone, Dul. Mbah Lanang did not wake up again. Call the next-door neighbor to see Mbah Lanang's hape to inform Pakdhe and your mother. Mbah can not use hapenya, Dul .. Mbah can not. Mbah Lanang had to live Mbah himself. I should have, sir. I should have been first.”

What Dul understood at that time was only a line of sentences, ‘Mbah Lanang did not wake up again’. Dul darted out again and turned to the neighbor on his left who often talked to Mbah Wedok at the back door.

“Bulik .. Bulik is called Mbah Wedok. Ask for help to see Mbah Lanang's hape for ngabarin Pakdhe and Mother. Mbah Wedok said, Mbah Lanang did not wake up again.”

A few seconds digesting her words, the young woman he called Bulik ran into the house and said something to her husband. "No idea, sir. Maybe a heart attack. Wong had just returned home this morning," said the woman, then came out in a hurry to the house where the sound of Mbah Wedok's crying was heard until he came out.

“Sini, Dul …. The Mbah Lanang. Tomorrow Mbah Lanang can not nganterin you school. Mbah Lanang died, Dul. Will not return again. Mbah already alone now,” lament Mbah Wedok.

Of course Dul was sad to hear the gaze of Mbah Wedok who looked down near the head of her husband. But at that time he could not manifest the sadness in the form of tears. His body just sat stiffly next to Mbah Wedok.

Even when the neighbors had arrived and one of them said he had informed several phone numbers on Mbah Lanang's phone, Dul was still sitting quietly.

An hour after his first cry, Mbah Wedok leaned against the wall. Her crying completely stopped and her face did not show any expression. Two pakdhe who lived on the border of the city had already come and sat down near Mbah Wedok.

“Mother said same Colored to come home here. She can occupy this house with Mom. He can take care of his son too,” said the oldest Pakdhe. Mbah Wedok once said that Pakdhe who spoke was his eldest son.

No one thought the presence of a nearly six-year-old boy was so important. Dul sat quietly hearing all the things that Mbah Wedok said. Not understanding the meaning thoroughly, but understanding the core of the conversation.

Pakdhe Supri, the eldest son just silently did not understand the words of his mother. The mourners of that day remembered Dul not so much. Only a few neighbors and relatives lived in some areas around his house.

The small living room was crowded with few relatives and gradually deserted as some people chose to sit outside. Then, the unexpected thing Dul before happened.

Since then, the thought of the arrival of his mother was preoccupied with the chat Mbah Wedok with Pakdhe Supri who was mentioning his mother's name. However, the sudden presence of the figure of the woman he longed for in the doorway immediately broke his mind.

His mother appeared with Bara. The man held both of his mother's shoulders across the front door goal and past several mourners. His mother sat right next to him. Bara took his place behind his mother. Keep both knees and body straight. From that position, Bara could see the face of Mbah Lanang with a cloth that was being opened by his mother.

Dul glaring Bara's. They exchanged glances, then the man rubbed his head. The man's left hand was on his mother's shoulder, with his right hand still rubbing her head occasionally, then resting on her shoulder again. He was very happy and wanted to hug his mother. Wanted to shed his longing, but it seemed like he still had to be patient. His mother sat holding his hand. His gaze was blankly staring at Mbah Lanang whose face already looked extremely pale. That afternoon, rather than implying sadness, his mother was more visibly disappointed.

The sky was already dark, the neighbors were seen gathering in front of the house. Someone said that Mbah Lanang would be buried. Another said that the burial ground had been excavated and was waiting for the body.

From that two-piece sentence, Dul concluded that Mbah Lanang would soon be put to the ground. Leaving the world and all his affairs with Mbah Wedok, his mother, also a stall where Mbah Lanang spent a lot of time.

When the motorcade of neighbors and their pakdhenya went to deliver Mbah Lanang, Dul also saw Bara's back walking next to Pakdhe Supri.

Dul sat in his dreamy mother's arms. The woman who gave birth to him said nothing. However, his hands incessantly rubbed his head and hugged his thin shoulders. Now, his mother's face looked confused. Mbah Wedok and his mother sat close together without saying anything.

A few people left for the funeral. The two men went back into the house and sat down against the wall.

“Jah, eat first,” said Bara suddenly. When Bara suddenly appeared in the living room with a man carrying a lot of boxed rice into the middle of the room. No one cares that the house doesn't have anything to eat that night. However, Bara came with his initiative. The man gave the first box of rice to Mother and Mbah Wedok.

To Be Continued