Emma taught so many things when I started living independently, from cooking, managing my money, even the simple things like how to keep food stuffs correctly. She also taught me to plant in a small area in my yard to be a vegetable garden so that I could get fresh vegetables any time. She was my best friend who knew every single thing in my life.
"Someone may look perfect from the outside can only be debris in the inside," She criticized me. I just felt annoyed most of the time because I could not deny it. When I was alone in the shop, I would only look at one object and think about what I had been through so far, and that would bring my tears down out of my consciousness. Emma often saw me in that state.
"If you cry too much and too often, I will cut down your salary to buy the tissue for you," I knew her words were too mean but it was meant for my goodness. She did not want to me too much down in the problems I had dealt with for years. She wanted me to move on.
The woman who kept a unique dream kept saying to me, "Tha, I never want to have another me or another Tsabitha as long I exist," Emma loved her daughter very much. Although her relationship with her husband did not work so much well, she wanted to survive for her sake. She did not want to see her daughter lived like her, and I knew it very well how she struggled so much for that.
Present Time
I just arrived home when suddenly my phone rang. It was a call from my mother. Mother, how are you doing?" I gave her a lip service basa basi.
"Ehmm," a pause from her. After she cleared her throat, she asked me questions instead of replying me, "You just met your father?" honestly I disliked her tone.
"Yes," I said shortly.
"Why did you meet him?" She sounded panic.
"To greet him and to hope for a hand as a matter of fact, but it seemed it went worse. The abandoned prince still does not know his position. How long again does he have to wait? Does he still refuse to open his eyes and to really see himself who he really is?" I replied mockingly. I was at the limits of my patience.
"Tha, is this what you learned from school? Is the knowledge you gained fail to teach you politeness and good attitude to your parents? Then you should quit if the results are like this. It really is a waste if only your brain is fed with knowledge but your heart is not."
"Mom, a tiger will only show off his teeth to his enemies. If a father drew his sword to his own daughter, why could I not draw my pistol to him?" I was trying to keep my temper level so that I would not be triggered to get angry to my mother. "Mom, i am not a 14 year kid who would be quiet when someone I liked was killed by a friend of her own father as an experiment. I am twenty seven years old now. As long as I can defend what is mine, I will fight to the last drop although my life is at stake." I was definite. I did not know where the courage came from so that I could talk like that to my own mother.
"Tha, mind your words! I never taught that to you!" my mother scolded me angrily.
"As a matter of fact you never taught me anything. You left me in the hospital for two years with Nana," I opened the old pages of painful facts to her. "When I needed you badly, were you by my side? Even when I cut my vein hoping I could end my own life due to frustrated, did you care for me? On the contrary you threw me to that place. While for my brother, you threw him to a dorm. All was for father, to support his expenses." It was very stifling but I got a sense of satisfaction when I could tell my mother what had been my heart burden so far.
"Is this what you got from getting along with that girl called Emma?" I still could hear a high emotion from her words, "You are like demon!"
'Demon?,' I chuckled sadly to hear that word. "Mother, I took after the demon soul from father and I learned to be the demon from you," I wanted to end that quarrel. I hang up the phone, turned it off and picked out the card out of it so that she could not contact me again.
I was really sick of it! My life was so sick! Everything made my head heavy and spinned. I lay down in bed to rest my head.
Aku tidak ingat sudah berapa lama meninggalkan tempat ini. Semua ruanganku terasa sangat dingin. Debu halus memenuhi lantai, membuatku meninggalkan jejak kaki setiap kali melangkah.
The clock clicked so slowly, my eyes were getting tired. I prayed before I closed my eyes that I could forget all what happened to me and my mother. I disliked to quarrel with her, she was my mother no matter what, and so as my father. He was my father. Nothing I could do about it.
…
That afternoon someone rang my door bell so many times. With half sleepy eyes, I got up and opened the door.
Emma stood there with hands on her hips, her expression was irritating and annoying. "I have been trying to contact you but I just can't. Where is your cell phone?" Her voice was ear-deafening, it possibly penetrated into the Mars.
"My cell phone broke down, I will buy a new one tomorrow," I was trying to be as calm as possible. "It looked like in serious problem, so I get rid of it," I made a lie this time.
Emma stared at me in suspicious. It was not an easy thing to lie to her. I slipped off most of the time. But she seemed to buy my words this time.
"Tha," suddenly her expression changed. "My mother is hospitalized. I sent her this morning.
I could not say any words. Her mother had been sick for quite long time, but it was just different this time. It was worst.
"Be patient, I know you are strong. We will go to the hospital together.' Emma and her mother lived in different house for five years now. She had to run the branch of the florist which was located pretty far from her mother's house so that Emma needed to rent a house that was nearer to the florist. I tried to comfort her even though I knew she was not a woman who would get sad easily nor gave up, especially in that situation.
On the way to the hospital, I checked my cell phone secretly. A message went in, from my mother. She wanted me to come to a family meeting that would be conducted next week.
So long as I lived, it was the second meeting for me. Never had such a meeting been held in short notice, 'There seem to be a problem,' my heart guessed.