I can't describe how I feel right now. Thunder seemed to strike and almost killed me on the spot. No wonder Mrs. Rondo said that I should have known when she was about to tell her story at that time. Apparently all of this had something to do with me. Who else has the name Oska in our village besides my Dad?
The book also explains that the mother and father of the bride and groom are former lovers. Did she mean Mrs. Runi and Mr. Johan? If this were true, I would be the first human to sue Mother for her non-disclosure to me.
I closed the book again and put it under the pillow. The mood to continue reading instantly vanished. I want to sleep and wake up early. There is no other way but to ask Mother.
***
"Nara, why are you awake?" asked Senyo when he saw me cooking in the kitchen at four in the morning.
"I'm going to my mother's house this morning, sir,"
"What do you want?"
"Nothing. Just visiting," I replied, continuing to fiddle with the fish in the cauldron.
Senyo often wakes up earlier than me. He spends his time walking around the complex while waiting for work hours to almost arrive. So, naturally he was surprised to find me struggling with the kitchen at an unusual hour.
Senyo just froze. His eyes glanced at me from the side. Didn't know what he was thinking. To be honest, I'm still upset about what happened yesterday when I plunged into the pool, but never mind. There's no point in staying with Senyo either. Still, he didn't care. Besides, I have to be self-aware. Senyo has taken care of all my physical needs while here.
"Good morning, dear," said Clarin to Senyo, who was already waiting at the dining table.
Breakfast has been served since ten minutes ago. I took a position in the kitchen to eat. I never joined them there.
I rushed out of the house after filling my stomach. However, I felt someone following me. When I turned around, Senyo's face was behind me.
"You want to go already?" he asked.
"Yes sir. Excuse me," I replied, lowering my head.
Senyo watched my departure from the doorway. Uh, that's weird. Usually he never cared where his first wife went. Senyo was like a child hoping his mother would take him to the market.
It took 1.5 hours to get to Mother's house. I looked up at the towering buildings outside. While crossing the Mr. Johan's super market, I suddenly remembered what happened a few months ago. An event that brought me to a scary world like this.
Strangely, my husband was always kind and polite to Mother. In fact, he is the one who often sends money to my mother for daily needs and pays for the household assistant. Actually, Senyo also forbade Mother to sell cilok again. However, Mother is not the type of person who can sit still without doing the slightest activity. And, be the mother to open a small shop in front of the house. The entire capital was obtained from Senyo.
In addition, Senyo also often visited Mother. Sometimes after work or weekends he takes the time to go there. Senyo never invited me. He always goes alone. To this day I still wonder why he cares so much about Mother.
I arrived at Mother's house exactly at ten in the morning. I saw she was sitting in the shop waiting for buyers to come. Usually the shop will be crowded in the middle of the day.
"Mother!" I waved from a distance.
"Nara, you came, son?" She immediately spread her arms, then hugged me tightly.
"Are you busy today?"
"As you can see. I didn't do anything."
I don't want to shock Mother by telling her about Mrs. Rondo's diary. So, I asked Mom to talk about a lot of things first. After it was enough, then I started to talk.
"Mother, I have something to show you."
"What, son?"
"I'll tell you something first," I replied and Mom just nodded.
"You must know that Mrs. Rondo has been missing for the past few months from this village? Just so you know, Mrs. Rondo opened a cooking course not far from Senyo's house. I also learned to cook with her."
"Wow! Why didn't you ever tell Mother?" Instantly, Mother's body straightened.
"And, yesterday was the last day we met because Mrs. Rondo will go out of town with her child," I said without answering my mother's question.
"Before leaving, Mrs. Rondo ordered me to be the last person to leave the cooking course building. I obeyed her. When I was about to go home, I found this book. I just understood why Mrs. Rondo told me to come home later after seeing the contents." I handed the little blue thing to Mother and immediately turned to page 100 for her.
I let Mother read one by one the rows of letters written there. I saw the look on my mother's face became tense. Her face was as red as a boiled tomato.
"You read it all the way through?" Mother asked, then set the book down on the table.
"Yes, Mom. I came here to question the contents of the book. Is there another figure named Oska in our village?" I'm anxiously waiting for Mom's answer.
"There is no. Only your father."
Degh!
"So what Mrs. Rondo meant was Father?" I opened my ears wide, I didn't hear wrong.
"Yes. It was your father who hit Mrs. Rondo's husband to death. From then on, the name Permata Sari changed to Rondo, which means a widow,"
I really didn't think that what Mrs. Rondo meant when she told the origin of the name Rondo was my own father.
"At that time, Mrs. Rondo's husband came home drunk. When your father was crossing the street, suddenly Mrs. Rondo's husband crashed himself into my father's motorbike. Sadly, the woman does not accept that her husband is blamed. She thinks it's your father who intentionally harmed him to death on the spot."
"Then what is the meaning of the toddler that you took care of before? Mother didn't tell me."
Mother took a deep breath and was silent for a few seconds.
"Nara, maybe it's time you knew." Mother touched the back of my hand. "The child that my mother was taking care is Senyo,"
Dezing!!!
My chest was like being slashed by a sharp sword.
"Mother, why are you telling it now when you know that I have been Senyo's wife all along. And, is that why Senyo loves Mother so much?" I rubbed a rough face. So, I lived under the same roof with Senyo long before becoming his wife. Oh Lord.
"It's not time for Mother to tell him at that time,"
"You would never have told me if I didn't come and bring this book,"
"Are you mad at me?"
"Oh, um. No, Mom. I'm just shock."
My chest was so tight hearing all of Mother's confession. More and more questions are running through my head.
"Mother, can you explain what Mrs. Rondo wrote on line 16?" I pointed to a sentence that talks about a couple who failed to get married.
Mother froze on the spot again. I saw her expression was so sad and resigned. Mother must be shocked by this incident.
"I and Mr. Johan are a couple who failed to marry,"
"WHAT? So, Mom is my father's ex?"
Suddenly a deep voice interrupted out of nowhere. Mom and I both looked at each other. How surprised we were to see Senyo present with a tense expression. Why did he get here? Did Senyo also hear our conversation?
***
Continued