"HAIIIIIII" Lila appeared from behind the door welcoming me cheerfully. Stunned to see the figure in front of me, I immediately pushed my cheeks to her right and left cheeks to neutralize my surprise.
"When did you come?" she continued in a light voice. Her smile widened revealing several of his left and right teeth while none of his front teeth were left, toothless. Her hair was almost all white, and her body was thinner than I had seen last time a few years ago, but overall she looked healthy.
"Yesterday" I went in following her inside. A mountain of clothes in plastic bags, bed covers, curtains, and dolls filled almost the entire room. The room was like a warehouse with only a little left for the chairs we sat on.
"So now doing the laundry business?" I asked a moment later.
"Yes, thank God it's getting busy, especially before Eid." Lila picked up the dirty plates and cups on the table and brought them in.
Not much has changed in this house, the photo of a large family has faded in color, the color of the wall paint is difficult to explain, the dusty shoe rack is no longer colored, and the guest chairs have peeled off the surface here and there showing the original color.
"They are dropping off this dirty laundry?" I asked as to seeing Lila appear in the room.
"No. I picked it up. Many have opened similar businesses like this, the competition is getting tougher. So, I consider this as part of our service too." She said as she removed the dirty clothes from the long chair, picked up the ones that were scattered on the floor, and collected them in another corner of the chair, then she took a seat at the other end of the chair, in front of me.
"Aren't you afraid of being misplaced?" I asked spontaneously to see the other clothes that were still scattered here and there.
"This one has a new customer who wants to be washed, each one puts it in their basket... Maybe because we've washed it so often that we've memorized it," she said, still smiling without feeling guilty. Maybe there's nothing wrong. O… they were mostly her loyal customers so she recognized which clothes belonged to.
"So how long has this been going?"
"About two years."
"Then what do you use for the shuttle? How far the customer is. How do you carry this much laundry?" asked me eagerly like a reporter who can't wait to gather news.
"Use a motorbike. See," she said pointing to the motorbike in the window behind me. "Put it in the sack, tie it on the left and right, it's a bit difficult at the first time, you have to keep your balance, but because I'm used to it, it just goes smoothly. My customer is at most about 10 kilos away," she said lightly. "Usually I set the time, I wash in the morning starting at 4 am. Then, I will take the children to school while picking up dirty laundry. In the afternoon after two o'clock ironing until night. If you don't set the time, it won't be done. Troubled." she said as if she knew my next question.
"You do it all yourselves? You use a washing machine, don't you?" I asked half reassuringly. I didn't expect a woman that thin to have such extraordinary strength.
Even just by looking at it, the piles of laundry already made me lose my strength. It's not just energy, my feelings too. Even if there is an addition it may be tears.
"It was manual washing."
I am shocked!
"Then coincidentally our neighbor who wanted to move didn't want to carry anything heavy, because he knew I was in the laundry business, he offered it to me, if I wanted, just pay three hundred thousand and you can pay in installments. Yet, I had no money at all. I happened to have a friend who worked in an office, he borrow money from the office cooperative when he didn't need anything. So long story short, I borrowed it from the cooperative using his name. Three hundred thousand in ten installments, so every month thirty thousand is not too heavy for me." Explain Lila in detail. Maybe because she understands I'm a detailed person. Before asking she tells the story first. "Thank God, there's a way."
"O... that's right," I said nodding.
"At first I was thinking about hiring people. But this electricity still uses 450 power. So you have to exchange, washes and ironing can't be done at the same time. But then what are their tasks, everything has to use electricity."
"So how much do you pay for electricity a month?"
"Approximately ninety thousand."
"Then how much is the average income from laundry every month?" Just like an economic census officer. But I want to know, not for a survey, just want to know.
The woman was silent for a moment, then "Yes... one and a half are there."
"One and a half million rupiah?" I asked again. "Seriously? With this much work? How do you calculate it?" I was in shock for the umpteenth time. That's the same as the price for a set of cosmetics that I usually buy when there's a promo. I sighed.
"This shirt, pants, per kilo, three thousand five hundred. For a small bed cover set - twenty thousand, for a medium - two and five, for a large one, thirty thousand. Then if the curtains are counted per meter…"
"Is it calculated using a meter like that?" Cut me.
"Yah... I bought a gauge. It is two thousand five hundred rupiahs per meter." She answered straightforwardly. "The income will still be cut to pay for electricity, buy soap, fragrance, plastic... this plastic is quite expensive, especially for a large one like this..." Her hand took the plastic used to wrap the bed cover and smoothed it over her lap with her fingers.
Her voice is still cheerful and excited, I just nod, while still thinking about what items at home I can sell to help this one friend. It seems that there is no more enthusiasm to tell him about 21st-century business.
***
I got to know Lila when I just started working at the DOER Company office in Jakarta. Lila had worked there before. The world is indeed small, it turns out that Lila and I are from the same city and even next to the village.
Immediately we got to know each other. Even when we got married, we promised to conduct it on the same day, Lila morning until noon. I am, from noon to infinity. Lila got married in a five-star hotel in my city, while my wedding reception was in the yard through a narrow alley not too far from the five-star hotel. Almost all of our office friends from Jakarta attended our invitation.
Lila was lucky. From her introduction due to the wrong phone call, she was finally married to a man who turned out to be a 'Prince' from Brunei Darussalam. Then live in an elite area in the South of Jakarta. She quit work and became a socialite member. Life changed when she was pregnant with her second child, her husband was involved in criminal law, soon suffered from a mysterious illness, and eventually passed away, leaving a two-year-old child and a prospective child still in the womb and a huge debt legacy. Life changed drastically.
It's been more than ten years since I met her again. Still alone raising her son and daughter, struggling on the straight path without expecting mercy from her friends. Her situation had changed as much as her appearance. But the harshness of life could not turn her into a weak and whiny figure. No sense of inferiority, complaint, or regret left his mouth. Her soul is still the same as the Lila I knew before marriage, still cheerful, passionate, and positive, and even when life throws her at her lowest point, she hasn't changed. At least that's how I feel when I'm with her.
I saw a figure in front of me, no longer a young woman who looked old because almost all of her hair had turned white, most of her teeth were missing, thin with protruding veins in her hands and fingers, deep down into her soul, I saw a figure of extraordinary beauty...
HEAVEN'S ANGEL
***