Wednesday, January 10, 2007
LIFE - Mind Of A Mankind - Chapter Twenty-Five
HERU AND I
"'Annie kata Papi nya pakai tali-dasi dan bawa tas ke kantor nya. Kerjanya tulis-tulis.' Papi, Heru mau Papi kerja kayak Papi Annie."
"'Annie says that her father wears a neck-tie and carries briefcase to his office. His occupation is to write and write.' Papi, I want you to be like Annie's father."
Heru remarked about his friend's father (1995, Bali)
One day in January 1994, Heru came to meet me and sulkingly he had complained to me that Soni had disallowed him to pedal the tricycle. Most of the time he had to sit behind as a passenger. He disliked being a passenger and he was not happy. He said that Natalia would always tell him to submit to Soni because Soni was supposedly slightly older than him. I listened to him and laughed. I told him that maybe Soni need to pedal more than him because it was a good form of exercise for Soni after the surgery. He listened to my explanation and told me that he would prefer to talk to me. Most of the time I would think about him, for instance, where he was and what he was doing, what the rest are doing and how they were getting on with their life. He loved to spend time with me because I was very accommodating towards him and I did not like to scold him too. He asked me whether I would mind if he came to meet me everyday and I told him that it was alright. I taught him to sing some children songs and he loved to sing.
Heru started to follow me to the our mini-restaurant business together.
Every morning, Heru would shake my nose lightly to wake me up to get ready to go to work. He said that whenever we passed by Natalia's house, they would ask him where he was going and he would reply to them, "I'm going for business!" I laughed when he told me that. So, every morning, after Yani and I had entered the car, I would say like this to Yani, "Are you ready?" Yani would reply, "Yes!" But then I would ask her again and looked at her, "Are you ready? Yani would look at me with her puzzled expression and reply again "Yes!" I would ask this a couple of time until I heard Heru himself replied to me "Yes!" with his smile with the tip of his tongue sticking out from his mouth. He looked cute and happy whenever he did that. Then I would drive off for work. Sometimes, before Yani could even asked me why I had asked her each time whether she was ready, Heru would just come in and take over her body to reply "Yes! Ready!." Yani would never remember what had taken place earlier on after that.
At the mini-restaurant, he would turn up for his meal time too and he would tell me that he had been to the next door shop to make friends with the spirits that were there. I remembered the first time he followed me, he said to me that Natalia and Gordon had warned him to behave. He also told me that Gordon had told him to tell me this, "If Om Bi ask you to do anything for him, tell Om Bi that Heru cannot do anything and Heru do not know anything because Heru is still small." When I heard that I laughed at him and in my mind, I knew what Gordon had meant with that statement. He was afraid that I would use Heru's help to influence the minds of passer-by to patronise my mini-restaurant. I never did that and I never requested Heru or anyone of them to do that for me because I knew it was not ethical and professional. Furthermore, I was taught in my Islamic faith that it was sinful if I had done so. (Just for your information, many Malays, Indonesians, Chinese and others in South-East Asia believed that the spirits could help them in their business.) Everytime, when I returned home, I would stop in front of Natalia's house to drop Heru off. Yani would be like in a dazed after a few seconds, I would lightly shake her hand to awaken her. The strange thing was, everytime when I stopped in front of Natalia's house, the dogs in the nearby houses would bark and howl or the dogs outside the house would crowd around the car to bark and howl at us.
Heru told me that he had started to address Natalia as "Immi", Gordon as "Impi", Margarita as "Tante (Aunt) Rita or Tante 'Gendut' (means Fat Aunt), Mas Anton as "Om Anton", Ricky as "Om Ricky", Kakak's old maid as "Mbah" and Yani as "Tante Yani". He said that each time when he called Margarita "Tante Gendut", she would chase after him but he could outrun her and she would be very angry with him.
Heru informed me that Budi had already begun to attend the SD (Sekolah Dasar or Primary School) within the housing estate. He also told me that Soni and him slept together with Natalia and Gordon. They had a very comfortable bed unlike mine. He always asked me to buy a bed similar to the one at Natalia's house. He said that they had air-conditioning at their house. Each time when "Immi" and "Impi" made loved he felf ashamed. Soni and him would close their eyes with their hands pretending to sleep but at the same time peeping in between their fingers. I laughed together with him when I heard him said that. Heru loved to draw Natalia's and Gordon's stick-like naked bodies with their genitals exposed. I laughed when he explained to me about their genitals.
He said that Margarita, Ricky and Mas Anton always went to nightclubs or discotheques.
He said that Gordon had cut his hair short GI style and he had taken off his earing. When I asked him why, he said that Gordon told him that he was already married and he must be like a good father. He told me that Gordon was very tall and he had a beard before but had shaven it off too because Natalia had wanted him to look more younger.
Heru loved to eat with me and when he happened to eat hot-chillied dishes, he would cry and drink plenty of water or he would eat some sugars to lessen his hot taste buds. He loved me to spoon fed him too because he loved my attention for him but most of the time he would like to use a spoon to feed himself. He would grabbed the handle of the spoon like a child would instead of holding it like adults do. He loved eating potato chips and he disliked to eat mashed potatoes that Gordon had prepared with the mushroom sauce because he said that it look liked shits. He said that each time when he uttered the word 'Shit', Gordon would be angry and chased him but he always manage to escape from Gordon by hiding under the bed at their home. Basically, Heru loved to eat.
He disliked drinking milk and he felt like vomitting when he drank it. He disliked the smell of milk because to him it smell like a smelly feet.
Heru loved to go swimming and usually Budi, Soni and the others would join us. He loved to go to many places together with me and we would be talking while I was driving the car. Each time when we drove passed the Bali Ngurah Rai International airport, when he saw Qantas or Air New Zealand Airlines, he would shout out happily, "Kuantas! That's 'Australi' airline, Mimpi Gordon country airlines or that's Air Nuzelan airline, 'cousin' Henry's country airline." I had taught him to recognise the logos of those airlines. Heru loved aeroplanes very much and he loved to fly on board an aeroplane too.
Heru said that each time Mbah prostrated on the praying mattress during her prayers, he would jump onto her back and she would be angry with him.
Mbah would always carry him home to Natalia's house when he spend the time with me at my house in the evening. Each time when Heru decided to return home, there would be dogs barking and howling, eventhough when I looked outside from the window, there was nobody around to be seen.
One day Heru asked me, "Om Bi, do you know my Papi and Mami?" I did not know how to answer him, so I lied to him and said 'yes' to him. Then he asked, "Are they good or bad?" I was not prepared for this kind of question from him, so I lied to him, "They are good." He queried further, "If they are good, why they left Heru?" I told him, "They never left Heru but they went to Australia for work to earn a lot of money and after they have a lot of money, they will come back to take care of Heru." I asked him why he asked all these questions. He said, "My friends always call me a step child or a bastard child. What is a step child and what is a bastard child means, Om Bi?" I could not answer him and I told him not to listen to his friends' teasing. Then he asked again, "Om Bi, will my Mami and Papi come back for Heru again because if they don't, later when Heru has grown bigger, Heru will look for them in 'Australi'. I lied to him that his parents would return home one day for him and I remained silent because of his questions. Then Heru said, "Om Bi, Heru have no Papi. Can Heru call Om Bi, Papi?" I wanted him to be happy so I let him called me 'Papi'. Then he asked me, "Papi, Heru never 'nen-nen' (breast feeding) before because Heru's Mami never gives Heru to 'nen-nen'. Can Papi gives Heru to 'nen-nen'?" I was so surprised with his requests but I wanted him to be happy and forget about his parents. I agreed to give Heru to 'nen-nen' and he wanted to suckle my nipple but I told him that I felt ticklish, so instead I gave him to suckle one of my ear lobe and he was very pleased with it.
That day was the day I became like a father to Heru and he called me 'Papi' until the day I was deported to Singapore. I let him to suckle my ear lobe everytime when he wanted to go to sleep and he was always with me from that day onward. I also told him to called Yani 'Mami' instead of 'Tante' and he should regard Yani like his own mother too. When Budi and Soni wanted to call me 'Papi' too, he disallowed it but I did not mind if they wanted to call me by that name too. Heru adamantly disallowed it.
Once Heru asked me this, "Papi, why is it Heru is err..err..err..here and Papi over there?" He had difficulty in asking me this question because he did not know how to explain it to me. I understood his questioned. What he meant was why was it that he was in another world, an unseen world whereas I was in another world, the physical world. I answered him, "Well, if God were to make all of us in the same world, the world would be full and congested. That is why God created two worlds for us." He thought about it and then naively laughed at my answer to him and said, "Ya! He..he..he..If God put all of us in the same world, the world would be full and congested..he..he..he" Then he said, "How nice if Heru can be with Papi so that Heru can always be near Papi and Heru don't have to meet Papi through Mami Yani."
"'Annie kata Papi nya pakai tali-dasi dan bawa tas ke kantor nya. Kerjanya tulis-tulis.' Papi, Heru mau Papi kerja kayak Papi Annie."
"'Annie says that her father wears a neck-tie and carries briefcase to his office. His occupation is to write and write.' Papi, I want you to be like Annie's father."
Heru remarked about his friend's father (1995, Bali)
One day in January 1994, Heru came to meet me and sulkingly he had complained to me that Soni had disallowed him to pedal the tricycle. Most of the time he had to sit behind as a passenger. He disliked being a passenger and he was not happy. He said that Natalia would always tell him to submit to Soni because Soni was supposedly slightly older than him. I listened to him and laughed. I told him that maybe Soni need to pedal more than him because it was a good form of exercise for Soni after the surgery. He listened to my explanation and told me that he would prefer to talk to me. Most of the time I would think about him, for instance, where he was and what he was doing, what the rest are doing and how they were getting on with their life. He loved to spend time with me because I was very accommodating towards him and I did not like to scold him too. He asked me whether I would mind if he came to meet me everyday and I told him that it was alright. I taught him to sing some children songs and he loved to sing.
Heru started to follow me to the our mini-restaurant business together.
Every morning, Heru would shake my nose lightly to wake me up to get ready to go to work. He said that whenever we passed by Natalia's house, they would ask him where he was going and he would reply to them, "I'm going for business!" I laughed when he told me that. So, every morning, after Yani and I had entered the car, I would say like this to Yani, "Are you ready?" Yani would reply, "Yes!" But then I would ask her again and looked at her, "Are you ready? Yani would look at me with her puzzled expression and reply again "Yes!" I would ask this a couple of time until I heard Heru himself replied to me "Yes!" with his smile with the tip of his tongue sticking out from his mouth. He looked cute and happy whenever he did that. Then I would drive off for work. Sometimes, before Yani could even asked me why I had asked her each time whether she was ready, Heru would just come in and take over her body to reply "Yes! Ready!." Yani would never remember what had taken place earlier on after that.
At the mini-restaurant, he would turn up for his meal time too and he would tell me that he had been to the next door shop to make friends with the spirits that were there. I remembered the first time he followed me, he said to me that Natalia and Gordon had warned him to behave. He also told me that Gordon had told him to tell me this, "If Om Bi ask you to do anything for him, tell Om Bi that Heru cannot do anything and Heru do not know anything because Heru is still small." When I heard that I laughed at him and in my mind, I knew what Gordon had meant with that statement. He was afraid that I would use Heru's help to influence the minds of passer-by to patronise my mini-restaurant. I never did that and I never requested Heru or anyone of them to do that for me because I knew it was not ethical and professional. Furthermore, I was taught in my Islamic faith that it was sinful if I had done so. (Just for your information, many Malays, Indonesians, Chinese and others in South-East Asia believed that the spirits could help them in their business.) Everytime, when I returned home, I would stop in front of Natalia's house to drop Heru off. Yani would be like in a dazed after a few seconds, I would lightly shake her hand to awaken her. The strange thing was, everytime when I stopped in front of Natalia's house, the dogs in the nearby houses would bark and howl or the dogs outside the house would crowd around the car to bark and howl at us.
Heru told me that he had started to address Natalia as "Immi", Gordon as "Impi", Margarita as "Tante (Aunt) Rita or Tante 'Gendut' (means Fat Aunt), Mas Anton as "Om Anton", Ricky as "Om Ricky", Kakak's old maid as "Mbah" and Yani as "Tante Yani". He said that each time when he called Margarita "Tante Gendut", she would chase after him but he could outrun her and she would be very angry with him.
Heru informed me that Budi had already begun to attend the SD (Sekolah Dasar or Primary School) within the housing estate. He also told me that Soni and him slept together with Natalia and Gordon. They had a very comfortable bed unlike mine. He always asked me to buy a bed similar to the one at Natalia's house. He said that they had air-conditioning at their house. Each time when "Immi" and "Impi" made loved he felf ashamed. Soni and him would close their eyes with their hands pretending to sleep but at the same time peeping in between their fingers. I laughed together with him when I heard him said that. Heru loved to draw Natalia's and Gordon's stick-like naked bodies with their genitals exposed. I laughed when he explained to me about their genitals.
He said that Margarita, Ricky and Mas Anton always went to nightclubs or discotheques.
He said that Gordon had cut his hair short GI style and he had taken off his earing. When I asked him why, he said that Gordon told him that he was already married and he must be like a good father. He told me that Gordon was very tall and he had a beard before but had shaven it off too because Natalia had wanted him to look more younger.
Heru loved to eat with me and when he happened to eat hot-chillied dishes, he would cry and drink plenty of water or he would eat some sugars to lessen his hot taste buds. He loved me to spoon fed him too because he loved my attention for him but most of the time he would like to use a spoon to feed himself. He would grabbed the handle of the spoon like a child would instead of holding it like adults do. He loved eating potato chips and he disliked to eat mashed potatoes that Gordon had prepared with the mushroom sauce because he said that it look liked shits. He said that each time when he uttered the word 'Shit', Gordon would be angry and chased him but he always manage to escape from Gordon by hiding under the bed at their home. Basically, Heru loved to eat.
He disliked drinking milk and he felt like vomitting when he drank it. He disliked the smell of milk because to him it smell like a smelly feet.
Heru loved to go swimming and usually Budi, Soni and the others would join us. He loved to go to many places together with me and we would be talking while I was driving the car. Each time when we drove passed the Bali Ngurah Rai International airport, when he saw Qantas or Air New Zealand Airlines, he would shout out happily, "Kuantas! That's 'Australi' airline, Mimpi Gordon country airlines or that's Air Nuzelan airline, 'cousin' Henry's country airline." I had taught him to recognise the logos of those airlines. Heru loved aeroplanes very much and he loved to fly on board an aeroplane too.
Heru said that each time Mbah prostrated on the praying mattress during her prayers, he would jump onto her back and she would be angry with him.
Mbah would always carry him home to Natalia's house when he spend the time with me at my house in the evening. Each time when Heru decided to return home, there would be dogs barking and howling, eventhough when I looked outside from the window, there was nobody around to be seen.
One day Heru asked me, "Om Bi, do you know my Papi and Mami?" I did not know how to answer him, so I lied to him and said 'yes' to him. Then he asked, "Are they good or bad?" I was not prepared for this kind of question from him, so I lied to him, "They are good." He queried further, "If they are good, why they left Heru?" I told him, "They never left Heru but they went to Australia for work to earn a lot of money and after they have a lot of money, they will come back to take care of Heru." I asked him why he asked all these questions. He said, "My friends always call me a step child or a bastard child. What is a step child and what is a bastard child means, Om Bi?" I could not answer him and I told him not to listen to his friends' teasing. Then he asked again, "Om Bi, will my Mami and Papi come back for Heru again because if they don't, later when Heru has grown bigger, Heru will look for them in 'Australi'. I lied to him that his parents would return home one day for him and I remained silent because of his questions. Then Heru said, "Om Bi, Heru have no Papi. Can Heru call Om Bi, Papi?" I wanted him to be happy so I let him called me 'Papi'. Then he asked me, "Papi, Heru never 'nen-nen' (breast feeding) before because Heru's Mami never gives Heru to 'nen-nen'. Can Papi gives Heru to 'nen-nen'?" I was so surprised with his requests but I wanted him to be happy and forget about his parents. I agreed to give Heru to 'nen-nen' and he wanted to suckle my nipple but I told him that I felt ticklish, so instead I gave him to suckle one of my ear lobe and he was very pleased with it.
That day was the day I became like a father to Heru and he called me 'Papi' until the day I was deported to Singapore. I let him to suckle my ear lobe everytime when he wanted to go to sleep and he was always with me from that day onward. I also told him to called Yani 'Mami' instead of 'Tante' and he should regard Yani like his own mother too. When Budi and Soni wanted to call me 'Papi' too, he disallowed it but I did not mind if they wanted to call me by that name too. Heru adamantly disallowed it.
Once Heru asked me this, "Papi, why is it Heru is err..err..err..here and Papi over there?" He had difficulty in asking me this question because he did not know how to explain it to me. I understood his questioned. What he meant was why was it that he was in another world, an unseen world whereas I was in another world, the physical world. I answered him, "Well, if God were to make all of us in the same world, the world would be full and congested. That is why God created two worlds for us." He thought about it and then naively laughed at my answer to him and said, "Ya! He..he..he..If God put all of us in the same world, the world would be full and congested..he..he..he" Then he said, "How nice if Heru can be with Papi so that Heru can always be near Papi and Heru don't have to meet Papi through Mami Yani."
# posted by Zulkifli @ 11:18 PM 
