Jonathan G T Tan, Short Story, The Jakarta Post

Home Sweet Home

0
(0)

What she had on was no match for the artificial cold as she searched the luggage for her cardigan. Cobbled inside were a few pieces of summer clothes. She did not think that she would stick around long enough. Besides her large bag of cosmetics and toiletries, she had brought along a half-read novel, a story set in Berlin. She had left it unfinished intentionally, not wanting to break the bond with her Berliner life.

After putting on her cardigan, Edemi sat herself down beside her luggage. The hard plastic of the seats was no more welcoming than that found elsewhere. It was not meant for one to linger longer than needed, much like Tegel Airport in Berlin where she first boarded.

Read also: Painting Mania – Short Story by Theodora Sarah Abigail (The Jakarta Post, August 13, 2018)

Built as a hexagonal complex to move passengers in quick time, all it took were a few brisk steps from the taxi stand to the ticketing counter, right past the security counters into the departure gate and out onto the aerobridge in a zip.

Mbak, is there anything I can help you with?” A voice, politely helpful, broke her thoughts. Edemi looked up to see a lady in a smart suit, her name — Fatin, Airport Concierge — proudly emblazoned on her jacket.

“No, no,” Edemi replied hastily. “Saya baik-baik saja [I’m good]. Thanks for asking.”

“My pleasure,” she replied helpfully, a brilliant smile bracketed her face.

As she watched the lady walk away, Edemi could feel her heart racing hard. A wallop more to her chest would have rent her heart asunder on the spot. Too much sun, too much risk, she muttered.

Baca juga  Happy Holidays

Too willful maybe.

While wanting to stay defiant, Edemi regretted at the same time she had brought the pot (marijuana) stash along. The idea, conceivably irresistible before, now sat hollow in her heart. But how could she have resisted it? A puff was all it would take to suspend her somewhere, make the homecoming easier and the stay more pleasant.

Read also: A Family Portrait – Short Story by Rachel Diercie (The Jakarta Post, July 30, 2018)

She worked her memory for the penalty — How many grams for conviction? Do they still shoot people for drugs?

Perhaps it was all meant to be. The inconsolable unconscious part of her wanted to be caught and deported. This way, she did not have to go home and see her dad, in a state she imagined was no less broken than her granddad was a week after she came home from a holiday trip. Her granddad used to be a jockey before venturing into the family business. Edemi was taken on horse rides in the leafy enclave of Tangerang when she was a child. In a way, it was the experience of horse-riding at the spine of Tangerang, an area increasingly assaulted by urbanization that made Edemi wish to live somewhere else, out in the countryside where she could canter on the horse, not just watch a steeplechase on the turf club.

Loading

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Leave a Reply

error: Content is protected !!