TWENTY FIVE

Crying is indeed a way when everything feels difficult to do. By crying too, people will feel better in their hearts.

  Do not hold back a cry, because crying is actually a prayer when we are unable to speak.

  Riri adjusted her muken when she had finished praying and praying. She came out of the small musolla and headed for her room.

  Now she was in her room. Her hands had finished combing her hair. She looked at her face which looked sad but her skin was still yellow and beautiful.

  Father opened the curtain of Riri's room and entered to meet his daughter. Now he painted a warm smile to his big daughter. Riri also returned her father's smile. Then she looked down because she wanted to hide her puffy eyes.

  "Ri, you have to be patient with Kartika. She is like that. You should be the one buying food for Kartika. You're tired after work," said the father who felt sorry for Riri.

  "So that was the money to buy fried rice. Kartika's money, right?" asked the father feeling something strange about his son's face.

  "Riri was told to go into debt first, sir, with Mbak Kartika. Later, when Riri has the money. Riri will pay the debt," Riri answered honestly. Actually, she didn't mind this problem.

  "Debt? My God, what is Kartika doing! She has her own money to buy it," complained the father with a grim face.

  "It's okay! Sir, Riri is sincere."

  "Yasudah, you just have to be patient, Ri. It's more than ten o'clock, you sleep well, right?" said the father with a calm face. Then left Riri's room.

  The girl with a face similar to Yuki Kato lay down from her bed. She stared at the roof of the room that felt empty. Her eyes looked around the wall. There was no decoration whatsoever. Only white sheets covered the walls. She felt like decorating her room. That way maybe she would feel comfortable sleeping in her room.

  "I miss my old room," she said to herself. Now her body was facing left and curled up. Her eyes caught her hello kitty watch. The watch was no longer working. But she missed the man who had found the watch in the ruins of her house.

  Akbar.

  The tall man with sweet black skin was missed by Riri. For some reason Riri's eyes really wanted to see how Akbar was doing now.

  Riri really couldn't sleep. She got up from her bed and went to her backpack in the corner. Her hand reached for a pen and paper. She wrote on the dressing table.

  (I hate the dark. I hate being alone. I hate missing being alone in the dark.)

  Then Riri put the paper and pen in the drawer of the dressing table. Then she closed her eyes as much as possible and lay down. Longing is indeed no cure other than meeting and knowing that the person we miss also misses us.

  Riri really missed her mother and Akbar, the male friend who appeared in her heart when the disaster struck.

  That night Riri slept soundly. Because her body was very tired. Her first day of work was very draining. Meanwhile, it was drizzling gently outside. The night felt darker and quieter.

Although the night was getting late, it did not dissolve what Riri missed. In the end, she dreamed in her old house. The atmosphere was very warm. Mr. and Riri sat at the dining table to wait for the breakfast menu from the heart-comforting woman.

  ***

  "Ri, wake up already at dawn!" father knocked the door of his daughter's room several times.

  "How come Riri didn't hear me? She's going to work today. Pity if she has to be late." chirped the father then knocked again on the door, this time the door opened with his son's wrinkled face.

  "Come on, Ri pray for Fajr, it's already five minutes past five. You'll oversleep." said the father with a stern voice that made Riri more aware than before. Father also came out of Riri's room. He had finished his morning prayers at the mosque. He had also woken up his wife several times and Bening's voice was heard crying to wake Kartika.

  Bapak sat at the dining table. He was wiping the dining table and arranging three glasses in preparation for making hot tea.

  "Bening, just put her in the stroller, I'll push the stroller," he pleaded, seeing his wife struggling to swing Bening in her arms.

  "You go to the bathroom first. Do your ablutions and pray there!" he ordered his wife. Kartika just grunted then she obeyed and put Bintang in the stroller. Then the father immediately pushed the stroller in the living room. While watching TV, he pushed the stroller slowly. Bening was very comfortable lying in place.

  "Hurry up Ri! It's noon already!"

  Brak brak brak

  The sound of the one bathroom door being banged by Kartika's hand.

  "Yes, yes ma'am! Just a moment," said Riri who hurriedly wrapped her body with a towel. Then she opened the bathroom door.

  "Heh! What a long time!" Kartika shouted right in Riri's ear. Riri just grunted in pain at the sound in her ear.

  "Patience Ya Allah patience .... " said Riri silently.

  Riri immediately put on clothes. Now the only clothes left were her gamis and her rectangular hijab. She hadn't had time to wash them since yesterday. Actually, she really needed new clothes to go to work. Because the clothes she got from the evacuation center were already looking shabby.

  Now Riri finished her morning prayer. She couldn't wait to greet her half-sister. Bening, who is only five months old.

  "Assalamu'alaikum dede Bening, wow! Are you awake early in the morning, dear?" Bening looked at Riri with sparkling eyes as if she wanted to know what the woman in front of her was saying.

  Bening babbled excitedly. Mr. was very happy to see the scene in front of him.

  "How is it Ri? You got hired right? How does it feel on the first day of work?" he asked as he turned off the television he was watching. Last night he didn't have time to chat much with his son.

  "Thank God, sir. Riri was hired at the kampung laut restaurant," Riri explained with a smile on her clean face.

  "Wow! Thank God that restaurant is really crowded, Ri. It must be a big salary and of course the work is also very exhausting," said the father who already knew about the restaurant.

  "I don't know where Riri works yet. Because yesterday it was really busy there because the chef Renata was shooting at the restaurant. So yesterday Riri was only busy washing dishes. Hehehe," explained Riri shyly.

  "Yes, it's okay Ri, even if it's just washing dishes. All work is done from the bottom. Who knows, God will raise our status and you can be the boss at the restaurant," said the father excitedly.

  Riri just laughed at the father's words which made her very entertained.