Adoption

In one of the special juvenile detention cells in a prison located in East Jakarta, a young man was lying staring at the grayish-colored ceiling of his cell.

A person with bruises and cuts from sharp weapons painted on various parts of his body, was lying exhausted on the cold floor of the bed-less room, with iron bars as an obstacle to seeing the outside world.

Rizaldy Pradipta, a man who has just been transferred to a special detention cell for people who behaved badly during their detention. The shape of the place he was currently living in was more disgusting than a morgue. Without a bed, he had to lie on the cold hard floor. In fact, to dispose of the body's metabolic waste in the form of feces, only a bucket is provided which will be replaced every morning.

Yep. He had to eat, sleep and defecate in the same place.

The reason why Aldy was put in the special detention cell was that two days ago, he had a problem with a child his age who also went to a juvenile prison just like himself. However, when a prison officer tried to break up their fight, Aldy accidentally nudged one of the prison officials in the nose, causing it to broke and bleed.

That's why Aldy had to stay in a special cell for a week before he could return to his old cell.

And the wounds that were now being painted on several parts of his body were caused by the fight. How can Aldy not get hurt? He had to face thirteen more people at once. And among them, some were hiding sharp weapons. To be precise, a razor blade as well as a small curved knife which they somehow smuggled into the prison.

Aldy could only exhale lazily and closed his eyes again. In his mind, he didn't expect anything. For him, if he can find peace even for a short time, then he will consider it a very valuable thing.

It was completely calm for a moment. However, the calm that had only passed a few minutes, was shattered when a prison official opened the door to Aldy's special detention cell.

"Get the fuck up, you little bastard. There's someone who wants to see you," he said, throwing the handcuffs at Aldy's face, motioning him to use the handcuffs himself.

Aldy was silent for a moment. He got up from his lying position and sat, staring at the prison officer with an expressionless face. Although his face was expressionless, the look in his eyes seemed to emit a very strong killing aura. And for some reason, even the prison officer felt goosebumps whenever he saw Aldy's eyes like that.

With a handcuff that he held, Aldy could have beat up the prison officer who came to him, then handcuffed the officer and locked him in the cell where he was. That way, he could sneak out of the prison after stripping the officer's uniform.

But his intention seemed to be vanished by the fact that someone had come to see him in prison. That caught Aldy's attention more than his escape plans.

Aldy put on the cuffs around his wrists himself and stood up. He walked behind the officer, following him until he came to a room that seemed devoted to people wanting to visit someone in prison.

Aldy's body was roughly pushed in before the door closed. He had turned around and intended to break the officer's nose with his fist, but the door to the room had been locked from the outside. He has no other choice but to sit in a chair in front of transparent glass.

From behind the other side of the transparent glass, there is a man who looks like he is in his forties. Neatly dressed, even though a little tacky. And the thing that bothers Aldy the most was, that person was smiling at him from across the transparent glass. It bothered him quite a bit because he didn't understand what it meant by the stranger smiling like that at him.

"Who are you?" asked Aldy directly. The man was still smiling at Aldy, not saying anything. Aldy lost his temper and got up from his seat.

Just when Aldy wanted to step into the door where he had entered earlier, the man, who visited him, finally spoke, making Aldy stop his steps.

"Rizaldy Pradipta, right?"

Aldy stopped his steps, he turned, and returned to his seat. Staring flatly at the man who was at the opposite side the transparent glass that separated them, still expressionless. Aldy lifted his chin briefly, making a gesture as if to instruct the stranger to continue his words.

But, instead of continuing his words, the man smiled again like before.

Finding the person in front of him acting annoying, made Aldy let out a heavy sigh as if his patience was running out. "If you don't want to talk, then you better go, so I can sleep in peace."

"You've grown up so much." said the man who was still a stranger to Aldy.

Aldy frowned, "Do you know me?"

"Sure. Don't you remember me?"

Now Aldy has completely lost his temper. "Can we just cut this shit out? If you're still going round and round talking like this, trust me, that this damn thick glass that separates us won't guarantee your safety. Or do you want to see me start trying to break it now?"

Anyone who saw the look in Aldy's eyes right now would have been careful not to make trouble with him. However, the mysterious man still smiled at Aldy, and Aldy took it as a mockery. Without further ado, Aldy stood back up. And now, both of his hands were already on the iron chair he had been sitting on. Aldy lifted it, and it was clear that Aldy wanted to destroy the thick glass in front of him with the chair he held with both of his hands. However, at that moment, the prison officers who brought him into the room earlier came in from the door and wanted to stop him.

The man who made Aldy run out of patience raised his hand, making a gesture as if to tell the officer to stop his intention to arrest Aldy, and told him to stay back. The officer turned his gaze towards Aldy and the man who was across the transparent glass over and over again in hesitant. Before finally, he nodded his head and step out of the room where Aldy and the mysterious man were.

Seeing that, Aldy lowered his chair again. He wasn't so stupid that he didn't realize, that the man in front of him right now was not just anyone. It was rare for someone to make a prison officer so obedient.

The man straightened his seat, which had been leaning on the head of the chair and looked at Aldy with a serious gaze, although he still had a rather warm expression. "Looks like you're a typical person who doesn't like a chit-chat that much. Okay, I understand. I'll get to the point. Let me introduce myself first. I'm Heri Wijaya. If you still remember, I used to be your father's best friend. Before he died, he had asked me to take you, but at that time my situation was still difficult. Now, I am ready to take on that responsibility, and want to adopt you right away. "

The long explanation made Aldy kinda speechless. He chose to return to the chair that he wanted to use to break the glass in front of him before and sat quietly.

What is on Aldy's mind right now is his prison term, which is still about four months away, the image of the special detention cell he is currently in, and the harsh days of living in prison. Not to mention when his prison term ends, will he still be able to live a normal life as a teenager, while his was an ex-prisoner?

Aldy saw at a glance that from the appearance of this man named Heri in front of him, it seemed that the man was not lying about his capacity. Aldy has never thought about wealth because all this time he has lived his life simply and his thoughts are limited to what he can do so that the next day he can still eat, and continue to live from day to day.

But if he thinks about it, there's nothing wrong with accepting this offer. After all, opportunities are not things that can be wasted.

"Are you sure?" Aldy asked in certainty.

"Why not?" Heri replied.

"I mean ... are you sure, you want to adopt someone like me? I don't need to explain what kind of place is this, right? And maybe, I don't meet your expectations. Instead of you being disappointed later because you adopted a child like me, and just dumped me, so in the end, I'll just come back to end up living on the streets. Then, it's better if you don't have to offer that to me from the start. I can live my life up to now on my own so far. "

Hearing Aldy's answer made Heri smile kindly. He could understand the attitude that Aldy showed. From the look in his eyes, he could see that Aldy was deliberately showing off his toughness on the outside, as if he didn't want others to see him as a weak figure. However, those eyes couldn't lie. Heri could sense it. In the look in Aldy's eyes, that he was actually very fragile.

The strong attitude he displayed on the outside was only a shield to protect the cracks in his heart that could break at any time.

Heri shook his head softly. "Honestly, I also can't guarantee that I will be a good parent for you. But one thing you have to know, my intention is really sincere to come to you here. But, it all depends on you. If you still can't accept me, I can understand and will give you time to think about it."

After hearing that, Aldy began to imagine the hard days he could not help but live in the future if he refused the offer of a man who claimed to be an old friend of his late father who had now come to adopt him from this prison.

For a moment, it was very quiet. Until the silence was broken by the answer that came out of Aldy's mouth.

"Fine."

A very short answer, but it made Heri unable to hide his grateful expression.

Aldy still doesn't understand why Heri is so adamant about adopting someone like him. No idea. At least, what Aldy knew now was that he would soon be out of prison and have a new family.

He doesn't know anything about the person who wants to adopt him. According to Aldy, he could find out later. Aldy has not thought about things such as getting used to his attitude in a new place of residence and environment, how he behaves in front of Heri's family, and so on.

All Aldy feels now is gratitude.

Even though he didn't show it outside, he felt very grateful, because there were still people who cared about him.

Despite his tough nature and merciless personality, Rizaldy Pradipta is still a child who needs the love he has longed for since his parents' death.

Nobody knows what will happen next.

What is certain is, a new chapter for Aldy's life starts from that very second.