Nightmares

Eliza's mobile phone rang, an incoming call from doctor Sean who had been trying to reach her. Indeed, Eliza had previously made an appointment to discuss her health condition.

"Argghhttt!!!" shrieked Eliza as she woke up to the ringing of her mobile phone.

"What's going on? Where am I? Did I..." Eliza looked around her room, "oh no, I'm still in the same place," she said as she got up from the bed.

This was a nightmare that really scared Eliza. Luckily, Karan wasn't really going to send her home. But where would Eliza go home? Her foster mother's house was no longer in the same place.

Eliza had been living alone since her mother died. And her father, who knows where he went after running away with that woman. Instantly, the past that happened in 1998 flashed in her mind.

"That nightmare, God... why does it feel real to me," Eliza squealed as she ran her hands over her face.

Jakarta, 1998

"Bruuukk!!!" 

Jacob flopped onto the sofa after work, his body sluggish and tired. He was carrying a very heavy load from the office. Seeing her husband exhausted, Meliza immediately came over and brought him a glass of hot coffee to relieve his fatigue. 

The heat of the Metropolitan city does make anyone feel tired and sultry. Especially considering the many conflicts that have occurred in these years. The 1998 May Riots, for example, were racial riots against ethnic Chinese that occurred in Indonesia on 14 May-15 May, especially in the capital city of Jakarta. 

These riots were preceded by the Asian financial crisis and triggered by the Trisakti tragedy in which four Trisakti students were shot and killed in a democracy on 12 May 1998. This also resulted in the abdication of President Soeharta and the inauguration of B. J. Habibie.

"Have a drink first, Dad. Dad must be tired from working all day," Meliza said as she offered him the drink in her hand.

Instead of taking the glass to drink, Jacob took the steaming coffee cup by force. Then he poured the hot coffee water over his wife's body.

Hearing Meliza scream, Eliza only peeked at her from the back of the room without doing anything. She saw her father swearing at her mother, even spitting at her.

"Your husband is tired, don't make me more upset. Pretend to know, pretend to sympathise. What do you know about my job? You know all my possessions are gone, not just my job is gone."

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to calm you down. This is our country's calamity, and you're not the only one experiencing it. You must be patient."

PLAK!!!

Mercilessly, the burly hand slapped Meliza's beautiful face. The face of a beautiful young woman he married ten years ago. Now Jacob seemed to have forgotten that happy day.

"I've been working for this company for years, but I've never experienced a conflict this bad, Meliza."

"Patience, everything has a silver lining. We will face this together, we will get through this together."

"We? You think finding a job is easy nowadays? No, Meliza. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, it looks impossible you know. Don't teach me how to be patient, you should also be working so that we don't rely on one source alone."

Meliza cried, remembering the beginning of their marriage. At that time, Meliza was still working at a private bank. It was Jacob who asked her to stop working, so that he could focus at home taking care of her and the child Meliza was carrying at the time.

That child was Eliza, a nine-year-old girl who was now witnessing her father's savagery.

"No, don't Dad. Don't do this to Mum. Let go, Daddy!" prevented Eliza.

"Shut up! If you don't, I'll hit you too."

"Hit me, Dad. Hit me, if it makes you happy. But please, don't hurt my mum. She's the only person I have right now, I'd rather die than have my mum go."

During these riots many shops and companies were destroyed by the mob, especially those owned by Chinese Indonesians. The largest concentrations of riots occurred in Jakarta, Medan and Surakarta. There were hundreds of Chinese women who were raped and sexually abused during the riots. Some were gang-raped, sadistically abused and then killed.

In 1997, the rupiah currency moved outside the norm. The rupiah did not just move negatively, but more than that. The rupiah was staggering. Then in September 1997, the Jakarta Stock Exchange (currently the Indonesia Stock Exchange) fell to its lowest point.

As a result, that year was declared the start of the monetary crisis. As a result of this, hundreds of companies ranging from small scale to conglomerates collapsed. About 70 per cent of the companies listed on the capital market suddenly became insolvent.

The industrial, manufacturing and banking sectors were particularly hard hit. So that the next risk is the birth of a wave of layoffs or layoffs. Unemployment soared to levels unseen since the late 1960s, at around 20 million people, or more than 20 per cent of the workforce.

"You and your mum are the same, just a nuisance." Jacob pulled back the hand that had been hovering.

"Mum never asked to be married, Father. Didn't you come to marry her yourself? And now? Why are you taking out your frustration on me?"

"What did you say? One more time you talk, I'll punch you in the mouth. I've raised you with my hands. You just talk to your own father like that. You little brat."

"Just do it, Father. Do what you want, I didn't ask to be born into this world. I exist because of God's will, not because I wanted to."

"Elizaaaaaa..."

PLAK!!!

Finally, the burly hand landed on little Eliza's body. She did not understand anything, but had to accept the torture of her father who was starting to go crazy.

Since being laid off, Jacob has not been working. Because at that time it was difficult to find job vacancies. The chaos that made him and his family have to experience the impact of this monetary crisis. As a wife, Meliza did not immediately scold her husband or ask for a divorce. However, Jacob responded with suffering and torture.

She was forced to turn her life upside down. He never imagined that he would go through all this. Previously, Jacob was a famous and renowned architect. His salary was tens of millions with various benefits. But, when he was laid off, everything turned upside down from his previous life. 

"Enough, Jacob! How could you do this to your son?"

"Fuck off!" Jacob left the two of them. 

Little Eliza, she had to appear more mature than other children her age at that time. Since the monetary crisis that happened that year, her father had lost his job. That was the beginning of Jacob's harsh behaviour towards Meliza.

Not only that, due to the impact of the monetary crisis, the father also found a Chines man named Meysa. That was the beginning of his father's betrayal.

"God, should I call him father? After what he has done to me?"

Eliza asked herself, even though she didn't get an answer to her question. The question kept passing by, making her chest feel tight. 

BRUK!!!

Eliza threw herself down, she cried in silence. Remembering Jacob was like squeezing lime juice down her throat. The more it was dripped, the more sour it tasted.

"Karan, I hope you're the best man of my choice. However, your current behaviour reminds me of my father. Will you..."

Eliza cried, unable to continue her sentence.