Karmo's Cruelty

Nimas heard Karmo, his father, yelling at his mother in the front room. Of course the house with bamboo walls can be penetrated by sound all the way to the back. He already knew what caused his father's anger: his wife always asked him why he came home drunk.

Lasmi, his mother, once told Nimas that the girl was just an adopted daughter. He was found floating in a wicker basket in a stream. On the baby's left hand he wears a large bracelet made of roots, which Nimas is now wearing.

His mother was just a woman who couldn't have children. Since Karmo found out about this, he started to drink and play women, and was even willing to go into debt to satisfy his lust.

"Until when do you want to be like this? We are old, but your debts are piling up," Lasmi said while squeezing one of her husband's arm.

"All this because you can't give me children, Mom!" Karmo snapped as he shook off his wife's hand.

"We already have Nimas, sir." Lasmi's eyes began to tear up.

"That child is not our flesh and blood. Thank God I want to accept that abandoned child. Her face is getting prettier. I can sell her as a dutch officials.

"Istighfar, sir. After all, Nimas is still our daughter." The tears Lasmi had been holding back rolled down her wrinkled cheeks.

Nimas threw a tampah filled with chopped vegetables, then rushed into the front room when he heard a chair being slammed and Karmo's slap landed on Lasmi's cheek.

The girl hurriedly hugged her mother, then gave Karmo a sharp look. The forty-five year old woman was sobbing in Nimas' arms. The girl with the long nose took her mother out of the front room so that Karmo wouldn't beat his wife even more wildly.

In the room, Nimas sighed with water filling his eyes and found the corners of his mother's lips bleeding. He rushed into the kitchen to light the firewood, then boiled hot water. He ignored the spilled vegetables scattered on the ground. After compressing his mother's wound and telling him to rest, Nimas walked up to Karmo at the front.

"Once again you dare to hit my mother, I will never comply with your wish to become a concubine," said Nimas angrily. His hands clenched, then walked away.

Karmo, who was sitting in a chair with bloodshot eyes, didn't care about Nimas's words. The man, whose hair had turned white, didn't want to make any wounds on his daughter's smooth body. Karmo thinks being a concubine requires having perfect skin. He also envisions getting a lot of money from dutch officials, using that money to pay all his debts, and fulfill all his wishes.

Karmo worked as a champion landlord who supported the actions of the Dutch company. As he gets older, his services are not always needed. Karmo snorts and gets annoyed when he remembers that. Luckily he still has Nimas and doesn't really care about the girl's fate. Nimas must return the favor because his wife had saved him and cared for him since he was a baby.

Nimas was crying silently in his room. The nineteen year old girl is miserable with her fate and also that of her mother. Lasmi has cared for him with great affection. She would do anything to make her mother happy, but she didn't want to be a mistress.

Sometimes Nimas wonders to himself; who are his parents? Why do they have the heart to throw away their own flesh and blood?

**

The tavern in the village of Saren was seen crowded with several warriors and company warriors. Castor oil lamps hung in several parts of the booth. Karmo, who was sitting on the lincak, was dragged out by three champions, Ki Demang, a native landlord where Karmo served. The champions threw him down so he fell under Ki Demang's feet.

"When will you pay off all your debts, Karmo?" asked Ki Demang. The stocky man looked contemptuously at his aging bouncer.

"I want to sell Nimas as the concubine of the dutch officials to pay off debts."

"Tomorrow afternoon Mr. Barend will visit my residence. Bring your daughter, let Mr. Barend have a look. If the company doesn't want to, let Nimas be with me." Ki Demang laughed, followed by his champions.

Ki Demang walked away from the front of the tavern, followed by his champions. He shook his cap as if he had a lot of dust on his clothes.

Karmo quickly got up. Both his knees and palms that were pierced by gravel made him feel pain. He shook off his shabby surjan from the dust. Karmo went home. His desire for fun had vanished. The man was also upset to have been humiliated in front of many people even though they were indifferent.

**

The morning still leaves a bit cold. The sun breaks through the thick acacia leaves and its streaks of light fall down on the courtyard of the house. There Lasmi is begging Karmo not to take Nimas to Ki Demang's residence. The glazed-eyed woman asked her husband to cancel his intention. He did not want his daughter to be used as a concubine to pay off her husband's debts. However, Karmo ignored his wife's words.

Nimas approached Lasmi, stroking the woman's back as a sign that she would be fine. After that, the girl followed Karmo's steps on the carriage to Ki Demang's residence.

Lasmi can only cry over the fate of her daughter. The thin woman often told Nimas to leave the house, but the girl always refused because she didn't want her mother to be tortured by her father.

Nimas was silent the whole way. He looked at the teak trees and the people passing by to the fields or gardens. Occasionally his gaze met with several Ki Demang champions who asked the villagers for taxes. They never asked for tribute to Karmo's house because Ki Demang guaranteed his family. After all, his father is still a hitman who is crazy about that treasure.

Without Nimas knowing it, they had arrived at Ki Demang's yard. The large Joglo house is supported by carved teak pillars, guarded by many Javanese warriors and warriors. In the pavilion, on a teak chair, Mr. Barend sat chatting with Ki Demang. Four company soldiers stood guard behind them. Nimas saw a luxurious horse-drawn carriage parked beside the pavilion.

Nimas and Karmo approached them and bowed. Mr. Barend looked at the girl in the kebaya, who was standing in front of him, from head to toe.

"This is the girl, Meneer. If Meneer agrees, Nimas will immediately be taken to the city," said Ki Demang when he noticed Mr. Barend's view.

"You take care of it as soon as possible, Demang," replied the company happily.

Nimas looked nervous and scared. His face looked down while Karmo's face who was standing next to him looked bright and smiled broadly. The man couldn't wait to get a lot of money and be free from debt according to Ki Demang's promise.

**

Two days later, when Karmo went to collect the compensation money from Ki Demang's house, Lasmi persuaded Nimas, who was in his room, to leave the house immediately, but the girl shook her head. He can't bear to leave his mother with his goddamn father.

"I beg you to go, Nduk, before your father comes home. Bring some of this money for your travels."

"Where should I go, Mother?" I only have Mother." Nimas held back the tears that filled his eyes.

Lashmi was silent for a moment. "Go anywhere as long as you don't stay here, Nduk. Even if you become a concubine, your father will still beat Mother."

Nimas looked at Lasmi's face, then hugged her tightly. The round-eyed girl hurriedly packed her clothes into cloth, tied them, and got ready to leave. However, when they opened the door of the house, their eyes widened to find that Karmo's horse-drawn carriage and the champions, who were going to take Nimas to town, had already approached the house.

Lasmi hastily closed the door with a trembling body. The woman immediately pulled her daughter's hand toward the back door.

"Hurry up, Nduk. You don't have much time." Lasmi slightly pushed Nimas's body so he could run quickly.