AN ANGEL WITHOUT A WING

"RIGHT HANDS!" Farida snapped at me for the tenth time. I forgot there was Farida. Every time I drink with my left hand, I never save myself from her rebuke. I can't just change this habit, take a glass with my left hand and drink it directly with the same hand too, it tastes better

"Don't want to be recognized as the followers of the prophet Muhammad, do you?" She continued angrily.

I picked up Farida for Tarbiyah at the mosque near my house. In her housing cluster, there is no mosque like in my housing complex. There is a schedule for religious studies on Wednesday from 9 to 12 am. And as usual, Farida brought my car to the mosque near my house. She couldn't wait for me to drive. "The car is uncomfortable to drive, Non," she complained.

Only Farida calls me Non.

"Yes, it's time for service but hasn't had time"

"Why?"

"Quite an expensive service 20 thousand kilos"

"How much?"

"The spooring balancing change oil about 1.3 million"

"Just swiped using my credit card."

"Thank you, ma'am, there are still many debts, I have no plans to add more."

"It does not matter. You may pay at any time when you're rich."

"Let the service be at any time when I have money."

Arriving at the Petrol Station, Farida immediately turned the car and stopped at a self-service refueling point. "Please don't bu...it's still enough!!" I exclaimed.

"Weisss..." She hissed

"Duhhh... then my reward is gone into gasoline"

"Do you think you're the only one who wants the reward? Me too..."

And Farida took the hose and put the nozzle in the mouth of the gas tank and filled it, Full tank.

I just kept silent. Between happy and unhappy. How can I repay Farida's kindness? I feel like I owe her a lot. Although she never minds. For me, Farida is more than a friend. She's like an angel. She just knows what's going on in my heart and my life without me telling it. She seemed to have a sixth or seventh sense that could predict my situation. Luckily, she's a girl, if it was a boy I might have fallen in love with her.

***

One day happened when I was fasting and there were only instant noodles to break the fast. We haven't seen each other for quite a while when suddenly she came with a shopping bag containing many packages.

"What's this...?" I asked while peeking at the contents of the plastic bag "What's for?" I continued kissing the left and right cheeks, as usual, every time we met.

"It's nothing, just happened to be passing by here and stopped at Padang*)," she explained. "But I'm sorry, I can't be a long time, Non... I'm in a hurry, I have an appointment," she said later. Farida went to her car. I walked beside her, chatted for a while, and kissed her left cheek one more time before the car left.

I unwrapped the food one by one.

There is rendang,

Yellow spice snapper head,

Green chili chicken,

Jengkol Balado*)

Complete with sambal and fresh vegetables filled my dining table.

Just when the Maghrib call to prayer sounded. Time to break the fast.

Immediately, tears fell from my eyes.

***

I got to know Farida from Lena, the person who introduced me to 21st-century business. Farida was Lena's mentor who is now automatically my mentor too. My relationship is closer to Farida than to Lena maybe because we are the same age and our house is much closer than Lena's.

But overall our relationship is more than like family. Linked by heart.

***

One day afternoon, I found Farida pouring Korean red chili powder into chicory in a large basin and then stirring the mixture with her hands which had been wrapped in a plastic sheath. She's making Kimchi. Korean cuisine. Kimchi is her husband's favorite dish, which is also Korean. In the past, Farida also had a Korean restaurant, but it was closed because she was tired, she said lightly.

There is always something new every time I meet Farida. That's why Farida's house is my place of escape if I had nothing to do. It's wonderful to be able to talk about life during working hours when it's drizzling in the morning when children at school and our husband are working while making tuna fish pempek dough, and yesterday was durian dodol*), and the day before yesterday was jumbo pizza, the main thing is that all the unique dishes, rare, difficult to find in the market, Farida is the best.

And she cooks always in large quantities. Just look, to make the sauce, she uses the ingredients, 2 kilos of cayenne pepper, 1 kilo of green onions, 1/4 of anchovies, and enough sugar to soften the spicy taste. Put in a bowl of chili that is distributed to neighbors and close friends. She didn't sell it.

"If it is sold, the price is not much, Non" she argued.

Farida's hobby is hunting for rewards. She likes to give something from her craft. And that Sambal is a specialty that can't be bought in any store. It tastes super delicious when Farida makes it, even though the recipe is the same.

She believed in the miracle of charity. Even for just mineral water, she routinely donates to mothers who sweep the yard in her housing complex every Friday, we said Blessed Friday. each get a share of one liter ten people ten bottles, sometimes accompanied by rice wraps or snacks.

No wonder the two, two-door refrigerators that are taller than my height are never empty of various kinds of food, ranging from raw food, cooked food, fruit, and vegetables, always available to take away whenever friends come. For the business of giving, for me, Farida is my role model.

Every Dhuha, she never leaves 12 rak'ahs of prayer, because Allah promises the reward that she will build a house in heaven. And what makes me even more amazed is that her son, Seon Gu, who is really Korean, graduated elementary school and is now continuing to study to become a HAFIZ QURAN and live in a Boarding School, his dream is to become a memorizer of the Koran. In line with his mother's desire, and also supported by his father.

From the outside, no one thought that this family was Muslim. In his house, there are no pictures or symbols of Islamic symbols. The walls are clean. Their appearance is also common like the guy next door. But there is a deep religious breath in this Korean family. The spirit of Islam is alive in every activity.

I am ashamed of my hijab.

***

*) Rumah Makan (RM) Padang or Padang Restaurant is a food stall business/restaurant that sells or serves a variety of culinary or Minangkabau cuisine originating from West Sumatra.

*) Balado is a type of hot and spicy bumbu found in Minang cuisine of West Sumatera, Indonesia.

*) Dodol is a sweet toffee-like sugar palm-based confection commonly found in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.