Blood Fish 4t3x60

Table of Contents

Blood Fish | Copyright © 2020 by Valeria Banks | E-book ISBN: 9798690123628 | Paperback ISBN: 9798698493617

CHAPTER I | ANDY

CHAPTER 2 | THE TEMPE FACTORY

CHAPTER 3 | THE PRIDE

CHAPTER 4 | THE FISH SELLER

CHAPTER 5 | THE OLD GOAT

CHAPTER 6 | THE LOTUS POND

CHAPTER 7 | UNDER THE LOTUS

CHAPTER 8 | THE HARVEST

CHAPTER 9 | THE SHRIMP MOUTHS

CHAPTER 10 | THE JOBLESS MOTHERS

CHAPTER 11 | BETTA FEVER

CHAPTER 12 | THE FORBIDDEN TEMPLE

CHAPTER 13 | ARE YOU TRULY MY FRIEND?

CHAPTER 14 | THE MISSING HUSBAND

CHAPTER 15 | THE PRISON

CHAPTER 16 | A BETTER LIFE

CHAPTER 17 | THE LEECHES

CHAPTER 18 | PLEASE FORGIVE ME

CHAPTER 19 | IS MY MOTHER AT YOUR HOUSE?

CHAPTER 20 | YOU WILL BE NEXT

Blood Fish

Copyright © 2020 by Valeria Banks

E-book ISBN: 9798690123628

Paperback ISBN: 9798698493617

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This is my third book.

CHAPTER I

ANDY

A man in his 40s was looking down at the street from his porch with the blank eyes. His forehead creased even though he wasn't thinking about anything, and then a woman's voice snapped him up. 'Andy, I'll drive Indah to school and then go to work. Please look after the house. Today I'm going to take another overtime at the shrimp factory and won't be home until 9:00 p.m.' Andy nodded to a beautiful woman with long hair. He smiled weakly and said 'alright, Dian.' Dian took a deep breath as she saw that the front yard was filled with the pails. They were protected from the sun by using a black shade which was nailed to the wall on one side and ed by 2 long bamboos on the other. She said 'it's been 7 months you've been at home since the factory where you used to work was closed. Please get a new job instead of playing with your fishes as they make this little house even smaller!' Andy said 'it is very difficult for me to get a new job because the current national economic condition is weak. Our country is in recession right now! Not only has the factory where I worked for was closed, but many other factories have experienced the same thing. I'm 42 now, so my chances of getting a job during this difficult time are getting smaller because many factories have stopped hiring the new employees. Even if there are vacancies, they choose those who have just graduated from schools whose the pay is below the minimum salary and are considered stronger. But believe me Dian, I'm trying my hardest and as long as I'm looking forward to getting that job please let me try to become a Betta fish farmer (Betta Splenden).

'I see... staying at home without activity will stress you out. I hope your hobby can make you into a successful Betta fish farmer... ' said Dian with a flat face. 'I hope so...' Andy noticed that his wife now often had a stiff face and rarely smiled like before, but she still looked beautiful. How he hoped to get a new job soon and saw her smile again. 'How expensive is a Betta? One fish may not be enough to buy a liter of rice.' 'The wild Betta may be cheap, but the ornamental Betta is quite expensive. One fish can buy at least 3 liters of rice if I can sell it.' 'So to get the same amount as your previous salary, you have to sell at least 100 ornamental Bettas?' 'You could say that...' said Andy as he scratching his neck. 'With hard work and luck, one day I might be able to get a rare Betta with a rare pattern that I can sell for a fortune. A Thai man who bred Betta as a hobby, one day got a fish with a rare pattern and it was sold for USD 1,500. That's more than my yearly salary... If I keep breeding them, maybe one day I'll get my luck...' 'I hope you can have the luck you desire...' Andy nodded and said 'if your factory has the shrimp leftover please bring them back home. It can enhance a Betta's color.' 'Ok, I'll bring it if I get it.' Then Dian walked to an old motorcycle and shouted 'Indah... hurry up!' A young and beautiful girl who was wearing a white shirt and gray span skirt came out of the house with a backpack on her back. She said 'yes, mom...' She smiled when she saw Andy and said 'see you, dad...' 'See you Indah. Study well...' Andy thought that his daughter was like as a Betta fish. Beautiful, gentle, and brittle. Dian saw a big-boned man enter the yard on his old bicycle. The sun burnt his skin until it became the color of a Salak (Salacca Zalacca) fruit. The man had the largest body and the

darkest skin in the Iwak village. Dian said 'look Andy, one of your luck has come...' The big boned man smiled at Dian and Indah and said 'good morning Dian, Indah...' 'Morning, Mr. Raksa...' greeted Dian and Indah at the same time with the smiles on their faces. Then Dian left the house with her daughter on the motorcycle. Raksa greeted Andy 'good morning, my friend... I'm coming to buy some fishes.' 'How many fish are you going to take today?' 'Give me 50 wild Bettas. Sales have been bad lately as more and more people are against the fish fighting.' 'Sure...' then Andy went to his fish nursery, caught the wild Bettas with a soft net, and put them in a clear plastic filled with tap water. He looked at those small black and blue fishes, some of the fish had red patterns on their bodies. He said 'how about the ornamental Bettas? Do you want to take them too?' Raksa saw the ornamental Bettas which were colorful and had fins and tails like flower petals. The Crown Tail Betta had a long and spiky tail that looked like the fringe Dianthus petals. The Half Moon Betta had a tail that resembled a rose petal. The ornamental Betta's beauty cannot be compared to the wild Betta, which it had a less attractive shape and color. That's why bad people used them for illegal fish fighting because they're also cheap. The wild Betas lived in wild places such as the swamps, lakes, paddy fields, and rivers with the calm water flows. They were durable and could live in an environment that had little oxygen because their lungs were shaped like a labyrinth. Each type of Betta had 2 pails as their home. One was for the female fish, and one was for the male fish. They couldn't be put together in the same pail because they would breed wildly. From a pair of Betta, it could produce up to 500 fry. Raksa shook his head and said 'no, I still have some of them at home. Oh, please

give me some silk worm (Tubifex) as Betta food because the kids often buy the fish with it.' 'Alright...' then Andy took a small bucket and poured all the silk worms in it into a clear plastic. He saw a bunch of red worms were dancing and said 'this is all I have. Now I have to go to the river to get the silk worm so my fish can eat today.' 'Ok. I have to go home now to transfer the fishes to the smaller plastic bags before the school bell rings at 12:00. See you later, my friend. I hope I can sell them all so I can buy more fish from you...' said Raksa after paying then hung the plastic bags on the bicycle handlebars. 'I hope so...' said Andy as he was watching the big-boned man wheeling his bicycle out of his yard, which had no fence. He wondered how the old bike could Raksa, but when he ed that a circus bear could do the same, he had the answer. Raksa's real name was Raka, but when he was young he had grown taller than all the children in his village. When he was 10 years old, his body already looked like someone who was 15 years old. He was always the tallest and biggest person in his class, and when he was 17 years old, he was the biggest person in Iwak Village. The people started calling him Raksa, not Raka, because of his unusual size. Raksa was taken from the word Raksasa which meant the giant.

––––––––

Andy had finished eating his breakfast which was the boiled cassava and a glass of sweet tea. Then he took a pail, a small tote bag that was filled with plastic bags, two bottles of water, and some boiled cassavas and walked towards the river which was about 2 kilometers from his house. He ed the rows of small houses and greeted a group of young housewives who were carrying babies in their arms.

Andy noticed how young those housewives were. It's not uncommon for a villager to get married as soon as he or she graduated the high school. He wondered if his beautiful daughter would have the same fate. He wondered if after she graduated, she would bring her future husband home, got married, and then gave him a grandchild before she turned 20. He really wanted his daughter to go to university to get a higher education, get a good job and hopefully it could lift the economic status of his family. He imagined himself crying at his daughter's university graduation but his imagination was shattered when he heard those young housewives talking quietly about his unemployment status. A fat girl said with an annoying expression 'Mr. Andy has been at home for 6 or 7 months... I feel so sorry for his wife for having to him and her daughter.' A slim girl said 'his wife works from morning to night at the shrimp factory and all he does is play with the fish...' A girl in a blue house dress said 'shhh! Many husbands have lost their jobs because of the recession! I can't blame him because the economy is really tough right now. Even I am trying hard to cut all of the expenses in half but it's hard to do so because everything is expensive now!' 'I'm glad that my husband is still useful and gives me his salary every month...' this time the fat girl said it aloud so Andy could hear her. 'Fanny! Why are you saying that out loud!' said the woman in a blue house dress. Andy didn't feel angry because it was his reality. Fanny the fat housewife was right... and with this situation, his dream for his daughter to get a better education was just a dream. But Fanny's condition was no better than him. If it weren't for her mother, the baby boy in her arms would have been crying out of hunger right now. She quitted the school in the 11 grade to marry her boyfriend who was 2 years older because she believed that his salary was enough for them, but in fact her husband's salary did not meet their household needs at all because a newly graduated like him was underpaid and that was the reason why he was able to keep his job in this time of recession.

Fanny, her son, and her husband were like the leeches who lived for free in her mother's house, sucking up her mother's food, money, and energy, while all she did all day was gossiping and playing with her phone. At least Andy never did that to his parents and he was proud of it. He stopped in front of a house that had a Ketapang tree (Terminalia Catappa) and asked the owner for permission so he could pick up the dry leaves and of course the owner of the house was happy to give it because it would make her yard clean. He put the vase-shaped leaves and round seeds into 2 plastic bags and he would spread the seeds along the riverbank. On the undemanding main road that connected several villages, a dirty man was making a fan made of leaves and said money... money... Then he threw the leaves into the air and cried. He gathered up the fallen leaves and cried again. That dirty man was Ari. He used to be a rice farmer from Iwak Village and was also Andy's childhood friend. One day he borrowed money from the bank so he could pay the rent for a rice field and bought the rice seeds with a high quality. He thought that borrowing money from a bank would be a better option than borrowing from a loan shark, but the grasshoppers attacked his rice fields just as they were close to bearing the fruit. He borrowed more money from the bank to buy pesticides but the grasshoppers were too strong and soon ate up all the paddies until there was nothing left. The bank confiscated his house when he failed to repay his loan, and his family became the beggars in town. Later, his wife and child died from starvation. Ari went crazy and somehow he managed to return to the village where he used to live. Sometimes he would visit his old house which had belonged to someone else, and he liked to wander near the new village which used to be a paddy field he used to work on. Andy took a small plastic bag that had 3 boiled cassavas from his bag and gave

his lunch to Ari. Andy said 'Ari... I have some food for you.' Ari stared at the ground then saw Andy with the blank eyes. 'Come on, eat it, so you don't get sick... I bring the boiled cassavas today.' Then Ari smiled, took the cassava and started eating it. When finished, Andy gave him a drink and put the empty plastic bottle in his bag. Andy said 'I have to go now. Take care of yourself.' Ari didn't answer and went back to playing with the leaves. Ari lost his sanity when he lost his wife and son. If the same thing were happened to him, would he also had the same fate? Andy hoped not, because he had to protect the two women he loved at all costs.

CHAPTER 2

THE TEMPE FACTORY

The boulders with the size of a horse's head in the river were slippery, and caused Andy to have to walk carefully between them. The river flow was calm and had a soft maroon color because the large colony of silk worms lived there. Andy took off his sandals, dipped his feet into the river and started harvesting the silk worms. He picked up a bunch of rotting vegetable leaves, took a clump of the silk worm, and shook them in the water to remove the mud. When they were exposed to the air, the silk worms looked like a red mud but when Andy put them into a pail that filled with water, it bloomed, and moved like a skinny anemone. In less than 15 minutes, Andy had filled his pail with the silk worms. He sat on a boulder, and enjoyed the shade from the rows of bamboo trees that were growing along the river. When the wind ed, the friction between the trunks, branches, and leaves created a soothing natural sound that reminded Andy of his childhood when everything was still natural. At that time, there were fewer people and houses, and the number of the rice fields was still large. In the heat of the summer, the wind was cool and not burning as he felt now. In his time, education was not an important thing and the high school was only available in bigger cities and no one in the village could achieve that because there were no means of transportation. Most of them only had bicycles, and it took 2 hours to reach the city for a single trip. The person had to go through the woods and faced the wild animals like the boars and monkeys. This was not a good option for the villagers because in the

end they would only become the farmers or unskilled labors. People in his time thought that if you could do the basic math and read, it was already a big achievement. The children were used to helping their parents worked in the rice fields. First they would germinate the rice seeds in a small area in the paddy field. When they had grown into the plants that looked like the light green grasses, the farmers would transfer them to the larger fields. The farmers would put 2 or 3 paddy plants in a mud hole by dipping their fingers into the mud. All day long they bent their bodies and moved in a backward position, and when they had finished planting they will felt the pain in their bodies. It would take days to plant the young paddies in the vast fields and the farmers also must endure the scorching heat of the sun. When the rice fields began to bear the fruit, the farmers must guard their rice fields from morning to evening for the next 2 months to ensure a successful harvest. Some farmers chose to cover their rice fields with the wide nets and every evening they would carry out the inspections. The trapped birds would have their necks broken, thrown into the fields, and became fertilizer. He used to feel happy when he saw the snakes because they were helping to get rid of mice. After 90 days, the golden paddy could be harvested. It was a distant memory... because everything ended when the hands of modernization finally arrived at his village. The roads were paved, the electric towers were planted everywhere, and the rice fields were planted with the new houses. In Iwak Village, only a handful of fields that owned by several families were still remained and one of the largest fields was owned by Raksa family. To be precise, the field was owned by Raksa's wife and the field was between the river and the Lotus pond. Raksa family grew taro, cassava, sweet potatoes, vegetables, lemongrass, and watered them with water from the river and

Lotus pond. At harvest time, they would wash their crops in the river, which it's why the river had a lot rotting vegetable leaves that became the food for the silk worm. Andi saw a small tempe factory located near the river. After he graduated from junior high school, he immediately worked there for over 20 years and was able to provide for his family with his mediocre salary. Tempe was a healthy food made from fermented soybean and the uncooked tempe looked like a cake in the white mold. It was cooked by steaming, frying or sautéing with spices. That tempe factory was closed 7 months ago because the national currency exchange rate against the US Dollar continued to fall. This caused the price of imported soybeans, which was used as the main raw material for making tempe, to be skyrocketed. At first, the factory owner survived for the first few months by reducing the size of the tempe. He couldn't increase the price of tempe because it would make him lose his customers. The owner hoped that the domestic currency could strengthen again in the following months, but what happened was the opposite. Within 3 months, the owner lost all his money and declared bankruptcy. He had to close down his factory and even couldn't afford to pay the full salaries of his employees. The quality of domestic soybeans was actually better than imported ones, but the younger generation mostly refused to be farmers because they had to work hard and the income was small. Even if they want to become farmers, most of the remaining lands had been turned into housing. Most of the imported soybeans came from the USA. The lack of domestic resources caused the fulfillment of the domestic needs must be imported from other countries, in which it would increase the need for US Dollar as the major international currency and it had a negative effect on the exchange rate of a country. By working in a factory, someone can get a better salary than working as a farmer and he did not have to stand all day in the sun. The abnormal summer which was much longer than usual caused the drought

and crop failure to occur everywhere. For those who say that global warming was just a myth, they should try to live as a farmer for at least a month and shouldn't carry any money at all. Just because you can eat well and have the air conditioning to keep you cold, it didn't mean that the other people's suffering didn't exist just because you refused to see it. How Andy still ed that every morning he and other employees had to prepare 80 kg of soybeans that had been soaked the night before. They put the soybeans in a machine to remove the soybean skin, then wash the soybeans thoroughly. The soybeans then were boiled in a large pot using a traditional stove that used the bamboo woods that grew along the river as the fuel. The temperature inside the factory was as hot as a sauna, which made the employees preferred to work shirtless to keep their clothes dry because their bodies were sweating like they were doing the Asana Yoga. After that, the boiled soybeans that were still warm were put in a large pail and mixed with the Rhizopus mold. The mixture was then placed in a tempe mold which were made of long logs covered with banana leaves. When finished, the mixture would be covered with banana leaves and left for 24-48 hours so that the fermentation could be started. After the soybean had been covered by the white mold, the tempe would be cut and ready to be sold. Before the employees went home, they would soak the new soybeans in the water so they could be processed in the next day. Sometimes, the owner would give his employees tempe leftover to take home and their wives will cut them thin, put them in a flour dough that had been given salt and pepper, and then fry them. The fried tempe was served with the green chilies and they could enjoy the high-protein snacks. Every afternoon, several villagers would queue outside the factory to collect the soybean skin waste and fill the jerry cans with the water that used to boil the soybeans. Those high protein waste would be mixed with the cattle food to make them be fat faster. In this way, the factory produced less waste and could keep the river clean.

Andy took his phone and checked his social media. He looked at a black and red Betta that had fins like the rose petals, and a muticolor Betta that had fins like the frills. For a long time, there was not a single person who bid on the fish he auctioned. Maybe his Betta was ordinary and in this time of recession, no one would want to buy the unnecessary things. He hoped that the Betta he cared for could make a rare Betta even though the chance to get one was said as 1: 100,000. Andy took a plastic bag in which he had stored the Ketapang beans and threw them randomly along the river bank. The seeds that he had sown a few years earlier had grown into the small trees and he hoped they would keep the river water clear. He also hoped that he could get lucky like the Thai man who got a Betta fish with a Thai flag pattern and sold it for USD 1,500.

CHAPTER 3

THE PRIDE

After arriving home, Andy immediately went to his fish nursery to feed the fish with the silk worm. He looked at the fishes that were swimming among the hornwort and thought that the colors of the fishes he owned did look ordinary. He asked the Betta lovers community and one of the gave him advice to give the fish a snack which it was the chicken or beef liver because the Betta fishes were carnivorous and need protein to grow properly. Andy texted a meat seller who was his neighbor and asked to bring him some chicken livers for tomorrow. That meat seller agreed and he himself would deliver it to Andy's house tomorrow morning. Andy woke up from his sleep because he heard his daughter was talking to her mother. He quickly exited his room and saw his daughter, who was wearing a school uniform was standing in front of the bathroom with her mother who had just finished taking a shower. He smiled and said 'good morning Indah...' 'Good morning, dad...' Indah paused and with a doubtful face she said 'dad... my tuition hasn't been paid for 2 months, and the school won't allow me to take the 10th grade graduation exam if you don't pay it this week'. Andy rubbed his neck and in despair he looked at his wife and said 'I don't have money at all, Indah.' Dian said 'I'll be taking on overtime again this month and hopefully I can get the money we need.' Indah smiled and said 'thank you, mom...' She paused then said 'mom, is it possible that you can also pay for my study tour to Borobudur Temple? The

teacher said that we should have fun after the exam...' Dian shook her head and said 'I'm sorry I can't afford that, Indah. I cannot bear any unimportant expenses...’ Indah smiled and said 'I understand, mom... Now, let's go or we will be late' then Indah immediately put on her shoes. Dian saw Andy and said 'this morning the meat seller came and brought some chicken livers. I've cooked it for breakfast. ' Andy gasped and said 'you cooked it? But that's for Betta food!' Dian rolled her eyes and raised her voice 'so your Bettas can eat better than your own family? We haven't eaten any meat since you lost your job, but your fishes can eat the meat and shrimp? After that, are you going to feed them with gold? Not only should I feed you and Indah, but your fishes too? This is unbelievable!' 'I'm sorry Dian. I...' said Andy with a stuttered voice. 'It's enough the talk about money this morning. I have to get ready to go to work now...' then Dian went to her bedroom and locked the door. Andy did not dare to look at his daughter who was standing in front of him and said 'you must be thinking that I am a pathetic father, but...' Before Andy finished his words, Indah ran to her room and it made him feel so helpless as the head of the family. Then Indah immediately came out of her room quickly and gave him a small biscuit box. Indah said 'dad, I have a little money that I will use in the emergency times, which it's now. You can use it, dad...' Andy tried to hold back tears as he held the biscuit box with both hands. He said 'you can pay for your study tour with this money...' Indah shook her head and said 'mom is right. Study tour is not important, but to fill our stomachs with food is. Please take my money, and if one day our family's

economic situation improves, you can take us for a family trip.' Andy nodded and with a shaking voice he said 'I promise you that I will be a successful father you can be proud of. I will do anything for it, even if I have to sell my soul to the demon.' Dian suddenly came out of her bedroom with the t-shirt and pants, and Andy immediately hid the biscuit box behind his back. Dian looked at Andy and said 'we are leaving now Andy. See you...' 'See you dear...' said Andy. He waited for her family to leave and then he opened the biscuit box filled with bills. The money was collected from Indah's daily allowance, which had made her daughter hold herself back from eating in the school canteen even though she was hungry. He held the bills against his face and cried. He hoped that his luck would come soon. Andy went to the meat seller's house and was grateful that there were still some chicken livers left. He bought it with Indah's money and when he arrived at his house he immediately checked the freezer and found that there was still some shrimp left. He used a blender to puree the prawns and chicken liver for the snack for his Bettas. He went to the fish nursery and dropped some of the snacks in the water and he smiled as he watched the fish quickly eat them. How happy he was when he saw the colorful fish were swimming with their beautiful fins and tails among the Hornworts. If the fishes were humans, they would be the graceful dancers. After all the Bettas finished eating the snack, Andy decided to change the water in all the pails. He took a short hose, closed half of one end of the hose with his thumb and then submerged it into the water. One end of the hose was put into his mouth, then he sucked out the air in it and when he felt that water was coming out, he put the end of the hose to the ground and the water came out. He used the hose to suck up the dirt that was at the bottom of the pail and when the water in the bucket was only one-third he moved to another bucket. When he was done, he attached the hose to the faucet and filled the pails with tap water.

Andy took the dried Ketapang leaves from a plastic bag, where the leaves have been cleaned with the salt water and dried in the sun. He removed the leaves' ribs because it would cause the unwanted sap. He put some of those leaves into each pail. The tannins from the leaves turned the water slightly brown but it would balance the pH of the water, could act as natural anti-bacteria, made the fish relax, and made their scales shinier. The two bamboo poles that were used to hold the shade net were removed so that every day the Bettas could bask in the sun for 15 minutes. How proud he was when he saw that his fishes looked beautiful and healthy. But, why were so few people buying them? Were they not special?

CHAPTER 4

THE FISH SELLER

Raksa, the big-boned man was sitting in front of the elementary school of Iwak Village along with other vendors who put their merchandise on the mobile shops made of the wooden boxes tied with the ropes behind their rear saddles. Raksa's shop was made of a wooden box that has lots of nails so that it could hook the clear plastic bags that each had been filled with 1 to 3 Bettas. The school bell had rung. Raksa and the other vendors immediately stood by their moving shops and smiled as they saw the little kids in the red and white uniforms were running out of school. Some children came to the food vendor, some children came to the toy vendor, some children came to the candy vendor, some children came to Raksa to buy the fish. The children paid with their allowance or asked their parents to pay it. Those kids were busy choosing which plastic containing the wild Betta they would buy. 'I want this one because it has 3 fishes...' said a kid. The other kid pointed to a plastic and said 'it does have 3 fishes, but their size is too small. I'm going to take the plastic containing 1 fish because the size is bigger. With this, I'm sure I can win the fish fighting!' The other kid said 'I'm also going to take the plastic with one fish. Let's fight and the loser must give his toy to the winner. I have a new car toy. I'll give it to you if you win!' 'Agree, and if you win I'll give you my toy too!' said another child who bought a fish.

'I'm going to go home and prepare a house for these fishes. Fish fighting is cruel and I feel pity for them!' said a kid who bought one plastic with 3 fishes, then he went home with his mother. 'Coward!' laughed the kids who bought a plastic containing a fish. After the kids paid, they removed the rubber bands that tied the plastic bags and poured one fish into the other plastic. They shook the plastic a little to trigger the fight, then the Bettas glared their gills and attacked to each other. One fish's fin was torn as his opponent attacked it relentlessly. The kids around them were screaming and cheering, and some kids ran to the teacher's room to report about that fish fighting. 3 teachers caught the kids who were fighting the fish and pinching their ears until they cried. ‘I’m sorry madam... I’m sorry...’ cried the kids. A female teacher glared at Raksa and screamed 'why did you let these kids to fight the fishes? Don't you know that is so cruel?!' Raksa replied weakly 'yes madam... I'm sorry.' This big-boned man did not dare to look into the eyes of a woman whose size was smaller than him. He felt like an elephant who was facing a rat. 'From now on you can't sell your fishes in this school anymore!' said a woman who was the principal of the elementary school. Another teacher yelled at the crying students 'by tomorrow you have to take your parents to school because I will tell them your mischief. Now, I will have you punished!' A teacher threw those 2 wild Bettas into the flowing water and then pulled the students' hands to the school field because they would stand in the hot sun until the evening came. Raksa stared at the running water and wondered if he could find some other way to earn money. Raksa drove his bicycle weakly and when he arrived at his house, he saw that his

wife and son were sitting on the porch and peeling the recently harvested nuts. The floor was littered with the soil and peanut shells. One basket was half-filled with the peeled peanut. A skinny boy greeted him with a forced smile 'welcome home, dad...' Raksa nodded and then parked his bicycle by leaning it against the wall. The wild Bettas were let to stay on their plastics because they could survive without food up to 5 days. It was not the time to think about whether those Bettas were hungry or not because he felt so hungry now. Without a smile on his face, he said 'how was your school today, Budi?' 'Fine, dad...' said Budi in a flat tone as he peeled the beans faster. Somehow he knew that his father's mood was not good now. Raksa looked at a skinny woman who had a hunched back and said 'how was the harvest today, Tini?' Tini glanced at him and said 'as you can see, the peanut harvest this year is not that much and I'm not going to sell it to middlemen because suddenly your son is craving for it. Our family rarely get the protein from the meat or chicken, and these peanuts are a good source of protein, so let our family eat these peanuts for ourselves.' Raksa nodded and said 'it's been a while since the rain has come to this village and by tomorrow I'm going to the fields to water the plants there...' Tini said 'because of the drought, this year's harvest only made a little money, but it's ok. As long as I can pay for Budi's tuition, I'm quite happy with it and we can still get some food from our field for free.' 'At least we can still eat. What have you cooked for today?' said Raksa. Tini shook her head faintly and in a trembling voice she said 'I'm not cooked yet because I have to peel all the peanuts we harvested yesterday before they all rot and we don't have the rice...' Raksa's face became tense. He crouched down, picked up the peanut shells and

threw them on Tini's face. He shouted 'then you can get rice at the shops by going into debt! I haven't had the breakfast this morning and now I can't have the lunch either? What kind of wife are you? Even a goat is smarter than you! How eager I am to find a new wife who can serve me well!' Budi hugged his mother who was crying because his father wanted to throw his dirty sandals at her. He said 'dad... not only are you hungry, but I'm hungry, mom is hungry too... but you have to understand that we owe a lot of debt to the shops in this village. We feel ashamed to add more debt. Raksa threw his sandals at Budi's head and shouted 'shame? When you are poor, you can't feel ashamed because it is part of our daily life until we die! Shame won't fill your hungry stomach! If you feel ashamed then you won't be able to live in this cruel world! Starting tomorrow I will look for a new place to sell the fish because that elementary school forbids me from selling again there! The people feel sorrier for the fighting fish than to the people who are fighting poverty like me!' Then Raksa entered the house. Budi chased his father into the house and asked for money to buy rice and Raksa gave all the money he got that day from selling the fishes to those elementary school students. The money was enough to buy half a liter of the lowest quality rice. Budi rushed over to a shop to buy the rice and then asked his mother to cook something for their lunch. When Budi was cleaning the porch with a dull broom, he stopped for a moment and stared at the scattered peanut shells. He was wondering if he would end up like his parents... Being a poor farmer with a serious economic problem. That afternoon, Raksa family ate the rice with cassava leaves that cooked with garlic and chili. It was not fancy but it could alleviate the hunger they felt.

CHAPTER 5

THE OLD GOAT

Dian walked slowly to the parking lot of the shrimp factory and when she saw a black motorcycle with the blue sticker she grinned because she knew it belonged to the factory manager. The moon was shining bright and she felt very tired. While Dian was taking her motorcycle, a gray haired man in his 50s came towards her. That man smiled flirtatiously and said 'Dian... are you going home?' Dian nodded and said 'yes Mr. Wawan... it's already 20.30 now so I must go home now.' Wawan said 'in the last few months you are taking a lot of overtime and you do it almost every day... I saw your attendance report and it worries me because I'm your manager. A beautiful woman like you shouldn't work late at the factory. Don't you know that if you don't get enough rest your pretty face will wrinkle more quickly? It will fade your beauty away... Also, peeling the shrimp is not suitable for a woman with soft hands like this. You're taking so much overtime now. Do you need a lot of money now? What if you spend one hour at my house? I will pay you well 'said Wawan as he touching Dian's hand gently. Dian quickly took her hand away from that manager and gave him a look of disgust. She dared not say anything because if she opened her mouth, all she wanted to say were the inappropriate words which suited him. Wawan gave a nasty smile and said 'we are living in the same village. I can pick you up and drive you home every day if you want. It will save you a lot of money. I heard your husband lost his job about 8 or 9 months ago. It must be very hard for a woman to become the head of the family with the salary that you have. That's why you do the overtime almost every day now...'

'It's not your business. Mr. Wawan! Good night!' said Dian as she jumped onto her motorcycle. Before Dian left, Wawan put a small plastic bag onto her motorcycle handlebar and said 'take this shrimp leftover home so your family can eat it. It is better to be eaten by humans than to throw it away.' Dian quickly said 'thank you. My husband does need it for his Bettas food. Good night, Mr. Wawan.' 'Good night, dear...' said Wawan as he saw Dian driving her motorcycle towards the factory gate. Dian greeted the old man that guarding the factory gate. She said ‘good night, Mr. Tarjo.’ Tarjo said 'good night, Mrs. Dian... 'Then he saw the plastic bag on the handlebars of her motorcycle and said' I often see Mr. Wawan puts the bags on your motorcycle handlebar. I've checked them and I saw the shrimps! ' 'Yes... I don't know why he often give me that...' 'Please be careful of him. You know that he is an old goat! (a term for a man who is still chasing the women even though he is old). He won't give you anything for free!' 'I know, but all he gave me was just the shrimp leftover and my husband used it as a Betta snack. He said that it made the Betta's color be bolder.' 'I see... good night, Mrs. Dian. Be careful.' 'See you tomorrow, Mr. Tarjo...' Then Dian directed her motorcycle towards her house, leaving the shrimp factory where several residents from her village also worked there. Indah was sitting in the classroom with her heart racing even faster as she waited for the teacher to call her name. 'Cempaka?' said the teacher, then a girl with a mole came to her and handed over the money to follow the study tour to Borobudur Temple.

Then the teacher called Indah's name 'Indah?' Indah shook her head and said ‘I am , madam...’ The teacher nodded and then said ‘Harianto?’ A girl with a braided hair who was sitting next to Indah said 'Indah, why don't you follow this study tour? You promised me that we will go together to see Borobudur Temple.' 'I really want to, but you know about the current state of my family's economy...' 'I see. I'll send you a photo and I'll bring you a souvenir then.' 'Thank you, Kartika.' Budi, the son of Raksa who was sitting a row apart from Indah was staring at her continuously. He thought that the girl's name really suited her appearance which was as beautiful as a young national starlet who often appeared on TV. Indah meant beautiful. How happy he was when he found out that this year he could be in the same class with her and now he was sitting near her. He thought that it was destined... The teacher said ‘Budi?’ Budi didn't realize that the teacher had called his name over and over again because he was busy looking at Indah. He returned to reality when a student who was sitting next to him slapped him on the shoulder. He felt shocked and then stood up, which made everyone in the class to laugh. The teacher laughed and said 'are you going to this study tour, Budi?' ‘No, madam... no...’ said Budi with a high voice which made the class laughed harder. The student who sat next to Budi said 'madam, Budi didn't hear you calling his name because he was busy looking at Indah.' Then the class cheered to Indah and it made her so shy then stared at the table.

The teacher smiled and asked the class to calm down. She said 'the students who are not follow the study tour to Borobudur temple are Yudi, Budi, Indah, Joko, and Jati. Indah, you haven't paid the tuition for 2 months. Please care for it because you won't be able to take the 10th grade graduation exam if your parents haven't paid for it this week. Your grades are the highest in this class and I expect a lot from you... and for Budi, I want you to increase all your grades because they are so bad! Ok students, let's start our class...' 'Mom... can you pay my tuition this week? The teacher can't allow me to take the exam if you haven't paid for it, 'said Indah while cutting the tomatoes into squares. 'This week? But my salary will only be paid at the end of this month! Can't your school wait until that day?' said Dian while sautéing the garlic and kale. 'I don't think so... the exam will be held next Monday' said Indah with a sad face. Dian intended to borrow money from her friends, but they were all in the tight budget when the middle of the month was started. They were all the same as her, a poor factory employee. There was only one option that came to her mind and it made her wanted to throw up. She sighed and said 'alright, give me one day and I'll pay for it...' said Dian while taking the cut tomatoes and pouring them into the frying pan. 'Thank you, mom...' said Indah with a smile on her face. 'Today I'll be taking a longer overtime so you and your dad shouldn't wait for me! You both must immediately sleep in your bedrooms after the night has fall. Now let's have breakfast... 'said Dian as she put the sautéed kale on a plate. 'Yes, mom...' Fanny the fat housewife was about to return to her house after she bought phone credit at a shop. She walked with her mother because she was afraid to walk alone in the dark. Quickly he pulled his mother's hand to hide behind the bush. 'Fanny! What are you doing?! ' said her mother, shaking the ground off her knee. 'Shh, mom! Look who's out of Mr. Wawan's house. There is a woman!'

Fanny's mother gasped and tried to see those two people but she couldn't see anything clearly. She said 'maybe his wife is coming back home after she dumped him? That old goat deserves it!' 'No, mom! The woman is not his wife but Mr. Andy's wife! You see? It's Mrs. Dian!' said Fanny with a sly smile that made her round face even rounder. Fanny's mother squinted her eyes and said 'I don't know Fanny... I can't see anything because I am nearsighted! What are the two of them doing at night like this?' 'What else do they do if they don't warm themselves with their bodies?' giggled Fanny. 'Fanny! Don't make a slander!' gasped her mother. 'Oh, mom... look what Mr. Wawan is doing now! 'said Fanny when she saw Wawan took the money from his wallet and gave it to Dian. When Dian took it, Wawan tried to kiss her but Dian pushed him roughly. She said 'Mr. Wawan just gave Mrs. Dian some money and they kissed intimately!' 'Really? Oh, I wish I am having my glasses now!' said Fanny's mother in disbelief. Even though she squinted her eyes for many times she still couldn't see the scene before her eyes clearly. 'By tomorrow, this village will get a hot gossip about the infidels...' said Fanny with a cunning smile in her face.

––––––––

When Dian got to her house, everyone was sleeping as she expected. She entered her daughter's room and sat on the edge of the bed. She kissed Indah's cheek, and as she stroked her long hair, the tears fell in her eyes. She took the money from her bag, took out a small piece of paper, and wrote something on it. She put the money on the small table beside Indah's bed and left a note 'for your tuition, Indah. Study well' upon it.

Dian went to the bathroom. She took off her clothes and sat on the floor with both hands on her head. She felt so dirty for allowing her manager to feel her body. She used a scoop to get the water from a bucket and then poured the water all over her body. She rubbed her body roughly until her skin turned red. She wished she could wash the invisible dirt from her body. When she was done, she put all the clothes in a plastic bag and put them on the handlebar of her motorcycle. On the way to the factory tomorrow morning, she'll dump it. The dirty thing that had happened to her would never happen again! How happy Indah when she woke up in the morning, her mother's promise to pay her tuition had been fulfilled. She happily put the money inside her bag and came out of her bedroom for breakfast. Indah went to the kitchen where her mother was frying the sunrise eggs. She gently hugged her mother from behind and said 'thank you, mom for paying my tuition fee. I can take the exam now. The teacher said that my grades are the best in class and I promise I will do the same again so you can be proud of me.' The tears rolled down Dian's face and she suddenly sat down on the kitchen floor. The fried sunrise egg started to smoke so Indah turned off the stove and said 'mom, what happened? Why are you crying?' Dian closed her eyes and held Indah's hands. She said 'whatever happens, you must finish your high school. Both of your parents are only junior high school graduates so if you complete your studies you will be the first in this family to succeed in having a higher education. If I have a lot of money, I want you to go to university but I'm poor... To pay for your high school is already a burden for me but it's only two more years left then you will graduate and be able to get a job...' Indah nodded and said 'don't worry, mom. After the graduation I'll get a job for me. I can work as an staff in an office or if I can't get it, I'm not ashamed to work in the shrimp factory like you are doing right now...' Dian shook her head because she ed Wawan was the manager in that shrimp factory. She was very confident that Wawan would harass Indah if her daughter worked there. She held Indah's arm and said 'no! You can't work there. You have to find another place to work. Anywhere is fine as long as it's not there!'

'Yes, mom...' said Indah with a confused look. She wondered why her mother suddenly acted strange this morning. Maybe she just wanted a comfort, so Indah hugged her mother gently until the woman stopped crying. Indah greeted Kartika as she entered the class and everyone suddenly looked at her while whispering and it made her confused. Kartika whispered 'Indah, is the gossip is true?' 'What gossip?' said Indah after putting her bag on her chair. 'That your mother is having an affair with Mr. Wawan, the manager at the shrimp factory where your mother is working there! Mrs. Fanny and her mother last night saw your mother came out of his house. She said that he gave money to your mother and then they both kissed affectionately.' Indah held her breath. So that's why her mother was able to give her the money even though her payday was still 2 weeks ahead? Was that why her mother was acting weird this morning and she was so scared when Indah said that she didn't mind working in a shrimp factory? Indah wanted to ask her mother about the truth but she preferred to believe that all she heard was gossip. Her mother was a good woman and always would be.

CHAPTER 6

THE LOTUS POND

Andy decided to get the water flea (Daphnia) for his Bettas' food which was available at the Lotus pond. He took an empty pail and a catcher with the softest net. When he was ing the alley, everyone stared at him and whispered to the person next to them. Andy greeted them and they just nodded. Along the way to the river, everyone else did the same. What's wrong with him? If they're talking about his unemployment status, he's used to it. The Lotus pond was located on the right side of the field belonging to the Raksa family and from this place, his friend also got the water to water the crops. In recent years the fields had been poor because the prolonged summer had caused many flowers to die in the early stages and the bulbs grew slowly because the water evaporated faster even though they had been watered in the late afternoon. Andy brought a sickle with him because he wanted to bring the water spinach (Ipomoea Aquatica) for his family's dinner and the women in his house always liked to have the Lotus flowers as their bedrooms’ decoration. The Lotus pond was also the home for the wild Bettas and from this place, Andy got his wild Betta starter. If the small children knew this place, they might rush into this place but their parents would stop them because washing the clothes that got the sticky mud would cost a lot of time and money. Buying the fish from the fish seller was a cheaper option and the younger generation parents mostly preferred to stay at home, lying on the floor with the fan on, watching the TV shows, or chatting with their friends. Standing in the sun just to catch a few small fish was not a comfortable thing especially for the women who always try to keep their skin

looking fair. As Andy was putting his feet into the pond, the wild Bettas and water fleas swam fast and hid among the tall Lotus stems. He took the net and moved slowly between the lotus stems. He began to collect the water fleas and put them in a pail that half filled with water. The name water fleas suited its small and transparent appearance and for some people, just looking at it could make them felt itchy but the Bettas loved this animal. After finished, he walked deeper into the Lotus pond to take the best Lotus flowers. He gently pushed the tall stems away while enjoying the wind that blew and wiggled the Lotuses' round and big leaves. He only took the flowers that had not shown their yellow core. The flowers that had not yet bloomed because their sweet fragrance would not be gone if he took them home. When he was a child, catching the Bettas was one of his games with Ari and Raksa. The one who could catch the most fish wins, then the fish would be released back into the pond. Andy often won this game. Nothing could beat Raksa in the game of strength. He could pull a fallen banana stem in a long distance without any sweat on his face, even when Andy and Ari were sitting upon it. But Raksa always lost in the game of catching Betta and as punishment he had to dance weirdly. They were happy to see this because Raksa looked like an adult who acted like a kid. Raksa could have gotten the wild Bettas from this place but somehow he could never catch the wild Bettas from this place because it seemed the fishes were afraid of its presence. His attempts to develop the Betta was also failed. That's why he bought them from Andy. The kids would scoop the water with the Lotus leaves and then they raced to get to a point. The winner could pour the water on the loser, but in the end, they would all pour the water on each other. Ari, who was now crazy, was the fastest runner. After they were satisfied playing with the mud, they then bathe in the river. They used to like to drop some water on the Lotus leaf and shook the leaf to

move the water droplet. They were amazed that when the water rolled down the middle of the leaf, it also picked up the dirt and made the leaf clean. They tried to put the muddy water on a leaf but it rolled into a brown water bead and eventually fell into the pond. The Lotus leaf remained pure... nothing could taint the leaf. The wild ducks with green- brownish feathers used to live in this pond. They would hunt their eggs and bring them home so their mothers could cook for their family. The eels also lived here. It could be the size of a child's hand but now Andy didn't dare to stick his hand into the hole like he used to do in the past for fear of a snake living there. It was something he never thought of when he was a child. When the village had more people and houses, the habitat for wild animals had mostly disappeared. He never saw the monkeys, boars, and the wild ducks anymore. This Lotus Pond was left behind because it became the water reservoir so that the villages around that place would not flooded and this pond magically never ran out of water. Andy heard someone was digging in the mud with a hoe. He followed the sound and saw a man in his 70s was digging in the mud and then yanking the tubular lotus's root out. The lotus leaves and stems that had been cut off were behind him but the old man did not touch the flowers. Andy said ‘it’s you, Mr. Pardi...’ The old man turned around and wiped the sweat on his face. He said ‘oh Andy... what are you doing in here?’ ‘I am collecting the water flea for my Bettas' food’ said Andy while lifting the pail with the sickle in it. 'You are collecting a lot of the Lotus roots again. Are they really in high demand? ' 'Yes, the people from the large cities, especially the Japanese and Chinese restaurants are love these roots and sell them as a healthy food. I love these roots too because they're free and I just need a hoe and the sacks to harvest them. Selling them is more profitable than being a motorcycle taxi driver because almost everyone in this village owns a motorcycle or at least a bicycle.'

'So, your business is good now?' said Andy while he looking at the pile of lotus roots beside Pardi. 'Yes. Now, I have a stable income because of this! Every week my customer asks for at least 50 kg of this Lotus root, and when the time is right I also collect their seeds and sell them too. In my time, especially during times of famine, the people used to collect the Lotus roots for food! But now no villagers want to eat this. I feel so happy that the people from the big city are asking for this root and I can make a lot of money from it...' Andy said 'is this root expensive?' Pardi laughed as he pulled a lotus root out of the mud and threw it into the pile of the Lotus roots. He said 'yes. The price of a kilo of the Lotus root is several times higher than the price of a kilo of cassava and most importantly I don't need to care for these Lotuses and can harvest them for free! All I need is a hoe to dig them out!' Andy smiled and said 'your life seems good. I've been in financial trouble since I lost my job at the tempe factory. I don't know what to do to get the money to my family...' Then he looked into a pink Lotus flower which was in full bloom. When the wind blew, some of its petals fell into the water and made the fishes which were swimming under it to run under the mud. The sweet and soft fragrance from the big pink flower gave a calming effect to Andy's mudded mind. He took the sickle from his pail and cut some of the lotus flowers that had not yet bloomed so that his family could enjoy their beauty and sweet fragrance. He put the cut flower in the pail with the water fleas. Pardi said 'hey, Andy... don't cut those flowers. I let them to live so they can produce the seeds...' Andy laughed and said 'I just took some flowers for me! Look, there are still a lot of them in this pond and they can be yours!'

'I have a wonderful solution to your financial problems!' said Pardi with a big smile on his face. 'Realy?' Andy hoped that Pardi would invite him to his business. 'Yes, and it's good for your family.' 'What is that?' said Andy as he walked closer to him. 'Let me marry your daughter! Isn't she going to finish her school within 2 years? Or you can order her to quit school now!' 'What?' gasped Andy in disbelief of what he heard. He laughed hard and said 'look at you, Pardi! You are so old. Even you are older than me. You are more suitable to be his grandfather than to be her husband!' 'Age is not a problem, but money is! I promise I will give her a good life, more than you can give to her. In the end, a girl will only end up in the bed, bathroom, and kitchen. What's the use of education for her?' 'My daughter will be a laughing stock in this village if she marries an old man like you!' said Andy with an annoyed face. Pardi sneered and said 'who cares? The people who are laughing mostly are the people who starve every day. If I were to choose any young girl in this village, I'm sure I can find a wife within a week! As a man, I also have high luck! I married a childless widow who has been divorced 4 times and only I could give her 2 children! I am the only person in this village who can sell the Lotus root at a high price to an outsider and I live well now. I will bring the luck to your family if you let your daughter be my wife!' 'I reject it!' shouted Andy. 'Iwak village is a small village and just like the other girls, Indah will also get married soon after graduating from high school. Who is she getting married to? A boy who just graduated and is having trouble getting a job because of the recession? Even yourself is having a hard time getting a new job! If she were pregnant, could her future husband feed Indah and her child? If Indah marries me, she will be safe. I am old, and my wife has long been dead. My 2 children now live in another city and refuse to see me again after their mother's death. I

feel so lonely... so let your daughter be the flower in my house.' 'You are crazy! I will never let that happen!' shouted Andy while putting the pail near his feet but still holding the sickle in his hand. 'Crazy? Then what is your wife? A hoe?' said Pardi while swinging the hoe in his hand. 'If I gave you money, would you let me to sleep with your wife?' 'What did you say?!' shouted Andy. He felt that his heart was beating so fast. Pardi sneered and said 'so you haven't heard the gossip about your beautiful wife? Last night Fanny and her mother saw your wife come out of Wawan's house. You know him, right? The manager at the shrimp factory where your wife works! Last night he gave money and kissed your wife! What could a woman and a notorious old goat do at night? Your wife must have sold herself because you couldn't give her money. Soon your daughter will also follow in her mother's footsteps, be a hoe! She would let the men to sleep with her, enjoy her youthful body and dig her sweet hole with their sticks. If she...' Andi's mind was filled with the black mud. He swung his sickle at Pardi's head many times. His leg kicked the pail and released the water fleas back into the pond. The last blow made the sickle stuck in Pardi's chest and then his dead body fell on the top of the leaves and stems cuts behind him. Because the Lotus leaves had the hydrophobic surfaces, the blood that fell on them were turned into the red droplets that look like the tears of blood. Andy cried when he realized of what he had done. If he could keep his mind as clean as a Lotus leaf, the mud of evil couldn't be able to tainted his mind. He left his sickle and bucket and immediately ran to his house. After taking a shower, he went to sleep because he felt a sudden high fever.

CHAPTER 7

UNDER THE LOTUS

Andy dreamt of Pardi was chasing him in the Lotus pond. He fell many times into the mud and his heart raced hard. When he tried to run anywhere, all he saw were just the Lotuses. There was no way out of there. He hid among the stems and big leaves but Pardi always found him and ended up killing Andi with the sickle. He woke up from his nightmare and saw that his wife was sleeping next to him. He picked up the phone under his pillow and the time showed that it was already midnight. He was staring at his wife until the dawn was about to come. He was wondering if what Pardi was saying was true. If that's true, his life was miserable. They have been married for nearly 20 years and had a beautiful daughter. The women in his house were the most beautiful in his village and so many men want to taint them. Before the recession came, their life was happy. They always loved to each other and rarely quarrel. He gently stroked Dian's long hair and thinking that even if the gossip was true he would still love this woman. If that's true, she did it because of his inability to make money, not because she was an infidel woman. How could he blame this woman for trying to get her family's needs met? Before he slept yesterday, he thought that the next day he would turn himself in to the police but now he didn't want to do that. If the people find out that he was a killer, he would bring disgrace to his family name. People would insult his family and no man would want to marry a killer's daughter. He was terrified that what Pardi told him would come true. That his daughter would be a prostitute for

a living because it would be hard for Indah to get a proper job because her family would be the outcasts if he was caught. He couldn't let that happen! At dawn, he got out of bed and went to the Lotus pond. There was no one there, such a perfect time to cover his crime. Andy's breathing became heavy when he saw Pardi's dead body on top of the cuts of Lotuses' leaves and stems. The red blood spots had dried and turned into the black spots, making the Lotuses' leaves looked like they were infected with a disease. He closed his eyes and started counting. He had convinced himself when he had reached the number 20 then he had to bury the old man. He counted slowly and with a shaking voice he said '1... 2... 3... 3... no, it's 4 Andy!' and when he hit 20, he opened his eyes and saw a bizarre sight. The wild Bettas were now gathering at the corpse's wounds!' Andy bent down slowly to see what the fishes were doing and realized that they were eating Pardi's flesh. He knew that the Betta was a carnivorous fish. It could eat the shrimps, even the chicken and beef liver but she never thought they could eat the human flesh. A crazy idea crossed his mind. A human clearly ate better than any animals, so human flesh was definitely more nutritious. If he fed his Bettas with human flesh, what would it be? Especially this was the flesh of a lucky man. Could it bring him the luck he had always desired? Andy pulled out the sickle that was stuck in Pardi's chest and emptied his pail that he left yesterday. He started cutting Pardi's flesh and the next minutes, the pail which should had been filled with the water fleas and the Lotus flowers was now filled with the human flesh. Andi only took the flesh in the stomach, legs, arms and cheeks. He didn't want any fat because if it's bad for humans it would be bad for the Bettas too, right? Using Pardi's hoe, Andy made a large mud hole. When he was about to put Pardi's body into the hole, the old man's wallet fell over from his pants pocket. This old man always brought all the money with him because he was afraid the

burglars would raid into his house, but now all the money belongs to Andy's. From the other pocket of Pardi's pants, Andy found Pardi's phone. It was a classic Nokia which had a lot of scratches on the case because Pardi had been wearing it for a very long time. Andy wondered how old the phone was and was surprised that even the water wouldn't turn it off. The old-fashioned phone was so easy to open. Just by pressing 2 buttons, then Andy could see 2 incoming messages. A message came from the Lotus root buyer who said that he would get the Lotus root this afternoon at Pardi's house, and another message came from a friend of Pardi who lived in the same village. He invited Pardi to have fun with the prostitutes in town that night. Andy thought 'the prostitutes? Was Pardi a clean man? How if this man were marrying his daughter and infecting her with his dirty disease? So, this is the reason why his view about how a girl’s life should be was so degrading? Did his wife die from sexual disease? If so, that is why his children refused to see him after their mother's death! This old man was disgusting!' He sent a message to the Lotus root buyer with an apology because starting from today he could not sell any more Lotus roots to him because this morning he was leaving for the city to live with one of his sons because he missed his grandson so much. He replied to Pardi's friend, saying that he had left for the city because he wanted to live with one of his son. He wanted to spend the last days of his life with his family because he had suffered a dirty disease that caused by his dirty habit. Andy wasn't sure if Pardi had a sexually transmitted disease or not, but he preferred to believe so. After he was sure the two messages had been sent, he took the wet bills from the wallet and threw the empty wallet over Pardi's chest. He looked at the wet banknote and thought 'because of these little sheets of paper with some numbers printed upon them, his family life be fell apart...' He buried Pardi with his wallet, phone, and the Lotus roots that Pardi had dug yesterday with the mud.

The Lotuses he cut yesterday had half bloomed and he placed them on the top of the mud grave and thought 'with this, the villagers couldn't throw the mud into his family's face. Let my secret be buried under the Lotus...' After Andy put the sickle under water, near the edge of the Lotus pond, he returned to his house. He would not bring something that was used to kill someone because he believed that that person's spirit would live in that thing and could bring the bad luck to his family.

––––––––

Andy's house was empty. such a perfect condition to do his experiment. His family would ask him about how he got a pail of the red meat if they saw that. He would not be able to provide an explanation and if his family wanted to eat this forbidden meat, how could he find a reason to say no? But first, he went to his bedroom and spread Pardi's wet bills under his bed to dry them. He didn't worry if his wife would find them because during his unemployment time the broom and the mop had become his best friends. Pardi then went to the kitchen and cut the red flesh into small pieces and was surprised that it was easy to cut because it texture was softer than a beef. He wondered if it tasted good too, but the thought of himself eating the meat was enough to make him vomit. He mixed the flesh with the dried fish pellet and used a blender to smooth them into a soft dough. When the reddish dough was ready, he put it into a plastic and cut a small end. He made the long and thin doughs on a tray and dried it under the sun. When it was dry in the afternoon, he rubbed his fingers upon them so that the long dry doughs crumbled into the smaller pellet. Andy named his experiment as the 'special treat'.

For his experiment, Andy took a blue and black crown tail female Betta which had a tail and fins like the frilled Dianthus petals and a red half-moon male Betta which had tail and fins like the rose petals. He put them in two containers and every day, for a month they would be fed with the ‘special treat’ until their time to mate. Usually, the Betta breeders were reluctant to mate two different types of Bettas because the survival rate of the fry was low. But if he's successful, he could probably get a Betta with a new variation of tail and fin. If Andy can do that, he could get a lot of money and fame. When the month was up, he put the pair of fish in a container that had several water lettuces (Pistia Stratiotes) were floating on the surface of the water. After a while, the male fish, which had a bigger and elaborate body, started to flare it gills and spread out its fins. It moved to the left and right, trying to seduce the female fish and then the female fish moved its body to the back and forth. The color of the two Bettas started to turn darker, and they started to 'fight'. The male nipped the female's fins and chase it between the long roots of water lettuce. The male Betta made the bubble nests and they started the mating process. They hooked their bodies together and later the female fish floated to the surface as if she was dead, but then it dropped several white eggs from its stomach. The male Betta scooped the eggs with its mouth and then placed them in the bubble nest. After the mating process was finished, Andy took the female fish and returned it to its school because it was going to eat the eggs. Now the male Betta was protecting the eggs and Andy had to wait a few days for them to hatch. The next day Pardi's wet bills were dry and he hid them in one of the folded clothes in the wardrobe. He couldn't use the money because his wife knew he was penniless. He knew that the right time to use the money would come. Indah scrolled the pictures of the study tour to Borobudur temple that Kartika sent to her phone. The picture of her friends and teachers were posing in front of a stupa and a Buddha statue looked so fun. Kartika's strange pose next to the Bodhi tree which had huge pink flowers on the trunk made her laugh. Another photo was taken with the background that said it was the giant who built the Borobudur but he died in his sleep and turned into a mountain.

Kartika sent her a picture of a key chain with Borobudur miniature then Indah imagined that from the top, the Borobudur looked like a huge board game with its pawns. Maybe that giant used it to play a game, but before it was started he was dead. Some of her classmates rented a horse carriage so they could see the Borobudur temple and the village around it. She sighed because she wished she could go with them. To see the temple which was the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and also one of the seven wonders of the world. But here she was now, lying on her bed and looking up at the rectangle ceilings. The 11th grade midterm had ended, and she got the highest score in her class. The next class would start in 2 weeks and while she was waiting, she had to find some activities. She got up from her bed when she heard the loud sound of the Odong-odong truck (it was a truck modified into a kiddie ride, brightly colored and benchlined) and decided to look for the silk worm for her father's fishes so she would not feel sad anymore. It was better than looking at that photo all day and imagining herself with her classmates all day long. In the past, Odong-odong came almost every day and it made the housewives angry that their children were crying to ask them for money so they could get on that ride. One day the housewives confronted the Odong-odong driver and asked him to only come on holidays because the people living in the village had low income. As she walked out of her house with a pail in her hand, she smiled as she saw the kids and their parents were riding the Odong-odong. Indah took a clump of the red silk worm and shook it against the river water to remove the mud. She didn't feel disgusted when holding something that could scare many girls because since she was a child she always helped her father to take care of his fishes. She walked against the river where a larger silk worm colony existed and then

she met the Raksaa family who were washing their crops by the river. Indah greeted a hunched woman who was washing the mustard. She said 'good morning, Mrs. Tini. You seem busy today.' Tini smiled awkwardly and said 'oh, Indah... what are you doing here? Are you alone?' 'Yes, I'm alone. I am here to collect the silk worm for my father's fish food, 'said Indah as she pointing to the pail in her hand. 'Can I help you, Mrs. Tini?' said Indah while crouching on the river bank. She saw a lot of organic waste that came from the fields of the Raksa family were rotting among the boulders and became perfect food for the sik worm. ‘Could you wash these spinaches, please?’ said Tini as she pointed to the vegetable beside her. 'Sure...' said Indah. Mrs. Tini smiled and said 'I am glad I have someone I can talk to when I'm working in the fields. Usually Pardi was my talk mate when I worked alone, but ever since he went to the town to live with one of his children I can't talk to anyone. Well, but today my husband and son are helping me out in the field so I can talk to them.' 'Oh, so that old man is not living in this village anymore?' said Indah. 'Yes, his best friend who always went out with him each night said so. Strangely, after Pardi's gone, his friend now always locks himself in his house. Sometimes I hear the crying from his house. I don't know what happened to him... Maybe he missed Pardi so much?' 'Mom, can we boil these peanuts for dinner?' said Budi who was carrying a bunch of peanuts in a bamboo woven basket. 'Yes, Budi... We can...' said Tini as she took a basket of peanuts from her son's hand and put it into the river water. She waited until the water had softened the

soil and then shook it to wash away all the soil. Within minutes the peanuts were clean. Budi was surprised when he saw Indah was sitting next to his mother. With a stuttering voice he said 'Indah... what are you doing here?' 'Just like you. I try to find some activities so I don't feel bored at home' said Indah with a sweet smile that made Budi blushed. 'Oh, Indah... Let me help you...' said Budi as he took a pile of spinach and started cleaning it with the river water so he could squat beside Indah. Oh, he never thought he could be this close to the girl of his dream. When he saw his mother and Indah, he imagined that he had married to the most beautiful girl in Iwak Village and now they were washing their crops together. Ami was waiting in line at the factory cafeteria with the other employees for their lunch. She giggled and said to Dian who was standing in front of her 'Dian, today the old goat manager is absent due to illness...' 'Really?' said Dian with a beaming face. 'Yes. I hope he never comes back for good in this factory. His flirtatious nature makes the female employees always feel worried. I'm glad I don't have the big boobs or big butts, or a face as pretty as yours or that he'll be looking at my private parts with his disgusting eyes. Oh sometimes he touches the asses too! I hope that old man dies soon...' 'Amen for that...' 'Amen...' 'Hi, Indah. Welcome in the 11th grade! This is for you, Indah' said Kartika while giving a key chain with a miniature Borobudur temple and a strange hand fan made of bamboo sheets that were shaped almost like the letter S. Two-third of the fan was covered by the brown batik cloth with floral patterns. Indak took the stuff and said 'why is this fan shaped so strange?'

Kartika unfolded that hand fan which then turned into a hat. She said 'look... how beautiful this is...' ‘Wow... what is this?’ 'A folded hat' said Kartika while putting it on her head. 'And you can use it as a fan too...' Then Kartika took it from her head, waved it in her face and made her hair to fly everywhere. 'Let me try it...' then Indah took that fan hat and fanned her hair with it. 'How happy I will be if the next year we can be in the same class again. These 2 years are our last chance to enjoy school life together.' then Kartika took that hand fan and sang like a singer. 'Yes, therefore we must enjoy it...' Indah laughed, but she stopped when she realized that Budi who was sitting a row apart from her was looking at her. She was scared so she took that hand fan and asked Kartika about the study tour. Kartika took her phone and showed her the photos. Budi continued to stare at Indah until the bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom. In Iwak Village there were 2 schools. The oldest school provided the elementary and junior high schools, and the newest school was the senior high school and this caused all of the villagers to get the education from the same places. This was not the first time that Indah had been in the same class as Budi, and she had noticed his strange behavior since she a ong time ago. She didn't dare to complain to him because she was afraid of him. The school was dismissed. When Indah and Kartika were walking out of the school gate, 3 male students whistled at them as they ed. They giggled, laughed and insulted in low voices and called Indah the daughter of a whore. One of them said 'I bet I can bring her to my bed with my pocket money.' One said 'so you're going to pay for her? I can get her for free!' One said 'stop this fight because she's not worth fighting over!'

How Indah wanted to come up to them and screamed that they were rude, useless, and what they said was not true but she did not have the courage to do it. Kartika took Indah's hand and said 'don't listen to them. I know that it just a slander! ' 'I don't believe it. My mother is good! ' 'Yes, she is!' Kartika nodded. At the junction those two friends separated. Indah took a small path that could bring her home faster, and suddenly a black motorcycle with the blue sticker stopped beside her. The driver lifted his helmet glass but Indah couldn't see his face clearly because he was wearing a mask that covered half of his face. But she was sure that he was old and had seen his face. The driver said 'hello, beautiful girl... Are you going home? Let me deliver you to your home...' Indah avoided that man and said 'no, thank you...' Then she started walking quickly. The man chased Indah and blocked the path with his motorcycle. He said 'are you sure, Indah?' 'What do you want?' shouted Indah while getting ready to run in the opposite direction. Her legs were shaking as she held back her tears. That man looked her up and down and then stopped at the breasts area. He held Indah's hand with one hand and then tried to grab her breasts with the other hand, but Indah hit his helmet hard and he released her. He laughed and said 'don't be shy, Indah. You're as beautiful as your mother and you two will sell your bodies for money. Tell me how much you cost... Oh, are you still a virgin?' Indah didn't say anything but she could feel that her eyes were watering. She wanted to scream but her mouth couldn't make a single voice.

'I'd pay more if you are! You just need to spend less than an hour with me and you can use the money to have fun. Come on, Indah... Let's...' 'Go away!' shouted Budi as he throwing the stones at the motorcycle driver. The motorcycle driver turned his vehicle at Budi to run over him but Budi managed to dodge it. Budi threw the stones at him which he kept in his pants pockets. The stones hit the back of the motorcycle driver and one stone made the motorcycle plate slightly bent. The motorcycle driver ran away quickly and Budi shouted to him to never come back. Budi approached Indah who was crying and said 'are you alright, Indah?' Suddenly Indah hugged him and cried loudly. This made Budi believed that one day he could marry this girl. How proud Budi was when he guarded Indah home to her house and met her father. Andy was panicked when he saw his daughter came home crying. He said 'what happened to you, Indah?' 'A pervert wanted to harass her, but he ran away after I threw a few stones at him. Even that person wanted to hit me!' said Budi. 'Is that true, Indah?' said Andy as he stroking Indah's head to calm her down. Indah nodded as her answer then she hugged her father. Andy looked at Budi with a grateful gaze. He said 'I don't know what was the bad thing would have happened to her if you weren't there to save her. I feel very happy because she has a good friend like you...' How happy Budi was when he heard that compliment. He felt that he was accepted by Indah's family. He said with a proud face 'it's ok Mr. Andy. A man should protect the women...' Andy gasped and said 'you are a good young man! Please come into my house.

Hasn't it been a long time since you came here with your father, Raksa?' Budi nodded and said 'yes, when I was little I used to come here often...' Then he quickly entered Andy's family living room. He never thought of being able to enter this house again. The home of the girl of his dream, and the one who asked him was Indah's father. One day he could be his father in law... 'Please take a seat...' Andy said, pointing to a sofa in the living room. 'Please wait here, I will bring water for you...' Then he went to the kitchen. Andy came back with 2 glasses of water and said 'Budi, sorry I can only give you water.' Budi smiled then took the glass 'it's ok sir...' Then Andy said 'Indah, drink this water so you can be more calm.' After Indah drank the water, she felt calmer. In a stammered voice she said 'thank you for saving me, Budi. I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't around... I'm so scared...' Budi nodded 'it's ok, Indah. I'm glad I saved you. That man was evil! He's not only trying to harass you but also wanted to run over me! If he didn't use his motorcycle, I could fight him 1 on 1.' Andy said 'do you how he looked?' Budi said 'no, because he was wearing a helmet and mask to cover his face. I didn't get to see the motorcycle license plate number, but one stone I threw made the license plate slightly bent. Oh, he used a black motorcycle with a blue sticker.' ‘Dad, I am so scared...’ Indah cried again. Budi said 'how about starting tomorrow I'll guard you from school to your house? That man will probably do the same to you again if he has another chance.' Andy said 'no, Budi. Let me do that because right now I have a lot of free time

because I'm unemployed...' 'It's ok Mr. Andy. After I deliver Indah, we can study together. Indah's scores are the best in class, while all my scores are terrible. I want her to teach me so I can get better scores and make my mom happy.' Indah nodded and said 'agreed...' Budi smiled broadly. The things that only he could imagine, had now become real. He said 'thank you, beautiful!' Andy nodded and smiled 'I hope you two will study well and graduate with good grades...'

CHAPTER 8

THE HARVEST

With both hands, Raksa pulled 2 cassava trees like they were just grasses. His son snapped the large and long bulbs from the stems, shook them to remove the dirt then put them in a big bamboo weaved basket. His wife was collecting the cassava leaves which were shaped like a hand with 6 - 8 fingers. If a marijuana saw this cassava leaf, he may think that it was a marijuana leaf because their shapes looked almost alike. In less than an hour, Raksa had uprooted 10 rows of cassava trees and now he was using a hoe for loosening the soil so the new cassava plants could be planted. Raksa broke the stems of cassava into as long as his arm. Crack... crack... the crunchy sounds could be heard up to the main road, then he thrusted them into the soil and then stomped his feet around the soil so that the soil wouldn't run when it exposed to water. Tini uprooted the clumps of lemon grass and she liked the plant because of its strong smell kept the mosquitoes away. She always wore a clothes with long sleeves, pants, and gloves when she dealt with this plant because the long leaves were quite sharp and could cause a wound that looked like a cut when scratched by a paper. When finished with cassava, Raksa pulled the plants which had the large leaves that were shaped like the elephants' ears, taro (Colocasia Esculentum). Budi used a machete to cut the taro bulbs from the stems, then separated the large and small bulbs. The small bulbs would be planted again, while the larger ones would be sold. When Budi was a child, He liked to put 2 taro leaves in his ears and pretended to be an elephant, or used the leaf as an umbrella when it rained. Taro was a cheap plant, but if it exported to the western countries as an ornamental

plant, the price could be soared high due to the transportation costs. Some types of taro could grow up to 2 meters. Raksa said 'Tini... look, a lot of banana plants have died because of the prolonged drought. I have to cut most of them so that the healthiest banana plants can get enough water to grow.' Tini nodded 'this time we can't sell the bananas until the rainy season comes. The crops such as cassava, taro, lemongrass, corn, and sweet potatoes are good. In a few months we will be able to harvest the last peanut and after that I will plant the long bean'. Raksa picked up a machete and knocked down a banana tree in just 4 slashes. His big body had a power that equal to 2 - 3 men and that was why he was called Raksa (giant) by the villagers. He said 'if this dry season continues, I planned to go to the city to work as a construction laborer, but this recession is making everyone to delay their plans to build something new so this year I will be stuck in this village. Tini nodded 'it's ok. You can stay in this village and help me in the fields.' Raksa saw 2 banana clusters that were still green and said 'we can harvest the bananas in 2 - 3 weeks. Only they are the banana trees that bear the fruits among many banana trees that are dying. We are better not selling them because our family needs to eat something other than the porridge and cassava leaves.' Tini nodded 'I see... Who doesn't get tired of eating the same food for years?' Then she tied the stems of the lemongrasses into a big bunch using a thinly cut bamboo stick. 'On the left side of our field there is a river, but the fishes there are small and the thing in abundance there is the silk worm. Unfortunately, I can't eat that. Maybe if I were a Betta, I could eat it as much as I can'. Tini giggled and said 'maybe if our family could live as the Bettas, we would never feel hungry again. Life as a fish is much easier than living as a human.' Raksa laughed as he imagined his family were transformed into the Bettas and then he stopped. He saw the vast field that stood between the Lotus pond and the

river which always provided sufficient water for the field. Actually Raksa could water the banana plants so they didn’t die, but the plants absorbed too much water and watering them was a tiring work. Budi who heard their conversation just smiled. Raksa said 'Tini, do you see it? This field is the largest in the village and also has good water sources. We can renovate our homes and have a better life if we sell them. Our stomachs will never go hungry again.’ Tini laughed loudly and caused her son stopped pulling the sweet potatoes and saw her. She said 'that's what the other villagers thought when they sold their fields, but then? They deeply regret their decision. They had a lot of money to make their house prettier, ate the good food, went for holiday to many places, had fun, but it only lasted for less than a year. After that they had to buy the vegetables and fruits expensively, whereas they used to get them for free from their fields! In the end, something they thought would fill their stomachs, ended up with their stomachs getting hungrier! Their houses may look nicer than ours, but I know some of them are actually hungrier than us. This field still provides enough foods for our family, even though they're only the simple foods! Those villagers’ fields have now turned into the houses and all they can do now is cry in their hearts when they realize their lost. For such a long time, my family always ed down this field from generation to generation and I will do the same. When I die, I will this field on to my son, and Budi will it on to his kid, and so on until the end of the world. I have no desire of selling this field.' Raksa did not answer even though he was annoyed with his wife's answer. Then he cut down a banana plant that was already dying to vent his frustration. ‘Mom! Mr. Dono is coming!’ shouted Budi when he saw a pick up ruck. ‘I’m coming!’ said Tini with a smile in her face. A man who wearing a gray hat stopped his pick-up car which contained piles of crops that were guarded by 2 young men. He got out of his car and smiled at Tini 'good afternoon Mrs. Tini... I come to take your crops...' 'Mr. Dono, thank you for coming... I've been preparing my harvest earlier!' said

Tini as she pointing to the pile of sacks under a tree. Dono nodded at 2 young men then they jumped down from the back of the pickup and lifted the sacks containing Tini's crops onto the car. Dono took his wallet from his pocket and gave money to Tini. Tini counted the money and said 'the money you gave me is less than usual...' Dono said 'it's because currently all the farmers are harvesting the cassava and sweet potatoes at the same time. You know that if the market is overloaded with the same goods, the price will fall because all the farmers will sell their crops at any price before the crops rot.' Tini said in a disappointed tone 'oh, I see. This time I can't sell you the bananas because many banana trees have died of drought.' Dono smiled bitterly when he saw the piles of banana trees that had been cut down and said 'the other farmers also can't sell their bananas this time. That's why the price of bananas is rising. If only the rainy season has come...' 'How much are the bananas now?' 'The price is 2 times more than usual...' 'I have 2 clusters of bananas and I'm going to harvest them in 2 weeks. Their quality is good! Please, come here later to get them and the other crops.' Dono smiled and said 'ok. See you later Mrs. Tini... I have to go to the other fields now.' Then he drove the car from the field. Tini looked at the two young men who sat upon the sacks of the harvest to guard them. That middleman always came from a village to another village, took the farmers' crops, and helped the farmers to sell them to the market. His presence was helpful but also less profitable because he was the one who determined the fixed buying price from the small farmers like herself, but transporting the crops to the market was not a good choice because she didn't have a vehicle to transport them. She saw the bills in her hands and thought that they were enough to pay Budi's school fee and the rest was enough to buy enough rice for a month. Her family

would not eat those 2 banana clusters because they needed the money to buy the groceries. The falling prices during the harvest season were common. She had heard that many chili farmers gave their crops for free to the ing drivers, and even threw the chilies onto the street as a symbol of protest because they were very disappointed with the extremely low price of chilies. Their hard work to produce good quality chilies was not appreciated and now they had stopped growing it. This was one of the reasons for importing the domestic needs and increasing the dependence on the US Dollar.

CHAPTER 9

THE SHRIMP MOUTHS

After Dian finished parking her motorcycle in the factory parking lot, she looked for Wawan's motorcycle and as she expected, his motorcycle license plate was a little bent. How much she wanted to burn Wawan's motorcycle together with the owner. How dare he harassed her daughter! She walked quickly to the factory and saw several factory employees who were unloading the Styrofoam boxes that filled with the shrimp and ice shards from the trucks. They poured the contents of those boxes into the cleaning machine and then the prawns fell into the plastic crates with holes. The employees then poured them onto long aluminum tables which had a conveyor belt in the middle that would deliver the shrimps that have been plucked off their heads to the next group. When they see her, they whispered to the people near them and it made Dian confused. Dian opened her locker and put her bag in there. The lockers did not have a key so that management could make the sudden inspections on employees' belongings. She then walked to the changing area and grabbed a white uniform and plastic apron to protect his clothes. Then she puts on a shower cap and a mask which served to protect the shrimp from mucus, hair, and dandruff. Dian entered the factory area, stood at a long aluminum table with other female employees, and when the people saw her, they whispered to the person next to them. The bell rang and they started to work. They pulled the heads of the prawns and threw them onto the conveyor belt so the next group could divide the shrimps according to their size and quality.

The grade A shrimp which was large and had good quality would be exported abroad. Japan was the main market because that nation loved to use them for tempura and sushi. The lower quality shrimp would be sold at a lower price to the domestic market, and the shrimp leftover that couldn't be sold would be given to the employees. Ami who was standing next to Dian said in a low voice 'Dian, is the gossip true?' 'What gossip, Ami?' whispered Dian as she pulled out a shrimp head. 'That you slept with that old goat manager!’ 'What? Ouch!' Dian's hand was pierced by a sharp shrimp mouth. Even though she was wearing the plastic gloves, it still made her finger bleed. She rubbed her finger over the ice shard and proceeded to pluck the heads of the other shrimps. That's why a lot of villagers giggled when they see her this morning. Even some people shouted her as a whore. Someone had seen her with Wawan that night! 'Is that true, Dian?' said Ami while throwing some shrimp onto the conveyor belt. 'No... it's not true, Ami...'said Dian short. 'Do you know where the rumors come from?' 'That gossip came from Fanny, the fattest and laziest housewife from our village. Actually I have heard that gossip since several days ago when I bought something at the shop. I saw Fanny was gossiping with the other housewives. She said that when she was walking home after buying something from a shop with her mother, they saw Wawan was giving you money, then you both kissed ionately, and even you giggled when Wawan squeezed your breasts! I snapped at her and Fanny said that what she said was true and her mother saw you too. I immediately left her because her round face made me nauseous. A factory worker like me who goes to work in the morning and comes home at night would rather spend time with my family than to deal with a lazy housewife who just spend her time with eating and gossiping. I thought that gossip only exist in our village, and how shocked I was to find out that this morning everyone in the factory is talking about this!'

'Hey, Ami! Stop talking and keep working! Today all shrimps must be finished cleaning by 4 pm!' shouted Wawan the manager they were talking about. 'Yes, Mr. Wawan... 'said Ami short. Wawan took a shrimp whose it head was half peeled and shouted 'look at this shrimp, you didn't peel it clean! We can't export the shrimps like this because our overseas market has high standards! Do your job right or you will lose it!' then Wawan threw that shrimp near Ami's hand then she cleaned the rest of the shrimp head and threw it into the conveyor belt. 'It's done, Mr. Wawan...' said Ami with a calm voice. 'Good... Keep your work good so you can keep your job!' said Wawan as he was looking at the employees who were now working more seriously because of his screams. Usually, Wawan was just walking around the female employees with a flirtatious smile, but today he was pretending to be a serious manager because he was trying to make the impression that he wasn't a bad manager. No one wanted to be the next victim so all employees were now focused on working. Wawan took the opportunity to touch Dian's butt and she bit her lower lip so she wouldn't smack him on his face. No matter how badly the treatment she received, she had to be patient because she was the only breadwinner in the family. When Wawan returned to his office, all employees looked at Dian cynically. One said 'the manager was just pretending to be fierce to cover up their affair.' One said 'usually Wawan only spends his time flirting with young female employees.' One said 'maybe every night she also sells herself on the street.' One said 'sshh, if she really does that, it's because her husband doesn't work...' Ami said 'don't listen to them, Dian. I know the gossip is a lie!'

Dian nodded and thought that the people's mouths were the same as the shrimp mouth that had pierced her finger. Small but sharp... and they hurt her with their words. It is true that she had spent an hour at Wawan's house and she did it because she needed the money to pay her daughter's tuition. If only she had a lot of money, she wouldn't need to sell her body to that despicable man. She prayed that her husband would become rich so that she would not have to work like this anymore. The high school bell had rung. Indah waited for Budi to finish putting his book into his bag so they could go together to Indah's house. The students couldn't believe of what they saw... Why was the most beautiful girl was walking with the ugliest boy? At first, they thought it was just a coincidence, but the same thing happened almost every day. They always giggled when they saw the two of them were walking together. Indah was very embarrassed but she needed someone to protect her, and Budi felt very proud to be able to walk beside the most beautiful girl in his village. After walking for 20 minutes, they arrived at Indah's house. Nobody was home because her mother was working in the factory and her father was probably looking for the silk worm in the river. 'I'll change my uniform first, so please sit down...' said Indah while she pointing to the sofa in the living room. 'Sure...' said Budi happily. Then he sat down on the sofa which had a dull cover. Indah who had changed her uniform to a t-shirt and shorts said 'ok, today let's learn math, then biology. Is it ok?' 'Yes, it's very ok...' said Budi as he staring at Indah's thighs. So these what were hidden beneath that gray span skirt? He would swap his shorts for her skirts if that would make him to see her smooth thighs every day. 'Budi?' said Indah as she looking at her feet. She was worried that something was stuck there but her feet were clean.

'Yes, Indah... yes... Let's start the study...' said Budi shyly. Indah opened her textbook and said 'so... let study chapter 9. Do you understand what's about?' Budi shrugged his shoulders and said 'honestly, I don't understand almost all the subjects that have been taught by the teachers because I'm so stupid and my stomach is often empty so I can't concentrate.' 'I understand how that feels. My family is often starving now... Oh, you just read the textbooks and if you don't understand you can ask me about it.' ‘I may ask a lot...’ 'It's ok. That's why we are studying together now, to increase our scores.' Today Dian was not taking the overtime because she felt dizzy and wanted to sleep quickly. In the parking lot, she saw a plastic bag with the water dripping on the ground was hung on the handlebar of her motorcycle. She knew that Wawan put it there. She wanted to throw it away but when she found out that this time the shrimp he was giving was the grade A shrimp, she decided to take it home for her family dinner. Her fridge was always empty now, and her family had rarely been able to any eat meat for months. They even the eat eggs only once per week, so this grade A shrimp was a luxury for her humble family. Usually she only gets the shrimp leftover which her husband used for the Betta snack. She wasn't sure why this time the shrimp was different. If Wawan thought that in this way he could get closer to her, that would be wrong. Dian Swore she would never go to Wawan's house again. Dian arrived at her house at 4:45 p.m. and her family greeted her with the smiles on their faces. If the villagers and factory employees had heard about the gossip, how could Andy and Indah not know about it? She hugged them and gave the shrimp to Indah so she could cook it with garlic, chili, salt, and bitter mellons.

During dinner, Dian looked at the faces of her husband and children and smiled. She promised to keep them safe.

CHAPTER 10

THE JOBLESS MOTHERS

'Fanny, wake up! Fanny! Until when are you going to sleep?' shouted Fanny's mother to Fanny who was sleeping in a position like she were being attacked by an army. Fanny opened her eyes and in a low voice she said 'what, mom?' 'What, mom? It's already 10.30 and you're still sleeping on your bed? You have to go to the living room because your son is crying now! Why are you so lazy? You never do anything! You can only eat, sleep, watch TV, and gossip all day long! See how fat you are! How I wish that you could turn into a cow so I can sell you for a high price! I'm so tired taking care of your family! You're old now, why do I have to keep taking care of your family? At this hour, I haven't showered yet because I have to cook for your family, bathe and feed your child, wash the clothes, and clean the house! Now go to the living room and take care of your son so I can take a shower! Oh, it's so hot today!' 'Yes, mom...' said Fanny in a slow tone. She went to the living room and tried to calm her son who was crying. ‘Oh... my son... why you are crying? Oh, oh... oh...' Her son threw the biscuit in his hand over Fanny's face and then she picked up the biscuit and ate it. When finished, she opened his son's milk bottle and drank half of the milk. The boy cried even louder when he saw that and started hitting her fat face. Fanny stood while hugging her son and walked to the kitchen because she was starving. She wondered what the dishes her mother had cooked today. She put her crying child on the kitchen floor, took a plateful of rice and took some chicken. She sat on the floor with her son and then he hit the plate then the

fried chicken fell over the dirty floor. Fanny took the chicken quick and immediately ate it with the rice. She enjoyed her brunch while making weird faces to make her son stop crying but it didn't work. 'Faaaaaany! Can you shut up your son? I want to bathe in peace!' shouted her mother from the bathroom. Fanny did not answer because she was busy chewing and thought that this afternoon she would get her lunch with fried chicken again. She hoped that her mother would finish her bath soon so her son could stop crying. 'Tini, are you sure you're going to sell these bananas?’ said Raksa while cutting down a banana tree that had a banana cluster with a machete. 'Yes, because if we don't sell them we won't be able to buy grocery this month. We have to sell them now because the price is doubling. Mr. Dono will come this afternoon to take our harvest... 'said Tini while cutting the lush banana cluster from the fallen tree. Raksa said 'the price of bananas is indeed high, but the prices of cassava and sweet potato are falling.' Tini nodded 'that's why we have to sell these bananas so that the loss money can be gained...' 'So today we are doing our last harvest?' said Raksa while looking at the almost empty field. The sacks which contained the crops piled up under a Jengkol tree to protect them from the sun. Tini nodded while looking at the pile of peanuts being harvested by Budi. She said 'yes, after this we will rest a week so we can do the next planting. I will be jobless this week...' 'Indah...' said Kartika while she opening her lunch box and then offering Indah to take a fried tofu. 'What?' said Indah while taking a fried tofu and a green chili.

'There is a gossip saying that you are dating Budi because you are always come home together. Is that true?' said Kartika while giggling. 'Of course no! You know what happened to me, right? Have you forgotten about the indecent motorcycle driver who harassed me?' 'I know... You need a bodyguard because you're afraid the same thing will happen again. If I were you, I would do the same. The moment I imagined myself in your position, I wanted to cry!' 'Then you know it just a gossip, right!' said Indah as she took the other tofu. Kartika nodded then giggled 'I know it... but isn't it funny if the most beautiful girl in the village has a relationship with the ugliest boy? We can have the Beauty and the Beast of Iwak Village if it's true!' 'No way! I don't have any feeling for him...' laughed Indah. 'But he does! Look, your beasty prince is staring at you under that tree...' giggled Kartika. Indah stopped chewing when she saw Budi was staring at her from the distance. She said 'honestly, he creeps me out...' 'Sure... he's ugly, skinny, and weird... Uh, and stupid too. Maybe it's because his father is abusive... He has no friends and he is totally obsessed with you. He often stares at you during the class, even during the break time. But if he didn't follow you home, that indecent motorcycle driver could a worse thing to you. I don't know if he's good or bad but I hope you can be careful to him.' 'I know...' said Indah as she was pretending not to see Budi. Until her fear was gone, she depended on him to bring her home safely. That indecent motorcycle driver... He knew Indah's name... Indah had a guess who he was! On the next Sunday, Indah walked around the village alone. She greeted everyone she met on the street and said that she was enjoying a holiday in the

village. But, her main goal was to go to Wawan's house. When she would in front of his house, she walked slowly. The front door of his house was closed but his motorcycle was parked on the porch. She walked closer to the house without gates and glared when she saw the black motorcycle with the blue sticker. The indecent motorcycle driver was Wawan! Indah walked quickly to her house and locked herself in her bedroom. She cried because even though she knew the man who harassed her, she couldn't do anything to him. How much she wanted to beat Wawan's face but she could not do that. It was payday and Dian was in line with the other employees to pick up the envelopes containing their salaries at the cashier. She peeped into the envelope and did a quick count. Since she had done a lot of overtime that month, this time the salary she received was a third higher than usual. She thought that part of her salary would be used to pay off her debts at the shops and the other half would be used for Indah's school fee, electric and water bill, and the little money left was only enough to buy the rice and vegetables for her family. It seemed that if she wanted her family to eat the meats, she had to increase the amount of her overtime, but her body won't cooperate. If she usually worked the overtime from 16.00 to 18.00 or 19.00, maybe starting the next week she would be able to work until 21.00. Working every day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. would make her exhausted, but this was the only way she knew to make more money. Ami, Dian's friend waved her hand to her and said goodbye. How jealous Dian was when she saw the other women were able to go home at 16.00. She was like that before her husband lost his job and now she was standing with other women to start the overtime. Could it be that they also had the same problem with her? The women stick a thin needle that have a loop at the end into a shrimp so it could stay straight while they're steaming. In recent days Dian felt that her hands were numb, and her back felt a little sore. The bad mood she feelt now was not because of the pain she had in her body but because she heard from her husband that Indah was being harassed by an indecent motorcycle driver.

How sure Dian was that the driver was Wawan. The culprit wore a black motorcycle with the blue sticker, his motorcycle plate was slightly bent due to a stone throwing, and it happened when Wawan was absent from work... It is certain that the person who hurt her daughter was Wawan! Since she heard about it from Andy, whenever she saw Wawan, she wanted to hit and screamed in his face. The man could harass her but not her daughter! As usual, Wawan walked among the female employees to carry out the inspection. After a few weeks of acted like a dictator and kept his distance from Dian, the gossip about their affair has disappeared. But an old goat will still be an gold goat even though you put the clothes on, and today his real nature returned. As he walked behind Dian, he touched her butt with his hand. Dian was shocked and without thinking she shouted 'stop this, Wawan! I can tolerate every harassment you do to me but I will kill you if you dare to harass my daughter again!' Her scream caused the people to stop working and focus on Wawan. To cover his fear, Wawan said 'why you are screaming, Dian? What did I do wrong?' 'You just touched my ass and it's not the first time you've done that to me and the other female employees. The day you were absent, my daughter was harassed by a man in a black motorcycle with a blue sticker. Her Savior threw a stone and it hit the motorcycle plate and made it slightly bent. Funnily, the same thing happened with your motorcycle plate! If the culprit isn't you, then who? When did you will start to respect the women? No wonder your wife left a jerk like you!' Wawan could not believe that Dian knew what he had done, but moreover, he was even more shocked because Dian had the courage to expose his crime in front of many people. He panicked when he saw the people started whispering and gave him a look of disgust. No! Whatever happened he had to maintain his position as the manager of the shrimp factory so he calmly said 'you're accusing the wrong person, Dian...' Dian took some needles and put them against Wawan's face. She rolled her eyes and said 'I'll put them into your nasty eyes if you dare to touch my daughter

again... and any woman! Now, go away from here you old goat!' Wawan quickly ran away from the factory line, and the employees applauded and praised Dian for her action. Many women said that they wanted to do the same to Wawan but they could not possibly do that because it could cause them to lose their jobs. After she finished her overtime, Dian went towards her locker to take her belonging but before she could do that, Wawan came with 2 security guards. She glared at Wawan, wondered if that old man wanted to do his revenge on her. One security said 'good night, Mrs. Dian... we are here to check your locker.' 'Sure. Just check it...' said Dian as she took a few steps back so they could check ther locker. She stared at Wawan who smiled slyly at her. Uh, Dian knew that he's up to something to her. When the security guards took Dian's bag, there was a large black plastic bag under it which dripped the fishy water on to the floor. Dian rolled her eyes when she saw that wet bag and wondered what it was. Who was the one who put it there? A security guard opened the black plastic and showed a bunch of the grade A shrimps in it. How come it's in her locker? One security guard said 'Mrs. Dian, can you come with us to the office? You're under arrest for stealing the shrimps from the factory.' Dian gasped and said 'what? I never did that! I've never stolen anything!' The other security guard said 'don't you often bring the shrimp home? The man who is guarding the gate and parking lot said that...' Dian said 'yes, I did bring the shrimp leftover home, but that's because of Mr. Wawan gave it to me... and isn't it really permissible for the employees to take the shrimp leftover because they will be dumped?' A security guard said 'but this is not a shrimp leftover, but grade A shrimps!' Dian said 'I don't know about this grade A shrimp! Maybe Wawan put it inside

my locker after I exposed his crime towards women!' Wawan shouted 'I never gave you any shrimp, you stole them! You are not only a thief but also a liar! You told a lot of lies about me!' 'You called me a thief? Don't you often put a bag of shrimp on my motorcycle handlebar? Mr. Tarjo knows about this! Why are you lying?' shouted Dian. 'I don't know what are you talking about... I asked Mr. Tarjo and he said he never saw me do that. These 2 security guards are the witnesses!' said Wawan while glancing at the two security guards who were looking down on the floor. Dian realized that Wawan had threatened them all. One security guard said 'let's settle this quarrel at the office. Mrs. Dian, could you follow us, please?' 'Yes. I'm not afraid because I've never stolen anything from this factory!' then Dian followed them to the office. In the office, Wawan gave a sheet of paper to Dian and said 'now you have to sign this...' Dian said 'what is this?' Wawan sneered and said 'because you have stolen the grade A shrimp, threatened me with sharp objects, and made a false slander to me, you get this termination letter.' Dian shouted 'what?' 'Before you sign it you can't leave this office!' Dian shouted 'no! I'm innocent so I won't sign this letter!' Wawan said 'for your good, you better sign this...' 'You bloody old goat, how dare you to do this to me! Everyone knows that you are an indecent man. A old goat! Why don't you get this termination letter, but a poor employee like me who's trying to defend herself? Why?' shouted Dian

while she was crying. The security guards dared not to see her face because they knew that she was innocent, but Wawan's important position in the factory made them not dare to fight him. Wawan said 'Dian, your behavior is rude and if this factory detains an employee like you then the other employees will follow.' 'No! this is not fair! Not fair at all!' screamed Dian. 'Come on, Dian... this factory management is kind. The management will give you 6 months 'salary as the compensation' said Wawan. ‘No, please don't do this... I have a family to feed...’ begged Dian with the teary eyes. Wawan grinned and said 'you just sign this letter and we'll let you go with a good compensation. Another option is you go to prison and not get any compensation. So, which one do you choose, Dian?' Dian signed the letter and that night she got the biggest money she ever received in her life. But she preferred the small but sustainable amounts of money than to get a large amount of money which she only received once. Before leaving that office, Dian glared at Wawan and said 'one day you will get a revenge from me...' Wawan gave a mocking smile when he heard that. He took the termination letter and laughed out loud. The two security guards beside him could only stare at the floor with sad faces. Dian took a motorcycle from the parking lot and greeted Tarjo who was guarding the factory gate. She said 'goodbye, Mr. Tarjo. This is the last time we meet in this factory...' Tarjo gasped and said 'why?' 'Today I had a fight with Wawan and he set up a trap. He put a bag of the grade

A shrimps in my locker and said that I stole it. He also said that I often steal the shrimp leftover which he used to put on my motorcycle handlebar but you know I never do that, right?' Tarjo gasped and said 'I know that is not true, Dian. I often see Mr. Wawan put those bags of prawns on your motorcycle handlebars! I will testify now!' Dian was shocked. So Wawan didn't threaten Tarjo? If she had insisted on calling him as her witness, she wouldn't need to sign the termination letter. She said 'you don't have too, Mr. Tarjo. This is too late. I wish I can get another job soon for my husband is not working now...' Tarjo cried and said 'I am so sorry that I couldn't help you. I wish you the best, Mrs. Dian...' Dian nodded and with the tears in her eyes she took one last look at the shrimp factory where she had worked for decades. How could she provide for her family now? When Dian arrived at her home, she was fainting when her family greeted her.

Dian woke up in her bedroom and saw her family was smiling at her. 'What happened, Dian? Are you sick?' said Andy as he massaged her hand. Dian cried and said 'the factory fired me...' 'What? Why?' said Andy in disbelief. 'Wawan... that manager set a trap for me. He put a bag of shrimp into my locker and made a story that I stole it.' Andy shouted 'how could he do that! I will go to his house now and ask him to cancel his...' Dian held his hand and cried 'It happened because I pointed the shrimp needles against his face. I did that because he harassed me. It happened not only once, but several times and he did it to the other female employees too.' 'You threatened him?' ‘Yes...’ ‘I like this... he deserves it!’ laughed Andy. 'But I lost my job... today I feel exhausted and when he touched my ass I threatened him spontaneously. I should had maintained my patience so that I could keep my job. Now what should we do?' then Dian cried. Indah said 'mom, do you want to drink some water?' Dian nodded and Indah went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. 'Andy, I want to confess something...' said Dian. 'What?' 'The motorcycle driver who harassed Indah was Wawan and this caused me to rampage at him today, and the gossip that I slept with Wawan is true... I did it once to pay for Indah's

tuition. Now, you must look down on me. I am so sorry for what I did...' Andy hugged her and cried 'I'm the one who should apologize to you. As a woman, you shouldn't carry this burden! I am sorry that I am can't be a good head of the family. I am sorry that you have to work late every day and face that damn manager. You are my wife, you should not me and Indah because that is my job as a husband. I am sorry for everything... You are the greatest woman I ever have...' 'Mom... this is your water...' said Indah as she entered the bedroom. Dian drank the water then Andy said 'now take a rest, Dian. You should sleep now. I promise everything will be fine...' Dian nodded then she slept. Andy went to his fish nursery and prayed that they would bring the good luck to his poor family. Indah went to her bedroom and lay on her bed. Actually, Indah overheard her mother's confession because she was standing outside the door of her parents' room. If it wasn't to pay for her tuition, her mother wouldn't have to sell her body to that disgusting man. Suddenly she ed the incident when the motorcycle driver harassed her. Her guess was correct. Wawan was her harasser! For days she tried to the faces and voices of all the villagers and the only match was Wawan but she wasn't sure because it happened during the working day. He should had been working at the shrimp factory, but her mother's confession made her guess clear. How could that old goat have caused so much trouble to her family? She hoped that the old goat would be roasted soon! Raksa went to another elementary schools to sell his Betta fishes but he was not allowed to sell there because the schools forbade the fish fighting. The children might buy it for a pet, but you never know, right? Young children were the easy buyers because older students preferred to spend their pocket money on buying

the internet credit so that they could fight someone online. He tried selling on the wet market but his luck to sell the wild Betta was so low. Women preferred to use their money to buy the foods instead of buying a few small fish.

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One evening, Indah knocked on her parent’s bedroom door and said ‘mom... your friend is here...’ ‘Who?’ said Dian who was lying weakly on the bed ‘This is me... Ami...’ said Ami as she entered Dian’s bedroom. She hugged her friend and cried. 'I heard of what happened to you last night at the factory... That old goat is outrageous! He's the one who made a lot of mistakes but why were you the one who got fired?' 'It already happened, Ami. I don't want to think about that anymore. It really hurt me terribly...' and Dian started to cry. 'The factory without you feels very different, Dian. I miss it when we stand side by side peeling the shrimp heads. We often tell the funny things, right? I miss us queuing up in the canteen...' Dian giggled and said 'at least we still live in the same village so we can still meet often...' Ami nodded and bit her lower lip 'now it must be so tough because you and Andy have lost your jobs. I might just be able to help you a little and pray that your life can be better.' 'My family's life will definitely be fine, Ami...' said Dian weakly. She was unsure about her family's future but she prayed that her family could have the best because they had Indah that they had to look after.

CHAPTER 11

BETTA FEVER

The eggs of the Bettas which ate the 'special treat' had hatched into the transparent fry. Andy would have to wait at least for 8 weeks until he could see the final result of his experiment. He wondered what color and shape those fry would have and really hoped he could get a new Betta variety. He fed the fry with the silk worm, water fleas, and the 'special treat'. Week by week, gradually the transparent color from the fry has started to change. It was started with some spots of colors that slowly spreading to all over their bodies. Those young Bettas had the same colors as their parents which were red, black, and blue. Some fish were mono-colored and the others were multi-colored, but their color was deeper and more vivid than the Bettas which never ate the 'special treat'. In the ninth week, Andy filled 2 pails with the water because he would separate the fry by their sexes or they would breed wildly when they reached maturity. He was so glad when he saw the bright colors of the Betta in his palms. They were the finest Bettas he's ever seen and he's planning to sell them in the next 3 weeks. He was so sure that his fishes would get a lot of buyers. He stopped for a moment when he saw a solid red Betta in his palm had something on its fins and tail. He thought it was the water lettuce root that got caught but when he looked closely, it turned out that the fish carried the characteristics of both its parents. That Betta had the tail and fins in the shape of the rose petals and on the outside it also has a red tail and fins with blue tips that are shaped like the frilled dianthus petals. This fish was the new Betta variant that he really wanted. Finally, he got it! How happy Andy was when he found out that from the hundreds of fry, he got 8 fish with the same characteristic. He named that new variety as 'Blasteran' which was taken from the word which means a result of mixed breeding from 2

different types. As he hoped, his new types of fish quickly got a lot of attention from the Betta lovers. All the fish had been sold in 2 months, and Dian helped him to pack those fishes into small clear bags and took them to the courier service in town. Dian laughed and said 'I can't believe that in the end your efforts to become a betta fish farmer are finally successful, Andy! So many people are scrambling to get your fishes, they even call you in the middle of the night when you're sleeping!' then Dian parked her motorcycle on the front porch. 'I'm sorry, Dian. I just got a new order from another city. Can you take them to the courier service now? I've finished putting 20 Bettas into the clear plastic bags' said Andi while pointing to a box on the porch. 'Now? But I just came back from there!' said Dian as she opened her jacket. 'The distance from here to the delivery service is only 15 minutes, but the sun is very hot today and the lines were very long. So I'm going to rest for some minutes...' 'Fortunately, I have stock of Bettas that have been fasting all day and the buyer will pay more if we can deliver them today.' 'Why did you get your fish to fast?' asked Dian while lying on the floor. 'To prevent them from pooing on delivery. The fish waste contains the ammoniac which produces carbon dioxide which in turn will make the fish die because of its own shit.' Dian fanned her red face and said 'it's so hot today! Andy, can you go to the delivery service? I haven't had a drink since morning...' Andy pointed at the fish nursery and smiled broadly. He said 'the other fries just hatched and I have to catch the silk worm for their food immediately because it is out of stock!' 'Really?' said Dian with a bright face. She ran to the nursery to see those transparent fry.

'I can't believe a few months after I lost my job and was very worried about our future, these fish could solve our family's economic problems. I used to be so afraid that our family could no longer eat. I'm so worried that Indah can't finish her school... I'm so happy that you can now focus on your fish farming business and I can help you to deliver them.' Andy held Dian's hand and said 'in the next months I will give you another surprise... No, the Betta lovers another surprise.' 'What?' 'The Blasteran’. 'What is that?' 'I will tell you later...' After cleaning the nursery, Indah washed her hands with tap water and said 'mom, give me the motorcycle key. I will go to the delivery service because you haven't cooked for our lunch.' 'Gosh! I forget about it! 'Then Dian ran to the kitchen and began to cook. 'We are now very busy... we even forget to eat' said Indah, taking a box filled with Bettas from her father and tying it behind the motorcycle seat. 'Yes, but isn't it good?' said Andy. 'Awesome!' said Indah with a sweet smile then she drove the motorcycle away. Andy whispered 'wait until the next months... you won't have time to pee...' Andy waited until his Blasterans were completely mature so he could show them off to the world. At first, many people did not believe of what they saw until Andy showed their close up videos. Many people were fighting to get those Blasterans but Andy refused all the offers despite of the high offerings because his target was to win the National Betta Championship. He was so sure that he could win that competition and if that happened the price of his Bettas would skyrocketed.

Andy was confused about where he got the money to pay for his trips to other cities to enter the regional Betta competitions. He had money, but everything was given to his wife to buy their daily needs. Suddenly he ed of Pardi's money. With the money from the man he had killed, he was finally able to follow the competitions. He lied to his wife and said that the Betta community had financed his journeys. As he predicted, his Blasterans easily won all the regional championships, even the national championships in capital city, Jakarta. The Betta community sent his Blasteran to compete in the international championship and won too. One buyer offered Andy enough money to buy a new car but when Andy told him that he had a female fish with the same variant, that buyer tripled the money. When Andy sold the pair of Blasteran, he became the richest man in his village. On a bright Sunday, Dian went into a shop and there were many housewives who were buying their daily needs. Dian said 'hi, Mr. Pino, could you deliver a sack of rice to my house now? I want the rice like usual...' 'Sure, anything else you want to buy, Mrs. Dian?' said Pino. '2 gallons of water. Give me the best water you have.' Then Dian took the money from her wallet and gave it to the shop's owner. Fanny who was standing beside Dian rolled her eyes when she saw a pile of money in Dian's wallet. She never thought that that woman's life could change 180 degrees. The shop owner smiled as he took the money and put them in a drawer. Pino said to a woman beside him 'dear, dear, you take care of this shop, I must go now ...' Then he lifted a sack of rice with a weight of 25 kg over his motorcycle and after he finished with it, he would return to his shops to deliver 2 gallons of water. Fanny faked a smile and said 'oh... Mrs. Dian... long time no see. I heard that your husband has become a successful Betta breeder now?'

Dian stared at Fanny for a few seconds before she forced out a smile. She nodded and said 'yes, he has...' A woman in the blue house dress said 'how nice for you to be Mr. Andy's wife, Mrs. Dian. You can buy whatever you want, you even now have a new motorcycle...' Dian said 'my family used to live so hard, even every day we only ate the rice and vegetables without any meat. Even eating the eggs could only be done once a week, so after all that hardship isn't it appropriate for my family to live well now?' The housewives nodded and said they agreed with Dian. Fanny said 'I heard that the price of one Betta that your husband sold is so expensive that you can buy a house. I have a son. Can you give me the cheapest Betta for him? For free, of course... He would be happy if he got that!' 'Your son is 4 years old, Fanny...' said another woman. Fanny giggled and said 'I know... but the kids like the something expensive, right? Ah I mean something pretty, right? So can you give one Betta to me, Mrs. Dian?' 'I'm sorry but I can't give something that belongs to my husband for free...' said Dian with a sweet smile. But she thought 'how dare this cow to beg me after what she did to me... Why should I give that precious fish freely to a shameless person like you?' Fanny sweetened her voice and said 'I know, but you're his wife so you can definitely ask your husband to give me one of the cheapest fish...' Dian giggled then saw Fanny in her eyes and said 'the cheapest fish is more expensive than a 25 kg sack of rice.' Fanny gasped and said 'really?' Dian nodded and said 'yes. By the way, do you know what you can get for free in this village?'

'What is that, Mrs. Dian? ' Fanny's face lit up because she thought Dian would give her a free Betta. 'Your cheap gossip...' then Dian left the shop on her motorcycle with Pino in tow. A wide smile appeared on Dian's beautiful face when she heard the housewives were laughing and mocking Fanny. Finally, Dian said what she wanted to say to the woman she hated the most in Iwak Village. The gossip about her affair with Wawan had disappeared when the villagers heard that Dian had lost her job because she had threatened Wawan with the shrimp needles. People thought that Fanny was just making up the gossip and her mother couldn't defend her daughter because that night she could not see Dian and Wawan clearly because she didn't wear her glasses. Many people were trying to follow Andy's path to become a successful Betta breeder, and lately 3 boys were always following him wherever he went. They even followed him down to the Lotus pond where he used to get the water flea. Out of fear that someone would find the body that he kept there, he went to the river and caught the silk worm. After finishing, Andy immediately went home and saw those 3 boys were running towards the river and catching the silk worms. Since his finance was getting better, every noon Andy was always brought the food and water for Ari's lunch. Sometimes he could find Ari in the same place which was on the main road of the village. If he couldn't find Ari, he would put the food in the same place and hoped Ari would eat it. Unfortunately, most of the foods were eaten by the street cats. He wanted to bring Ari to his house and hopes that he could make his childhood friend back into normal but Ari always screamed when Andy brought Ari to his house. One Sunday, when Andy was looking for the silk worm in the river with Indah, 3 boys who often followed Andy came over to them. With a smile on his face, a boy said 'good morning, Mr. Andy...' 'Good morning...' said Andy with a gentle smile.

Another boy said ‘it is such a coincidence that we meet here...’ 'No, this is not a coincidence because you 3 are always following my father, right?' said Indah as she put a pail full of the silk worms near her feet. The other boy laughed and said 'oh, Indah... nice to meet you.' Indah looked at the three of them with a flat expression and it caused them to be scared. One boy said 'uh, Mr. Andy, we are Indah's school mates. We heard that you have become a successful Betta breeder. We would be happy if you would share the secrets of how you developed a special Betta.' The other boy said 'and we will be happy if we can get your Betta...' Indah said 'my father's cheapest Betta fish is equivalent to several months of tuition. Give me the money first then I'll take them to school tomorrow!' 'What? The tuition for several months? It's too expensive!' gasped a boy. The other boy said 'we are just poor students, it's impossible we can buy it...' Indah harshly said 'you once said that with your pocket money you can make me sleep with you right? Does that mean that you are rich or that you think I'm a cheap girl? ' 'What did you said to my daughter?!' shouted Andy, glaring at the three young boys. One boy with a shaking voice said 'I am sorry, Indah... We were just joking and...' Then Andy took the pail containing the silk worm and watered them over them. The three of them screamed in fear when they saw red things were sticking to their bodies and then they fled from the river. Andy shouted 'if you dare to do that again, I'll come see your parents and make sure you can't eat for a month!'

‘I am sorry, Indah... I'm sorry!' screamed one boy. Indah screamed 'don't you ever follow my father again! Cowards! ' 'I'm sorry, Mr. Andy! I won't do that again!' screamed a boy. Indah looked at the empty pail and said 'dad, we have to catch the silk worm again.' Andy smiled and said 'but I feel satisfied that I had made them run scared...' Indah nodded and said 'yes, me too...' When her father told his family about the 3 boys who often followed her father around, Indah ed the 3 students who had insulted her. The three of them were well known as the trouble makers at school so Indah was not surprised by what they did to her father. If the people asked Andi what the secret to his success was, he would tell them about the brand of pellets and vitamins he gave to his Bettas and it caused them to run out quickly in the market. He paid more to make sure that the shop owner would keep those items in stock for him. His wife and daughter's skins became darker because in a day they can go 2-3 times to a delivery service in the town. They were tired but very happy to be able to help Andy. Now, money was not a big problem for this family. The river was now often full of the people who were hunting the silk worm because they guessed that Andy's secret to getting a special Betta lied in the natural food... and it was so right. The best food would produce the best fish, right? But they would never be able to make the best food like Andy did. No one could make the 'special treat' as he did. The ingredient was not rare. It was everywhere even you had it, but it took a demon's gut to make the 'special treat'. Andy decided to breed the silk worm and water fleas in the large pails and that made no more space left in his front yard. Even his wife found it difficult to park the motorcycle.

Those wild animals should be easy to breed because they only needed the cabbage as their food. Now Andy didn't need to get under the sun and could focus more on taking care of his family and fish nursery. 'Andy, my friend... you've become a successful person now' said Raksa when he visited Andy's house. 'Raksa! Long time no see... how are you?' Then Andy turned off the water from the tap because he had just finished changing the water in the nursery. 'I am good... I'm sorry I haven't visited you for a long time because my family was busy planting the new crops in the fields ....' 'I know that! Do you want to buy the Betta fish?' when Andy ed that he still had the wild Bettas which he still took care of because they reminded him of his childhood. 'No, Andy, I've stopped selling he fish for months because the schools forbade me from selling there. I tried selling at the wet market but there were very few buyers because the visitors to the place were the women who didn't care about Betta. I wanted to go to town to become a construction worker but the constructions has stopped due to recession. When everyone is having a hard time, only you can become a rich man, Andy! I am only a poor farmer. I'll never be able to buy that one of your expensive Betta...' Raksa laughed as he shook his head. 'I'll give you some pair of my ornamental Bettas if you want to...' 'Really?' 'Yes. You're allowed to pick up a few pairs now!' Andy said as he took some clear plastic bags and handed them to Raksa. Raksa gladly went into the nursery pails and said 'so, you will give me the Blasteran?' Andy gasped and said 'Blasteran? No. I'll give you the ordinary ornamental Bettas. Blasteran is too precious... but believe me the fishes in front of you are great too. Look at their colors... Have you ever seen a Betta with the striking colors like them? So many people want to buy them. If I their photos to

social media now, I'm sure I can sell them in less than 10 minutes. Raksa, you're my friend. I allow you to choose any fish you want before I sell them!' Raksa laughed hard and said 'I see... It's ok, Andy. I'm glad I can get your fish for free while the other people pay a fortune!' Then he picked up a soft net and scooped some pairs of the ornamental Bettas. 'Ok, this is enough... I hope I can get the same luck as you and can be a rich Betta breeder.' 'I wish you the best, Raksa...' said Andy as he patted Raksa's back. But he was sure that no one could breed a unique Betta as he did. They did not feed their fishes with the ‘special treat’. Raksa's effort to breed a special Betta was fruitless. All of his Bettas were beautiful and could be sold at a high price, but he didn't manage to get a special Betta like Andy did. He threw a Betta in his hand onto the ground and made the poor fish floundered. His scream caused his wife and son to immediately run to the side yard to see what had happened to that big-boned man. 'What happened, Raksa?' asked Tini when she saw her husband throwing a fish on the ground. 'Dad... what are you doing?' said Budi, picking up the fish that floundered on the ground and put them in the pond. His heart was racing when he heard his mother suddenly cry as Raksa pushed her onto the dirt floor. ‘Stop... please forgive me... Oh! Please forgive me... What did I do wrong?' cried Tini while protecting her head from Raksa kicks. 'Why did I fail to get a special Betta like Andy? Why I am fated to be poor?' screamed Raksa. 'It's not my fault! You know that...' cried Tini. Raksa crouched down and then grabbed Tini's hair harshly. With a look full of anger, he looked at his wife's face and body then said 'look at this ugly face... this hunched body... You are not 40 yet, but you look like a grandmother! Ugly... you are so ugly! If I did not marry an ugly woman like you, maybe my fate will not be this ugly! You bring a bad luck to me!' screamed Raksa.

'Then, why you married me?' cried Tini, who was lying in the fetal position. Budi protected his mother's body and he was hit in the shoulder and head. He cried 'dad, please stop this...' Tini shouted 'answer me Raksa, why did you marry me?!' Raksa screamed 'because your family owns the biggest farm in this village! I always ask you to sell it so we can have a better life but you insist on keeping it as hereditary. Our life is so bad, why don't you want to sell it?!' 'Even if I die, I'll keep the field! It's a family land that will never belong to anyone else!' shouted Tini. 'Then you will die' screamed Raksa while kicking his last kick towards Tini's stomach and it caused her to groan loudly. Budi screamed 'why can you be so cruel, dad? Help! Help!' shouted Budi to the neighborhood. He hoped they would help him and his mother. He was terrified when he heard his mother's agonized groan. 'Did you say that I'm cruel? I am like this because this world is cruel to me! I've never have a good life and whatever I do often fails!' shouted Raksa. The commotion at Raksa's house caused the neighbors to come out of their houses and wondered what was going on inside that house. None of them dared to enter the house. 'That's not an excuse so you can vent your anger on us. If only you weren't around, our lives would be better!' shouted Budi. Raksa glared and shouted 'Ok! Listen to me. Someday I'm gonna leave this house and get a young woman as my wife. A young woman who always obey me, unlike your unruly, ugly and hunchback mother!' Then Raksa left the house and glared at his neighbors who were trying to peek at the commotion at his house. The neighbors immediately fled and returned to their houses when Raksa walked towards them. Budi took his mother to her bedroom and asked her to lie on the bed which was covered with the old bed cover that had

many patches on it. He put the liniment oil all over her mother's body to heal her bruises and massage it gently. None of the neighbors came to help out of fear that his father would be angry. Fanny, the mother of gossip didn't even dare to say anything about Raksa's behavior because her motto was when the unmarried people did indecent activities, it was my job to judge and made sure they did the right thing. So were you in a dark place with someone who was not your partner? I would remind you with my mouth. I would spread the gossip about you, and of course, I would add the lies to spice it up. The more, the merrier, right? But when a married couple had domestic violence, as a good neighbor I had to shut my mouth because it's not a good thing to take care of other people's household matters. Who was I to judge them? Every couple had their own style in building their household, right? If a domestic violence occurred, I saw nothing bad, I heard nothing bad, I spoke nothing bad, especially if your husband was a big-boned and fierce one. I could become a bread dough filled with the bad fat if I fight him! The news about Andy getting rich because of a pair of a new Betta variant had caused a fever not only in the Iwak Village but all over the place. The recession might cause a bad effect on this country, but the Betta hobbyists would not care to spend money on what they loved. Now Andy also got many buyers from abroad. Andy asked Indah to translate their emails and replied to their email in English and that made these foreign buyers were even more interested in buying his Bettas. Some of the burglars tried to steal Andy's Blasteran but he was lucky because the neighbors saw them before they started the action. Their screams caused the burglars to run. To prevent the people from stealing his valuable fishes, Andy was building a new house on a large piece of land where he also built the permanent cement pools so he could breed more Bettas. Even he made 2 large pools so he could breed the water fleas and silk worms to keep the food quality high and disease free. Temporally his Blasterans occupied the living room. When the morning came he

would take them out and when the evening came he would take them into the house. To make them safer, he put the pails into the boxes and then put them under the chairs. Nobody would have thought that he would protect his fish this way. Budi’s mother cried when she saw her son’s report book that had a lot of 5 and 6. She hugged him and said 'I can't believe you can get these scores! Usually, I only see the line of fours in here!' Budi smiled proudly and said 'it's because I have studied with Indah, mom...' Tini said to Raksa 'you must see your son's report book... Budi's scores are improving!' Raksa laughed and said 'what the point of good scores if in the end he will only take care the field? I will go to the field to water the plants... bye 'then Raksa left his family. Tini said 'you must not listen to your father for I am so proud of you!' ‘Yes, mother...’ said Budi with a faint smile on his face.

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'Dad, when can we start moving into our new house?' said Indah as she put the fried beef upon a plate of the rice. 'Maybe 2 months later... The contractor said so. Soon we will have a good house for you and my Bettas...' said Andy with a smile as his wife put the rice on his plate. 'Oh, wait... I almost forget about something!' Then Dian went into her bedroom and hid something behind her back. You are currently on break for your 11th grade mid and we’re so happy with your good scores. To celebrate it, we are giving you this as our present...' Then Dian gave a small box wrapped in the

gift paper. Indah opened her present and how happy she was to get a new android. She hugged her parents and said 'thank you, dad... mom... I love this present so much! I will study harder so I won't disappoint you!' Andy nodded 'good, then you can enter the university after your graduation.' 'Who? Me? University? 'Gasped Indah. Dian nodded and said 'yes... Our economic situation is very good now because the Bettas sales are very in demand, so our plan for you is that you will be the first person in this family to go to university. This is your parents dream, to see you in the toga...' Indah cried. She always wanted to go to a university but she buried her dream because her parents were poor. But now, she can make her dream came true. She nodded and said 'thank you, dad, mom... I am so happy!' Andy said 'you did not follow your school study tour to the Borobudur temple because I was so poor, what if our family has a 3-day vacation to see it?' Indah shook her head and said 'Kartika had shown lots of photos and videos from that place so I want to see other places now...' 'Where?' Asked Dian. 'Prambanan temple...' said Indah. 'Prambanan Temple? Honestly, I always want to see this place but I didn't have time and money. Alright, after this lunch let's prepare the bags. We'll be there tomorrow! ' laughed Andy. Before Andy's family left their home, Raksa came to his house. With a big smile on his face, Raksa said 'Andy, my friend... I am coming here to ask your suggestion about breeding the Betta...' 'I am glad to see you, but my family must go now...' said Andy as he pointed to a bag near his foot.

'Where do you go?' 'To see the Prambanan Temple and the places around it for 3 days.' 'How about your fishes?' 'This morning I put the silk worm and water fleas in the nursery which is enough for 2 days... you know they can survive without eating up to 5 days... So, everything will be ok. ' ‘Yes... you are right... everything will be ok. I will come again later then... I hope you can have a lot of fun with your family 'said Raksa with the glimmer of evil in his eyes. 'Sure, I will. Ok, I must go now, the bus will run at 08.00...' 3 motorcycle taxis had arrived and Andy's family immediately boarded them to reach the bus terminal. As they were about to cross the river, Andy saw Ari, the crazy man was throwing the leaves into the air and screaming money, money, money. Andy was very grateful that it was not him. Andy planned to give his old house to Ari if his friend could return to normal.

CHAPTER 12

THE FORBIDDEN TEMPLE

After a 2 hours’ bus ride, Andy's family arrived at a homestay. After they placed their belongings, they went on foot to the Prambanan temple which was only 10 minutes from the homestay. The queue at the ticket gates were short and the domestic and international tourists had their own queues. Of course, the international tourists would be charged much higher than the domestic tourists because it was said that the money would be used for the development of that tourist site and there was a stigma that the international tourists were definitely rich, especially for those who came from the western countries. Of course this was not true because every country must have the rich and the poor. Prambanan temple was the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia. It was built in the middle of the ninth century by King Rakai Pikatan from the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty. When the Merapi mountain erupted and there was a power struggle, later this magnificent temple and the area around it would be abandoned. In the 16th century, a major earthquake caused the temples to collapse and in the 19th century this temple was rediscovered by the British invader. The excavation was not taken seriously which it caused the large stone blocks to be stolen to become the garden ornament and foundations of the buildings. This resulted in several parts of the temples having to be built using the new stone blocks. Now, many large stone blocks were scattered at several points, waiting to be rebuilt into beautiful temples but the process of restoring a temple would only be done if 75 percent of the original stones still exist. This place was immortalized on the 1979 bill which was worth 10,000 rupiahs. 'Dad, mom, hurry up!' shouted Indah as she waved her hand to her parents who

were busy fanning their faces with flyers. 'Indah, you just go around by yourself... If you need anything you can call us. The sun is like hell!' Andy said, panting breathlessly. He drank a bottle of cold water that was sold by the street vendors around the temples then said 'I feel exhausted. I wonder why our daughter can run here and there like a Betta fish...' Dian saw Indah who was busy taking selfies with the temples as the background and said 'it's because she is young and has a lot of energy...' Andy saw the glorious temples that towered to the sky. He wondered how ancient people could build a masterpiece with simple tools. He said 'when I was young, I wanted to bring you here before we got married but a friend told me that the unmarried couples are forbidden to come here, so I canceled the plan'. Then Andi took a tissue to wipe the sweat off Dian's face. He said 'this place is as hot as the tempe factory where I used to work...' 'Why can't the unmarried couples come to this place?' said Dian. 'You know the legend of Princess Roro Jonggrang?' ‘Yes...’ 'It was said that these temples were built by a man who had supernatural power. His name was Prince Bandung Bondowoso and he fell in love with Princess Roro who kept rejecting him because he had killed his father and then took over the kingdom. But the prince still insisted she had to marry him. The princess finally agreed to marry him on the condition that he had to build 1,000 temples overnight. The prince agreed and then he summoned the supernatural beings and when the 999th temple was finished, the princess and her maids pounded the paddy and set fire to the east. Because the cocks thought the morning had come, they start crowing and made the spiritual beings to run away because they could only exist at night and did not finish one last temple. The prince realized that the princess had tricked him and then he cursed her to become a temple so that the 1,000 temples that she asked for had been completed.' ‘It’s a sad story, no woman will marry her father’s killer but maybe a man

doesn't mind doing that if the girl is as beautiful as Indah...’ said Dian. Andy looked at Indah from afar and thought that if his murder was exposed, was there still a man who wanted to marry Indah? He got rid of that bad thought and said 'because of this legend, unmarried couples are prohibited from visiting this place because it is believed their relationship will end soon. I don't know if it's true or not because all I know is I will never let you go, because from the first time I saw you I knew that I would spend my life with you until I died.' Dian smiled and said 'I will never let you go too...' Then she opened a rented umbrella and used it to protect themselves from the fierce sun. They went to a temple and tried to interpret the bass relief s which told the story of Ramayana which must be read clockwise. Indah saw a small lion statue in a niche was sitting between 2 fully adorned trees which had a pair of human-headed birds. She was glad because that day there were only a few visitors so she could capture the beauty of the place with her new phone. She carefully stepped the narrow stairs and decided to go to each of the temples to see what was inside them. Even though the sun was scorching hot outside, it felt cool inside the temples because the stones trapped the moisture. She must use the flash if she wanted to take photos because it's a bit dark there. Each temple was hosted a god or goddess statue and now Indah was looking at a statue of a 4-armed god who occupies the highest temple in the Prambanan temple complex. A wooden plank under the statue informed that it was Shiva, the supreme God in Hinduism. She waited outside until a man in turban finished his prayer and when he finished, he looked at Indah and smiled. Indah knew that man was from India. Another temple had a statue of god with the head of an elephant, Ganesha. The god of knowledge. His right hand held a bowl filled with knowledge and his trunk would always be placed into the bowl as a symbol that he would always suck up the knowledge. His right hand held his ivory which he broke himself when he came down to earth so he could write on wood or stone while teaching the humans.

The other temples had statues of Brahma, Vishnu, Agastya, and many more. There was only a temple dedicated to a goddess and she was Durga, a goddess with 8 hands who was believed to act as the protector of the universe. The new locals who occupied the area around Prambanan temple didn't know the origin of the temples so they made up the stories about the legend of Roro Jonggrang after seeing this goddess statue. Indah was sitting on the steps of the temple and enjoying the cool breeze that just blew around the temples. From a distance she saw her parents were still busy iring the narrative s in a temple and their hands were still busy fanning their faces with flyers. She giggled when she saw 2 blonde foreigners were being surrounded by the local tourists who asked them to take selfies together. It was a common thing that the locals did to the foreign tourists, especially if you had the blue eyes and blonde hair. Even if you came in wearing only the t-shirts and shorts, and you thought you're not handsome at all, the local people would still love to take the selfies with you so they can show off to their friends and you could feel like you were a famous Hollywood superstar. You two can be happy, right? Andy's family rented the bicycles and went to the smaller temple complexes around the Prambanan temple. They visited the Lumbung (barn) temples which were shaped like the traditional barns and the Bubrah (broken) temple which got its name because they were falling apart when they were found. Sewu (a thousand) temple complex was the other inspiration for the legend of Roro Jonggrang. When the new locals saw this place, without counting they assumed that there were 1,000 temples in this complex even though there were only 249 temples. This was the second largest Buddhist temple in Indonesia after the Borobudur temple. The Lumbung, Bubrah and Sewu temples were Buddhist temples and their position adjacent to the Prambanan temple which was a Hindu temple was the proof that in the past, the Buddhists and Hindus lived side by side peacefully. Indah who was riding her bicycle behind her parents smiled when she saw that her parents were laughing a lot. She hoped this happiness could last forever.

The next day they went to the Breksi cliff. This place used to be a natural stone quarry that was turned into a tourist spot. Since 2014, the mining activities had been stopped because it was just discovered that the rock from this place came from the eruption of the ancient mountain Nglanggeran. 'Sir, can you please get some photos for me?' said Indah to a man. 'Sure...' then that man took Indah's phone and took photos of Indah with her family who were posing in front of a large white staircase with the dragon carving. 'Smile, mom, dad...' said Indah to her parents. Another cliff had a large carving of Arjuna, a male hero in Javanese mythology who was beating down a monster. Dian put a bill into a hat that was placed under a wooden post that had an owl perched on it. The owl keeper then took Indah's phone and took the pictures of Andy's family. 'Look, mom... this owl is so cute...' said Indah while pointing at a brown owl with white feather on its face and chest. ‘But I prefer this black owl...’ said Andy, pointing to a black owl. The owl keeper said 'do you want to get the photos when this owl perches on your hand, Sir?' ‘Can I?’ Andy asked. 'Of course sir! Especially now that you are wearing long sleeves! Now, put your arm near this owl.' Andy brought his hand close to the owl's feet and the owl keeper ordered the owl to jump into Andy's hand. 'Ow!' gasped Dian and Indah. They never thought an owl could do a trick. The owl keeper said to Indah and Dian 'I need both of you to stand on both side of this man... then take a step aside by raising your hands up.'

They did it and then the owl keeper showed them a picture of Andy with 2 Indah and 2 Dian. These pictures were so funny so Indah immediately posted them on social media. ‘How did you do it?’ asked Indah. The owl keeper said 'you have to use the panoramic feature on your camera.' Then he taught Indah how to use that feature. Andy's family went to many other places and tried as many foods as they could but what really pleased them the most was the durian fruit soup. The yellow flesh of durian was mixed in the shaved ice then poured with the sweetened condensed milk and grated cheese on top. Its sweet and refreshing taste was perfect to eat after being in a hot place for a long time. The pungent odor of durian could make someone to swear and wondered why anyone could eat something that smelt like the shoes that had not been washed in years. For some people the odor was like heaven, for some people the smell could bring them to reach the gates of heaven. Because of this strong odor, this fruit was banned at the airports and hotels and you would be fined if they caught you.

––––––––

Tini came out of her bedroom because she heard the sound of the front door being opened then she saw her husband was going to the side yard. She followed him and said 'where have you been in the middle of the night like this?' 'What?' Raksa who was covering something on the ground immediately dropped the cloth in his hand to cover it. He said 'you shocked me, Tini! Why aren't you sleeping yet?' 'What are you hiding?' said Tini. She couldn't see that thing clearly because it was dark.

'It's nothing! Why aren't you sleeping now? I'm going to the bedroom in a moment!' said Raksa in a commanding tone and with his hands on her hips. Tini knew if she didn't obey his orders, he would beat her so she nodded and went to her bedroom. The bruises on her body had not gone away, and she didn't want her neighbors to wake up because of the commotion her family was making. The next morning, Raksa said 'Tini. I want you to prepare my best t-shirt and pants. I want you to iron them smooth because in a few days I'll be meeting someone special.' 'Someone special? Who? ' 'It's not your business... just do what I said! I will go to the field to water the plants now...' then Raksa left the house. Tini went to the side yard to see what her husband was hiding from her. She saw a large clear plastic bag which contained so many colorful Bettas fish. Her husband had a lot of ornamental Bettas, but was not this much. The pails where Raksa kept his ornamental Bettas were empty except for the a pail containing the wild Bettas because they ate the mosquitos larvaes. Where did Raksa get these Betta?

CHAPTER 13

ARE YOU TRULY MY FRIEND?

Andy's family arrived at their house with lots of souvenirs and snacks to be given to their friends and neighbors. Andy saw that his fish nursery was covered by the black shade net. Maybe the wind had knocked it down, but as he lifted it he saw that all the pails had flipped over without water. From the number of fishes that died on the ground, Andy knew that the fishes had been stolen. Even the thief did the same to the silk worm and water flea nursery. Whoever did this wanted Andy to stop breeding the Bettas. He quickly ran to his house and was pleased that the door was still locked. The Blasteran Bettas that he's hiding in the boxes, under the chairs were safe. He could rebuy some of his ornamental Bettas from his friends, but if he lost the Blasteran it would cost him a lot of money because they were so expensive. Andy stood in front of the porch with a stiff face and wondered who did this to him? He shouted 'why someone did this to me?' ‘Is that any problem, dad?’ asked Indah as she opened her sneakers. ‘Yes, someone stole my fishes...’ said Andy as he pointed to the falling nursery pails. Dian and Indah ran into the nursery and cried when they saw the destroyed nursery. Dian said ‘how did it happen? Who did this, Andy?’ 'What do we do now, dad? Can you still pay my tuition fees? What about the university?' cried Indah. She was terrified that the old thing could happen again to her.

Andy hugged his family and said 'you don't have to worry because the most expensive Betta, the Blasterans are safe because I kept them inside the house. If I breed them, we'll have a lot of money to keep the family's finances going. Now you must stop crying and let's rest. We are tired enough today...' ‘Have you heard about what happened to Andy's family?’ said Pino, the shop owner to his customers. 'What happened?' asked a woman with a baby in her lap. 'When the family had just returned from a vacation to the Prambanan temple, what greeted them were the pails scattered in front yard. There was a thief who stole all his fishes and destroyed his nursery. Anyone who did that must be very jealous of his success!' said Pino while hanging a bunch of sweetened condensed milk and powdered beverage in a string. A woman in the yellow house dress said 'I've also heard that from Mrs. Dian when she brought snacks to my house. Who did that to Mr. Andy? Even though they are successful, they are still friendly. They always give the souvenirs and snacks to the villagers’ every time they return from another city.' ‘So, can he survive his Betta business?’ asked a woman in the green shorts. 'Survive? Did you see the house under construction near the main road? It belongs to Mr. Andy! The richest man in the Iwak village will soon have the biggest house in the village!' said Pino as he opened a packet of candy with scissors. 'Oh... how happy if I were his wife...' said a woman in the green shorts. 'If you have a kind heart and goddess face like Mrs. Dian, you may get him!' the shop owner laughed as he put the candies into a clear plastic jar. The baby in a mother's arms pointed to the candy, asking her mother to buy her some candy. She said 'Mr. Pino. Please give me those 3 candies for my little girl...' Pino then smiled and gave 3 candies to that baby.

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That night, 3 boys who ever insulted Indah came to her house. Dian invited them to sit in the living room and called her husband and daughter to meet them. 'Good night, Mr. Andy... 'said a boy. The other boy said 'Mr. Andy, we've heard what had happened to your nursery. What we want to say is that the 3 of us are not the ones to do that. You threw water at us, but we accepted it as our punishment for insulting your daughter. We come here to apologize to Indah and you. We swear we didn't do anything to your nursery...' 'Yes, Mr. Andy. We did not do that! I know after that incident, the main culprits you thought was probably us. But we really didn't do that' said the other boy. ‘We regret what we have done to Indah and promise not to do that to her again...’ said one boy. 'To not do that to me and everyone else because everyone deserves to be treated politely!' said Indah. The three boys nodded and said 'we promise we will do that...' Indah saw her father and said 'dad, I think they are not the culprits because they are not brave people. But maybe you have another opinion?' ‘I don't have any idea, Indah... but maybe someday I will find who the thief is. 3 of you can go home now. It's late and you have to go to sleep' said Andy. 'Thank you Mr. Andy... and thank you Indah for forgiving us' said a boy. Indah just smiled and nodded. Andy said 'I'm glad you 3 are coming here. My suspicions towards you have disappeared. But who was the thief?'

'We don't know, sir...' said a boy. Andy nodded. He saw the 3 of them and said 'in the next few months my new house will be finished and I have also built a big nursery for my Betta. My family will certainly find it difficult to take care of that nursery, what if the 3 of you work for me?' 'Really, Mr. Andy?' gasped a boy. 'Yes. I've heard a lot about you... The reason why you are being the trouble makers may be because your parents don't care about you and you don't have any activities even though you are actually the students. But I appreciate your presence here, because I think it is a good sign for a boy who will grow up. I'll give you a chance to intern here until your high school graduation day. If I am glad with your work, after graduation you will be my permanent employees. Your job is to clean the nursery, feed the fish, packaging, and bring them to the delivery service by motorcycle. Right now you can only come every holiday because you are still in school. Do you agree?' Without looking to each other, the three boys nodded and thanked him for the opportunity. The next day, Andy went to the river to get the silk worm, and then to the Lotus pond to get the water fleas starters for his new nursery. It’s been months he never went to the Lotus pond since he killed Pardi here. When the pail was full, he went to the spot where he had buried Pardi. The Lotus roots buried with him had flourished and Andy was grateful that they had covered up his crimes. With a smile on his face, Andi said 'thank you, Pardi. You did bring good luck to my family... You would never have my daughter as the 'flower' in your house, so I give this flower to you.' Then he ripped the pink and fragrant petals from a Lotus flower and spread them over Pardi's 'grave'. For a long time, Andy didn't catch anything and just stood among the Lotus.

That day the wind often blew and it caused many ripples that caused the wild Bettas to swim here and there. He could not sleep well last night because he was thinking about who had tried to destroy his business. He tried to his enemies but could not think of anyone. From afar, he heard the sound of a motorcycle from Raksa's field. Andy bent his body and walked slowly among the long stems and wide leaves of the Lotuses towards the field. Then he saw Raksa was talking to a man in a black t-shirt. Usually Raksa always wore the old t-shirt and shorts, but today he wore a decent t-shirt and pants. Raksa uncovered the cloth from the object near his feet, which was a large plastic bag containing the ornamental Bettas. He said 'I don't know how many of them, but there must be thousands... You will make a lot of profit by selling them! Now, give me the money...' The man in the black t-shirt gave a pile of money in a white envelope to Raksa and said 'I can't believe that I can get lots of Bettas for a cheap price and they are Andy's. That famous Betta breeder!' 'He overbred them and now his nursery is full of them. He will sell them to you with one condition... You have to make this a secret because he wants the people to keep buying from him at a high price!' said Raksa while laughing when he saw the bills in the envelope. 'It's easy. But can't you make him to sell his famous Blasteran fish? Maybe he can sell it at a discount for me?' ‘That's impossible... All of his Blasterans are sold out!’ 'I see... If he sells his fishes again, you got to call me! Nice to do the business with you!' Then the man in a black t-shirt loaded the bag of fish into a box that attached to the back of his motorcycle. After the man in the black t-shirt had left, Raksa laughed out loud when he saw the money in the envelope. He said 'I've never had this much money in my life! I

am rich now! Thank you, Andy! Thank you!' The wind was blowing hard and rocking the lotus leaves. Andy took the sickle he had hidden on the edge of the pond and walked silently behind Raksa, who was counting the money. Without saying anything, he cut Raksa's neck. In 2 hacks, the biggest man in Iwak Village had died. Andy in a cold voice said 'you are welcome, my friend...' Andy painstakingly dragged that big-boned man to the Lotus Pond and for many times he thought that he was dragging a bull. He repeatedly brought a pail of pond water and poured it on the blood stained soil. The fresh blood that had just been spilled and the water immediately dispersed and was absorbed by the soil, then he put the head of Raksa into the bucket. After he was sure there weren't any bloodstains left, he did the same thing he did to Pardi. He took the money, which belonged to him because this huge man had stolen his Bettas and then he cut all the lean flesh and buried him in the mud grave by using Pardi's hoe. Andy saw the red flesh in his bucket and wondered what Betta he would get if he fed his fishes with this giant's meat. He thought ‘wait... a giant? I know what I should do with this flesh!’ 'Dian... I want to eat Rawon, fried tempe, and quail eggs. Can you cook it for me now?' Andy said when he got home. Dian who was watching TV said 'but I've cooked the chicken soup for lunch...' 'I know, but suddenly I really want to eat them now. If I don't get them, maybe I won't be able to sleep again tonight...' Dian turned off the TV and kissed Andy's forehead. She said 'alright. I will go to the market now. You need to eat good food after what happened to you.' Andy gave some bills and said 'you have to take Indah with you...' Dian smiled and nodded. Then she and Indah used the motorcycle to go to the market.

Andy rushed to the front yard and took a pail of Raksa's flesh that he had hidden near his nursery. He went to the kitchen and cut the flesh into small pieces and used a blender to mash the flesh and fish pellets. He put the red dough in the plastic and made the long doughs on a tray and baked them in the sun. His 'special treat' was ready in the evening. For his next experiment, Andy bought a pair of giant Betta. One was blue, and one was red. One month prior before they're mated, he fed them with the 'special treat' and fed the fry with it too. Now, he only needed to wait to see the result of his experiment. The teacher said 'students, I will return the papers of the first examinations you did in grade 11...' then the teacher approached the students' desks to give their papers. 'Budi, these are your test results... I'm glad your scores are better now' then the teacher smiled and gave him 2 pieces of paper. How happy Budi was when he saw the scores of 55 and 65! They were the best scores in his lifetime. Budi's eyes glew and suddenly he screamed 'I can get good scores because I studied with Indah, madam!' One class laughed and a girl said 'you two are not only studying together, but also dating right?' Then the classmate cheered Indah and it made her uncomfortable. Budi looked at Indah's back and hoped that the girl was really his girlfriend. The teacher smiled and said 'what I want to say to you is that you have to maintain this achievement because now your scores are no longer the lowest in class.' 'Yes, madam!' Then with a look of disbelief he looked at the exam paper with a score of 65. He couldn't wait to come home and showed this to his mother. Andy bought a cow and asked the villagers to help his family to make a small party as his new home was finished. The cow was slaughtered in front of his house and its head was planted in the corner in of the front yard. This was an ancient ritual performed before a family occupied the new house and was believed to prevent the demons from entering the house. If you couldn't afford a

cow, you can use a goat. People who helped with the party were not paid, because if one day they needed the help to organize a party, the other villagers would help for free too. It was part of an ancient tradition that still running in some villages. All the villagers were invited to attend the party and after they finished reciting the prayers inside the house, the party would begin. For this party Andy's family made the Tumpeng rice. It was the rice cooked with salt, turmeric, coconut milk, and spices and then put into a cone-shaped mold. Under the Tumpeng rice there were many side dishes and vegetables and each of them had its own meaning. Tumpeng rice shaped into a large cone to resemble a mountain that symbolized God because the ancient people believed that God lived on the high mountains. At the top of the rice there was a decoration of a red chili made in bloom that symbolizes the fire of life. The chicken used for this rice was usually a rooster because it symbolized that the humans should not be arrogant and always wanted to win liked a rooster. But nowadays people usually used a hen which had a softer meat. Catfish was used because it symbolized fortitude in life because this fish could survive in dirty places and with little water. The fried anchovy symbolized togetherness and harmony because these fish always live together. The boiled egg symbolized that if you want to do something you must plan it carefully in order to achieve the goal. If you want to eat this, you had to wash the egg, boil it into a certain time, then peel it carefully, right? A traditional vegetable salad made of water spinach, long bean, bean sprouts, spinach, and grated coconut completed the side dish. Usually this Tumpeng rice was made at least 30 centimeters high, but Andi's family made it 1.5 meters tall to celebrate his great success as a Betta breeder. Before eating, they were busy taking selfies with the tumpeng rice. The people were amazed by the size of Andy's new house and hoped that he

could continue to be successful in his business. A villager exclaimed 'your house is huge, Mr. Andy!' Andy laughed and said 'actually this house is not finished yet because I still have to install something around the wall...' 'What else will you install? That wall alone is the highest in this village!' Andy shook his head and said 'a thief once broke into my house and tried to destroy my business... I can't let the same thing happen again so I'm going to put in more protection.' Tini who was standing near Andy felt very guilty. She wanted to it that it was her husband who had done that but she didn't dare to say that. She saw a painting with 9 Bettas was painted in the golden ink and thought that her money even would not enough to buy this one. Raksa had not returned home since the last few days. Maybe he fled to another city with the money from selling the stolen fishes. Budi's eyes wandered around the white house equipped with air conditioner, new furniture, leather sofas, and paintings of Bettas. When he saw how big the nursery was, he was amazed that one pool was 2 times bigger than his bedroom. When he saw the old t-shirt that used to clean the kitchen floor looked better than the clothes he was wearing, he felt very poor. When Budi saw Indah in a yellow dress, he was amazed and tried to stand beside her but Indah kept getting closer to Kartika and the girls because she didn't want to make the impression that she was dating Budi. Dian invited the employees of the shrimp factory where she used to work. A woman said 'oh, Dian! I didn't expect that after Mr. Wawan fired you, you will become this rich!' She saw Dian's house with wide eyes. The other woman said 'I can't believe that you ever worked in the same place as me!' Then she stared in awe at the large gold necklace that was wrapped around Dian's neck. Even Dian's red dress was full of embroidery and she knew it's

more expensive than months of her salary. Ami said 'I don't see Wawan, our manager... Where is he?' ‘On the way here, I saw him was walking towards this house but then he returned to his house...’ said Tarjo the factory gatekeeper and the parking lot guard. Dian smiled happily and said 'Mr. Tarjo! How glad I am to see you again!' Tarjo nodded and smiled 'I'm really happy to see your success, Mrs. Dian!' Ami laughed loudly 'maybe that old goat was back home because he never thought that the woman he had harassed could be this rich now!' Then the factory employees laughed and mocked him. Tarjo said 'I never thought you could be this rich, Mrs. Dian... Soon I will retire, do you have a vacancy for me? I don't mind if you hire me to guard your house...' Dian smiled and nodded 'I'll discuss this with my husband later. Now let's enjoy this party.' Tarjo nodded and said 'thank you, Mrs. Dian.' When Fanny saw the fish nursery, how she wanted to secretly bring home some Bettas but all the pools had been installed with nets. To treat her disappointment, she turned her attention to the food the host had prepared. Fanny rolled her eyes to a man who took a large piece of a chicken breast. She said 'hey, put the chicken down, now because I was just about to get it!' That man sneered and looked at Fanny's plate which was full of a pile of food then said 'isn't there enough food on your plate?' Then he left. Fanny tried to drive away some kids who tried to take the foods with her glares but the kids sneered at her then took the foods. While chewing the food, her eyes were targeting which the other food she was

going to eat next but before she could get to them someone else had taken them. She quickly ate all the food on her plate so she could pile up the next meal. Her family pretended did not see Fanny because they were very embarrassed by her behavior. When the party was over, all that was left was some rice and a few vegetables. Fanny said 'Mrs. Dian, can you allow me to bring the remaining rice and vegetables home? My family is still hungry!' Fanny's husband glared at her and said 'we're so full, Fanny!' Fanny ignored him and said 'can you? The taste of tumpeng rice is delicious, even if I eat it without any side dishes it still tastes good...' Dian smiled and said 'yes you can take it...' Fanny laughed happily and said 'thank you. Oh, one more thing... Can you give me one of your cheapest Betta?' Dian grinned while glaring then said 'NO!'

CHAPTER 14

THE MISSING HUSBAND

'Mom, where is dad? He hasn't been home for a long time...' asked Budi to his mother. ‘I don't know son...’ said Tini, stirring the boiled rice until it became porridge. Recently she and Budi had to eat this food with cassava leaves or sweet potato leaves almost every day because the newly planted crops cannot be harvested for the next few months. 'On the day he went missing, many villagers saw him wearing neat clothes and pants and carrying something covered in cloth. They said that he ran away with another woman and started a new life somewhere else. He's really outrageous, but I'm glad he can't hurt us anymore. He once said that one day he would run away with another woman and the whole village heard that!' Tini didn't say anything and just stared at the woven bamboo basket with 2 handles that had to be used like a backpack in the corner of the kitchen. It had helped her to carry her family's crops since she was a child. Because of carrying heavy loads since she was young it caused the spine was stressed and developed the hunchback. Budi went to the side yard and saw some wild Bettas were floating on the water because they were dead. He said 'mom, if dad doesn't come back again, could you please free these fishes in the Lotus pond next to our field? I want to do it myself but I have to go to school now. We shouldn't keep these fishes if we don't have time to care for them. Be starving feels so bad...' Tini nodded and smiled 'yes, you are right, Budi. Please take all the fishes in a clear plastic bag and after you go to school I will take them to a better home.' 'Yes, mom...'

'But you have to have breakfast first, the porridge is ready...' Then Tini put 2 plates of porridge on the table. Tini saw the porridge and thought 'how long does my family have to eat this?' 'Mom, today I will come home late again because I will study at Indah's house.' Tini nodded and smiled. She gently said 'study well my son.... So you have a brighter future than I do.' Budi ran to his bedroom and took 2 of his exam papers. He smiled as he showed them and said 'my scores are better than before and the teacher praised me too. I believe if I continue to study with Indah, you will often see good scores... ' Tini's eyes watered when she looked at the scores 65 and 55 on the papers. They may not be that great, but they were much better than his previous scores. When Budi was a kid, she used to look at the duck egg scores and never expected much from him. She couldn't teach him because all she knew was about farming. She hugged her son and told him how happy she was... The students cheered for Indah and Budi when they saw the two of them were walking together. Indah pretended not to hear their cheers and Budi smiled so wide because he could not hide his happiness. Indah's new house was only tens of meters from her old house and near the main village road. This place used to be an empty field, one of the largest remaining lands in the village and had been turned into a palace for the Andy's family. 'Wow, Indah... When there's no one around, your house looks much bigger and more beautiful!' said Budi who saw the nursery from the kitchen door. 'My father finally got the luck he always wanted... I'm glad he got it so our life is much better now' said Indah as she put some apples on a plate, put a knife upon it, then take it to the living room. She saw Budi and said 'Budi, let's start studying...' 'Yes...' then Budi followed Indah into the living room. He didn't dare to sit on the

leather sofa so he sat on the floor. 'Budi, sit here...' said Indah, patting the soft sofa. 'Ok...' then Budi sits there. He thought how comfortable that sofa was... How expensive it was...' Indah said 'because the indecent motorcycle driver has never been seen again, I thought you could stop guarding me home. From now on I will go home alone.' ‘But I want to do it, Indah!’ 'Starting tomorrow please don't guard me anymore and if you want to study here, do it after you go back to your home and change your uniform. Now there's a gossip that we're dating and I'm not comfortable with that because we're not!' 'Ok...' said Budi in a disappointed tone. His dream girl was sitting beside him but he felt the distance between them was getting farther. Tini put a plastic containing the wild Bettas into the bamboo woven basket and went to her field. She cut the long sweet potato vines into short and then planted them. In 3-4 months, she coud harvest them. She sat on the ground thinking about her husband's missing. Indeed, Raksa was an abusive husband who often treated her and Budi badly and actually she was happy when he was gone, but managing this vast field alone with her small body was exhausting. After Raksaa was gone, she had to work all day planting, fetching water from the river or lotus pond with the pails so she could water them, and pulling the grass. Raksa was abusive, but he helped her a lot in taking care of her family's field. He never forgot to water the crops every day and that was a strong reason for not divorcing him. His power mattered because she couldn't afford to hire the other people. But she hoped that Raksa really ran away with another woman, ran far away and won't come back because her old body couldn't stand the beating anymore. With the harvest from this field, she could still earn enough money to meet the needs of her family. After Budi graduated from high school, she hoped that he could get a job in a factory because usually the salary would be better than the crops

she sold to middlemen. A few days after Raksa left, she heard that a thief had stolen Andy's expensive Bettas and destroyed his nursery. She knew that Raksa was the culprit and he must had paid for his journey with the money from selling the stolen fishes. How she wanted to go to Andy's house and asked his forgiveness, but she couldn't do that. What if Andy asked Tini to compensate him? She barely had the money... The drought on her field and her wallet were exhausting. After working long hours, she felt hungry. She looked around her field and unfortunately the tomatoes were not ripe yet but she was happy when she saw the long beans were starting to grow. She looked at the Lotus pond where the Lotus flowers had turned into the Lotus pods. The villagers used to eat the Lotus root and seed, but later this plant was forgotten. The modern foods were more tempting and practical than this one even though they were less healthy. Tini took a Lotus pod, which was shaped like a hornet nest, took the green seed inside, peeled the pith, then ate it. It tasted like a nut. She ate some more of the seeds and she stepped on something weird. Tini checked that long object with her sole and felt a fabric-like texture. She used her hands to pull it out and then the skeleton without a head popped out. Tini's eyes widened as she recognized the big structure of the skeleton and clothing the it was wearing. They were indeed dark brown from the mud but she knew it was her husband's clothes that she ironed before he left. She cried over the skeleton and thought she should tell the villagers about this. She wondered who killed her husband? This man was indeed abusive to his family but he tended to be lenient with the other people because he didn't want to get into trouble. The end of the hoe's handle which was half buried in the mud caught her attention. Was that what the killer used to bury Raksa? Was it possible that Raksa wasn't the only victim? Would the killer come back here again? She carefully stomped her feet into the mud to find another skeleton. She chose the mud that had no Lotuses on it but couldn't find anything because Pardi's skeleton was buried on top of the Lotuses.

For some reason, Tini felt that one day the killer would return to this place. Even though she didn't love Raksa, she was determined to catch the killer by herself. She wanted to know the killer's motive. As she was about to put some sweet potatoes into her bamboo woven basket, she saw her late husband's wild Bettas. She forgot that she had to let them go and now she did it. She removed the rubber bands from that clear plastic bag and gently released the wild Bettas onto the Lotus pond. Tini smiled as she watched them quickly move here and there and began to hunt down the water fleas to fill their empty stomachs. She whispered 'now, me and you are free...'

CHAPTER 15

THE PRISON

Tini had awakened before the dawn came and she cooked the rice mixed with salt and a little peanut. She made them into little balls and wrapped them in banana leaves. After cleaning the house and preparing the food for her son, she went to the fields with a flashlight and sickle. Usually, she only left her house when the sun was shining, but from today she intended to go to the fields earlier with hope that she could catch the killer of Raksa. She didn't come home before sunset. Raksa was a man who had the biggest body and the darkest skin in Iwak Village and as Andy expected, the giant Bettas which had eaten the 'special treat' made of Raksa's flesh inherited his characteristics. Within 2 months, the fry had reached the maturity size which was 12-13 cm long and Andy was very confident that they could still grow even bigger. He was right, when the fishes reached the maturity age at 7-8 months, his giant Bettas had grown into real giants. Their size ranged from 50 - 60 cm, several times larger than a normal giant Betta and he named them as the Majestic Betta. It's not only their size that amazed him, but many of them had a solid purple color. In the world of Betta, solid green and solid purple were the impossible colors. Some fish may have the purple or green colors, but their colors were subtle and would never be solid. Some Bettas were red and blue like their parents. Some Bettas had orange or mixed colors. Andy had ordered a yellow giant Betta and if he mated it with a blue Giant Betta then he would get the green Betta. Andy was overjoyed and thought what would he buy next? A car? A new house?

A land? Traveling abroad with his family? This time no thieves would be able to enter his house because around the high wall the barbed wire and CCTV had been installed to frighten the thieves. Because of them, his house was nicknamed as the prison by the villagers. Andy had bought a pick-up truck and since his family couldn't drive, he hired Tarjo, who had retired from the shrimp factory as a driver. This car was very helpful when he had to buy the sacks of the fish pellet and take the Bettas to the delivery service because the sales was crazy. Andy gave his old house to Tarjo so he could quickly ask for his help, and then Tarjo and his family moved out of their rented house and became the residents of Iwak village. Andy was terrified that someone was going to steal his fish, so he didn't dare leave his house without any people there. If he and his family were going out together, he asked Tarjo to stay at his house to look after it. Even though there was CCTV, high walls with the barb wire, but Andy was often worried. He had good food, a good house, and the two people he loved very much by his side, and this caused him to be lazy to leave the house which had become a comfortable prison for him. In his new house, Andy had 50 cement pools that equipped with the water filter machines, so he didn't need to clean them every 3 days like he used to do. Every holiday, those 3 boys would come and helped him to clean the nursery. To keep the water flea and silk worm quality high and disease free, in their 8 pools nursery he put the dried Ketapang leaves in them. The Ketapang trees were planted along the walls of his house so he didn't have to ask his neighbor anymore. If the leaf stock ran out, he could go to the river because the Ketapang seeds that he had spread for years had grown into the fertile trees and helped the river water to remain clear. ‘Andy, Indah... the lunch is ready’ said Dian. 'Ok, mom...' then Indah poured a handful of fish pellets over the pool that filled with the Majestic Bettas and within seconds they had finished eating the food.

The fishes opened and closed their mouths to signal Indah that they still wanted to eat so Indah gave more of the fish pellets. Indah was amazed by how greedy the Majestic Bettas were, but she was happy about it because if they grew bigger their price would be more expensive. After all the fishes had finished eating, she tied the end of the fish pellet bag with a string and dragged it to the corner of the warehouse, along with the piles of the other fish pellet sacks. Feeding the fish was one of her daily chores and she enjoyed doing it. Indah ran to the kitchen and washed her hands and waited for her parents in the dining room. Dian smiled to her daughter and said ‘Andy... you must get your lunch now...’ '5 more minutes, Dian... I'm giving the snack to these fish' said Andy as he took the water fleas with a soft net and put them into a pool. Soon, his Blasterans ate them. The fishes that survived Raksa's thievery had better homes now. Dian saw those colorful fishes and said 'I always wonder why the fished that used for the fish fighting can live together like this...' Andy ripped the yellowish water lettuces leaves that were floating on top of the pool then gently played his fingers in the water, causing the fishes to gather around his hand and as he pulled his hand, several fishes jumped to hit his hand. He laughed and said 'unlike the common belief, the Bettas can live in harmony if they are growing together since they were fry. Their aggressive nature will exist if we separate them to live individually in the small spaces.' Dian saw the fishes were busy chasing the water fleas and eating them. She said 'the Bettas are not different from the people. We are all playing together when we are the kids, but when we start to grow up and have our own thoughts everything will change. For their own selfish desires, the people will do whatever they can to get what they want. Killing the good in their hearts, fighting with those they care about, some people will even kill...' When Andy heard the word kill, his heart skipped a beat. He ed the 2 people he had killed and used their flesh to make the special treat for the Bettas

which resulted in his great fortune. After a while he said 'the other people may fight over something, but isn't our family now living peacefully? When I was poor you didn't leave me and I'm grateful to have you, Dian, you are really my light... (in Javanese name Dian meant the ancient oil lamp). Then Andy kissed his wife's forehead. 'I can't believe these fishes can bring so much money to us... Our poor life has become abundant now. We paid all debts in the shops, have lots of good things, even have the biggest and most luxurious house in this village. I'm really happy this happened to us...' 'Didn't I promise to make you and Indah happy? This is my gift to the women I love the most in my life.' Dian kissed Andy's lips and said 'thank you for being a real man and a good father to your family, Andy...’ Indah who stood was standing behind them, giggling then said 'mom, dad, can we start our lunch?' 'Sure, Indah...' said Dian with a beaming face. For the second time, Andy's new Betta had become the celebrity in the Betta lovers’ communities. When Andy sent videos of the fishes, they thought they were the koi because of their large size. They were amazed by the size of the Majestic Betta and moreover their colors were solid green and purple. The recession had ended and it made the domestic Betta lovers dared to spend their money to buy the Majestic Betta which had a fantastic price. The buyers scrambled to buy the fishes from Andy, and the small ornamental Betta was forgotten because the new Betta was more eye-catching. Andy was getting richer and now he often went abroad to compete his fishes in the international events, even the media was now asking him for an interview. This time, Andy was invited to Thailand and he also brought his family because Indah was on a mid-semester break for grade 12. This time, Indah worked as a translator for her father. Tarjo was asked to live in that house until they returned. 'Mr. Andy, what is your secret to successfully breeding the Betta fish? You're the

only one who can make a merged Betta and the real giant Betta...' asked a reporter. Indah who was standing beside Andy translated what the reporter said to her father then Andy said 'I think besides I'm lucky, the secret is I always put the Ketapang leaves into their breeding pools to boost their color and immune system. The leaves are also good for purifying the water. Every morning I also give them enough sunshine...' Indah translated what her father said then listened to Andy's next words and translated it again. She said 'I always give my fishes high quality food and vitamin, keep their pools clean, and don't forget to give them the treat. If you eat the treat to make you happy, it will have the same effect on the fishes... So give your fish the treat!' 'Mr. Andy, could you pose with your daughter? We'll take your photos' said a reporter. 'Sure, but my wife also has to be photographed too. Come here Dian...' said Andy to his wife who was standing among reporters. Then the reporters took the photos of Andy's family who were standing near a large aquarium where it kept the Majestic Bettas in solid purple and solid green colors. Many praised that Andy not only had beautiful Bettas but also a beautiful family. The first thing this family did after completing the Betta competition was hunting for the best Durian. When an Indonesian heard the word Bangkok (Thailand capital), what comes to his mind were the large fruits such as guava, papaya, tamarind, and durian. They went to Or Tor Kor, an outdoor market where they can get the best durians at affordable prices. The durian they were looking for was Durian Monthong which in Thai meant the golden pillow. They chose the largest durian and the seller opened it with a machete. The rows of the golden pillows almost made Dian cried. The yellow, thick, and sweet flesh that covered the tiny seeds were tasted like heaven. This family laughed when they saw the foreigners ran away when they were

only a few meters from the durian they were eating. They wondered if it was that easy to get rid of the foreigners with durian's odor, no country in Asia would be colonized by the western nations. They poured water into the empty skin of the durian and then drank the water so they didn't get drunk because the durian contained a little alcohol. They then hunted for durian chips, durian coffee, and fried durian. How excited they were when they found the durian pizza. The pizza makers from Italy might get angry when a Canadian put the pineapple on the pizza, and now a Thai put something smelly and creamy on the pizza? They might throw up if they ate it, but to Andy's family it was the best pizza they had ever eaten. When they saw Tuk-tuk, the Thai automatic rickshaw it reminded them of the Bajaj in Indonesia but Tuk-tuk did't have the doors. By using it, this family went to Phuket which was in a bad traffic jam. They used a free long tail boat to reach the famous floating seafood restaurants. Andy ordered 3 fishes and how shocked they were when they saw the incoming foods. One serving was so big and enough to feed 3-4 people! They wondered how to finish them so they ate as slowly as possible while waiting for the sun to set. When the night came, they still couldn't eat all the food because their stomachs were full of durian, and then the waiter offered them if they wanted to feed the fishes with the leftover and they said yes! The waiter took them to the fish cages near the restaurant and then they threw the leftover little by little at the fishes which immediately ate it. This family laughed because even in a foreign country, they did what they do every day at home. When they reach the mainland, Phuket was already lit up by colorful lights and the nightlife had begun. THe people were walking around and they tried to guess which of them were the ladyboys. Some of them could be recognized by their slightly masculine appearance but some of them could make any woman be jealous because of the beauty of their face and body. The Thais called them as Kathoey, not the ladyboy.

Before they went home, Dian bought lots of T-shirts with Thai related pictures and managed to buy 3 dozen at a low price. When Andy's family visited a place, they didn't forget to buy lots of snacks and souvenirs to share with their friends and neighbors so they could feel the taste of a foreign country. Fanny used both hands to lift her body to see who was greeting from the front door. She smiled when she knew it was Dian, and her smile grew wider when she saw a bag in Dian's hand and more bags on Dian's motorcycle. Fanny faking a laugh and said 'oooh, Mrs. Dian... how are you?' 'I'm fine. I'm here to give you a snack...' said Dian, grinning when she saw Fanny's messy house. 'Snack? Which country has your husband recently visited? Malaysia? Brunei?' 'Thailand, and this time my husband took me and Indah too' said Dian as she took a packet of prawn-flavored chips and gave it to Fanny. She gave it because it was not a special food and can be found in Indonesia. 'Oh, see Narno... Mrs. Dian gave us a snack with a Thai shrimp flavor! How wonderful is that!' Then Fanny waved the snack into the air. Her husband who was sitting in the living room only smiled and nodded. With a pretentious laughter, Fanny said 'ooh, how nice it would be if I had a husband as great as Mr. Andy. Only you people in this village have been abroad! Why can't you be like that, Narno! You only eat and sleep all day!' shouted Fanny to her husband who was now playing a game on his phone. Narno shouted 'didn't you say that Mr. Andy is a useless person, Fanny? And the one who eats and sleeps all day is you!' Fanny rolled her eyes and said 'oh, I'm sorry, my husband was just kidding. He's in a bad mood because he just lost his job recently.' 'I'm so sorry for you... but isn't the recession is over? Why did he lose his job?'

'Uh, something had happened to him and it's not important...' Fanny glanced at the bag in Dian's hand and said 'can I have another snack? My husband and mother eat a lot, so this packet of shrimp chips isn't enough for us.' Narno shook his head and then went into his bedroom. 'Sure, I'll give you one more snack...' said Dian while holding back her laughter. When Fanny wanted to choose her own snack from the bag, Dian slapped her hand. The best foods only would be given to her best friends. Dian took a small packet of tamarin candy and handed it to Fanny. She said 'here, you are. This is a real Thai candy. It tastes so good that I can't stop to eat it all day long...' Dian chose that candy because after she ate it, she immediately had a stomachache so Andy and Indah ate the rest. Fanny gladly said 'thank you... Ehm, Mrs. Dian. Can your husband hire my husband? His nursery is big so I believe he needs a lot of help to take care of it, right?' 'Let me ask my husband... but I'm not sure because he already has 4 people helping him take care of his nursery. Now I must go. I will visit the other houses...' ‘Promise me that you will give him job... promised me Mrs. Dian!' shouted Fanny. Dian just gave a wide smile. She could not believe that this wicked woman was begging her for a job and she won't give it because she knew that Fanny's husband was fired for stealing something from the factory. Stole something? Was that true or was it just a trap like the thing that happened to her? As she was ing through a junction, she nearly hit another motorcycle. Because the villagers never wore the helmets when they were driving in the village, she could see that the motorcycle owner was Wawan, the old goat who had harassed her and Indah. This person was also the one who made her lose her

job. When Wawan saw Dian, he immediately lowered his head. He didn't dare to look Dian's eyes in her eyes like he did. Dian had become the wife of a rich person now, not a poor shrimp factory employee who would be quiet when someone harassed her. Dian said nothing and drove her motorcycle away. How she wanted to crash her motorcycle into Wawan's motorcycle which he used to harass her daughter until it fell apart but she had to keep her family's good name. The popularity of Andy family's name was increasing and the people don't dare to talk badly to them anymore. Dian didn't want to the bad things that had happened to her because that afternoon she planned to go to Ami's house. She promised to cook the fried bananas with caramel sauce with Ami and Dian would give a bag of snacks for Ami's family. The vitamins for the fishes were out of stock and that afternoon Andy was planning to go to town to buy it. After he put the rice and fried chicken in a paper box, and grabbed a bottle of water, he rode his motorcycle to the main village road. The sun was like hell and everyone would rather stay indoors than be on the street. If he didn't need to buy the necessities for his beloved Bettas, he also preferred lying on the bed with the AC on and watching the TV. His wife could him and they could have fun together. Andy saw Ari was sleeping in the middle of the road and he wanted to feed him like usual. Andy turned off his motorcycle and approached Ari. He said 'Ari, don't sleep here! Wake up, I bring you the food.' Ari didn't move. Andy saw that Ari's head was bleeding and patted his cheek. He shouted 'hey, Ari. Wake up, Ari!'

Ari didn't wake up. His cold body indicated he was dead. Whoever hit him left him here to die. He's just a dirty crazy man, nobody cared about him if he died. Maybe it was the hit and run driver thought. 'No, Ari... No! I bring the rice with chicken for you today... you will like it. Please Ari, wake up!' cried Andy as he hugged Ari's body. He shouted ‘help... help...’ Tini, who heard Andy's scream, came with a sickle in her hand. She glared when she saw Ari who was dead and shouted 'Andy! Did you kill him?' 'No! When I found him he's already dead!' said Andy. 'You are a liar! You killed him! 'No, I did not!' screamed Andy. Tini pointed the sickle to Andy and said 'did you kill him, Andy?' Andy was shocked and strangely he ed Tini's husband whom he had killed some time ago. Without thinking he said 'yes, I killed him... I'm sorry Tini... I killed him...' Tini rolled her eyes and said ‘I will tell the villagers about this...’ Andy couldn't believe of what he had said! How could he think about Raksa at a situation like this? Was it because he was in front of his wife now? Andy shouted 'no, I did not kill Ari...' 'You said you did!' 'It's not what I meant... I did not kill Ari! He's already died when I found him. Andy pointed to the road and said 'here... I found him already lying here when I found him. He's lying in the middle of the road with his head bleeding!' 'It's because you hit him with your motorcycle!' shouted Tini. 'No! Can't you see that my motorcycle is in good shape? See? No dent or blood there!'

said Andy as he pointed to his motorcycle. 'I believed your confession that you kill him...' sneered Tini. 'No, I did not!' Tini saw that Andy's motorcycle was indeed fine. No blood, no dents... Maybe what Andy said was true, but why did he say that he killed her? She saw Andy who was crying while hugging Ari then said 'I won't tell the villagers that you killed Ari...' 'What do you mean?' 'With one condition... You have to give me a monthly allowance, since my husband is gone my life has become more difficult. I need money to make the ends meet. If you agree, I will help you to cover up your crime.' Andy thought that one of the biggest sources of his wealth came from the Majestic Betta which he got because his fishes had eaten Tini's dead husband's flesh. So, this woman deserved a little money from him. Andy saw Tini's body was getting thinner because she had to work in the field and took care of her son alone. Andy nodded and said 'agree. You can come to my house every month to take your monthly allowance...' How glad Tini was when she heard it, but she kept her expression even. With that money, her family's economy would improve. She actually felt so guilty to Andy because Raksa had stolen Andy's precious fishes and thought she should had paid for Andy. But even if she worked herself to death, she wouldn't be able to pay for those stolen fishes. She felt like a bad person but she couldn't get this big fish off. Tini said 'ok...' 'Then what?' 'Drive your motorcycle to my field. We will bury him there.' Andy jumped into his motorcycle then Tini put Ari behind Andy, then she sat behind Ari. The three of them headed for Tini's field and she chose a spot to bury

Ari. Tini said 'here... you can bury him here.' After they finished burying Ari, Tini dug up a small Jengkol (Archidendron Pauciflorum) tree and planted it on Ari's grave. She said 'with this it's all over. Jengkol is a valuable tree, so no one will dare to cut this tree. In a few years this tree will flourish and no one could find Ari.' Andy nodded and said weakly ‘I hope Ari will rest in peace...’ ‘Sure he will...’ said Tini, looking at the Lotus pond. Her desire to catch Raksa's killer had disappeared. Her husband had run off with another woman... let everyone thought like that. Starting tomorrow, she didn't need to get up early and come home at night to catch a killer which she wasn't sure would be able to catch. She won't think about Raksa anymore because he's dead. Let the Lotus pond be his grave. She would not bring the flowers to him because the Lotuses would shed their delicate pink petals upon his grave forever... The Odong-odong had come and stopped in front of Andy's house because it location was near the main road. That ride played the songs loudly through the speaker, so the kids would know its presence. Indah asked her parents to ride it and they agreed. When the ride was started, the laughter from the kids and his family made Andy to forget about the bad things that happened to him. He realized that to have fun he didn't need to go far for recreation, because going around the village with this colorful truck with his family could make him happy. Since that day, every week Andy's family had always been on this ride.

CHAPTER 16

A BETTER LIFE

‘You are home, Budi... The lunch is ready. Let's eat together...' Tini stopped painting the walls in a salted duck egg color and after she washed her hands, she wiped them with a rag. Budi rolled his eyes when he realized that the rag was his t-shirt. He took it and cried 'mom... this is my favorite outfit! Why are you using my clothes like this?' Tini smiled and said 'forget about your ugly clothes because I've bought a lot of clothes for you! From today on, you can only wear nice clothes!' Budi saw that many of his clothes were scattered on the floor because his mother used them to wipe the paint off the floor. Recently his mother has spent the money lavishly. He wondered where did she get that money? Tini put the turmeric-seasoned fried chicken on a plate of rice and gave it to Budi. She said 'eat this, my son... Eat a lot so you're not as skinny as me!' ‘Thank you, mom...’ said Budi, taking the plate. 'What do you want to eat for tomorrow? How about beef soup? I'm going to put carrot, cabbage, and cauliflower in it so you can get plenty of vitamins and protein.' 'I will eat whatever you cook, mom...' said Budi, spooning a spoonful of rice into his mouth. The beef which was usually only eaten on New Years or special occasions can now be eaten almost every week. ‘Alright, my son...’ said Tini, smiling Budi stopped chewing and said 'mom, where did you get so much money? We

ate very luxuriously recently... We never even ate the porridge with cassava leaves or sweet potato leaves like before.' 'Forget about that food because we won't eat that anymore. The porridge with cassava leaves is only suitable for duck food!' ‘Mom... how did you get the money?’ 'Someone buys my harvest for a high price...' Budi stopped chewing and said 'is the buyer Mr. Andy?' Tini shrugged and said 'yes...' 'Why is he willing to pay so much?' 'Because he knows that your father ran off with another woman. He feels sorry for the poor widow like because I have to raise my son alone so he pays more when he buys my harvest.' Budi looked around his renovated house. The earth floor was now covered with the white tiles, and the walls were painted in light blue. The living room had a set of wooden chairs carved with the floral patterns and on top of the cabinet, there was a new flat TV. Tini also bought 4 fans. 2 for the bedrooms, 1 for the kitchen, and 1 for the living room. For the first time in his life, finally, the house had a fridge which was always filled with food. This family was never hungry again. All the luxuries he only saw in the neighbors' houses or on TV, they now had them. Budi said 'how much did Mr. Andy give you?' 'Maybe several times more expensive than the normal price...' 'But I thought he gave you too much money. Look at our house, mom! So many expensive new things in here and you bought them all in cash and that's... that's weird!' 'Weird?' said Tini, putting a spoonful of soy sauce that mixed with green and red chilies on top of the chicken.

'There is a gossip that you have an affair with Mr. Andy. Many people see you bring 2 bags of harvest to his house every month, I wonder how many he gave you for that simple harvest...' 'Well, like my mother said, he gave me extra money because he felt sorry for us. You know that your father was friends since childhood with Mr. Andy, so he only helps his friend's family because now he has a lot of wealth. Mr. Andy's wife is the most beautiful woman in this village, so he has no reason to have an affair with me or any other woman. Um, his daughter is also beautiful. What's her name? Indah?' Budi nodded and said shyly 'Yes, her name is Indah...' 'And she is as beautiful as her mother...' 'I'm glad you don't have any strange relationship with him...' ‘It is ridiculous, Budi. Look at me... just skin and bone, even I am a hunched woman. Who wants me? Even your late father always said that...’ Budi gasped ‘late dad? Is he died?’ Tini quickly said ‘yes I consider he is died when he left this house’. She didn’t want her son to know that his father was killed. ‘Whatever mom, I don’t want you to have an affair with Mr. Andy, because...’ Budi stopped then put the chicken in his mouth. ‘Because of what, Budi?’ ‘Because I love his daughter...’ said Budi as soon as he finished chewing. He stood up and said 'I will go to Mr. Andy's house to study with his daughter. Wish me luck, mom...' then Budi ran to his bedroom to change his uniform. Budi was amazed that now he had lots of new clothes in his wardrobe. The foam mattress which was as thin as a book from being used for a long time had now turned into a spring bed that covered

with soft bed cover and completed with soft pillows and bolsters. No bedbugs that bit him anymore. He wore a new shirt and couldn't stop smiling when he saw his reflection in the mirror. He thought that the new clothes had made him look even better. He imagined Indah would be amazed and complimented on how good he looked. For the last time, he combed his hair back and thought that he was as handsome as a famous starlet on TV. With this appearance, Indah would fall in love with him. He smiled then took his bag and came out of his bedroom. He said 'bye, mom!' then he ran quickly out of the house. Tini sat in silence when she saw Budi who was running, then she saw the chicken bones on her plate. She thought 'look at my son... He's just like me, just skin and bones. Totally unattractive and stupid too... Why should he fall in love with the most beautiful girl in this village? How could Budi get hid dream girl?' Budi knocked on the gate of Andy and Indah's house to open it for him. She smiled and said 'come in Budi...' 'Sure...' said Budi with a joyous smile on his face. He stood in front of Indah for a while and waited to hear her praise. Indah giggled and said 'what are you doing? Let's go into the house and start studying!' then she went into the house and went to the living room. How disappointed Budi was when Indah was not aware of his new clothes and appearance. Maybe she would realize it later. Andy and Tarjo were changing the water in one pool and suddenly the Majestic Bettas jumped out of the pool and floundered into the house. Tarjo shouted 'hey! The fishes are running away! 'Then he immediately used the net to catch them. One fish gets away and goes into the house and Andy was chasing it. 'Dad... Your fish!' shouted Indah who was studying with Budi in the living room.

The fish rushed near Budi's feet and stopped floundering. Budi said 'is it dead?' When Andy caught the fish with the net, it flopped violently. He said 'no, it's still alive!' Then he ran to the nursery and put the fish back into its pool. Andy wondered why the Majestic Bettas were suddenly acting strangely but he ed that the fishes were being fed the 'special treat' made of Budi's father flesh. Was it possible if Raksa's spirit lived in the fishes? Budi said 'was that your father's Betta fish? Why is it so big? I thought it was a koi fish!' 'Yes, it was the Majestic Bettas...' 'Your dad is amazing. How your dad for the Betta?' 'I don't know. My dad just said that he was lucky....' Indah pointed to a plate of mangoes on the table and said' if you want to eat that fruit, cut it yourself...' Budi nodded then took a mango, cut off the top, then sliced it into squares. He pushed the protruded mango back so the mango would shape like a flower. He ate it and said 'now I understand why your house looks like a prison. The high walls with barbed wire make the villagers scared.' 'This house isn't scary at all...' giggled Indah. 'Sure. Your father only wants to protect his Bettas and beautiful women of this house... ' Indah smiled and said 'thank you... and you are not as scary as I thought. I often see you staring at me with a blank look and you scared me.' 'I did it because I love you...' shouted Budi, putting the mango skin on an empty plate. He felt happy because finally he could confess his feelings to Indah. The improved financial condition of his family and the new clothes he was wearing had increased his confidence. At least he didn't feel like he's just a poor farmer's son. Indah pretended not to hear his words and said 'what if today we learn about history? I don't really understand what the teacher was teaching today...'

Budi held his breath when he realized that this girl had no feelings for him. When Indah saw him, she acted like anything was normal. She didn't praise about his new appearance. She didn't say anything. Budi wanted to run to his house but he forced a smile and said 'If you as the smartest student in the class don't understand that, what about me? Let's study about that together...' Budi rushed to his bedroom and cried. He didn't hear when his mother came in. ‘What's the matter, Budi?’ said Tini while sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking his head. 'I am ok, mom...' said Budi, covering his face with a pillow. 'You won't cry if you are fine. What happened?' 'Indah had refused my love... I told her about my feeling when we studied together and she pretended not to hear that.' 'Maybe your voice was too low so she didn't hear it...' 'No. I said it out loud. There's no way she didn't hear that. She doesn't love me! Because I'm ugly, I'm poor. I'm not bright! Why is Bill Gates not my father? If so, I can buy her a palace and we can live happily ever after!' The tears fell on Tini's cheeks when she heard her son's words. She held Budi's hand and said 'I'm sorry I can't give you the life that you want, my son... I'm sorry I'm poor and stupid... I'm really a shameful mother, but please believe that I always do my best to make you, my only son be happy...' Budi gasped when he realized of what he had said. He cried and said 'I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, mom... I didn't mean that! Please forgive me, mom... How can I not love you after what you did to me? You're always working hard, even starving yourself so I can get an education and can eat every day. I'm so sorry about what I said, mom... I didn't mean to... I'm so sorry!' Tini wiped her tears and said ‘I will do anything to make you happy, my son. But please don't you ever be ashamed to have a mother like me...' 'No. I've never been ashamed of you. You are the best mother in the world and always will be. Please forgive your son. Mom, I really regret of what I said!'

This mother and child hugged each other and then went to the field together to harvest and sold the crops to middlemen. Tini had to make her life looked simple so her son was not too suspicious of how she got the money.

CHAPTER 17

THE LEECHES

Since the dawn had arrived, Tini had been working in her field. It was a good Sunday where the sky was filled with the white clouds so that day was not as hot as usual. Although she had received her monthly allowance from Andy, the farmer's blood in her vein was too strong. If she didn't work in the fields for a few days, she would feel the pain all over her body. To be able to touch the green leaves, brown soil, and burn in the sun was something she was always grateful for. The mung bean flowers that were shaped like tiny butterflies in the greenishyellow color were being pollinated by the bees and butterflies. The cassava trees grew with lush leaves. The corn trees popped their fruits with red hair at the ends. The Jengkol tree had many flat and brown hanging fruits, and how happy she was because recently Jengkol's price was as expensive as beef. Tini looked at Ari's grave, which had a small Jengkol tree on it that had grown into a fertile tree. She smiled and said 'thank you Ari. Because of you, my family's life is so good now...' Tini put the sweet potatoes she just harvested into 2 plastic bags then she came home to take a shower, and changed her clothes because she would take her monthly allowance. She saw herself in the mirror. She was still a hunchback woman, but she's not skinny anymore. Tini greeted the bunch of housewives who were gathered around a cart that selling the vegetables and fruit. They all brought their children because while they were buying the groceries for lunch, they were also waiting for Odongodong. Fanny looked at Tini up and down with suspicious eyes. She wondered why Tini never wore her old clothes like before. She said 'oooh, Mrs. Tini. You brought 2

bags of sweet potatoes now. Are you going to sell them?' 'Yes...' nodded Tini with a wide smile on her face. 'How much a bag of it?' asked a woman in the white t-shirt. 'Oh, these sweet potatoes have been ordered by Andy's family! But if you want, I'll get a bag of it for you this afternoon. Is it alright?' The woman in the white t-shirt smiled while shaking the kid in her arms. She said 'yes, please bring me a bag of sweet potatoes...' 'Yes, yes...' said Tini with a bright face. She looked at the other housewives and said 'is there anyone else who wants to buy my harvest?' A woman in the pink pajama said 'do you have cassava? I want a bag of it...' ‘Yes I have, I will bring it to you...’ The other woman said 'I want some Jengkol, I will make a sauce out of it. My husband asked me yesterday but I forgot...’ Tini said 'unfortunately, the Jengkol could only be harvested in a few months. I'll tell you later when I harvest it. Anyone else? If not, I have to go to Mr. Andy's house now. See you...' When Tini was gone, Fanny sneered and said 'after her husband left, now she has an affair with Mr. Andy...' Fanny said 'why can you be sure about that?' asked the woman in the pink pajama. 'Don't you see now that the widow has renovated her house? The house that was once empty is now filled with the new electronics appliances. The ground floor had been covered with cool and smooth tiles. She's a poor farmer! How could she buy all of them? She used to be as skinny as a twig but now she can buy anything she wants!' 'Maybe she's just using her savings? Don't you see that her family's field is big?

She gets a lot of crops from there and get the money by selling them! Why Mr. Andy wants to have an affair with Mrs. Tini? Look at her... She is old, has a hunch back, and not pretty at all 'said the woman in the white t-shirt. 'Mr. Andy's wife is the most beautiful woman in this village. There is no reason for him to have an affair with that woman!' said the woman in the pink pajama. Fanny smiled sarcastically and it made her chubby cheeks to sway. She asked the street vendor who was a young man 'Mrs. Tini may not attractive, but maybe her play on the bed is great. Isn't that the most important thing from a woman?' The vendor shook his head and said 'if I have to choose between Mr. Andy's wife and that woman, of course I will choose Mr. wife. Andy.' The housewives laughed. Fanny said 'you said that because you are inexperience! When you get older you will know that the game of bed is important!' said Fanny. The woman in a white t-shirt said 'so, what about your own game of bed with your husband? Is he satisfied?' 'Ooh yes... He always screams loudly when I play with him' then Fanny takes a eggplant and acted like she's out of breath. 'Maybe he screamed because you broke some of his ribs while you sat on it!' said the woman in a white t-shirt which caused the housewives to laugh so hard. 'Whatever! My guess is Mrs. Tini had an affair with Mr. Andy' said Fanny while trying to stop the people making fun of her. 'I don't believe it... When Mrs. Tini met Mr. Andy, his wife and daughter were always at home!' said a woman in the orange dress. 'I've never seen she's so happy. Usually, her face was always gloomy. I think it's because her abusive husband has left. I'm glad to see her like that!' said the woman in a white t-shirt.

'She's happy because Mr. Andy gives her money and love...' said Fanny. The woman in a white t-shirt covered her daughter's ears with her palms then said 'stop it, Fanny! You're not funny at all! Why can't you let the other people be happy? I don't want my daughter to be as evil as you! You made up the gossip about Mrs. Dian and Wawan, now you are making the gossip about Mr. Andy and Mrs. Tini!' Fanny said 'I didn't make up that gossip! I really saw Wawan kissed Mrs. Dian and gave her money. My mother saw that too!' The woman in the orange dress said 'your mother said that she did not see them.' Fanny said 'it's because she forgot to bring her glasses so she could not see them clearly!' The woman in the white t-shirt said 'and you take advantage of it to make your mother a witness to events that never happened!' Fanny dropped the eggplant in her hands and ran into the house. She could hear the housewives were shouting at her as a liar. As she walked into the living room, her mother who was hugging her son shouted to her 'Fanny, where's the groceries? I have to cook now or your son will cry for hunger!' 'Today there are no grocery sellers today, mom!' lied Fanny. Her mother put Fanny's son in his arms and said 'really?' 'Yes...' said Fanny, hugging her son. The mother sighed and said 'I sold my gold jewelries so I could you and your family, especially after your husband lost his job. All you do all day is sleep, eat and gossip. You even won't take care of your own son. I wonder if I have raised a cow or a human? I'll go now to buy the groceries!' then she left the house. Fanny hugged her son and cried. She wondered why her mother said that? When she was little, her mother would get angry if she didn't want to eat or sleep, but now the things were reversed. She wished she could be a kid again, to a time where she could eat and sleep as much as she wanted without her mother telling

her that she was like a cow. Tini knocked on the gate of Andy's house and Indah opened the door. She said 'Mrs. Tini! Please, come in!' 'Thank you, Indah... Is your father home?' said Tini while watching Indah's face up close. This girl was indeed so beautiful, no wonder her son loved her. 'Yes, he's busy taking care of the nursery now...' Tini gave 2 bags in her hand to Indah and said 'I brought the sweet potatoes I just harvested this morning. It's fresh from the field!' Indah took them and said 'I will ask my mom to fry them. Please follow me, Mrs. Tini. I'll take you to the nursery.' Tini saw how beautiful Andy's house was. The biggest and most luxurious house in the village... The only house that had 2 levels. She wondered how breeding the Bettas could make someone this rich? That's why her late husband was frustrated when he failed to do the same thing as Andy did. This was not the first time Tini had entered this house, but still this house looked amazing... Dian, who just finished cooking, was now busy cleaning the kitchen. Tini greeted her and Dian allowed her to meet her husband. 'Dad... Mrs. Tini is here...' said Indah to her dad, who was folding the black shade net so that the fish could get the morning sunlight. Andy smiled and nodded 'wait a minute, please...' 'Yes...' said Tini while looking at the colorful fishes that live in the pools. The Majestic Bettas tried to get out of their pools but couldn't do it because the nets had been installed above them. Tini screamed and said 'Andy! What is happening to your fishes ?!' Andy laughed and said it's ok. The Majestic Bettas sometimes act aggressively,

perhaps because they are big and have a lot of energy. You don't have to worry because I've installed the nets above the pools so they can't escape.' 'Are these fish really Bettas? Their size is unusually huge than the Betta I always see...' 'Yes, they are the Bettas. I am so lucky to get them...' laughed Andy then he paused. He thought maybe these giant Bettas could feel Tini's presence. Was it possible? But these big fishes did the same thing when Budi arrived. Maybe Raksa's soul was really absorbed into these fishes when they ate the special treat made of Raksa's flesh. Tini saw the giant Bettas and thought ‘they are as big as a gurami fish (Osphronemus Goramy). If I fry this one fish, how will it taste? Oh, I might have to sell my land if I'm going to do that!’ Andy said ‘so, you are coming here to get your monthly allowance, right? I...’ ‘Yes I am... but I have another request and you can’t say no.’ ‘What is that?’ ‘My son, Budi, is falling in love with your daughter. After graduation, I want her to marry my son!’ Andy was furious when he heard that. He said in a low voice because he didn't want his family who was in the kitchen to hear that 'what did you say? A marriage? My daughter will go to college in the city after graduating high school!' 'So, let's get the two of them married as soon as they graduate and let them to live in the city. Each month you can send them money! You can also finance my son so he can go to the same university with your daughter. You have lots of money, so it's no big deal, right?' 'Are you crazy?! Every month I have given you a lot of money! Isn't that enough for you?' Tini sneered and said 'don't forget that I know your secret, Andy! If I spill it out, your business will go away and you will be poor again like you used to be. You

will be hard to get the food to eat and insulted by the neighbors... A mother will do a crazy thing to ensure her children's happiness. My son maybe not a good looking one, but he's a hard worker. If you don't want to finance him to study at university, he can help you to take care of your business and this big nursery. When Budi marries your daughter, you don't have to give me any more money!' Andy screamed in his heart 'yes, it's because your ugly son will suck the money from me and give it to you. You such a cunning leech!' 'So, do you agree?' Asked Tini. 'I am...' Andy's words were interrupted as a sudden loud voice from Odongodong was played. The truck stopped in front of his house and tempted the villagers to have a short ride around the village with it. The mothers and their children immediately got into the open-spaced, colorful truck that had been modified into a kiddie ride. Many of the small children ran into the house and screaming for their parents to accompany them. Indah shouted from the kitchen 'dad, me, and mom will ride Odong-odong! Will you come with us? ' 'No, you can go with your mom' shouted Andy. 'Ok, bye dad...' said Indah. Odong-odong was targeted for the small kids, but the adults liked it too. Andy's family was used to riding it every holiday. After Andy was sure his family was gone, Andy smiled at Tini and said loudly 'I think that is a good idea. Your son can marry my daughter after graduation.' 'Really? Budi will be very happy if he hears this!' cried Tini. She didn't think that her plan was successful. Now she was very sure that in her son's eyes she would become a great mother. Andy said 'before you go home, please follow me to the warehouse because I put my wallet there. I'll give you more money this month so you can celebrate it with your son!'

'Thank you... Andy!' said the overjoyed Tini. Andy and Tini went to the warehouse which was located next to the kitchen. When Tini was inside, Andy said 'oh, my wallet is not here... maybe in my bedroom. Please wait here...' 'Ok...' said Tini while looking at 2 large cupboards filled with the bunch of pail, shade nets, vitamins, and sacks of the fish pellets in the corner. She thought that if the Bettas could live this well, then her life would be the same after Budi married Indah. Andy ran to the kitchen and took a big stone mortar under the sink. He ran to the warehouse and before Tini noticed his presence, Andy hit Tini's head with an object that his wife used to smooth the spices. The sound of Tini's screams was swallowed up by the loud song from Odongodong and the cheers from the children when the driver said they would start the ride. The Majestic Bettas were trying to get out but the nets blocked them. Andy hit Tini's head repeatedly until he was sure she was dead. As Odong-odong left, Tini was also left this world. Andy took the deep breaths to calm his heart. He went to the kitchen to clean the mortar with the water and liquid soap and put it again under the sink. He took the biggest knife and blender, went to the warehouse, and closed the door. He regretted because he didn't install the lock in the warehouse because he thought his house was safe. He had to take care of Tini's body before his family returned home. As usual, he cut all the flesh from that hunchback woman and made it into the 'special treat'. Andy looked around to find something he could use to store Tini's body and he saw the empty sacks of fish pellets in the corner. He put the body in it and planned to bury it in the lotus pond tomorrow Monday because on this holiday many villagers were wandering around the village and the chances of him being caught were quite high.

CHAPTER 18

PLEASE FORGIVE ME

'Indah... is my mother still in your house?' chatted Budi to Indah. 'I saw her this Sunday morning and she brought 2 bags of sweet potatoes, but she's already back to her house...' texted Indah. 'It's almost midnight but she's still not home yet. I'm very worried. This has never happened before!' Indah looked at the clock on her phone. It's 11.08. She chatted 'I am sorry, Budi. I don't know...' ‘Ok... good night, Indah:)’ ‘Good night...’ Indah stopped studying, turned off the light in her room, then went to her bed. Actually, she didn't see Tini left her house. The last time she saw her was when she was talking in the nursery with her father. Indah came out of her bedroom to ask her father about it and she found her father was sleeping in the living room with the TV still on. Usually her father hadn't slept at this time, maybe he's tired of taking care of his Bettas. Indah went to the nursery in the backyard and saw that the Majestic Bettas were still trying to get out of their pools. She thought maybe they were hungry, so she went to the warehouse to get the fish pellets. She turned on the warehouse lights and tried to find the fish pellets that had been opened. She saw a sack topped with rope and when she opened it, Indah saw the messy hair with something red and sticky on it. The smell was like a rotten meat. She opened the sack wider and saw Tini's head with the flesh that had been cut

from her cheeks. Indah fell on the floor then she screamed ‘moooooom! Moooom!’ Indah shouted loudly and caused her parents to run to the warehouse to see what happened. 'Arrgh!' shouted Dian when she saw Tini's head was sticking out of the sack. She hugged Indah and rolled her eyes to Andy. She knew that her husband did it. 'Dian... I can explain this...' said Andy with a stuttered voice and then his heart almost stopped beating when he heard someone was knocking on the gate. He ran as fast as he could and greeted the villagers without opening the gate. One villager said 'what happened? We heard the screams from your house?' Andy said with a pale face 'my relative just died and my family is now hysterical because of his sudden death...' 'Oh, do you need our help to calm them down?' 'No, thank you... I can do it by myself. Now pardon me, I must go now...' 'Ok, good night, Mr. Andy...' Andy ignored them and immediately ran to the warehouse where Dian was pointing the bloodied knife he used to cut Tini's flesh. Dian screamed 'don't you dare to come closer to me and Indah! Tell me what is this! Why did you kill Tini?!' ‘Put the knife down, Dian... It's dangerous!' said Andy in a whispery voice. He was terrified the villagers would hear their conversation so he closed the warehouse door. 'The only dangerous one here is you! You not only killed Tini, but also cut her flesh! Why did you do that?' 'For the fish pellet...' said Andy hopelessly. 'What?' Dian asked in disbelief.

‘I used her flesh to create a new Betta.’ 'I don't believe you! Is there no reason that makes more sense!' said Dian. 'My first fish, the Blasteran could be created because I fed them with Pardi's flesh. Pardi could make a widow divorced by her husbands because she could not give the offspring. The Bettas who had eaten his flesh had succeeded in producing the fry which had the characteristics of both parents. The second Bettas... the Majestic Betta, was created because I fed the Bettas with Raksa's flesh. You know that Raksa had a big body and dark skin? The fishes that ate the pellets made from his flesh became the gigantic Bettas with deep colors. The probability to get a rare Betta is said to be 1: 100.000, in this way I managed to cut that probability down to 1:50. The human flesh has caused mutations in the Bettas' genes. I don't understand why, but that's how I got the rare Bettas that bring us extraordinary wealth.' 'What is that, dad? You killed the people just because of it?' asked Indah as she cried harder. 'The first murder I did because Pardi asked me to allow Indah to be his wife. That old man also insulted you and your mother as prostitutes and it made me furious. Without thinking I had killed him... Later I knew that he loved to visit the prostitutes in town. If he really does marry you, you will not only become the laughing stock of a village, but may die of a dirty disease! The second murder I did because Raksa, the one I considered as my friend had stolen my fish and tried to destroy my business! I accidentally saw him having a transaction with someone, then I killed him for his betrayal. The last murder... I killed Tini because she asked Indah to marry her son...' 'I won't do that!' shouted Indah. Andy nodded 'if I didn't give you to Budi, Tini would tell all the villagers that I killed Ari. Do you know Ari? My childhood friend? The crazy man on the street? One day when I was going to town to buy vitamins for my Bettas and I saw Ari who was lying in the middle of the main road with a bleeding head. Tini who saw this thought that I had hit him to death my my motorcycle, but I didn't! But maybe because I had feeling of guilt for killing Tini's husband, I confessed to killing Ari. Since then she blackmailed me. She always came here every

month to take her monthly allowance from me!' Indah cried 'so it's all about money, dad?' Andy nodded and said 'money... it's the little piece of paper I need to protect you and your mother. With it, the people will think a thousand times before they do something to you.' Dian shook her head and said ‘I can't believe you killed 3 people... the man that I love did this?’ 'I did it to protect you, especially Indah. A lot of men are trying to taint our daughter. Don't you see how beautiful she is? When you confessed to me that you sold yourself to Wawan to pay for her tuition, it broke my heart. As a man, as the head of the family, I couldn't give the money to meet your daily needs...' then Andy cried. Andy knelt down and kissed Dian's feet and his tears made her feet wet. He said 'I beg your forgiveness, Dian... If the villagers find out what I have done, they will not only burn down this house and evict us out of this village, but my business will also be dead, I will go to jail or maybe the villagers will hit me to die, and Indah's plan to the university will fail. Then our life will return to the way it used to be. Our food will be cassava, rice and vegetables only. The men will start teasing you and Indah, and maybe something worse than what Wawan ever did to Indah and you could happen. If that happens, I want you to kill me... I can't see anything bad happen to my only daughter!' Indah hugged Dian's legs and cried 'no... don't say that, dad! I love you... Mom! Please don't hurt dad! He is only trying to protect us! Mom! 'Mom!' The knife in Dian's hand fell to the floor and she hugged Andy. She kissed his forehead and said 'I forgive you, Andy but you have to promise not to do it again...' 'Thank you, Dian... I promise you this is my last crime...' said Andy. 'Dad...' then Indah hugged him. Andy repeatedly said sorry to them, and his family said their forgiveness.

That night, Budi sat in front of the porch because he was still waiting for his mother to return. When the midnight had ed, Tini was still not be seen. Budi went into his bedroom and slept. He hoped that when he woke up, his mother was already there but when he ran to her bedroom tomorrow morning, his mother's bedroom was still empty.

CHAPTER 19

IS MY MOTHER AT YOUR HOUSE?

Before Budi left for school, he visited several neighboring houses and said 'excuse me, Mrs. Narti. Did you see my mom? The last time I saw her was last Sunday morning and she hasn't come home until now.' The woman who was sweeping her house said 'no, Budi. I did not see your mother...' Budi visited another house and said 'Mr. Guna, did you see my mother? My mom hasn't come home since yesterday morning.' The man with the mustache shook his head and said 'no, I did not know. Maybe my wife knows...’ The woman who was sitting beside him said 'the last time I saw her was Sunday morning. At that time your mother was carrying 2 bags of sweet potatoes to give to Andy's family. I ordered a bag of sweet potatoes yesterday and she promised to deliver it yesterday afternoon, but she didn't come.' Budi said 'I've also asked Indah, and she said my mother did come to her house yesterday but she's already home.' Narti said 'if your mother still hasn't come home yet, is it possible that now she is looking for your father?' Budi didn't say anything and left that house. His mother was looking for his father? Why? Was she exhausted from tending the field alone? The school bell was ringing and the students were rushing out of their classes to get home quickly. Indah grabbed Kartika's hand and took her out of the classroom, and Budi who saw it immediately put his books into his bag and then chased her.

The students who were riding the motorcycles went to the parking lot near the school gate, and Indah and Kartika headed there. 'Indah!' shouted Budi, who ran towards Indah. He had been chasing and shouting her name from the classroom to the parking lot, but that girl ignored him. He shouted again 'Indah!' 'What, Budi?' said Indah as she got into the motorcycle with Kartika. 'Indah... Is my mother really not in your house?' said Budi. 'I told you so many times that she's not in my house!' said Indah without seeing Budi's face. Budi saw Indah's motorcycle and said 'so you bring a motorcycle today?' 'Yes, this is my mother's motorcycle but from today I will use this so I can go quickly and safely...' Budi looked at Kartika who was sitting behind Indah with a look of hatred. He said 'some people saw my mother at your house last Sunday...' 'Yes! Last Sunday morning your mother did visit my house to sell 2 bags of sweet potatoes, but after that she returned to her house.' 'Where did my mother go?' 'How do I know about that?' Budi nodded. He said 'I'll go to your house after I come home and change my uniform...' Indah gasped and rolled her eyes' from now on you can't come to my house anymore!' 'Why?' 'When we study together, all you always do is ask questions and it makes it hard for me to concentrate!' Budi nodded and said 'I'm sorry. I did it because I am so stupid.'

'Budi, you can't come to my house anymore because I need high scores to get into a good university...' Budi looked at Indah with a sad look. 'Indah, am I not your friend too?' 'You're just my classmate, and I never thought that you are my friend!' Budi bit his lower lip because he felt very disappointed. He nodded and said 'I'm not coming to your house anymore. I hope you can get into the university that you want...' 'Thank you, Budi!' Then Indah drove her motorcycle out of school. She was glad to have escaped Budi. Kartika said 'Indah... I feel sorry for Budi. He lost both of his parents and now suddenly you don't want to be his friend anymore. What's the matter, Indah?' Indah didn't answer Kartika's question because she was crying and she repeatedly shouted apologies in her heart because of what her father had done to Budi's parents. 'I'm home, mom ...' shouted Budi from his doorstep. He shouted again 'mom! I am home!' But no one replied him. Budi ran to his mother's bedroom and it was empty there. He ran into the kitchen, bathroom, his bedroom, and side yard, but he didn't find his mother. He ran to the field, and carefully looked for his mother between the trees but she wasn't there either. He was terrified that his mother drowned in the river but the river water was low, it couldn't even make a child drown. All he could see from the river was the red silk worm colonies were moving gently along the steady river. Budi screamed 'mom...! Mom! Where are you!'

The answer he heard was the sound of a river flowing and the scraping sound of the bamboo trees when the wind was blowing... Budi knocked on Andy's house gate and from CCTV Andy and Dian knew that it was Budi. Budi phoned Indah, and she didn't dare to pick up the phone. The family was gathered in the living room and hoped that Budi would leave soon. Budi kept knocking on the gate loudly until finally a neighbor scolded him not to make a fuss and said that Andy's family is probably going somewhere. Budi sent many messages to Indah and she replied none. Unfortunately for Indah because in class, Budi was sitting behind her. When she turned around, she often caught that boy was staring at her.' The teacher looked at the papers on her hand and said 'Cempaka...' ‘Yes madam...’ 'Your score in math is bad. I want you to study harder because the final exam is near...' ‘Yes, madam...’ 'Indah?' ‘Yes, madam...’ 'All your scores are good. You are still the number one in this class...' 'Yes, ma'am' said Indah with a beaming face. Her plan to go to university was just a step away. 'Budi?' said the teacher. 'Budi?' She repeatedly called out his name because Budi didn't hear her. 'Yes, madam...?' Said Budi after the student who was sitting beside him touched his finger because he kept looking at Indah. 'Previously your scores have improved, but now all your scores are falling like they used to. I'm not sure you can the last exam if you keep it like this...'

The teacher looked at Budi sadly. She didn't dare to scold Budi because she knew Budi had lost both of her parents. Budi just nodded and looked at his book 'Ok, kids... let's continue our study. Now open the page 156! 'Said the teacher. Indah looked back quietly and her eyes meet Budi's eyes. She quickly turned around and saw her teacher's face. Perhaps the main reason why Budi's scores were bad was because during class all he did was staring at Indah... Indah was about to go to the canteen with Kartika when Budi suddenly came before her. He smiled and said 'hey, Indah... can we study together today? You know that my scores are falling?' 'No. I told you that I would concentrate more on learning if I study alone. I need high scores to get into a good university in town! Soon the final exams will start so I need to study more. How many times do I have to tell you this?' said Indah angrily. Budi smiled and nodded 'maybe because I am stupid so I slowed down your learning. I'm asking you directly now because you never replied to my messages.' 'Because I have no time for it!' Indah just realized that Budi's appearance looked messy. Even his greasy hair had grown rather long and his bangs barely covered his eyes. He smelt a bit too... How long hadn't he showered?' Then Indah grabbed Kartika's hand and walked quickly towards the canteen. Kartika said 'Indah, what's going on between you and Budi? You've always avoided it recently.' 'Nothing happened... I just didn't like the way he looked at me...' 'I see... Budi is scary. I can't believe you allowed him to deliver you home for a long time.' 'I used to let him to guard me for fear that indecent motorcycle driver would harass me again!' Indah wanted to say that the motorcycle driver was Wawan but

somehow she didn't say that. 'It's scary! If I were you, I will do the same 'nodded Kartika. 'But, don't you see it? Since his parents disappeared, he looks messy and a bit smelly... I don't think he washed his clothes properly. You can see on his uniform a lot of stains...' Indah felt so guilty now. If her dad did not kill his parents, Budi would not suffer. Maybe she shouldn't avoid him but being around him made her so uneasy. She felt so guilty of what her father did. Budi knocked on Andy's door and this time Andy, who had overcome his fear, opened the door for him. He smiled and said ‘Budi... come in please...’ With a flat gaze, Budi nodded and followed Andi into the living room. He looked around to find his mother's presence but he didn't find her. He looked for Indah's presence but she wasn't there because right now Indah and Dian were locking themselves in Andi's bedroom. Budi said 'I've asked all the villagers and some of them saw her on Sunday morning, some months ago, was going to your house carrying her harvest. Do you know where my mother was after that?' Andy smiled and nodded 'she came here and brought 2 bags of sweet potatoes. After paying for it, she immediately left.' ‘So, you don't know either...’ said Budi, holding back his tears. Andy saw that Budi's clothes looked as dirty as a rag. He wanted to give him money but he was terrified what his mother had done would be done by Budi too. He went to the kitchen and gave him a plate of food. He said 'you look skinny... Please eat this...' Budi took the plate and quickly ate it. He hadn't been eating properly these past few weeks. He asked for more food so Andy brought him to the dining room so he could eat as much as he wanted. Budi filled his plate with rice and side dishes. He had even finished a plateful of fried chicken. His father was right. If you were poor, you have no right to be ashamed if you want to live in this cruel world.

Budi looked around his house... The fridge was empty. He had sold all electronic equipment because he needed money to buy food. There were no fans which blow when the air was hot... There was no flat TV that he used to watch with his mother, but he didn't have a problem living without all those stuff because he's used to living in poverty. Even when the water and electricity stopped running since a few weeks ago, it was not a big problem for him and it only reinforced his reason for selling all the electronic equipment because they were no use to him. Fanny went to a shop where the shop owner currently had many customers. She said 'Mr. Pino... Could you give me 2 liters of rice?' Pino looked at Fanny for a moment then said 'do you have the money?' Fanny shook her head and said nothing. Pino took his notebook and looked for her name. He said 'you and your mother have a lot of debt that has reached the limit. I need you to pay your debt immediately because I need the money so that my shop can keep operating. If...' Fanny left the shop before Pino finished his words because she felt embarrassed when the housewives around her looked at her with pity. She could not get anything at other shops because her family's debts were already a lot. When she got home, the home was empty because her mother was out with her child. She entered her mother's bedroom and opened the wardrobe. After carefully removing her mother's clothes to keep them tidy, she finally found what she wanted. Budi changed his uniform then went to the fields. He took a pan that he hid near the bamboo trees. He started pulling out the sweet potatoes, which unfortunately were too small, so he planted them again so he could harvest in a few months. The long pods of the mung bean had blackened, and he had to harvest them today before they popped out but he didn't have any energy now. He used a hoe to dig taros and how happy he was when he got 3 large bulbs. He put them in a pan and take them to the river to wash them clean. He arranged the stones into a box shaped with a hole under it then gathered up the dried bamboo stalks and leaves that had grown along the river and set them

on fire. The pot was half filled with water then he boiled those taros. Since his mother was lost and he had used up the remaining money at home, every time he came home from school Budi would cook his meal by the river bank. His body, which was already a little fat, was now back to being like a stick. After finished eating all the taros, Budi still felt a little hungry. He only able to eat once a day now, sometimes twice or thrice if his neighbor gave him food. The water and electricity had been out since 2 months ago because no one paid the bills, so if he wanted to drink he would ask his neighbor. He took a shower and washed his clothes in the river, without using soaps. His tuitions had not been paid for months, but after the teachers begged the heaster to free him from the tuitions, he granted it. Budi drank the river water by scooping his hands. The dancing red silk worm didn't disgust him because all he wanted was to get rid of his thirst. He ed his father's joke that if his family were Bettas, they could eat the silk worm until they were full. How Budi Hoped could be one, so he won't feel this hungry anymore. The Ketapang trees that Andy planted allowed him to drink the river water without feeling disgusted because the tree leaves made the water clear, especially since his family stopped cleaning their crops there. How much he wanted to eat something other than the harvest from his field. How he wanted to meet Indah. The girl of his dreams has gotten further away from him. Why did that girl suddenly stay away from him? He had asked all the villagers when they last saw his mother and some of them said that before they got on the Odong-odong ride, they saw her bringing 2 bags of sweet potatoes to Andy's house. Even his mother promised to 2 housewives to bring her crops to their houses, so there was no way her mother was now looking for her father. His childhood memories came back to his mind... He ed that when he was a child, his father often brought him to Andy's house because Raksa, Ari and Andy often gathered there to chat. In Andy's old house he played with Indah and Ari's son.

Even though he was young, Budi knew that Indah was indeed beautiful. He didn't have feelings for her until he was put in the same class as him in the elementary school. The teachers often praised Indah as a smart and beautiful girl, and suddenly he became attracted to her. That girl had everything he didn't have. She was smart, beautiful, and now she was the daughter of the richest man in Iwak Village. He felt like a monkey yearning for the moon. He ed that his father had said that if you were poor, you shouldn't be ashamed because it would be a part of your life until you died. If you feel embarrassed, you can't live in this cruel world. Shame will never fill your hungry stomach! Budi scooped the river water and used that to kill the stove fire. He stood up and decided to go for what he wanted most. Indah was studying when her mother came into her room. Dian said 'Budi is here, Indah. He said that he wants to study with you...' 'What?! You let him in, mom? ' gasped Indah. Dian closed her eyes and said 'yes... he's in the living room now. After your father greeted him, now Andy is taking care of his nursery so he doesn't have to talk to Budi. I feel very sorry for Budi because he looks like a beggar, because... You know the reason, right? You will study with him and I will prepare something for dinner. This boy is just the bone and flesh...’ Indah took a short breath then nodded. She took the textbooks with her and went into the living room where Budi was sitting on the leather sofa. Budi smiled broadly when he saw his dream girl. He said 'sorry I Indah... I didn't tell you I would come here. Since 2 months ago my phone can't be used because I don't have electricity and I can't buy the phone credit. I am not even bringing a book because I just came from the river.' Indah forced a smile, sat beside Budi, then said 'it's ok. Now you're here so let's study together. You can use my textbooks.'

'Alright, Indah...' said Budi, smiling. How happy he was to sit beside Indah just like before. Indah saw that Budi was getting thinner and his clothes were dirty, messy, and smelly. She took a pear that was on the table, peeled it with a knife and then gave it to Budi. He took it with great joy. He said 'thank you, Indah... you make me feel so special.' 'It doesn't matter at all. I just thought that you look really skinny now. Eat that pear so you can concentrate on studying. I don't have much time to talk!' said Indah while looking at the pear skin on a plate. 'The only person who was so nice to me was my mom... and now she's gone. I don't know where she is now but I do know that she will never leave me alone like my father did. The people say that now she lives with my father somewhere and is leaving me to live alone in this village, but I know that's not true. I feel that she is still in this village... She will never leave me alone in this world unless she is dead.' Indah thought 'yes... she was killed in the warehouse of this house and my father has buried her in the Lotus pond'. She wanted to say it but it would destroy her family, so she could only say sorry for what her father did to his parents in her heart. 'Indah, why have you been avoiding me these past few months? Did I do something wrong?' said Budi as he picked up a pear crumb that had fallen on the table then ate it.' 'You didn't do anything wrong. I just want to concentrate more on studying because I need high scores to enter a good university in the city, and next week we'll have our final exams.' 'Are you having trouble concentrating because you like me?' said Budi with hopeful eyes. Indah giggling while continuing to write. She said of course no! You are only a classmate!'

Budi held Indah's hand and looked at her. From behind his bangs, Indah could see Budi's empty eyes were like the eyes of a dead fish. He said 'I love you Indah...' 'No!' shouted Indah, who got goosebumps because that boy was terrifying. Budi said 'some people said that the last time they saw my mother was on a Sunday morning, a few months ago. She went into this house, then they never saw her again. Is your family related to her loss?' 'No! I don't know anything about your mother!' said Indah while closing her eyes. The face of Tini's corpse with the flesh cut on her cheeks in a fish pellet sack appeared in her mind. 'You started avoiding me ever since I texted you about if my mother was still in your house... When your parents saw me, they seemed to be hiding something from me. I feel that your family is related to my mother's disappearance. Somehow, I also feel that my father didn't run away with other women but his loss was related to your father. They used to be close friends, but your father seemed unconcerned about my father's disappearance...' 'That's not true! My father does nothing wrong!' shouted Indah, releasing her hand from Budi's. She wrote something in her book and said 'we better study more than talk about your crazy imagination!' Budi retook Indah's hands then nailed her on the sofa with his body. He tried to kiss her but she avoided him, then he squeezed her breast and it made her very disgusted. The face of Wawan who had harassed her... The face of the old Pardi who tried to marry her and called her and her mother as prostitutes... and now this boy was trying to do indecent things to her. She saw the knife that was near the table. She took it and stabbed Budi many times. He could just grunt and then fall to the floor. Indah saw that her hands, body, sofa, floor, table, and textbooks were marked with the blood... Just like a page of her book of life, which was no longer white. She did what her father had done. Be a killer. She felt her body suddenly hurt and she couldn't move or speak.

Dian came into the living room to tell them that dinner was ready, but she held back her scream when she saw her daughter was covered in blood. On the floor, behind the desk, Budi was lifeless. Dian ran to the nursery to tell her husband of what had happened. Dian took the knife in Indah's hand and brought her to the bathroom to wash her, and Andy cleaned the living room and cleared up Budi's corpse. With a trembling voice, Indah said 'I didn't mean to kill him... I didn't mean to kill him... He harrassed me, just like what Wawan did, just like the men who tried to belittle me... I just defended myself...' Dian was shocked when she heard it. So her daughter knew that the indecent motorcycle driver was Wawan? All the things that had happened have rocked this girl to her core and that's why she could do this... 'Mom... would I go to prison? What about my school? Can I go to the university?' asked Indah, crying. 'Don't worry, Indah. Mom and dad will protect you no matter what! You will continue your study and forget about all the bad things that have happened to you'. Then Dian took a shower and sprayed water gently over Indah's head, which caused the blood to wash off her body and made the white bathroom floor turn red. 'Mom... I am so tired...' said Indah, placing her head on Dian's chest. 'Then you have to sleep after this... You don't need to worry because mom is always here... Mom will always be here for you...' Then Dian kissed Indah's forehead. For 3 days Indah was absent from school because she was sick, and of course Budi was also absent. For 3 days Indah spent her days by sleeping and on the next Monday, she had to force herself to school because the final exam for grade 12 was started. She must graduate from high school and made her parents proud. The mung beans' long pods in the field were split into two, and they showed the little green beans stuck inside them. Some of the mung beans had fallen to the ground, along with the fruits of the Jengkol tree, and if the rain came they may grow into the new plants.

Nobody would take care of the crops and harvest anything from that field anymore.

CHAPTER 20

YOU WILL BE NEXT

Indah, who just arrived at her house, shouted 'mom, dad... I saw the school bulletin board and I graduated from high school with the best scores in my class!' then Indah hugged her parents. 'Oh... my daughter... You make me proud! You already have a higher education than your parents who only graduated from junior high school!' said Dian, kissing Indah's forehead. ‘So, I can go to the university, right?’ asked Indah with a sparkling face. 'Yes, you can... yes... What major do you want to take?' asked Andy with a big smile. 'I'm going to major in animal husbandry so I can help your business, dad...' said Indah. 'Oh... Yes, you can take that major, Indah!' said Andy as he was crying. His dream of seeing his daughter go to university would come true. ‘But... the university is 2.5 hours from this village...’ said Indah. '5 hours on the road each day is tough! You can die of exhaustion!' shouted Dian. Indah said 'that's why I want to rent a boarding room because the earliest class started at 08.00 am. If I leave from here it will be time consuming.' Andy exclaimed 'I will buy you a nice house near the university so you are never late!' 'It's too much, dad...' said Indah.

'Nothing is too much for you because you are a daughter that we are proud of...' said Dian. 'It's true, Indah. I will do anything for you...' said Andy. Dian said 'we have to eat something special to celebrate this moment. I'm going to the supermarket now. My daughter is going to be a scholar! The first person in this family to go to university! How happy I am!' then Dian took the car key and went to the supermarket in town. ‘You wait here, Indah!’ then Andy went into his bedroom and came out with a biscuit box in hand. He gave it to Indah and said 'you have lent me your saving and now I return it... Thank you for accepting your father just the way I am'. Indah looked at the biscuit box in her hand and said 'you don't need to do this, dad. What you have given me and mom is more than enough.' 'I do this because I want to. Just see what's inside the box...' Indah opened the box and a key car came out of there. Andy smiled and said 'Did you see the silver sedan that parked in the front yard when you entered the house? It is your gift!' When Indah saw the car, she thought that her father was having a guest, but it turned out that the car was hers. Andy said 'I bought the car so you can be safer. The car will protect you from the weather and the bad people. I hope you can forget all the bad things that had happened in Iwak Village and can live happier now.' 'Thank you, dad...' then Indah hugged her father with the tears of happiness. Fanny secretly stole her mother's house certificate and sold it cheaply to the pawnshop so she could get the money to pay the debts and bought the basic necessities. When she couldn't redeem the house certificate, the pawnshop confiscated her mother's house. When Fanny's mother found out what was happening, that poor woman's crying could be heard throughout the village. Soon the family left the village. Nobody missed Fanny.

When people realized that Budi was not around, they just assumed that his parents had brought him to live in another city. Which parent could leave their child to live alone, right? Andy had created 2 new Betta varieties. His Majestic Bettas which were fed with the 'special treat' made of Tini's flesh, caused the fry to have the large lumps on their backs. This Betta was known as The Humpback of Iwak Village or The Humpback Betta. The other Majestic Bettas which were fed with the 'special treat' made from Budi's flesh caused them to become skinny and the fish was nicknamed as the Langsing Betta or the Skinny Betta. Raksa's joke that if his family can transform into the Betta fishes then they could eat the silk worm as much as they want until they were full had become real. The Bettas who had eaten the flesh of the Raksa family became so obsessed with the silk worms. Andy bought another large plot of land so he could breed the silk worm. The Majestic Bettas' wild behavior changed after the new Betta variants hosted the pools. Andy didn't need to put the nets over the pools anymore. The Raksa family had lived so well in Andy's nursery. The Giant Bettas were indeed large, but they were not as beautiful as the ornamental Bettas which had the variations of tails and fins. It's impossible to mate them because their sizes were so different. Indah suggested Andy to use the artificial insemination service so he could get a new variant. The fry then fed with the remaining 'special treats' and he easily acquired the new Betta variants which made him even richer. The Betta variants that Andy made in 4 years had earned him the nickname as The Betta King in the Betta communities. Almost every month he had to go to another city or country to participate in Betta competitions or meet buyers. They were always waiting for what else Betta could Andy make? Maybe someday Andy could make a shark Betta? Even the whale Betta? If you could not do it, Andy might! ‘Andy... you have a package!’ said Dian while giving a box to Andy. ‘Oh, this is from my friend in Malaysia!’ Andy opened that box and showed her a pair of fish with a reddish-brown color. He said 'so, this is the rare wild Bettas

my friend said! He sent his favorite fishes that he bought a few months ago because his efforts to mate them were unsuccessful. If I can get them to mate, I can take half of their fry, and he will pay me handsomely.' Dian kissed Andy's cheek and said 'I know you can do that... you have your 'special treat'. Andy shook his head and said 'unfortunately they have run out... From now on, I will develop Betta in an honest way. I have to learn a lot about it, or maybe someday Indah can make one with the knowledge she got from university.' Dian nodded and said 'I will visit our daughter now. Do you want to come with me?' 'No, I have a lot of things to do now. Just tell her that I really love her...' 'Sure...' Then Dian looked at the nursery where the 3 boys who had become the permanent employees were cleaning the pools. Dian parked her car in the front yard of the house that Andy bought for Indah in the city. All of her family learned to drive a car for a few months and then Andy bought them all cars. It took 2.5 hours to get to the city where Indah studied at university, and Dian always visited her every week to make sure that her daughter was ok. Now Indah was dating a nice young man whose father was the richest man in town. If her family was still poor, it was impossible for Indah to leave Iwak Village, entered an expensive and good university, and met this good young man. Dian was grateful for the murders Andy had committed. Andy's attempts to breed the rare wild Betta from Malaysia was fruitless. Andy and Dian knew what they had to do for this miracle to happen, but they promised not to commit another murder. When Dian went to the supermarket in town, she accidentally met Wawan, who

now worked as a parking attendant. This old goat lost his job after the female workers demonstrated, asking the shrimp factory management to fire him because of his indecent behavior toward women. One day, Ami wore 3 layers of hairnet and sneaked her phone into it and she succeeded in getting a video when Wawan was squeezing the butt of a new female employee. His action was then ed to social media and became viral news. Now Wawan was known by the nickname 'Wawan the Asshole Manager' and fired from his position. How happy Dian was when she heard that, and thank you for what her friend had done. Now this old goat must know how it felt to be in her old position... Without the position and money, he was like a boneless goat. Dian smiled to Wawan who looked at the ground and said 'long time no see, Mr. Wawan. How are you?' ‘Fine...’ said Wawan as he tried to get out of the parking lot, but Dian blocked his way. ‘I heard that you lost your job.’ ‘Yes...’ 'What if you work in my husband's nursery? The demands from domestic and international make him overwhelmed. I feel sorry because he had to work all day long! I even had to scold him so he would eat. I think my husband needs a manager to help him. With your background experience, I know you can help him...' Wawan gasped and smiled. He could not believe of what he heard. 'Are you serious about it?' 'Yes... You must come to my house tonight, and I will convince my husband to give you the job...' 'I treated you wrong and you have forgiven me, Dian?'

'Oh, let's forget what happened in the past...' said Dian while trying not to throw up. 'I can't believe this! Thank you, Dian! Thank you! ‘when Wawan was about to shake Dian's hand, she pulled her hand quickly. She said 'promise me you have to come to my house tonight and you can't tell anyone about this until you actually get the job because you'd be embarrassed if my husband refused. But I will convince him to hire you!' Then Dian smiled sweetly. 'Sure! I'll keep it a secret! I'll come to your house tonight!' 'Alright, see you then...' then Dian walked into the supermarket with a sly smile. She ed that Andy often complained to her because that Malaysian’ wild Bettas still didn't want to mate after months, but she knew when they ate the 'special treat' made from Wawan's flesh, they would mate like an old goat. Just like Betta the fighting fish, I had to fight for my happiness. Tonight I would paint my hands red with your blood and cut all your flesh...

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THE END Written: 21 July 2020 – 01 SEPEMBER 2020 Dear readers, if you have finished reading this book, kindly leave your comments so I can know my weakness in writing. Thank you...