THE next morning, I prepared to go to CLOFUS for college. As usual, I warm up the engine of my favorite motorcycle. I haven't ridden my bike in a few days. It was a little dusty but still pretty shiny.
I looked at my watch. It was still seven in the morning. But Julia never passed in front of my house. I wanted to take Julia to CLOFUS so she wouldn't have to walk or ride a rickshaw. After all, I made her cry again because of my urging attitude.
Could not wait for Julia. I stepped out of my fence. I then looked at Julia's house to find out. Why until seven o'clock I didn't see her pass?
When I looked at Julia's house, which was only four houses apart from mine, I was shocked, hurt, and angry at the same time.
Apparently, there was a silver LCGC car parked in front of her house. And I knew whose it was. Besides, why did the cop come to Julia's house so early? Saltyville to Certajava was quite a distance.
Unmoved, I watched a pair of lovers chatting s
I did not know why I suddenly got nervous knowing Amelia and Billy were in the same car. After all, why didn't they ever get out of the car? All of this made my heartache.I took my phone out of my pants pocket. I was about to call Amelia, ask what did she mean by every day with Billy? Wasn't she the one who wanted me? But, why should I be so angry?Shit!I put my phone back in my pocket, said goodbye to Brother Moe, and stepped into the faculty building, which was already bustling with students starting to arrive.I looked at my watch, still 15 minutes until the first class of the morning. I turned my way towards Brother Eugene's coffee shop. Apparently, there was already Mr. P and Matt, two of my best friends."Lang!" called Mr. P and Matt."Hello, guys! What's up?" I asked, then sat down next to them lazily.I then lit my cigarette again with the fire that Matt lit."What's wrong with you?" asked Mr. P."Really, what'
"That's impossible," I said."What's impossible?" asked Mr. P.“Aisha and Ahmed are engaged,” I replied."What makes you so sure?" asked Mr. P again."I met Aisha last night at her house," I said, "she said that she was on Madura Island to accompany her parents to check the oil and gas project there."Mr. P looked thoughtful. There was a short pause before he opened his mouth again."There's no way my informant was wrong," said Mr. P. “My informant is a reliable source. My informant was also the one who gave the students information about Mayor Jamaal.”I nodded, trusting Mr. P. Information from Mr. P never misses. He is reliable."I'm sorry if this information makes you ..." said Mr. P, which I cut immediately."It's okay," I said. "If you don't tell me, how will I find out."Silence enveloped Brother Eugene's stall again."Time to go to class," Matt said breaking the silence.
"Zoey ... she was abused by his customers," said the old man."What!?" I said surprised, half asked in disbelief.I rushed to Zoey's room.And right. In the room, I saw Zoey sitting half-lying clutching her cheek as if she had been slapped. Her hair is also messy. Zoey's room was a mess."Gerald!" I called out as I walked up to Zoey and helped her sit up, "what are you doing?""Why are you here?" asked Gerald."What did Zoey do that you had to abuse her?" I asked.Gerald looked at me more seriously."He tricked me!" cried Gerald again.“Deceptively, how did you have the heart to go this far?” I asked.I just kept thinking. Aren't Gerald and Zoey friends in Newton. What kind of deceit made Gerald this angry?"I released her from the brothel in Newton earlier," said Gerald, "I ransomed her a large sum of money. And you know what she did?”I was still silent, trying to process what Ger
I stood still in the room while Zoey was still crying. I didn't seem to want to believe everything Gerald said. Even so, what Gerald said was true. Gerald revealed what Zoey said to him was the same as what was said to me.That meant I might also be tricked by Zoey. After I redeem her, Zoey would leave me with my money. Gerald was lucky enough to see Zoey again.I turned around and watched Zoey. She was still crying not daring to see me."Tell me what Gerald said is not true," I asked Zoey.Zoey didn't say anything and continued to cry."It's all true, isn't it?" ask again."I'm sorry," Zoey said. "It's not everything like what you think.""You want to trick me!" I pointed at Zoey.Zoey just kept quiet and continued to cry."Stupid me," I said, "why do I always trust women so easily.""Trust me, Lang," Zoey pleaded, "not everything is like what Gerald says.""Then tell me how it really is," I said, "I don't
I still could not believe what I just found out. Apparently, Zoey was a deceiver as well as a drug addict. Stupidly I could be influenced by her seduction. She was smart enough to make me kneel before her. With her charming vocal technique, I was blind to everything.But now everything has been revealed. Even so, I still had a promise to get Zoey out of the brothel.Outside the Arynn House, Jack came in a hurry. He said he had just heard of a police officer abusing Zoey. I said to Jack if the cop was gone, and Zoey was alone."Is Zoey all right?" asked Jack."Yes," I said, "for sure she wants to be alone now and has no intention of seeing anyone.""Oh, all right," said Jack. "I'll call her later.""Good idea," I complimented.“Is it that bad?” asked Jack, worried about Zoey."No, I mean it's not as bad as you might think," I replied."Why does this happen?" asked Jack curiously."I can't tell you," I r
"I like young people who study history, especially hospitals," said Ruth, "but I advise you to be prepared. Maybe you'll find something you shouldn't know."I got goosebumps as I listened to Ruth's warning. Even so, I kept walking towards the old maternity building that was being renovated.I don't know where to start myself, but the pile of documents caught my eye. At the CLOFUS Faculty of Letters, there is a course called Text and Discourse Analysis.This course discusses cohesion and discourse: reference, ellipsis, substitution, conjunction, lexical cohesion, metaphorical mode of expression, metaphors, metonymy, clausal interdependence, types of relationships, and examines and applies various approaches in discourse analysis for conversational analysis, transactional analysis, and critical discourse.In conclusion, the course seeks to understand the text. In this case, the text on the old document in the hospital. I wonder what the text looks like.
JACK called me. He said it was our turn to visit Malique and his wife. It seems that my activities in the maternity building, which is being renovated should have to be finished, for the time being. I don't want to have bad thoughts that continue.I think that's enough of my interest in old hospital documents. To be sure, some of these old documents still use the old spelling and are still neatly and completely stored. Maybe one day, when everything is finished and it's time for me to write my thesis, I will come back here.Jack and I then went into a treatment room for two. Comfortable enough but not too luxurious. We say hello to Malique and his wife. Apparently, they just had a baby boy.Malique and his wife seemed pleased that I had come. Yeah, maybe because I just became a superstar. In fact, a few months earlier, I was still karaoke with him at Arynn House. Damn! It reminded me of Zoey, the impostor.We then talked about how Malique's wife gave birt
"ARE you guys done?" asked Jack, who suddenly appeared."Yes," I said as I stood up and prepared to leave.But before that, I walked over to the reception desk to return the GUEST card given by the maternity ward manager. While exchanging the ID card, my eyes caught a familiar name in the guest book.I focused my gaze again to make sure that the name I read was correct. Then I was shocked that I couldn't believe my eyes. I read it over and over again, the name and address listed in the guest book remained the same. The post was dated two days ago.JULIA – Certajava VID No. 49 – Goobank District.Julia went to the maternity clinic? What for? Could she be pregnant? Oh no! This can't be happening. There must be something wrong here. Two days ago, Julia did not go to campus. I didn't meet her at all.I started thinking about all the possibilities. I was sweating profusely while Malique and Jack were chatting. Okay. To be sure, I'll a
News of my arrest spread rapidly and wildly - from surrender, twisted by the Indonesian Herald by forced arrest. The wave of mass demonstrations was getting bigger in Surabaya.Until one day, a man was demonstrating alone carrying the body of a woman in the Surabaya House of Representative building yard which was recorded by television broadcasts. A moment later, he poured gasoline over his body and the old woman's body. Then, he started a fire which quickly burned himself and the body he was carrying.Everyone knew that he was Mr. Wayan who intended to show his protest by presenting himself and his wife in front of the people's representatives. He had a desperate on the government.When that happened, I was in the detention room.All the prisoners present stood up to learn of Wayan's self-immolation on television. I thought the prisoners would kill him for being the instigator of this distressing incident. Apparently, they even cursed the authorities. Th
Julia then revealed that her pregnancy was actually from my seed. Therefore, Julia asked in return whether it meant that the child she was carrying was a bastard child too. That was why Julia was forced to accept Gerald's marriage proposal to cover my disgrace.I asked Julia why she hadn't said that earlier. Julia admitted that she had tried but was afraid to ruin my happiness. At that time, I received a phone call from Quinn if I was appointed as Hendryx's replacement at The Boumerank. Besides, I was already a famous person. Julia was afraid of damaging my image and defaming Bradley.I also asked how could this happen? Julia reminded me of when I lay in the courtyard of a closed Middle Eastern restaurant. That night, I forced Julia to make love to vent my frustration.I asked why Julia didn't refuse or fight me. Julia admitted that if she fough
When my mother found out that I wrote a book, she could only cry. I softly asked Lidia again. Lidia admitted that she did not want one of her loved ones to be lost in front of her again.Lidia finally told how Bradley disappeared. At that time, Brad and George were advocating for Saltyville residents not to be evicted by the government. The reason at that time was the same, namely the eviction of the brothels. The goal was to control coastal land to build an industrial complex.Bradley struggled on the pitch staging protests, while George, a journalist, struggled through writing. Because George's writings were considered threatening, he was hunted down by a group of unknown people. George during the New Order era was more famous than Bradley because of his profession as a critical journalist.One day in February 1998, a group of people dressed i
I visited Aisha at her palace at Royal Certajava. There, I asked Aisha if it was true that the Rasheed's were eyeing a new source of oil in Saltyville. Aisha said she knew, but was not involved.I asked, why didn't Aisha try to block her family's intentions? There were thousands of people living on the land of Saltyville. Aisha replied that she was only a Muslim woman. She had no power to decide. I accused Aisha of enjoying the result.Aisha started crying, telling me this was not what I accused her family of. I asked, then how exactly. Aisha replied she couldn't expose it.Then, I clashed with Aisha by accusing her of being hypocritical because she pretended not to know what was going on. We both mourned each other and move away from each other.So it was with Kacey.
Knowing that I again urged my mother to talk. However, Lidia did not budge. Then, I said goodbye and would find out for myself and continue Bradley's struggle. Lidia strictly forbade my intention. But I was determined.Based on clues from Brad's book and Zoey's notes, I and Amelia, with Vincent's help, discover the mode of money laundering by the Rasheed and Schielhort families. Bribes to and from Jamaal, Syahnaz, Fatima, and Malloch, were deposited through the CLIF Foundation and Islamic boarding schools and houses of worship as a form of charity.Besides, some were used to establish Islamic boarding schools in Jombang and Madura. This was done by asking one of the pesantren students to be used on his behalf. That way, the Rasheed and Torstein families were not legally touched. An example was Bowie.While tracing this dirty practice, I continued to experience terror.Exploring further to Jakarta, I also discovered a flow of money to state officials. The
The next day, I asked my mother, Lidia, about Saltyville in more detail. The village elders refused to talk about it unless Lidia had already told me. And how did Bradley relate to all of this? But Lidia refused to talk about Bradley and Saltyville.I insisted that I read old documents at the Dr. Sue Thompson Regional Hospital. The document stated that there was the name of Lidia Tanoto, who gave birth to twins without a father. Lidia didn't budge.I was not broken. Then, I rushed to the warehouse of my house. I unpacked old chests and suitcases that were there. Every old document I read to find what I looking for. But, actually, I didn't know what I was looking for. I only knew Bradley and Saltyville.Then there was a clean pocketbook, tied with ropes from torn cloth. I opened it slowly because the book had rotted with age. In the book, apparently, Bradley wrote his daily life up to three days before mysteriously disappearing.In the book, Brad wrote abo
After Brody investigated, it was Troy who was about to collect Zidan's debt from Jamaal. Troy told Jamaal that Zoey was somewhere in Newton and would kidnap her as bail. Shortly after, there was an IMD raid into the Guysville prostitution complex that left three people dead.We said Brody - referring to himself and Troy - concluded that the mastermind behind the brothel attacks was the Rasheed's. Brody also revealed that the most responsible behind Calliope's past to bring down Jamaal was Vincent. I was surprised.Brody added that Vincent found out from Zidan. And the Zidan was pretending to be angry and running away from the house so as not to stand out, that he was the one who leaked it.I also asked, how did Zidan know if Calliope was Zoey aka Melody? Well, therein laid the mystery. Who told Zidan? Said Brody.I further asked why Brody was willing to let Zoey go to me. Brody answered because I was his nephew.Then, I was reminded of Troy. Actual
Then, suddenly the rumor spread that Vincent Limantoro was a descendant of communists. Vincent's family said the issue once defended Saltyville because they wanted immorality to continue in Saltyroth. George Limantoro was touted as a dissident against the regime.Shortly, Mayor Jamaal announced three villages, not two, whose citizens were asked to leave immediately. The problem was, the three villages would be evicted by the authority in a couple of days. The three villages were Saltyville, Wigan, and Certajava. For Saltyville in particular, the eviction would be the next day.Those facts made me even angrier. I ignored Brody's advice to remain silent. At a concert that refused the eviction in Saltyville, I participated in openly voicing my rejection of Jamaal.At that concert, I was no longer wearing Che's robes. I wanted the world to recognize me and the voices I represented.Then hundreds of IMD masses suddenly attacked Saltyville. There were clashes b
It was Santos. To me, Santos confessed that he and other service officials travel to Singapore for a comparative study on the construction of city parks also the cleanliness rules. He gambled in his spare time. At first, I understood Santos's reasons.We then talked about music and other things. We didn't have much time together because Santos had to leave, while Quinn and I went back to the hotel.The next day, I had a concert with Boumerank. As usual, the atmosphere is always lively. After that, we all returned to Indonesia.Day by day, Zoey's life began to improve. I had also kept his promise to fulfill Zoey's dream of becoming a singer.However, when everything seemed fine, I and Zoey were suddenly hunted down by strangers. They demanded me and Zoey shut our mouths or be killed. Zoey and I at first thought it was someone from Zoey's past.In the midst of her popularity, news spread that Calliope was a former drug addict and prostitute with the