And Darsem, when her greetings with her mother were over, sat staring at her table, alternating between looking at the worn-out door leaf in their house, waiting for someone to knock to greet her elderly mother, and hoping that someone would come so she could make a cup of tea without sugar, to enjoy with her fermented cassava and the can of biscuits priced at Rp 36,000.
“Throughout your life, dear, I’ve never been able to buy you biscuits like that. Just taste one or two, so you’ll know how it tastes,” suddenly said Narsem.
“For you only, Mother, I’m not interested… let you and the guests enjoy them,” replied Darsem, who always called her mother Biyung.
Darsem gazed at the can of biscuits priced at Rp 36,000, alternating with staring at the worn-out door leaf in their house. Waiting, perhaps someone would knock to greet her mother. Waiting, perhaps someone would enjoy the tea and the fermented cassava she made, along with the can of biscuits priced at Rp 36,000 that she had never tasted before. However, Darsem and the can of biscuits turned out to be a pair that also deteriorated along with their increasingly rundown house. Because, until the 7th day after Eid, not a single person in the village knocked on Darsem’s door to enjoy the can of biscuits priced at Rp 36,000 that Darsem always looked at alternately with staring at the door leaf in their house.
Notes:
1. Mingkem: The intended meaning of the ending “mingkem” is a bilabial consonant like the letters ‘m’/’p’/’b’.
2. Pereng: Land with a higher elevation than its surroundings but with a slanted position, making it prone to landslides.
3. Tabag: House walls made of bamboo weaving.
4. Mbojo: Married.
5. Randa: Widow.
6. Gula Jawa: A type of brown sugar made from coconut palm sap.
7. Benyek: Mushy.
8. Biyung: A Javanese term for addressing a mother.