[Eng Translation] DILAN Part 2 - The Fortune Teller

That morning, in Bandung, at September 1990, after got off a public transportation, I walked to my school with other students. I walked alone.

I heard a sound of a rumbling motorcycle from my back.

The sound was little bit noisy. There weren't a lot of students going to school by motorcycle, back then. That motor was driven beside me and was getting slower. The driver was wearing high school uniform.

He asked me:

“Good morning!”

“Morning,” I replied and glaced at him.

“You are Milea, right?”     

                              

“Eh?” I turned to him, I wondering whether I knew him or not.

And I didn’t know him, so I replied:

“Ya”

“Let me ‘fortune telling’ you.”

“Fortune telling?” I was dazed. What? He wasn’t asking my name.

“So,” he said. “I predict you, we will meet in canteen.”

I thought he was joking but I didn’t want to react to it. I mean I even didn’t know who he was. I didn’t know what to say, I just smiled at him. Maybe that was enough. I didn’t have to be arrogant, because I was just a new student. I just had been going to school for two weeks.

“Wanna ride with me?” he asked.

“No, thanks,” I said.

He even didn’t tell me his name but he asked me to ride with him. I stared him and said:

“It’s close to school.”

“Okay,” he said. “One day, you will ride with me. Believe it.”

And I didn’t reply, I didn’t know what to say.

“Then, bye!”

I just nodded. And he just left with his motorcycle.

I saw his t-shirt waved. If a teacher found it, they would make him stuck it in to his trousers.

….

At break time, I was going to go to canteen, but wasn’t for that fortune teller boy. I even didn’t remember him. I just wanted to buy some drinks. But Nandan, my classmate, class leader of 2^nd Biology class wanted to talk to me, there was something he wanted to tell me, he said.

And if I want to drink, he could buy some, that was what he said. I said thanks to him and right, he left and came back with some tea. In the class, there were Rani and Agus too, they were my classmates.

When we were talking, someone came to the class. Nandan, Rani and Agus knew who he was. He was Piyan, from Physics class. He gave me a letter, he said it was from his friend, but he didn’t mention that ‘friend’. Piyan just left. 

Confused, I read that letter:

Milea, my prediction, that we will meet in canteen, was wrong. Sorry. Now I’m predicting you, again, that we will meet tomorrow.

I knew right away who the sender was. It was him, that motorcycle boy, fortune teller boy. 

Nandan wanted to know what was inside the letter but I said that it was just a common letter. I put it in my bag, and back listening to boring stuff talked by Nandan. That time, I couldn’t concentrate to the forum. My thought, I didn’t know why, mostly, thought about The Fortune Teller.

….

It was raining after school. I went home with my uncle. On my way, I didn’t know how, that boy who said that we would meet the next day filled my thought.

….

What? Would we meet the next day? The next day was Sunday, wasn’t it? I guessed his prediction would be wrong. How could we meet? We even didn’t go to school on Sunday.

I know from the beginning that he was an amateur! He was just a bad student, flirting with girls. Huh! If he wanted to get close to me, he must had known than I wasn’t an easy girl.

….

On Sunday, I was washing my shoes. I heard the door bell pressed by a guest. Then I just called Bibi (nickname for female home assistant) to open the door. Just Bibi and me in the house. My parents and my sister was attending our relative’s wedding, that day. 

Bibi already met with the guest and came to me:

“A guest,” she said. “He want to meet Lia.” 

Lia is my nickname in the family.

I washed my foamy hand and went to met him.

My God, I really surprised, the guest was The Fortune Teller.

…

I smiled at him who already had been smiled to me. I thought we would talk about his prediction.

“Hey,” I asked him.

“Here is an invitation for you,” he gave me an envelope; still standing in the front door.

“What invitation?” I just stared it.

“Just read it,” he said. “But not now.”

“Okay.”

“What is ‘read’ in Arabic, Yan?”

He asked Piyan who came with him.

“What is it?” Piyan just questioned him back.

“Oh! Iqra,” he just answered his own question. “Iqra, Milea!”

I gigled. I didn’t know but I couldn’t stare his eyes for too long.

“Then I’ll just get going.”

He wanted to left.

“How do you know my address?” I asked.

“I also know when your birthday is.”

“He he he.”

“I also know who your God is.”

“Allah,” I just answered out of blue.

“That’s right.”

“He he he.”

I’m going.”

“Assalamualaikum, or not?” he asked. (Assalamualaikum means greeting in Arab)

“Assalamualaikum,” I answered.

“Alaikumsalam,” he said. (Alaikumsalam/walaikumsalam is the reply for assalamualaikum)

….

Oh my God. Who was he? I mean, besides a fortune teller, I wanted to know the real him, and why was I so nervous in front of him?

I went to my room and smiled, thinking that his prediction was right. But why? He didn’t mention it at all. About the prediction. Was he doing that on purpose? Ah, whatever.

I read the invitation on my bed. That was an invitation typed by typewriter on a white paper.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. In the name of Allah. With this invitation, full of feeling, I invite Milea Adnan to attend the school on: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

All the days was completed with the date. I just smiled. There was a name inside it: Mr. Hamid Amidjaya. That was my headmaster’s name, as a second inviter. I was helpless.

On each edges of the paper there was decoration drawn by marker. The drawing was beautiful. I didn’t know who drew it. But I liked it. After reading it, I didn’t want to get off my bed, I didn’t understand. I felt like a hostage taken by curiosity to know the real of him.

….

Who was he? As far as I knew, he was my school mate, but not my classmate. Why didn’t he tell me his name at our first meeting? Should I asked him? Oh, sorry, I didn’t have any intention to do that!

…

I heard the telephone was ringing. I was happy, because that was Beni’s call, my boyfriend in Jakarta. He was my school mate there, and we were having long distance relationship.

My Beni was cool. You must know that! He was handsome, not so handsome actually, but he was so kind. His father was a famous actor and sometimes I showed it off in front of my parents and my friends.

....

PART 3 HE WAS DILAN