It wasn’t exactly school vacation season, but Lupus and his buddies suddenly found themselves on a fully air-conditioned bus headed to Bandung. The crazy idea of going camping on the mountain slope just popped up when Lupus was fed up with all the lessons the teachers were throwing at them every day.
“We can’t keep going like this. Stuffing our heads with all this knowledge every day. Just imagine, today we’re bombarded with physics theories. And before we even fully understand them, we’re hit with a whole new set of theories tomorrow. School is terrifying!” Lupus started with his usual joking around.
His friends just nodded along.
“We need a break. Let’s go on a trip or head back to the mountain slope. Once our minds are refreshed, then we can handle the lessons…”
And unexpectedly, his friends agreed. Lupus was surprised himself.
So, they set off that day. Since they had some money, they could afford to take it easy on the fully air-conditioned Patas bus. No squeezing with chickens, goats, vegetables, and the like. No girls joined them. Not that they didn’t want to, but they weren’t allowed. Too much hassle to take care of them! Fifi Alone, our local celebrity, insisted on joining. “I actually have a shoot, but for the sake of solidarity, I’ll make an exception and join you guys!”
But the boys still refused. Because when it comes to camping, she brings way too much stuff. Like she’s going on a migration. All the beauty tools, pajamas, casual clothes, and other accessories. And her heels are so high. How could she hike?
So, they all agreed to go without the girls.
In Cililitan, while they were looking for the bus, Boim was being quite embarrassing. There happened to be a lot of cool girls going to Bandung. Boim was busy strutting around, trying to show off. And because he watched too many Return to Sen movies, he started acting like Jake Sandera. It was so annoying. “If you weren’t my friend, I’d slap you!” Lupus scolded.
Especially when the enthusiastic ’45 conductors were competing to get them on the bus, Boim, in his cluelessness, asked, “Hey, mister, is there a bus that’s full of cool girls?”
The conductor was clearly dumbfounded.
But Boim didn’t care. And in the end, they agreed to get on this bus.
Inside the bus, like usual, these Red and White High School creatures were restless. Joking around, teasing each other, or playing guessing games. Like the riddles given by Boim. “Come on… what’s the Indian word for ‘stingy’?”
“No one can answer. Except Lupus, who happened to have dated Popi, whose mother is from Bandung. ‘Saya tau, mere ge hese!'”
Boim was dumbfounded.
As the bus sped away from the city center, Lupus, along with his five friends, Boim, Aji, Joko, Nanang, and Gusur, continued to have fun. They didn’t care about the video playing or the loud protests from the old ladies who were trying to get some sleep but couldn’t.
Near Puncak, when the kids started to sit properly, the conductor started distributing snacks and boxed tea. Seeing this, the kids immediately shouted and greeted the conductor. “Good evening… congratulations, Mas, it’s your birthday, right?”
The conductor was surprised, these kids are really uncultured. They don’t know that you get snacks when you ride the Patas bus!
“Well… why isn’t there any chewing gum, Mas?” Lupus complained while opening the snack package. “Next time, if you want a lively birthday, make sure the food is better. But it’s okay. This is decent enough. You should have told us earlier that it’s your birthday, we could have brought gifts…”
The conductor just grinned.
The bus continued to drive without any obstacles. And the kids enjoyed the beautiful scenery on both sides. Neat rows of tea plantations, green valleys that appeared faintly, and beautiful villas that resembled fairy palaces in classic stories. Until Lupus’s eyes caught sight of a group of police officers busy stopping trucks and other vehicles passing by. Lupus panicked and immediately pulled Boim’s head, who was peering out the window. “Get down, dude! Get down!” he shouted loudly. The other friends became curious.
“Why, Pus?” Boim asked, puzzled and annoyed, because his slightly crooked teeth had hit the edge of the bus window. Meanwhile, Lupus kept hiding Boim’s head behind his jacket, to the point where Boim couldn’t breathe properly (Imagine, Lupus only washes his jacket once a month. That’s if he remembers!)
“Chill, Im, chill!”
“Yeah, but what’s going on?”
“You know, there’s a raid for shady people. So just hide here, if you get caught it’ll be trouble. I just feel sorry for you, Im!” Lupus replied calmly.
Boim got furious. The other kids burst into laughter.
So, they’ve arrived at the mountain slope. The kids have already set up the tent. But being inexperienced, they realized that they had forgotten a lot of stuff. Like pots and stuff. But the worst was Boim. He panicked as soon as he realized that he had forgotten his handsome pills. (Don’t know what handsome pills are? It’s the comb! Whenever he goes anywhere, his comb, with his toothless teeth, always sticks out of his back pocket.)
Gusur was already sitting by the river, engrossed in a piece of paper in his hand. This artist was about to write another poem. Meanwhile, Nanang, who loved singing and happened to have a better voice than a beaten can, accompanied him with his guitar, singing Ismail Marzuki’s “Sabda Alam”. He was a true nationalist, even though his singing was a bit off-key:
“…women have been oppressed by men since ancient times
Since ancient times, women have been oppressed by meeeen…”
Well, he sang for a full hour without finishing. Going back and forth over and over again. But even Boim, who could fart on command, joined in with his voice. It was good for chasing away mosquitoes.
In the evening, Lupus was assigned the task of borrowing a pot from a resident’s house up the hill. They had set up their tents not far from the village. Understandably, they were all scaredy-cats. So they didn’t dare to go too far.
And that evening, Lupus was seen climbing the hill. Meanwhile, Joko, a guy from Tegal who believed in “better poor but arrogant”, and Aji, who loved eating dodol, were tasked with reporting to the local authorities.
Near the public bath, Lupus turned into a house that looked pretty decent, albeit simple. Then he knocked on the door.
“Assalamualaikum!” Lupus greeted. “Anybody home?”
No answer. But a moment later, a suspicious face appeared from behind the glass window.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Lupus.”
“What do you need?” Her eyes still looked suspiciously at Lupus.
“Well, you know, me and my friends are camping in the valley over there, near the river. But we forgot to bring a pot to boil water and cook instant noodles. Can we borrow one?”
The girl remained silent for a moment. Seemingly hesitant. But then she disappeared from view. After a while, she reappeared with a pot in her hand. Lupus just realized that the girl was actually pretty.
“Thank you, we’ll return it when we’re done.” The girl nodded.
“By the way, where is everyone going? Why is it so quiet?”
The girl didn’t answer. Her eyes just stared sharply at Lupus. Lupus felt awkward.
“Yeah, sure. I’m heading back now. Oh, by the way, if you wanna check out our tents, they’re near the river. Just drop by…”
The girl just gave a stiff smile.
“Alright then, see you later. Let’s go!”
Lupus ran down the hill, feeling more excited than when he left.
But damn, the next day when Lupus woke up late, the kids were already talking about that girl. And Lupus was planning to keep it a secret and surprise them.
“You’re such a dumbass, Pus, always sleeping. This morning, there was this super hot girl passing by here. So we followed her, turns out her house is nearby. Up on the hill. She’s Pak Haji’s daughter. Man, you missed out, Pus,” Boim blabbered enthusiastically.
“I already know!” Lupus grumbled.
“Why?”
“Yeah, the one with long hair, right? Pretty eyes? I borrowed a pot from her yesterday!”
“Oh really? Thank you, God. You truly are great. Finally, you showed me the way to get to know her!” Im exclaimed.
“What are you blabbering about, Im?” Lupus was confused.
“Where’s the pot? Let me return it and introduce myself!” Boim was half ecstatic.
“No way! I’m the one who borrowed it!”
And they started arguing over who should return the pot. Gusur, Aji, Nanang, and Joko didn’t want to miss out either. They finally decided to return it together when they wanted to go back.
By the evening, they still hadn’t managed to introduce themselves to the girl. Even though they went through the trouble of getting to know her father, who loved talking about his past during the physical revolution. They spent the whole day listening to him blabber while sneaking glances into the house. But the cool daughter never showed up. Her father was being ridiculous. Acting like he didn’t know. Just kept on telling stories.
But the kids weren’t giving up.
Like that morning, they all woke up from their sleep when they heard the distant call to prayer.
“Hey, the azan sounds kinda weird, doesn’t it?” Lupus said, rubbing his eyes.
“Yeah, it’s not like usual. Sounds kinda off. Hey, Nanang, wake up! You love singing, right? Try to match the weird sound!” Aji shook Nanang’s body. Nanang just frowned, like why would he join in with the weird sound during the azan? He only knew bad luck when he saw it!
Hey, by the way, where did Boim go?
I don’t know. Hey, Sur, wanna join us at the mosque?
Sure.
They walked together towards the mosque. They were planning to pray the morning prayer. The air was still chilly. Lupus wrapped himself in a sarong, while walking along with his friends.
When they arrived at the mosque, they were surprised to see Boim singing the call to prayer. Man, no wonder his voice sounded so off! And they all understood why Boim suddenly started waking up early to do the call to prayer at the mosque. It was all to impress that village girl and make her think he’s a religious person. Because the girl liked to pray at the mosque with her father. He even went to the extent of learning the call to prayer.
In the following days, Boim became really religious. He would hang out at the mosque early in the morning.
“I’m telling you, my efforts are paying off, Pus. I already introduced myself to her yesterday. Wanna know her name? Megasari. Isn’t it a nice name? It goes perfectly with my name, Boim le Bon,” Boim bragged. Lupus just grumbled in frustration because he also liked that girl.
But even though Boim’s story was sky-high, he had never actually talked directly to Megasari. Because the village girl was quiet and cold. This only fueled the curiosity of Boim’s other friends. It had been three days since they started camping there. And tomorrow morning, they had to go back. They didn’t want to miss out on their lessons for too long.
That night, while the others were sleeping, Lupus was seen sitting alone near the bonfire he had just made. He didn’t know why, but he seemed really sentimental that night. Megasari’s gentle face kept appearing in his mind. Her stiff smile, round eyes, long hair, thick eyebrows. Wow, she was truly a natural beauty. A manifestation of the beauty that existed in this small village.
Suddenly, Lupus regretted having to go back to the city tomorrow. To dive back into his school books. It would be so nice if he could stay there. Even though it would be difficult, he could still hope to meet her. To be close to her.
Ah, Mega, why do we have to be separated by time?
But even without Mega’s presence that night, Lupus still felt happy playing with his daydreams. The prayer he uttered that night was nothing more than one line, “Oh, God, delay the sunrise tomorrow morning.”
And maybe, that was the last prayer ever spoken from the mouth of a mischievous kid like Lupus. A prayer about the village flower.
But morning will still come. Lupus and his friends started packing their things before bidding farewell to the locals.
“Oh, what a shame you have to leave now!” Mr. Er-te exclaimed when they were about to say goodbye.
“Oh yeah? Why is that, sir?”
“Tomorrow night, Mr. Haji is going to throw a big party. He’s getting married.”
“Getting married? Who’s getting married?”
“Who else but Miss Megasari, his only daughter. Wow, the groom is amazing, kid, a graduate engineer from I-T-B. That’s why Mr. Haji is really proud. He’s really lucky!”
Lupus paused for a moment. Then he exchanged glances with Boim, Gusur, Aji, Nanang, and Joko. Then they burst into laughter together. Even Mr. Er-te was surprised.
“Hey, I heard you really wanted to return Mr. Haji’s pan. Go on, return it,” Lupus teased. Boim just walked away nonchalantly, leaving them behind. The kids laughed again.
On the bus, they joked around as usual. Laughing freely while teasing each other. Three days of camping on the mountain slope really refreshed their minds. They were ready to receive lessons again.
And kids like them never felt burdened. Everything came and went easily.
