The Unsociable Drakuli Part 4
Don’t be surprised if you’ve seen lately that Lulu has become close with Drakuli. Remember DrakuJi? Drakuli is Lulu’s friend whose style is a bit weird (read Lupus: Ih, Syereeem!). He is the only child of Mr. Gali, who owns a cemetery business and lives in a large cemetery area. It’s weird because Drakuli’s style is like a young Dracula.
His hair is messy, his eyes are sharp, his clothes are worn out, and he likes to read books with a small candle on a grave.
It’s weird because he’s different from most teenagers. Actually, his face is pretty cool. “Looks like Christian Slater!” said Lulu.
Cool but mysterious.
Drakuli is Lulu’s school friend who was once escorted with a letter when he got a warning from the school. And why did Lulu suddenly get close to Drakuli (I mean, why not get close to other friends)? It’s because Lulu wants to cause some weirdness as a protest against Mommy.
Mommy was shocked when she first saw Drakuli. She thought he was some kind of creature.
“Astagfirullah, Lulu! What did you bring?”
But Lulu doesn’t care. Drakuli doesn’t care either.
Yeah, Lulu did mention that she likes guys with eccentric appearances. And according to Lulu, Drakuli’s appearance is very specific. Unlike other guys who usually behave awkwardly and “as is,” Drakuli dares to be different. Drakuli, with his strange and magical appearance, can make people amazed.
For Lulu, it’s not about physical appearance. It’s just that when it comes to material things, Drakuli is not someone who counts. Well, as mentioned earlier, his dad is just a cemetery caretaker. How much can a cemetery caretaker earn per capita? Probably just enough to buy rice! But Lulu doesn’t care. She has already fallen for Drakuli. Love can make you blind. And the crazy thing is, Lulu is even willing to sacrifice her pocket money just to hang out or watch movies with Drakuli.
Mom herself was initially surprised when she saw Lulu getting close to Drakuli, who looks a bit weird. But because she was busy with Uncle Agus, Mom didn’t have time to ask Lulu directly about it. As for Lupus, he’s just chill about it. He’s been busy lately, so he hasn’t seen his sister getting close to any “weird” guy, according to Mom. Lupus just thinks that Lulu’s friend is like those kids nowadays who like to have their own style. Probably a metalhead, Lupus guessed. Metalheads always look strange in the eyes of mothers.
Actually, Drakuli comes to pick up Lulu almost every day, or sometimes Lulu takes him home. But Lupus never meets him. There was one time when Mom asked about Lulu always coming home late.
“Where do you go after school? Why is there always so much traffic?” Mom asked.
“I’m taking Drakuli home, Mom.”
“Who is Drakuli? His name sounds so creepy,” Mom said, shocked, while holding her pounding heart.
“That’s the guy Lulu often brings here,” Lulu calmly replied.
“The Ondel-ondel guy?” Mom exclaimed.
“Why Ondel-ondel?” Lulu protested.
“Yeah, the one with the weird appearance?” Mom shuddered.
“According to Lulu, he’s not weird.”
“Yeah, but why does a girl take a boy home?” Mom’s voice got louder.
“Well, it’s okay once in a while, Mom. It’s just that I feel bad for him always being the one to take me home,” Lulu explained.
After that, Mom never asked again. But Lulu and Drakuli’s bond became even stronger. Wherever Lulu goes, Drakuli is there. And wherever Drakuli goes, Lulu is there too.
They started going out together more often. Like watching movies at Blok M Plaza, riding the carousel at Dufan, watching Sunday afternoon movies, even getting caught in a flood. Basically, wherever they go, Lulu and Drakuli are always together.
At school, it’s even more obvious. The other kids envy Lulu and Drakuli when they see them together. It’s like they’ve forgotten about everything else. Imagine going to the library together, going to the canteen together, doing sports together, even attending flag ceremonies together!
That’s why Lulu’s friends know that she’s really close to Drakuli. They’re not just close, they’re inseparable, like a referee and a whistle, they can’t be separated! Wherever Drakuli goes, Lulu follows. Wherever Lulu goes, Drakuli walks alongside. They’re always together, no matter the time of day or night. Whether they’re in a crowded place or a deserted one. They don’t care if people are jealous or whatever. They stick together.
Seeing this reality, Mom gets more annoyed. Besides worrying that Lulu might be influenced negatively, she strongly disagrees with her youngest daughter hanging out with that strange boy. Ever since she started hanging out with Drakuli, Lulu has been acting weird too. Imagine, she used to never wear those root bracelets, but now her arms are covered in all kinds of big bracelets with mismatched colors. There’s black, grayish-brown, gray, and even striped ones. Lulu also rarely wears skirts when she goes out. She prefers to steal Lupus’ ripped jeans to match Drakuli’s style when they go shopping. After taking a shower, Lulu also doesn’t feel like putting on powder, let alone lipstick. But in the past, she would even fix her eyebrows. Mom is worried that her only daughter might not be doing well. Besides liking to wear strange things, Lulu also has a habit of coming home late. Or hanging out by the roadside with Drakuli, counting passing bajajs.
Mom was clearly worried about Lulu. That’s why she tried to warn her. Mom threatened Lulu by withholding her allowance. But Lulu just got sulky.
“That’s why you shouldn’t come home late at night,” Mom said to Lulu when she saw her coming home late again. “It’s not good for me with the neighbors. How can a school kid come home late in the afternoon? Where should I put my face?”
“Put it wherever you want, as long as it’s appropriate,” Lulu replied nonchalantly.
“Lulu!”
“Well, if I can’t come home late, how about coming home in the morning?”
“Hey, are you crazy? Are you going through puberty or something?”
“I’ve been going through puberty for a while now, Mom.”
“So what’s the deal then, or is it that you’re dating that friend of yours with the messy appearance?”
“Drakuli.”
“Why are you so attached to him? You have plenty of friends who are better. Like Boim, for example. Why don’t you hang out with him?”
“He’s cool, Mom. Eccentric, doesn’t flirt, likable, and good at typing!”
“You always joke around when I talk to you. I’m serious, you know.”
“Well, Lulu is serious too. In fact, she’s really serious about him,” Lulu replied while opening the fridge and taking a gulp of cold water straight from the bottle. Her mom was surprised, but tried to hold herself back.
“It’s okay to hang out, but don’t get too close, especially with Drakula, uh… I mean Drakuli! Mom doesn’t want to see you hanging out with him anymore. And don’t gulp water straight from the bottle again! If you’re still stubborn, Mom won’t give you allowance for a year, got it!”
As expected, Lulu got sulky again. She immediately sneaked into her room and turned up the volume of the latest metal cassette. When she’s upset, Lulu tends to act out. Just yesterday, she was running around on the roof, that’s how upset she was!
As a result, Mom, who was running out of ideas to deal with Lulu, sought help from Lupus. But Lupus just responded nonchalantly.
“You should talk to your sister, Pus. Don’t you realize that she’s starting to rebel?”
“Well, that’s normal, Mom. She’s a young person. It’s okay to come home late once in a while.”
“And is it okay to blast metal music too?”
“Well, it’s okay, I guess.”
“Well, that’s why I’m asking you to talk to her. You’re her older brother. Maybe she’ll listen to you,” her mom said in desperation.
To please her mom, Lupus went into Lulu’s room and talked to her. But inside, Lupus only gave Lulu silly advice.
“Remember the saying ‘an empty can makes the most noise’…”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, it means don’t scream loudly when you’re sulking, otherwise you’ll end up like an empty can.”
“Whatever.”
“Alright, if you want to be like that, the important thing is that I want to tell you so that you don’t come home late often. When you come home late, I also end up eating late. You know the tradition in our house, we always have meals together. So, if you always come home late, it means the mealtime is also late. As a result, my stomach gets upset. For me, whether you want to come home late or not, it’s up to you. Just don’t disturb the mealtime. Period!”
“Well, you also come home late.”
“Oh, you dare to argue with me, huh? Since when do you dare to argue with me, huh?” Lupus suddenly got annoyed.
“Well, is it not allowed to use ‘you’ when talking? Come on, who forbids people from using ‘you’, huh?”
“No one forbids it, but you shouldn’t call me ‘you’ like that.”
“Alright, if you don’t want to be called ‘you’, I’ll call myself ‘you’ then.”
“But if you call yourself ‘you’, then I’ll also call myself ‘you’. It can’t be like that.”
“Oh, forget it. The important thing is that now it’s my business what I want to do. Whether I want to come home late or use ‘you’ and ‘me’, it’s my business. Period!”
“Well, it can’t be like that, Lu. The thing is, I got a message from Mom to tell you that you’ve been acting strange lately. Hey, have you always been acting strange? Why didn’t I know? What’s so strange about you, Lu? Tell me so that I can tell it nicely.”
“My strangeness is using ‘you’ and ‘me’. And now I’m starting to get close to Drakuli.”
“Drakuli?”
“Yeah, the guy who often takes me home.”
“Oh, the scruffy guy that Mom thinks is weird?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, if that’s the case, it’s not that weird. I thought you were hopping around like a kangaroo when coming home from school. That would be really weird. Alright, I’m going to study now. I have a mid-test tomorrow. If anything strange happens, let me know, okay?”
Actually, Lupus knew that Lulu had been acting strange lately. But why did he pretend not to know? Well, because he was busy investigating the unique but sweet girl named Kunti, whose secret seemed to be almost revealed. That’s why Lupus wasn’t interested in Lulu’s problem.
But as Lupus stepped out of Lulu’s room, he suddenly startled. He remembered something.
“D-DRAKULI???” Lupus turned around and shouted, his eyes wide open, looking at Lulu.
“Yeah. You know, back then when you used to take Lulu to deliver the school letter to her house in the middle of the cemetery.”
“T-the haunted house? The one surrounded by a large graveyard? The one with the dad who looks like a ghost?”
“Yeah,” Lulu calmly replied.
“Oh my gosh! A-are you dating him?” Lupus shook his sister’s body.
Lulu got annoyed.
“What’s the big deal?”
“T-that, right? The one with the curtains made from old burial shrouds? The one who collects teeth from dead people? The one with the Kuntilanak doll, the… oh, my God! You’re dating that devil’s child?”
“Yeah! So what?”
“L-Lu, a-aren’t you scared, if it turns out that kid is actually a descendant of the devil? You know his house…”
“No. Lulu’s not scared!”
“Eeek, so you often bring that terrifying kid here?” Lupus shivered.
Meanwhile, Lulu herself became more daring. She started openly dating Drakuli. Lulu started being affectionate under the bright neon lights.
Before, she used to hide when going out with Drakuli, afraid of being caught by Mom. But not anymore. Lulu even had conversations in the dining room next to Mom, who was busy watching TV. Lulu casually pinched Drakuli. Bumping into each other. And if they were scolded, not only Lulu would get upset, but Drakuli would also get upset. They would go to the backyard porch and cry together. Mom didn’t even flinch seeing Lulu’s rebellious behavior. Sometimes, Lulu would invite Drakuli to watch soap operas until late at night. Drakuli would sit on the rocking chair that Mom usually sat on.
“It’s okay, Drak. Mom has given you permission to play here. You’re considered as someone else’s child, for sure.”
Mom, who often came home late, would get a headache when she came home and found her house filled with strange creatures like Drakuli.
Lulu did all of that because she was getting annoyed seeing Mom getting closer to Uncle Agus. So she wanted to show Mom that she could also get close to someone.
But eventually, Lulu’s behavior started to bother Lupus. He got annoyed seeing his sister always being together with Drakuli. And Lupus also felt sorry for Mom, who was getting more confused seeing Lulu’s actions. Lupus couldn’t let this cold war continue. Just because he was too focused on Kunti, Lupus neglected his sister.
One afternoon, when Drakuli wasn’t around, Lupus confronted Lulu.
“Hey, Lu, I wanna talk to you,” Lupus finally said.
“What’s up? Why do you have to say it like it’s gonna be a quick talk?”
“Look, I’m asking you to not get too close to Drakuli.”
“But he’s just a friend, it’s normal to be close. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a business partnership between us. Don’t you know that my Japanese sandals business is booming? Maybe I need a partner,” Lulu argued, glancing at Mom.
“But do you really need to pinch and bump into each other for a business negotiation?”
“Who says you don’t need it? It’s one of the negotiation techniques.”
“Really? Negotiation requires pinching and bumping into each other?”
“For me, it does.”
“Not for me.”
“Well, it’s my business, not yours.”
“Oh, right. But I’m your older sibling, so I have the right to tell you not to get too close in business. If something goes wrong, it’ll be uncomfortable for me too.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Oh, really? Remember when there was a cockroach in the bathroom and you screamed for help? If you can take care of yourself, you wouldn’t scream like that.”
“That was a cockroach.”
“And what if your friend turns into a cockroach? A disgusting creature. He’s weird, you know! You need to be careful and not just do whatever you want. From now on, I don’t want to see you two together anymore. And why are you doing your Japanese sandals business together…”
Lupus had to be tough and tell his little sister. Because no matter what, Lulu was his only sister, a girl. And Lupus didn’t like the strange behavior of Drakuli. He was afraid that Lulu, who was still young and easily influenced, would start behaving strangely too. Lupus was afraid that Drakuli was really a descendant of Dracula!
As an older sibling, Lupus felt the need to watch over Lulu. One day, he secretly followed Lulu when she went to Drakuli’s house.
Lulu is such a naughty kid, she’s still pinching and poking Drakuli on the street. Lupus is getting annoyed. But he wants to know how far they go with the pinching. If it escalates to punching, then he’ll step in!
But turns out Lupus is still scared when he has to go into that graveyard area. Yeah, Lupus remembers, Drakuli’s house is seriously creepy. The interior is like a witch doctor’s house. The decorations are all weird. There are fish skull ornaments, a row of unused human teeth, and a coffin turned into a buffet table. Lupus gets chills just thinking about it. All his hairs stand on end. His hair, his nose hair, his armpit hair, everything stands up. So besides being scared, Lupus’s nose and armpits hurt from the prickly hairs.
Lupus is trapped because when he wants to go back home, he’s scared by the empty street. Seriously, what graveyard isn’t empty? Yeah, when he was following them earlier, Lupus wasn’t scared, but now, ugh…
Finally, Lupus just sits behind a big wall with a gate that leads to the cemetery. He ponders for a moment behind that tall wall. Oh, oh, this is the graveyard where Kunti descended before, when she was followed by Boim and Gusur? No wonder I feel like I’ve been here before, Lupus slaps his forehead. Yeah, he was once brought here by Lulu, and he was scared half to death.
But the atmosphere gets darker. Lupus is scared and desperately needs to pee. But his suffering doesn’t end there. Because Drakuli suddenly appears, startling him with a creepy grin from a moss-covered frangipani tree that stretches out from the wall. “Hiyaaaa!” Lupus is shocked and scared half to death.
And he immediately runs away while still holding his pee.
Meanwhile, Drakuli and Lulu are giggling from the top of the cemetery wall, watching Lupus running and peeing himself. And their giggles are definitely accompanied by more pinching!
