10:30 a.m.
London was really hot, completely different from the foggy 6 a.m. earlier.
Nata was at the internet café, working alone. All five computers were on, the internet café’s AC was broken, and the fan was only going “whirr-whirr.” Nata had just finished mopping the floor. He had changed from his plain white T-shirt into a black shirt with a blue print so the stains from the warm fried snacks earlier wouldn’t show. His cheap phone was charging, the battery at 47%.
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At campus, on the second floor of the library, Kyla was having a headache.
A group assignment, due tomorrow at 8 a.m. There were four people in the group. Kyla, plus three motorcycle guys named Bima, Edo, and Riko. Their motorcycles were two-stroke RX Kings with loud exhausts going “braaap braaap,” parked at the farthest corner of the campus parking lot so the security guards wouldn’t ticket them.
They had agreed to meet at the library at 9 a.m. Kyla had arrived exactly at 9, bringing her laptop and notes. But the three guys only showed up at 10:15, an hour and fifteen minutes late, still holding their helmets, smelling like cigarettes, and looking sleepy.
Bima: “Key, sorry we’re late. The motorcycle broke down.”
Edo: “I haven’t done anything at all, Key. You just do it, okay? We’ll put our names on it later.”
Riko: “Yeah, Key, you’re smart anyway. I’ll wait at my boarding house, okay? My place is at the end of Mawar Alley, the one with the cream-colored walls. Just come at 11, we can revise it there. The library is noisy.”
Kyla was annoyed, but she felt bad refusing. In the end, Kyla gave in.
11:00 a.m., Kyla walked to the end of Mawar Alley, sweating under the heat, wearing the oversized cream jacket from that morning + a hat so she wouldn’t get darker. Mawar Alley was a narrow alley lined with boarding houses with slightly mossy cream-colored walls. There were lots of RX Kings parked in front of the boarding houses, their exhaust pipes still warm.
Inside the boarding house, Bima, Edo, and Riko were sitting on the floor, playing Mobile Legends on their phones, not working on the assignment at all. Kyla’s laptop was open, the group assignment file was open too, and they only said, “Alright, Key, you just type it. We’ll look.”
Kyla felt uncomfortable. She wasn’t being kidnapped, but she felt cornered. She wanted to go home, but she felt bad because it was a group assignment, and if she left, the assignment wouldn’t get finished.
At 11:10, Kyla texted Nata. Her message was short, not some dramatic “Ta, help me,” but something logical.
Kyla: Ta, are you at the internet café?
Kyla: I’m at the end of Mawar Alley, the cream-colored boarding house. I’m working on a group assignment, but the three guys aren’t doing anything. I’m uncomfortable and I want to go home, but I feel bad. Can you come here? Just keep me company for 30 minutes until the revision is done?
Nata read it at 11:12, right when he was giving change to a customer at computer number three.
Nata immediately panicked, but he thought logically. He couldn’t just close the internet café because his boss was strict. If he suddenly closed it, his pay would be cut by $5. Nata called his boss first.
“Sir, can I take an hour off? My campus friend needs help with an assignment in Mawar Alley. I’ll leave the computers with Agus from the food stall next door, okay, Sir?”
Internet Café Boss: “Fine, just one hour. Don’t take too long. Be back by 12:30.”
At 11:20, Nata locked the internet café, left it in Agus’s care at the chicken-noodle stall, then got on his gray bicycle.
The gray bicycle that he had oiled at 5 a.m. really didn’t “creak-creak” as loudly anymore, but it was still heavy, the chain was a little loose, and he had to pedal slowly. The distance from the internet café to Mawar Alley was 1.5 kilometers. The road was slightly uphill, hot, and the puddles from the morning rain had already dried.
Nata pedaled casually for 15 minutes, breathing heavily. The back of his black shirt with the blue print was soaked with sweat, and his Swallow sandal broke and almost came off in the middle of the road. Nata stopped to fix it with a piece of wire.
11:35 a.m., Nata arrived in front of the cream-colored boarding house in Mawar Alley. Three RX Kings were parked there, their exhaust pipes still warm. Nata parked his gray bicycle beside the RX Kings. His gray bicycle looked incredibly tiny next to them, with its skinny tires compared to the huge RX Kings.
Nata knocked softly on the boarding house door, “knock knock knock,” politely.
Bima opened the door, surprised. “Uh, who are you?”
“I’m Nata, Kyla’s friend. Kyla texted me saying she needed someone to keep her company while she revised her assignment.”
Inside, Kyla immediately stood up, incredibly relieved to see Nata. Her previously tense face instantly relaxed.
“Ta! You came!” Kyla walked toward the door, carrying her laptop, which was still on.
Edo and Riko looked at Nata from inside and whispered to each other. “Wait, that guy with the gray bicycle? The one who picked Kyla up at the campus library before, right?”
Nata went inside and sat on the floor instead of a chair because the boarding house had floor seating. The carpet smelled slightly like cigarettes. Nata looked at the group assignment file on Kyla’s laptop. The Word document was still a mess, and they had only finished Chapter 1.
Since Nata worked at an internet café every day and often helped people print assignments, he understood a little about assignment formatting. Nata helped Kyla fix the formatting and bibliography while speaking quietly to the three guys. “I’ll help Kyla for 30 minutes, okay? So we can finish Chapter 2. After that, Kyla can go home because she promised to be back at the library at 12.”
Bima, Edo, and Riko weren’t actually bad people. They were just lazy. Seeing Nata arrive politely, without getting angry or acting tough, made them feel a little guilty too.
Bima: “Alright, I’ll type Chapter 3 then.”
Edo: “I’ll look for references on Google.”
Riko: “I’ll buy iced tea. I’m thirsty.”
11:40 a.m. – 12:10 p.m., 30 minutes later, the group assignment that had been a complete mess was now about 70% finished. Kyla, who had felt uncomfortable being alone with three guys, now felt comfortable because Nata was there.
12:15 p.m., the assignment was finished for today. They would continue the rest tomorrow morning at the library so it would be fair.
Kyla closed her laptop and put it into her bag. Nata stood up, his legs numb from sitting on the floor for too long.
Kyla said to the three guys in her group, “Thanks, guys. Tomorrow at 9 at the library again, okay? Don’t be late again.”
Bima nodded. “Yeah, Key. Sorry we were late earlier.”
Nata and Kyla left the cream-colored boarding house in Mawar Alley.
Outside the boarding house, the sun was directly overhead at 12:15 p.m. The gray bicycle was parked beside the three RX Kings.
Kyla looked at the gray bicycle, then at the RX Kings, and laughed softly. “Ta, your gray bicycle looks so tiny next to their motorcycles.”
Nata laughed, embarrassed, his black shirt with the blue print soaked with sweat. “Yeah, but my gray bicycle has never broken down and been an hour and fifteen minutes late like their RX Kings.”
Kyla burst out laughing. It was the first time she had laughed that loudly that day. Then Kyla said, “Ta, I’ll ride with you, okay? Or should I give you a ride?”
Nata froze. “My gray bicycle can’t handle two people uphill, Kay, especially with you carrying that heavy laptop.”
“Then let’s just walk the bicycle to the iced-tea stall at the end of the alley. I’m thirsty, you’re sweaty too. We’ll buy two iced teas. We already had warm ones earlier, so now we get cold ones.”
Nata and Kyla walked their gray bicycle together, slowly making their way through Mawar Alley at 12:20 p.m., under the hot sun. One of Nata’s Swallow sandals was broken, Kyla wore white flip-flops, and her laptop was hanging from her shoulder.
When they reached the iced-tea stall at the end of the alley, they bought two iced teas and two straws. They sat on a wooden bench at the stall and drank their iced teas together.
Kyla spoke softly. “Ta, thanks for coming. I was genuinely uncomfortable being alone earlier. Not because they’re bad people, but because I was the only girl and there were three guys. It just felt uncomfortable.”
Nata took a sip of his iced tea, the ice touching his lips. “It’s okay, Kay. I promised I’d meet you at 11 at the library, but you ended up in Mawar Alley instead, so of course I came to you. A promise has to be kept, just like the warm fried-snack promise at 6 this morning.”
Kyla smiled, a genuine smile. “Ta, you’re going back to the internet café at 12:30, right? Your boss is strict, right?”
“Yeah, I have to be back by 12:30. My pay gets cut by $5 if I’m late.”
“Alright, after this iced tea, I’ll go home by minibus. You go back to the internet café. Do you want to meet again tonight after eight? Should I bring warm fried snacks again? Or iced tea?”
Nata laughed. “No more warm fried snacks, Kay. Too many fried snacks will give me acne. Just two iced teas, like this.”
12:28 p.m., the iced tea was finished, and they went back to their separate activities.
Nata got on his gray bicycle and slowly pedaled back to the internet café, his black shirt soaked with sweat, but he was happy.
Kyla took a minibus home, her laptop resting on her lap.
At the internet café at 12:32, Nata was two minutes late. His boss complained a little, but didn’t cut his pay because Nata had already mopped the floor that morning.
Nata took out his cheap phone and photographed the two plastic iced-tea cups they had just finished drinking at the stall at the end of Mawar Alley, with the gray bicycle + three RX Kings in the background.
Nata sent it to Kyla at 12:35.
Nata: The iced tea was good, Kay. Thanks for keeping me company while we walked the gray bicycle. Tomorrow, don’t let your group be late again, okay? Tell them to come at exactly 9, not 10:15.
Kyla replied at 12:40 from home, the AC already set to 16 degrees after she had taken a shower.
Kyla: Yeah, Ta. Thanks for coming over for those 15 minutes. Sorry your gray bicycle had to struggle uphill. Tomorrow I’ll treat you to iced tea again at the second-floor library, okay? At 11 again :)
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