A hero of his own making

By Dewi Rubiyanti

In his village, Sarmin was considered no less than a gentleman. Everyone loved to respect the handsome junior high school teacher, who was also the leader of a local youth association.

In this situation, Sarmin, who is an orphan and lived alone in a simple house, was the most eligible bachelor in the area. Many village lasses dreamed of being near him, and if possible wanted to be his wife.

But, mysteriously, the 35-year-old teacher remained single. This made him the subject of unhealthy gossip.

Some of his peers suspected that he was impotent. And others, who were less sarcastic, said they fully understood Sarmin's problem. In these modern times it is not easy to find an ideal wife.

"Today's girls have become victims of the destructive impact of modernization, and only a few of them manage to preserve their virginity," they would say.

But other people think that Sarmin is simply a perfectionist. "He must have his own ideas about an ideal wife."

Some people knew Sarmin to be a mysterious man. Despite his respectable personality and religious qualities, they knew well that he regularly frequented the nearby red light district.

Since this negative side was known only to a limited number of local young men, the rest of the village did not believe the claims. They said Sarmin was a regular visitor of the local place of worship. His religious character is beyond doubt, they would say.

However, many people knew that a lot of today's young men had double personalities. While professing to be religious, they also liked to have lovers among the residents of the bordellos. They must have found this way of life to be much cheaper. They can visit their prostitute friends any time they need to, pay the girls for their time, and simply say goodbye.

In a marriage you have to finance the household, and once the union has become loveless, the husband and wife look for love somewhere else. Where there is a marriage without love, there is a love without marriage.

Sarmin, for his part, had learned that he had become the subject of gossip. But he had had difficulties finding the wife of his dreams. He did not care so much about what people said because he sincerely wanted to get married for life. He wanted neither separation nor divorce.

Although he knew well that many girls had fallen head-over- heels in love with him, he wanted an ideal wife, and he did not care whether she was a "respectable" girl or a prostitute.

He also realized that if he really took a working girl as a wife, he would be ostracized from village life and possibly fired from his job. But he thought marrying a village girl to be a selfish policy, because it had no clear social impact.

If he was to marry a prostitute, he reasoned, he would be a virtual hero of society, because he would have saved a woman from the ravages of the valley of sin.

This kind of thinking disturbed Sarmin's mind for years. But one day, the thoughtful teacher decided he wanted to be a hero, and made his mind up once and for all.

A brave decision always has risks, but Sarmin did not want to be a coward. In the space of an hour the respected teacher had convinced himself that his future wife would be a sex worker.

But which prostitute was he to marry? There were none in his entire village, and the closest bordello was in a nearby town. Many women here have begotten illegitimate children and live alone after being betrayed by their lovers, but they are not for him.

Sarmin had to continue on to another village to find the street walker of his dreams. He knew there were many. And they belonged to various classes. There were women who would sleep with clients only in expensive hotels, while there were others whose bodies could be bought more cheaply.

There were also women who wait for their customers in dark alleys, and even in rice fields on village outskirts.

Sarmin once met a high-class prostitute living in a nearby village. Her name was Sri. He remembered that her figure was voluptuous and her skin fair. Almost everyone in the village knew where Sri lives.

When night fell, Sarmin thought he would see Sri at her home. He found it to be a well-furnished house, and Sri had arranged everything admirably, although she lived there with only an old servant.

"Looking for Miss Sri, Sir?" asked the servant in welcoming to Sarmin. He nodded.

"She left a few minutes ago, Sir."

"Where to?"

"She must be going to the hotel."

"With whom?"

The woman frowned. She was reluctant to give a further answer.

But she said: "If I'm not mistaken she has an appointment with Pak Camat, the district head."

"Pak Camat?" Sarmin asked himself, surprised.

"Does Pak Camat come here often?" he asked the servant.

"Oh, yes. Pak Camat comes to pick up Sri many times, especially at the beginning of the month. Sometimes they sleep at the hotel for three nights," she said.

"Besides Pak Camat, what other people have come to take Sri there?"

"You speak like a journalist," said the servant. "Are you?"

"No, I'm a teacher from the neighboring village," Sarmin said, smiling.

"But this must be your first visit here."

Sarmin nodded but added: "I know Sri quite well."

"OK, come back again during morning hours, if you want to meet her, Mr. Teacher."

"Then Sri is busy every night?"

"Yes, every night. Besides Pak Camat, she also has to entertain high-ranking officials from the provincial capital and some rich village heads. They all take Sri to hotels. But only with Pak Camat does Sri spend the night. With the others she spends only an hour or two."

The servant also explained that Sri never served her guests at home.

Sarmin then said goodbye, promising to come back in the morning.

The following day the teacher invited himself again to the village of his intended wife. He came directly from school.

Sri was surprised to see this young man so neatly dressed. She thought to herself: "He must be from outer space. How could he come here with the civil servant corps batik uniform? And he is still young. He must be a low-ranking civil servant who cannot afford to pay for a hotel room for a short time."

"Forgive me, Miss. I'm Sarmin, a junior high school teacher from a nearby town. The purpose of my visit is to ask for your hand in marriage." said Sarmin by way of introduction. "I'm serious," he quickly added.

Sri ushered him in. She looked Sarmin strait in the eyes.

"I assure you that I'm still a virgin," he said, presenting his ID card.

Sri looked at the card attentively and then stared again at Sarmin, who seemed very calm.

"I want you to be my wife, Miss. Please consider my wish seriously."

With the ID card still in her hand Sri looked down, without showing any emotion. But after some moments tears began to stream down her cheeks.

Seeing this, Sarmin's heart rejoiced. He was sure Sri would not turn down his proposal. A prostitute can have a heart of stone, but her heart will melt when a sincere man comes with noble intentions, he told himself.

He saw that the woman was fighting against her emotions, and having difficulty producing words.

"Sri, please say something," he said tenderly.

This getting no answer, Sarmin continued with another question. "Sri, do you have any objection to becoming my wife?"

Sri looked at Sarmin seriously and dropped. She was touched. "Sarmin, I beg you. Please don't make a fool of me. I'm a dirty creature who is not fit to clean your feet, let alone be your wife. You're the only respectable man who has talked to me."

"But I'm just a poor teacher. I have nothing, no car, nothing."

"But that is not a problem." Sri wiped at her tears with the backs of her hands.

As Sarmin was busy making preparations for his marriage with Sri, the villagers were busy talking about the unthinkable coupling.

"Sarmin is really a fool, reckless and insensitive," some said.

"He is creating a sensation just because he wants to be a hero, a worthless hero," said others.

"He is the worst fool I have seen. The headmaster of his school will surely oppose this crazy marriage," suggested some.

"Sarmin must resign from the school because his colleagues will certainly protest his show."

Some villagers said they would refuse to attend Sarmin's wedding party.

But Sarmin was not planning a wedding party. To confirm his marriage he would meet all religious regulations only. He did not plan to visit the religious affairs office after the ceremony.

One week before Sarmin got married the junior high school headmaster held a meeting with all the teachers. He told the local people after the meeting: "After due consideration I have decided to ask Pak Sarmin to resign. This is for the sake of our school's good name."

Sarmin fully understood the request. He decided to leave the village and take his wife to another place. He believed there was no place for him and Sri in that hypocritical society.