Escape

By Amien Wangsitalaja

Harma faced a dilemma with his Sunday. His children wanted him to take them out on this bright day but he was too lazy to take them on a public bus. A private car? He could not afford to buy one.

Harma personally always found traveling on public transportation -- in the city or between cities -- as a pleasant experience. In fact, it was routine for him. He commuted by bus from his house to his office in another town. Harma, however, could always find something new every time he traveled by bus.

At least, he could find a new face sitting next to him. A woman or a man, young or old, neatly or sloppily dressed. He could easily strike up a conversation with some of his fellow passengers and they would become engaged in an intimate chat until it was time for them to separate. Some others, however, were reticent and standoffish.

For several hours sitting on the same seat, they would just keep quiet, not even showing a slight smile. Harma was the quiet type, too, so during the whole journey, he would simply keep his mouth shut and avoid looking at his fellow passengers in the face.

During rush hour when the passengers were packed into the bus like sardines, Harma had a lot of opportunities to observe the people around him.

That's why, although he was a commuter, Harma intentionally avoided taking the same bus. Unlike other commuters, who usually have their favorite bus company, favorite bus and favorite drivers and conductors, Harma took different buses every day. He believed that in this way he could get more experienced about riding the bus. He knew, for example, that the blue bus had a good engine and therefore could be driven fast while the one with red stripes was old and would always give way to other speeding buses. The conductor was rather professional and businesslike. He was quite strict about the fare and also about where passengers could get on and off. The conductors of other buses were very relaxed and would let passengers get on and off anywhere.

In short, Harma found riding the bus very enjoyable. It enriched him spiritually.

Unfortunately, he recently found that traveling by bus was not as comfortable as it was before. He had seen a lot of criminal activities taking place on the bus. Well, he became uncomfortable not because he knew some day he would become the victim.

No. He was not worried about the possibility of his property being stolen.

No. He did not carry anything of value that bus thieves would find worthwhile to take.

He felt really uncomfortable because every time he saw a crime unfolding before him he could not help the victim, let alone prevent the crime from being committed. He found himself very weak and sinful for letting the crime happen. His religion told him that he was obligated to prevent crime.

Every time Harma saw suspicious faces and every time he heard a passenger scream that something had been stolen from them, he felt ill at ease. He felt terribly weak and sinful to allow the crime to happen.

So, he often thought he would try to avoid witnessing a crime. He did not want to be terrorized by his guilt.

That's why he had been rather lazy to go on the bus recently. He was often absent from the office.

Still, he could not really avoid buses altogether. Even on holidays, when he did not have to take a bus to the office, there was always a reason for him to take one.

Take this Sunday, for example. On this bright day, his children nagged at him, asking him to take them out by bus. They wanted him to take them to his former campus because on Sundays the area was always crowded with people enjoying different activities.

Harma actually liked to take his family out for a holiday but the thought of taking them on a bus discouraged him. He was again overwhelmed by his worries that he would witness a pickpocket in action.

Unfortunately, as his children nagged continuously and his wife insisted, Harma lazily complied in the end. They left the house. The children and his wife were very happy. Harma silently prayed there would be no pickpockets on the bus they would take.

True, as the bus sped away, there was no sign that there would be anybody falling victim to a pickpocket. They were close to their destination.

Harma began to breathe a sigh of relief when four young men -- they looked like innocent university students -- got on. The four acted like strangers to one another. One sat in a vacant seat while the other three stood for the ride. Harma went pale in the face believing that these were the pickpockets he wanted to avoid seeing. He could see from their gestures and appearances that these four young men were pickpockets. Would this mean he has to witness another pickpocketing scene? Would this mean that he must commit another sin for not being able to prevent a crime?

Harma did not want to be a weak person. He knew he had to act fast. Rather than having to witness someone else falling victim to these pickpockets, he had better avoid it. Escapism? Well, he did not care. He simply wanted to avoid being tortured by his own guilt.

Harma kept saying to himself, "Come on, you can do what you want, but not before my very eyes." He really wanted to get off the bus then and there.

He told the driver he wanted to stop and take his family off the bus. His wife wondered why they got off when it was still quite far from their destination. While they were leaving, Harma glanced angrily at one of the four young men. He was at the door and did not respond to Harma's angry glare.

Harma was instantly relieved when they were all off the bus.

"Why did we get off here?" his wife queried.

"Oh, nothing."

"But we are still far away from the campus, right?"

Finally, he explained his worries to his wife. He said he believed the four young men who got on the bus after them were a gang of pickpockets. He also told her he did not have the heart to see some passenger lose their belongings to them.

"Good gracious?? Oooooooh!??" Harma's wife suddenly screamed.

"What's the matter?" asked Harma. He recognized the scream.

"My purse .... my money ......!"

"Aaaah!"

Translated by Lie Hua