The house of her dreams

By Manaf Maulana

No sooner had the wedding party ended and all the guests gone home than Reni told her husband he must provide her with a luxury house.

"I deserve it don't I," she asked Hartoko. Looking at him smiling, Reni added: "Darling, promise me that you wont turn down my request."

Actually, Hartoko did not have much of a reaction to this. He was being conquered by a strong desire to enter the bedroom where he would sleep with a woman for the first time. He wanted to show his wife he would be a romantic partner in bed.

During their three-year courtship, Reni never let him touch any part of her body, much less kiss her.

Every time Hartoko tried to touch her, Reni always reminded him that outside of wedlock such intimacy was haram, against religious laws.

But now Reni was his wife. There was no longer anything that could keep them apart. In full Javanese wedding dress, they entered the bedroom. Hartoko, whose patience was growing thinner and thinner, led her to the bed. He tried to undress her so he could have his first look at her voluptuous body.

However, Reni refused. "Why? What are you waiting for," asked Hartoko, whose lust had reached his head.

"You have not answered my question, dear," Reni said moving away from him.

"What question?"

"You're too young to be oblivious."

"Dear, don't let my passion overwhelm me."

"Will you give me a luxury house or not?"

Hartoko was upset by the question. It sounded like blackmail, or maybe his wife did not trust him. This was perhaps because he was a successful young man, or because Reni knew her new father- in-law was a wealthy house developer.

"Will you give me it or not? If your answer is no, I'll sleep alone."

"OK, my father has said a house, no matter how big it is, will not be a problem for him."

On hearing this, Reni felt relief. She used the opportunity of this night to beg for an expensive token of love. Older people told her the first night of marriage was the best opportunity for a wife to ask for anything from her husband, who would be overcome by lust for his new wife.

Hartoko did not say a word for the rest of the night. In the morning, after breakfast, he tried to take his wife to the bedroom again, but she was reluctant to leave the table. He felt he was being bullied again.

Reni urged him to discuss the house with his father, who was sitting on the verandah reading the newspaper.

Hartoko obeyed and went to talk to his father.

"Reni wants you to build a house as big as this one for her."

"Why didn't you tell her to exercise a little patience? You two should enjoy your honeymoon first," he told his only son.

"But I need the answer now, papa."

"OK, tell her that her request has been accepted."

"She will get a new house as soon as you return from your honeymoon."

Hartoko was happy to hear this answer. He jovially went inside. He told Reni, who was watching TV, to go into the bedroom.

Seeing his wife was still defiant, Hartoko dragged her by her hand.

"No. First tell me the answer," she said while trying to resist.

After hearing she would get her house, Reni exploded in happiness. She could not believe it. She would get a luxury house. It was beyond her wildest dreams.

She put her arms around her husband's waist and pulled him into the bedroom. The main hurdle had been eliminated. She was now going to take the initiative in the game. She wanted to show her husband that while she was an angel in public, she could be a monkey in bed for the sake of his frivolity.

Reni did not want to think about the honeymoon; whether they would enjoy it at home or in Europe. Without leaving home she was happy, because every minute a picture of a luxury house with a swimming pool and a tennis court appeared in her mind.

A few weeks later, Hartoko's father told him that he and Reni could move into a new house on the outskirts of town. Hartoko's father had been unable to secure a plot of land in a strategic location in town, but this house was luxurious enough.

And just because this house was built on the outskirts of town did not mean it was cheap. Hartoko's father had to buy the land and compensate the squatters. While there were a number of shanties in the area, the poor people wouldn't cause a problem.

The newlyweds, who had been reluctant to go abroad for their honeymoon, moved into their new house. They did not invite their relatives and friends to a housewarming party, for fear of causing jealousy among the people knew.

Local residents took the construction of a palatial residence in their midst as blatant social insensitivity.

The house was quite big and was surrounded by high walls. As Reni had dreamed, there was a tennis court beside the house and a swimming pool in the spacious backyard. The front yard was a large flower garden.

Locals saw the house as a mysterious mansion occupied by a young couple who drove a luxurious car and never said hello to the people they met on the street.

The people did not understand why there were no security guards at the house. They guessed the young couple were the children of local officials and were sure nobody would dare disturb them. Or the couple must have a gun or at the least be proficient in the art of self-defense.

But most residents of the slum area told each other they didn't have the time to worry about anything that happened behind those high walls. "The important thing is that we live here in peace, because no thug would be stupid enough to rob us," one of them said.

On the other hand, the young couple was reluctant to talk to any of the locals because they couldn't find a suitable topic of discussion. Moreover, they were still feeling romantic.

Hartoko and Reni enjoyed every minute of their lives in the house. They believed the poor people would be their protectors if they ever needed help.

The couple did not hire a servant because Reni was a good cook. And when she didn't have time to cook they could go to a restaurant.

But most of their time was spent the way all newlyweds spend their time. They enjoyed themselves in the bedroom, the bathroom, on the floor, on the sofa and by the swimming pool.

One day they were making love in the living room, unaware of the six robbers peering in the windows. The criminals broke the windows with their machetes and jumped inside the house.

The shocked couple could do nothing. At knife-point, the robbers tied Hartoko's hands.

Then, one by one they brutally raped Reni. Finally, the criminals left the house, leaving Reni unconscious and her bound husband unable to do anything but relive the horrible scene in his mind. The criminals took all the valuables from the house.

-- Translated by TIS