The match-making adulteress

Budi Wahyono

As soon as he lost his wife in a plane crash outside town, Bram found out that Mbak (Miss) Is was one of the first people who was interested in introducing him to a new woman to replace his wife.

For Bram, however, this good will was painful, because it was yet to be 40 days since the death of his dear wife. When he imagined the figure of Mbak Is, a Eurasian woman of Dutch and Indonesian parentage, slim and tall with a sharp, well-formed nose and fair skin, he would have agree that normally, he would have been easily attracted to her.

"But it really is not so easy to wave your hand to forget a woman that spent over 10 years living with you," he would say to himself at such moments.

One day, he had a chat with Mbak Is, sitting on a bamboo bench as the afternoon wind blew freely under a clear blue sky.

"You don't have to be so miserable. Our destiny is really difficult to see. I'm sure this loss was a sharp blow to you," she said in a way that sounded too wise in Bram's ears. He only smiled and Is interpreted it as a smile of agreement.

"I went through a similar experience when I celebrated my fortieth birthday," Is said, starting to reminisce.

Bram turned to her. "When you became a widow?" he asked.

"Yes, it is really a sad story," she replied, just as quickly, reaching around to touch Bram's back.

Bram, a PR man at a hotel, could not prevent it. In fact, he enjoyed the strange thrill that spread through his body, especially as it was just the two of them. If only he could allow his desire get the better of him, he would do anything for Is.

But he realized that it was improper for a conventional man like him to allow himself to fall easily into the embrace of Is, a woman who had been in love with several men: Pak Brojo the engineer, Pak Joko the architect and even Darmin, an inter-city truck driver.

Indeed, he would certainly not be the next man in Is's embrace.

"You must raise your three children properly. They need a mother as they grow, a kind mother that can guide them along the right track... Have any women attracted you yet?" Is asked, glancing at him coquettishly.

Bram could see where she was heading with this question and of course, he would not fall into her trap.

"You have to find a beautiful woman. You need a good mother for the children," Is said again.

It was dusk already. The sun, which floated in the sky at the top of the mountain in the horizon, seemed to dispel Is's comfort.

"Where are the children?" she asked. She knew that talking about his future spousal options would eventually bore Bram.

"They are out, taking their lessons, Mbak. I will have to pick them up shortly. I can take you to the bus terminal on the way," he said hesitantly. He was afraid Is would think that he didn't like having her in the house.

Is sighed. She realized that Bram's neighbors would pay more attention to him now that he was a widower.

"All right, I'll come with you and get off at the terminal. The air-conditioned bus to Yogya is still running, right?" Is asked, sounding very intimate.

Bram smiled. He was ready with an answer for any neighbor who was curious about who was the beautiful woman in his car.

He drove the car slowly and was quite relieved not to see any curious or suspicious eyes. They were free to talk in the car.

As he had expected, Is said she would eventually like to introduce him to a young woman who she thought would make a good wife.

Bram only smiled in response. His friends had introduced him to two women before, but neither met his criteria for a good wife or as a good mother for his children

"This woman is pretty. She is simple and undemanding," Is said as the car arrived at the terminal. She glanced at Bram and felt relief.

"This is her card ... her photograph. If you have time, you can visit her at her boarding house. Or you can meet Siwi on her way home from work. Well, who knows that she might be right for you," she said, obviously pinning a lot of hope on Bram.

At night, when the children were asleep, Bram sat in front of his computer, thinking of Siwi's face. She was quite photogenic and looked like a neighbor who, when she walked, would make a click-clack sound with the heel of her shoes.

Finally, Bram made up his mind to meet Siwi. * * *

At 10 the next morning, Bram was in the supermarket where Siwi worked. After looking for some time, he found her, one of the attendants at the cosmetics counter. It was true -- she was quite pretty. To surprise her, he showed Siwi her own picture.

"Mas (brother) Bram, right?" Siwi asked, surprising him, instead.

"How do you know my name?"

"I have heard a lot about you, Mas," Siwi said.

Luck was with him -- there were few visitors that morning, and he was able to chat with Siwi for some time. Before he left, he told her that he would meet her after work.

That afternoon, Bram kept his promise.

"What about going to Jurug, Dik (younger sister)?" he asked her. Siwi smiled and nodded. Off they drove to Jurug.

Although they had only met that morning, they felt as if they had known each other much longer.

On a moonlit night in Jurug, Bram told himself that Siwi was the right person to take the place of his lost wife. He could imagine how Siwi would cook meals in their kitchen and take care of him and his children.

Before it got too late, Bram took Siwi home.

During the drive back, Bram could not help but wonder how Is, a known adulteress, could introduce him to such a good and smart girl as Siwi? Was Siwi one of her nieces or a daughter of one of her friends, or perhaps a woman of as bad a character as Is herself?

He would need an immediate answer, but did not think right to try to find out from Siwi, with whom he had just gotten acquainted. Despite this doubt, Bram felt almost sure that Siwi would make a good wife.

"Mas Bram, stop here, please," Siwi told him.

He pulled the car up to the boarding house. The two got out and Siwi hurriedly opened the gate of the boarding house, then ran to open the front door.

"Mas, this is where I live," Siwi said apologetically and then slipped behind a curtain.

Left alone, Bram looked around the room.

Suddenly, he caught sight of Is's photo on the wall.

How could Siwi be related to Is? Is had never told him she had a younger sister or a niece as pretty as Siwi.

"That's my mom when she was young," Siwi said, appearing suddenly and breaking the silence.

Her words stunned Bram. Seeing the change in his face, Siwi tried to explain.

"Mom never tells anyone she has a daughter," she said very politely and carefully.

Bram remained silent. Something he had heard the night before from a film on TV kept running in his mind: "Your mother-in-law is a whore! Very likely her sisters, her daughters and her granddaughters are also whores!"

Is was an adulteress, so ...

Bram was still, trapped in silent bitterness.

Semarang, 2005
Translated by Lie Hua