The missing wife

By Sartono Kusumaningrat

Feeling utterly exhausted, Karep wheeled his Honda CB motorcycle into the central room, which also functioned as sitting room, living room, dining room and garage for his motor vehicle. The clock on the wall showed the hour was midnight minus a few minutes. In that room he was welcomed not by his wife, but by his mother, whom he called Simbok.

"Your wife has not come home, Rep."

"Oh, where did she go, Mbok?"

"She told me she was going to visit a friend. She said she wanted to borrow a book about sewing, but she has not returned."

"What time did she leave?"

"She left at about four. Not long after you went to work."

"Its late now, Mbok. Why is Tentrem not home yet? What is her friend's name, her address, Mbok?"

"I did not ask her, Rep. I thought she would only be gone for a short while. I did not ask her anything."

"Damn. Her husband works himself to exhaustion to earn a living and she just leaves home without saying where she's going."

"Go and look for her, Rep. Kenyut, your child, has been crying the whole time asking for his mother."

Rep heard his child crying and asking for his mother in the bedroom.

"She is crazy, Tentrem. If she wanted to leave home why not take the child with her. He's only three and should not be left alone."

"Enough, Rep. Go and look for her!"

Karep wheeled his motorcycle back outside. Under the 15-watt lamp in the room his face looked shiny, tired and haggard. The motorcycle engine gave a deafening roar as he revved it up and sped of through the narrow alleys of his neighborhood.

He asked all he met if they knew of his wife's whereabouts, even the night guard.

"I saw her this afternoon, Rep, but I do not know where she was going. She was wearing shoes and carrying a big bag. She was well dressed, Rep. I thought she might have been going on a picnic or returning to her village."

"Damn her. Did she did not tell you anything, Min?"

"No, she only smiled, Rep. She said nothing," said Min, who was on night watch duty.

Karep mounted his motorcycle again and went up of the high street in the direction of the city, leaving the wooden houses of the densely populated kampong behind. He looked in every corner of the city, but without success. Karep could not find Tentrem.

"Any news, Rep?" his mother asked when she met him on the threshold of their house.

"It's strange. I found no sign of Tentrem, Mbok. I'm worried, Mbok. I am afraid Tentrem has left us all!"

"Try to find her in her village. She may have gone to her parents. Did you have a quarrel with her, Rep?"

"I never quarrel with her, Mbok, but she often complains about our worsening economic situation."

"Don't you get enough money from your motorcycle taxi business and your salary as an errand boy at Bhakti Nusa junior high school?"

"That's just enough to eat,Mbok. Nothing else."

"What then?"

"Just nothing. We are lucky to have something to eat."

Tentrem's disappearance, and the responsibility of supporting Kenyut and his mother were additional problems for Karep. It was painful to hear Kenyut's crying every day and asking for his mother. Karep wanted to be close to Kenyut to console him, but had to leave home to work. In the morning he was an office boy, in the evening he drove his motorcycle taxi, and now he had the extra task of finding the wayward Tentrem.

Karep went to Tentrem's village but still could not find her.

"You are Tentrem's husband. Why ask me where she is?" his mother-in-law said when Karep went to see her, much to the ire of Karep.

"If Tentrem is not here, I'll go straight home, Mbok."

"Take some rest. Have a drink, Rep," his mother-in-law said, now with a devil-may-care attitude.

Karep did not respond to the offer that was a pure formality.

Tentrem had been going for two weeks and Karep had not ceased looking for her. He had even reported the case to the village chief and the police. Karep himself did not particularly care about Tentrem's absence, but the daily lamentations and crying of their son worried and angered him. If only Kenyut had not been born, Karep would not give a damn about Tentrem's whereabouts. He even thought of looking for another wife. The maid who worked in Pak Sodrun's house on the corner often cast him approving looks. Karep would think of her.

Nevertheless, Kenyut was the apple of his eye and gave him happiness, and consoled him. He felt a deeper love for him, even greater than his feelings for Tentrem or himself. His love for Kenyut was incomparable to what he felt for Brindil, Pak Sodrun's maid.

Karep therefore felt responsible for Kenyut's happiness and needs, however difficult they were to fulfill, especially in material matters. If only he could do that, how happy he would be. But wishful thinking in a situation like this served no purpose and Karep often suppressed his dreams as soon as they appeared, like mushrooms in the rainy season. Perhaps only the rich were allowed to have dreams, Karep often thought pessimistically and cynically.

After Tentrem had been missing for almost a month, Karep lost all energy to look for her. Reports from the police, the village head, neighbors and acquaintances did not throw any light on her whereabouts and Karep felt inclined to give up on her. Kenyut's wails and cries had become less frequent. Maybe Kenyut too had begun to forget his mother.

One evening when he was heading home, Karep took a detour through the city. He wanted to see the city and the bustle of its night life.

When he stopped at the corner of a darkened alley, a woman in a short mini-skirt approached him and his heart missed a few beats.

"Come by, Mas?" said the heavily made-up woman, walking towards his motorcycle.

When she saw his face she started. Karep immediately jumped from his bike.

"Trem?"

"No! No!!" the woman ran away, closely pursued by Karep.

"Trem! Tentrem! It's me. Don't forget your child, Trem!" Karep seized the woman's arm, but she wrenched it out of his grip and cried loudly.

Two men emerged from the dark alley and attacked Karep, giving him a severe beating. The woman made her escape as Karep lay on the ground oozing blood.

"Do not cause trouble at our place, you rascal!" one of the men said.

"She's my wife, Mas. Her name is Tentrem. She left our home one month ago. Honestly, I do not want to make trouble here, Mas. I want to take my wife home. I pity our son, Mas," Karep lamented.

"Many men say such things in places like this. Go away. If you make trouble here again, we'll give you another thrashing!"

His body crushed, Karep left the dark alley. In his heart he was sure that woman was his wife. There was no doubt that the woman in the mini skirt was Tentrem!

-- Translated by SH

Glossary:

Simbok, mbok: Javanese term for mother

Pak: term of respect for an older male, in general usage

Mas: term of respect for an adult male, in general usage

The author began writing in 1984. His works have appeared in provincial and national publications. He works at the Foundation for Cultural Studies in Yogyakarta.