Raka didn't sleep that night.
Not because of the sound of the rain.
Not because the roof of the reading center occasionally boomed when rain fell on the corrugated metal.
And not because Jali was snoring softly in the corner of the room.
He couldn't sleep because of one sentence that kept spinning through his head.
I'm looking for a bag.
A black bag.
That man named Dimas knew.
Somehow.
Raka opened his eyes.
Darkness.
He turned his head.
Jali was still asleep.
Bimo was curled up near the bookshelf.
Sari slept with a book beside her head.
Ucup was hugging the toy car without wheels they'd found that morning.
Raka sat up.
He looked at the black bag Ms. Laras had placed inside the wooden cabinet.
The cabinet was locked now.
Raka didn't know whether the lock could really keep them safe.
He stood slowly.
Walked to the window.
The rain had stopped.
The road in front of the reading center was wet.
Streetlights reflected yellow light in the puddles.
There were no cars.
No people.
Raka returned to his bed.
He had just started to lie down when he heard a sound.
Creak.
He turned his head.
Bimo was already awake.
“Not asleep yet?”
Bimo shook his head.
“Scared?”
“No.”
Raka smiled.
“Liar.”
Bimo didn't answer.
He only stared at the cabinet.
“I'm curious.”
“Me too.”
“Should we open it?”
Raka thought about it.
Then shook his head.
“Tomorrow.”
Bimo nodded.
They lay back down.
Neither of them knew that they weren't the only ones still awake that night.
In a car parked two blocks from the reading center, a man was watching the small building.
Dimas.
He sat in the back seat.
An older man sat beside him.
“Did you find it?”
“Not yet.”
“What about those kids?”
“It looks like they found it.”
“It looks like?”
Dimas fell silent.
The man looked at him.
“Don't use the words ‘it looks like.’”
Dimas nodded.
“We'll search again tomorrow.”
“Don't get too close.”
“Why?”
“If they get scared, they might throw it away.”
Dimas stared at the reading center.
“Kids like that don't know the value of what they find.”
The man smiled faintly.
“That's exactly the problem.”
Morning came too soon.
At five thirty, Ms. Laras had already turned on the lights.
“Wake up.”
Jali grumbled.
“It's still dark.”
“It is.”
“If it's still dark, then it's nighttime.”
“Then you can sleep outside.”
Jali sat up at once.
“Good morning.”
Ucup laughed.
Their breakfast was just hot tea and fried bananas.
Ms. Laras handed them out one by one.
Raka ate slowly.
He was still thinking about the bag.
Sari watched him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
Raka looked at her.
“Why can everyone tell when I’m lying now?”
Jali cut in.
“Because your face looks ugly when you lie.”
Raka grabbed a pillow.
Jali took off running.
They laughed.
For a few minutes, everything felt normal again.
Then Ms. Laras said,
“You’ll keep working as usual.”
Raka stopped eating.
“Why?”
“Because if you suddenly disappear, people will get suspicious.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Jali chewed on a banana.
“What if someone asks about the bag?”
“Say you don’t know.”
“What if they force us?”
“Leave.”
Raka nodded.
That was their first rule.
They set out for the residential neighborhood.
The sun wasn't high yet that day.
The streets were still wet.
Raka walked in front.
He kept an eye on their surroundings.
There was no black car.
“Bro.”
Ucup pointed.
“What?”
“Look.”
A cat was rummaging through a trash can.
Jali moved closer.
“Competition.”
The cat stared at him.
Jali stared back.
“First one there gets it.”
The cat walked away.
Jali raised a hand.
“I win.”
Sari laughed.
They started picking through the garbage.
The day went normally.
Cardboard.
Bottles.
Cans.
Cables.
There were no security guards.
No dogs.
No accusations.
Until around ten o’clock.
A motorcycle stopped in front of them.
A man got off.
“Raka?”
Raka immediately went on alert.
“Yes?”
“You’re Raka?”
“Why?”
The man smiled.
“I’m with the company.”
Raka didn't answer.
“I just want to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Did you find something yesterday?”
Raka looked at Jali.
Jali looked at Sari.
Sari looked at Bimo.
Bimo stared at the ground.
No one answered.
The man gave a small laugh.
“You don't have to be afraid.”
Raka finally said,
“We find lots of things.”
“A specific item.”
“Don’t know.”
The man stared at him for a long moment.
Then he left.
After the motorcycle disappeared, Jali whispered,
“He's not someone who wants to buy bottles.”
Raka nodded.
“No.”
They returned to the reading center at noon.
Ms. Laras was already waiting.
“How did it go?”
Raka told her everything.
Ms. Laras listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she said,
“Now do you understand why I told you not to say anything?”
Raka nodded.
“Ms. Laras.”
“Yes?”
“Why are they looking for the bag?”
Ms. Laras took a breath.
“Because there's something inside it that they consider important.”
“How important?”
“It could cause trouble.”
“For whom?”
Ms. Laras looked at him.
“Maybe for them.”
“Maybe?”
“Maybe for a lot of people, too.”
Raka fell silent.
Sari opened her notebook.
“Ms. Laras.”
“What is it?”
“Can we study it?”
Ms. Laras looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
Sari nodded.
“I want to know.”
Ms. Laras smiled.
“All right.”
They started with the simplest pages.
Dates.
Truck numbers.
Codes.
Locations.
Sari copied everything into a new notebook.
Bimo opened the laptop.
Jali read the names aloud.
Raka drew a map.
Ucup sat on the floor.
He was drawing.
“What are you drawing?” Jali asked.
“A truck.”
“Why?”
“So I remember.”
Jali looked at his drawing.
The truck's wheels weren't the same size.
“Is that a truck or a crab?”
“A truck.”
“If the truck looked like that, the driver would definitely get dizzy.”
Ucup smacked his arm.
They laughed again.
Ms. Laras watched them.
She deliberately let them joke around.
Because she knew the children needed room to breathe.
Late afternoon was approaching when Sari found something.
“Stop.”
Everyone turned.
She pointed to one of the lines.
“This.”
“What?”
“The truck number.”
Bimo enlarged it.
Sari took out the old notes.
“This truck comes in every Tuesday.”
Raka moved closer.
“How many times?”
“Eleven.”
“And?”
Sari pointed to another column.
“Every time it comes in, there's a payment.”
Jali read it.
“The amount is different.”
“Why?”
“Don't know.”
Sari turned the page.
“Look.”
There was another code.
L-17.
Raka remembered immediately.
“A route?”
Ms. Laras nodded.
“Could be.”
“Where?”
Ms. Laras took out a map of the Bantar Mayang Landfill.
She spread it across the table.
“If this really is route L-17, it should be on the eastern side.”
Raka pointed.
“I know that place.”
“How far?”
“Not far.”
“What have you seen there?”
Raka thought.
“Pipes.”
Everyone fell silent.
“What kind of pipes?”
“Old pipes.”
Ms. Laras looked at him.
“We'll take a look tomorrow.”
Raka nodded.
Then they heard a vehicle.
They all turned.
A black car stopped in front of the reading center.
Again.
Dimas got out.
This time, he wasn't alone.
Two people were with him.
Raka stood up.
Jali stood up too.
Bimo closed the laptop.
Sari stuffed the notes into her bag.
Ucup grabbed Raka's hand.
Ms. Laras said softly,
“Stay calm.”
Dimas knocked on the door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Ms. Laras opened it.
“Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon.”
“We'd like to talk.”
“To whom?”
“The children.”
Ms. Laras stood in the doorway.
“They're studying.”
Dimas smiled.
“It won't take long.”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“We only want the company's property.”
“There is no company property here.”
“We have reason to believe there is.”
“Reason isn't proof.”
Dimas stared at Ms. Laras.
Then his eyes moved past her.
Raka was standing there.
Dimas saw him.
“Raka.”
Raka didn't answer.
Dimas smiled.
“If you found a black bag, you should return it.”
Raka finally said,
“Why?”
Dimas fell silent.
“Because it doesn't belong to you.”
Raka looked at him.
“What if it was thrown away?”
Dimas didn't answer.
Raka continued,
“If it was already thrown away, who does it belong to?”
Ms. Laras held her breath.
Jali stared at Raka.
Sari smiled faintly.
Dimas wasn't smiling anymore.
He only said,
“Don't make trouble.”
Then he left.
The car drove away from the reading center.
After the car disappeared, Jali let out a breath.
“Bro Raka.”
“What?”
“That was pretty brave.”
Raka sat down.
His hands were trembling.
He hid them.
Bimo noticed.
So did Sari.
No one said anything.
They all knew.
Raka was scared.
They were scared too.
But that day, they learned something.
Sometimes courage isn't the absence of fear.
Courage is continuing to ask questions even when your voice is almost shaking.
They didn't open the bag that night.
They didn't need to.
They already knew one important thing.
The people looking for the bag didn't want it back simply because they had lost a bag.
They were afraid of something inside it.
And if that was true, the next question became much bigger:
What was really inside that black bag?
Outside the reading center, the black car stopped again.
Dimas answered a phone call.
“Not yet.”
The voice on the other end sounded cold.
“Make sure it happens tomorrow.”
Dimas stared at the small building.
“What if the kids open it?”
“Don't let them.”
The call ended.
Dimas put his phone away.
Inside the reading center, Raka stood near the window.
He saw the car.
For a few seconds, their eyes met.
Then Dimas started the engine.
The car drove away.
Raka remained standing.
He knew something was beginning.
And this time, he wasn't sure their old rule—if there's trouble, leave—would still be enough to save them.
Because some trouble can't be left behind just by running.
Some trouble will keep chasing you.
And there are secrets that, once discovered, may force someone to choose:
stay silent and stay safe... or speak up and risk everything.