Dean and Loen stood behind R, who was sitting across from Mr. Wahyu, their gym teacher. R held back his laughter as the new teacher stood with his hands on his hips, giving him a challenging look. His thick mustache bobbed up and down with every word he spoke.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from the other teachers, Aris.”
R was still busy playing with his phone. As usual, he would complain to his mom whenever a teacher tried to mess with him like this. Casually, R gave the teacher’s desk a little kick so he could swivel its wheeled chair left and right.
“Face me right now!” Mr. Wahyu barked.
Dean and Loen jumped when their teacher shouted. R flashed a smile and stopped fooling around, then leaned forward until he was staring intently at the man, whose chest was heaving because of him. He loved seeing the person across from him get riled up like this.
R immediately handed his phone to Dean behind him and scooted his chair forward until it touched the edge of the desk. Then he propped his chin on one hand without taking his eyes off Mr. Wahyu. The dimples already settled into his face made him look especially attractive.
“Sorry, sir, but if you’d really heard that much about me, you wouldn’t randomly yell at me like that. Lying isn’t good, you know, sir,” he said in a cutesy tone.
“What do you mean?”
R quickly stood up, intending to move his face closer to Mr. Wahyu’s. However, his steps faltered when a sudden ache struck the back of his head. Luckily, Dean promptly caught him before he could fall and embarrass himself. Unfortunately, the prideful boy just swatted Dean’s help away and leaned toward Mr. Wahyu’s ear without thanking him first.
Then he began whispering. Dean and Loen, amused by the sight, quickly covered their mouths to hold back their laughter at Mr. Wahyu’s expression.
“Look, sir, your chair is honestly nothing compared to my mom’s chair,” R said softly, glancing at Mr. Wahyu.
He then straightened up and kicked the desk in front of him again. Not hard—just enough to make his new teacher jump. He smiled mockingly, then pushed away the chair he had just been sitting in. R draped an arm around each of his friends, asking for their help while also ushering them out of the room.
“Sorry you have to deal with me, sir. My mom will be here soon, so just wait,” R said before continuing on.
Dean and Loen waved at Mr. Wahyu before finally leaving the teachers’ lounge. R then released them and laughed as he faced his two friends.
“My foot hurts, though.”
“Well, that’s your own fault. You knew the desk was made of wood, but you still kicked it,” Dean said.
“Are there desks made of foam, dumbass?” Loen snorted, smacking his best friend upside the head.
Loen, unwilling to let that go, immediately kicked Dean’s ass as hard as he could. Dean took off running to escape the other boy’s rampage. R only laughed and continued walking slowly while rubbing his forehead. Kenand’s punch earlier had caused enough trouble for one day.
Dean and Loen, who had already gotten far ahead, suddenly ran back toward R. R’s eyes flew open, and he took several steps backward so his friends wouldn’t crash into him. He immediately understood why when he saw his mom walking toward them.
“R,” Maria, R’s mom, called.
The boy approached the mother who had given birth to him and kissed her hand. Dean and Loen followed their leader’s example. R quickly motioned for his two friends to go on ahead. Their bags were still in the classroom, after all, and they needed to retrieve them.
“Why are you so pale? Go straight home, okay? Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Just one stupid thing, Mom,” R protested.
Maria kissed R’s forehead and continued on her way. She needed to see her only child’s teacher and resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Her many meetings with office clients had left her in a rush. Besides serving as the co-founder of the Immersion Foundation, Maria also owned a media company that had been operating for about four years.
“Working overtime like a horse,” R sang loudly.
When he got home, R spent his time in his room. He crossed his legs and grabbed a snack from his right side. He turned up the volume on his game to drown out the sound of Dean’s snoring. R and Loen were still focused on trying out R’s newest Xbox One X. They were playing Player Unknown Background in duo mode.
“Shit, man,” Loen cursed when his character was on the verge of dying.
“Damn it, and you had to clutch it too.”
Loen shouted when the game ended in defeat. Dean, who had been sleeping peacefully, jolted awake at the sound of his friend’s voice. He immediately threw the pillow he had been using at Loen.
“Chill out, dude!” he said irritably.
“Sorry, sorry. I got carried away.”
R got up and walked toward the bed. He dropped himself onto Dean, making his friend groan. When Loen saw that, he reflexively threw the pillow that had just hit him at R’s head.
“I’m still innocent!” Loen shouted as he turned off his best friend’s game console.
“You’re the one who hasn’t been chill this whole time, De. Your snoring sounds like someone announcing a death at a mosque. It’s so loud you might as well be using a megaphone,” R joked.
“Hey, it’s different, R. Snoring happens in your subconscious, while conscious shouting is perfectly rational.”
Annoyed, Loen threw himself on top of R and Dean. The two of them let out a synchronized scream when the boy landed on them. R tried to get up and make Loen fall off. It was useless, though; his friend only hugged him tighter.
“Gross, dude! I’m counting, okay?”
Before R could start counting, Loen had already gotten up and sat down nicely. R got up too and lightly smacked his friend on the head. Dean breathed a sigh of relief after being freed from several kilos of piled-on boys.
“It’s getting late. Let’s head out?” Loen suggested, and Dean nodded.
R took the initiative to walk his two friends to the front door. After putting on their helmets, Dean and Loen waved before leaving R’s house. They honked when they passed Maria’s car. As soon as R realized his mom had come home, he went inside and hurried toward his room.
Although she was tired, Maria knocked on R’s bedroom door several times when she received no answer from its occupant. Getting nowhere, she decided to go downstairs and busy herself in the kitchen. She warmed up the dinner her housekeeper had cooked. Every day at five in the afternoon, the housekeepers left to take care of their families at home. Maria never had a problem with it because as long as the housework was finished, there was nothing to worry about.
She left a note beside the food arranged on the table. Maria picked up her bag again and hurried toward her car. She had to return to the office after receiving a barrage of messages from her secretary.
R left his room and watched his mom drive away from upstairs. After his parents’ divorce, the huge house was occupied by R alone. Maria was only home to sleep, warm up R’s dinner, and remind him to take his regular medication.
“Seriously, it’s always like this.”
The boy furrowed his brows when he heard a car entering the property. He hurried downstairs, already recognizing whose car it was. At the doorway, he put on his best smile and welcomed his uncle as he stepped out of the car.
“Hey, champ. Uncle stopped by because I’m hungry,” Farhan, R’s uncle, greeted him.
“I’m hungry too, Uncle. Let’s go!”
Farhan draped an arm around R’s shoulders and walked with him toward the dining room. In fact, the middle-aged man had received a message from his younger sister asking him to see R because her son was sulking. Since Farhan happened to be in the area near R’s house, he was able to arrive earlier than usual.
“Look, your mom left a message,” Farhan said, handing him the small note in front of him.
“That woman has a lot going on. It’s not just about eating,” R remarked sarcastically.
“Your mom’s work at the office is also about taking care of her child, R.”
“That’s different, Uncle.”
Farhan chose not to respond. R was always sensitive and in a bad mood whenever his mom was involved. Although he never argued with Maria the way he did with Bani, his dad, R still kept his distance from her—especially after she started getting busy at her office.
“At this rate, I might get divorced from Mom too,” R blurted out.
“Watch your mouth! You’d better finish your food quickly, then take your medicine.”
R finished eating and carried his plate to the kitchen. He simply left it there and went upstairs, leaving Farhan watching him faithfully. The boy didn’t look back at his uncle even once; he even slammed the door shut.
“Whose nephew acts like that?” Farhan muttered.