Chapter 6

Robert and Luchy still couldn't believe that Stefan was back to functioning like a normal person. The two of them were busy whispering to each other, wondering what kind of miracle had occurred for their pathetic brother-in-law to suddenly speak fluently and take orders.

“Did he get possessed by a local house spirit or something?” Luchy giggled.

“Could be, sis. He does stare into space a lot.”

“What if we mess with him, bro?” suggested Luchy, who was enjoying her breakfast in the dining room.

“Sounds like a plan. It’s been a few days since we’ve had any entertainment around here,” Robert agreed.

Robert and Luchy got up and headed out to the side yard. They saw Stefan watering the plants.

“Hey monkey, fetch that guava for me!” commanded Luchy, who was dressed in her school uniform.

Stefan hesitated, looking up into the tree. “Luchy, the fruit isn't ripe yet. It’s still green,” Stefan demurred uncertainly.

“Seriously? You know the difference between ripe and unripe fruit? Can you even tell red from green?”

Stefan nodded. “You’ll get a stomachache if you eat it.”

Robert, who was six years younger than Stefan, patted him on the shoulder. “Climb that tree. Grab the fruit at the very top.”

Without a second thought, Stefan quickly scaled the ten-foot-tall guava tree, climbing all the way to the top branches. He struggled slightly to reach the highest fruit because the foliage was so dense.

Luchy, a high school senior, ran inside the house and shrieked hysterically, “Dad, Mom, Stefan’s not cured! Look at him out in the side yard!”

Bobby and Chyntia rushed out. Seeing Stefan hanging from the branches, the couple was startled.

“Hey, ape!” Bobby roared. “Who told you to climb that tree, huh?!”

“The fruit isn't even ripe, you idiot!” Chyntia bellowed, wincing. “Get down here right now! If you fall, you’ll just make trouble for us!”

Lionny was shocked. What was all the commotion outside?

“Oh my goodness! Stefan, get down!” she cried out.

Robert and Luchy quickly bolted on their respective motorcycles. The two of them cackled with glee as they revved their engines and sped off.

Stefan eventually climbed down slowly. He pulled a tiny, dark-green guava out of his pants pocket and looked around. “Where’s Robert? I want to give this to him.”

Bobby shook his head in disgust. “Turns out you were just pretending to be healed, Stefan. I’ll order your medication again. This time, make sure you finish two hundred pills.”

Chyntia fumed. “If you’re done with the yard, get inside right now! Dirty dishes and laundry are waiting for you.”

Bobby sauntered away, abandoning his foolish son-in-law. His wife did the same, preferring to head off to the morning market rather than deal with a lunatic.

Lionny approached Stefan. “Sweetheart, you really shouldn't have done that.”

“Luchy and Robert—”

“Just stop. I was just starting to believe you were getting better, and then you pull a stunt like this.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I just wanted to prove myself to your brother and sister.”

Before he left, Stefan received a special parting message from his mother-in-law.

“Bring back plenty of money! So we can buy your medicine!”

Stefan started his motorcycle engine and said goodbye.

“Stefan, wait. This is for your lunch,” Lionny handed him a black plastic bag, along with a bottle of water.

Stefan rode off with enthusiasm, even as the deep wounds in his heart continued to multiply.

In the kitchen while cooking, Chyntia scolded her daughter. “Why on earth did you make him lunch, Lionny?”

Lionny replied softly, “I feel sorry for him, Mom.”

“Can’t you see? He’s clearly not cured yet!”

Lionny didn't reply, knowing that arguing would only drag things out. Day in and day out, talk of divorcing Stefan burned her ears. Both of her parents had agreed that she would be far better off divorcing him than living such a miserable life.

Yet Lionny still had a heart. Her love for her husband and the endless provocation from her family were like two opposing forces. Whenever she listened to her heart, a shadow of doubt pierced her soul, leaving her hopelessly conflicted about which path to take.

It was a scorching afternoon. Fortunately, the lush trees around Kambang Iwak Park provided welcoming shade. The gentle ripples of the lake in the center were soothing to hear. A couple of people were jogging around the track, burning off calories.

“Let’s eat together, John!”

“Go ahead, Stefan. I’m still waiting for a cash order. I’ll buy a boxed lunch once I get one.”

“There’s no guarantee you’ll get a cash order. It’s almost two o'clock. When else are you going to eat? Come on!”

Stefan divided his fried rice into two portions.

“Your wife’s cooking?” John asked as he ate ravenously.

“Yeah. Are you still single?”

“Mhm,” John struggled to speak with his mouth full of rice.

“You should get married. So someone can cook for you.”

“I want to save up plenty of money first. A friend of mine has been married for a year. His in-laws nag him almost every single day because his income is so low. Unsurprising—he’s just a construction worker.”

“That’s the risk of having a family, especially if you’re living under your in-laws’ roof like me. So you just have to exercise a lot of patience.”

John was a pitied soul. He was the eldest of four siblings. He had to support his widowed mother and his three younger sisters who were still in school. Meanwhile, his mother ran a modest *pempek* stall right outside their tiny rented room.

Whenever orders were slow, John was sometimes forced to borrow money from close friends to cover his family's daily expenses. He had submitted numerous job applications over time, but always to no avail.

Thus, his sole means of earning a living relied entirely on being a ride-hailing driver. Though he was thirty-two years old—eight years Stefan’s senior—John’s decision to delay marriage was unquestionably wise.

To make matters more challenging, all three of his younger sisters were girls: one in ninth grade, one in sixth grade, and the youngest in first grade. The three of them could be counted on to help their mother with the food stall, but that was all. John served as the sole backbone of the family in these tough times.

John shared that he had once dreamed of becoming a hacker!

As their conversation grew livelier and late afternoon approached, the incoming orders thinned out even more. Today Stefan had only received three orders, and John had the exact same: three. It wasn't just them; other drivers were experiencing the same drought, no longer enjoying the non-stop order flow they once had.

“John, do drivers nowadays still use modified apps, fake GPS, order-farming cheats, and things like that?”

“The service providers’ systems are way more advanced now. It’s not like back then when people could cheat to flood their accounts with orders. If you use dirty tricks now, it gets detected immediately, and your account gets suspended right away.”

“If I made your account overflow with up to thirty orders a day without getting suspended, would you want that?”

“Without getting suspended? Of course I would! I’m drowning in debt right now, Stefan, and I need to pay it all back.”

“Are you serious about wanting it?”

“I am. But it’s impossible to fly under the radar.”

Stefan smiled. “Don’t worry about a thing.” Stefan was going to design a program to make his account rain orders. Just wait until tomorrow.

When he arrived home at nine that night, Stefan was bombarded with all sorts of insults because he still couldn't meet their demands today.

Stefan remained patient. Just wait until tomorrow. He was going to put his skills to the test once again.