01. Shabby Woman

The sun was shining brightly above the sky, the sound of cicadas sticking to the tree sounded very loud. A middle-aged man sprinted towards the stilt house, where on the terrace sat a man in fashionable clothes, with an open laptop at the table in front of him. Hearing someone’s hasty steps, the man’s attention turned to him.

“What is it?” The man asked, his voice heavy and firm.

“S-sir …!” The middle-aged man stopped at the bottom of the terrace steps, gasping for breath. “Mr. Sakha, someone fainted in the field!” he cried hard.

In contrast to the man’s panic, the expression on Sakha’s face did not change. Sakha folded his laptop screen carefully, then stood up and approached the man.

“Where is he?” asked Sakha.

The man hastily showed the way to the field he mentioned.

Sakha followed behind. When they arrived at the field, the sun was getting hotter and hotter. In the middle of the field overgrown with corn, gathered several people who are also agricultural workers who work in Sakha’s field, they seem to be crowding something.

“Hey, step aside! I’ve already called Mr. Sakha,” exclaimed the man who had reported.

Then all pairs of eyes turned to Sakha who was walking closer, several eyes stared at him in surprise.

“Mr. Ji! Why call Mr. Sakha? It is broad daylight! How troublesome you are!” Inah scolded, lightly hitting Parji’s shoulder, the man was still breathless, busy catching his breath.

“Anyway, how pitiful Ririn is. Instead of leaving her here under the heat, in which case her situation will only get worse, we had better call Mr. Sakha. After all, it is one of his responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of his workers,” Parji replied to Inah’s words in a low voice.

Right after that, Sakha got close to them and looked straight down at a woman lying on a shabby mat, the sun shining on her, her face pale and sweating profusely, her brow furrowed like someone in pain.

“What shall we do, sir? Her house is quite far from here, we don’t know how to take her home,” said Parji.

Without thinking, Sakha replied, “Let me take her.”

It’s the answer his workers had been waiting for; relief was evident on their faces as soon as Sakha said so.

Sakha crouched down, staring at the woman’s face for a moment. She looks so shabby, thought Sakha. The shirt must have been white before, but now it was brown and the edges were a little torn. From the folds of her clothes, Sakha guessed she was wearing several layers of clothing. The woman’s face was also dirty with dust and pale.

Sakha guessed that the reason for this fainting was due to dehydration. Without waiting any longer, Sakha lifted the woman’s body into his arms, he was a little surprised by the lightness of the body, Sakha did not expect it because the woman’s body looked full.

“I’ll take her home, you guys just carry on with your work,” said Sakha.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Sakha nodded, then turned and walked away.

Working in the middle of the day like this is always hard, but Sakha has managed all the time and he does not want the hot sun to be a hindrance, he even gives more wages to his workers who work during the day.

When they arrived at the rest house hidden in the garden with shady trees, Sakha realized that the woman’s body in his arms felt very hot, even though the sunlight was not hitting them too much because of the leaves on the trees.

Sakha entered the house, laid the woman on the bed in one of the rooms there. The room was never used, except for the adjoining room that Sakha usually used to take a nap while waiting for the workers in the fields.

Actually, Sakha didn’t know what to do either, so he took out his cell phone to call someone.

“Galih, after you buy the seeds, go straight to the rest house. Bring a car!” said Sakha. After getting the answer he wanted, Sakha turned off his cellphone and looked at the woman. Sakha touched the woman’s forehead, which was hot. Sweat kept running down her temples.

Sakha thought what he should do, and then his attention turned to the shabby clothes the woman was wearing. Sakha touched it lightly, slightly disgusted by the dirt, but Sakha tried to ignore it and then took off the shirt she was wearing. And right as he thought, the woman was wearing layers of clothes, which Sakha couldn’t help but have to take off, leaving a clean white shirt soaked with sweat.

No wonder she is light, her body is so skinny, thought Sakha. Layered clothes do make the woman’s body look fuller.

Sakha then took a small towel, wet it with warm water, and then wiped the sweat on the woman’s face.

The long eyelashes fluttered, the eyelids opened, and revealing dark black eyes that focused directly on Sakha’s eyes. Sakha was stunned for a moment, his hand that had been moving immediately stopped.

“You fainted, I was trying to help you,” said Sakha, but the woman didn’t seem to hear him. When Sakha was about to speak again, the woman’s eyes closed again.

Sakha stared at her silently, then took off the towel in his hand and took his phone again, called Galih, telling the subordinate to hurry up.

Not long after, Galih came. How surprised he was to see his boss in the room with a shabby and dirty looking girl on his bed.

“Take this girl home,” Sakha said.

Galih stood frozen in the doorway, his mouth open.

Sakha glared at him. “You heard me, Galih, take her away.”

“What have …?”

“She passed out in the cornfield so I had to carry her all the way here.”

With that brief explanation, Galih approached, looked at the woman’s face.

“You know her?” asked Sakha.

Galih nodded. “She’s the daughter of Head of the Neighborhood, who is a debt collector,” Galih replied. Actually, Sakha didn’t need that kind of answer, but the important thing now was that he knew where Galih had to take her.

Sakha was just about to leave, but then he remembered something. “Since when did the man’s daughter work in my field?” he asked in surprise.

“Oh no, this isn’t Mawar and Melati, her name if I’m not mistaken is Ririn.”

No wonder, Sakha thought, he didn’t see this shabby woman the last time he visited the house of Fahrul Jamal, Head of the Neighborhood, the debtor that Galih had spoken about. Because as far as Sakha knows, Jamal only has two daughters who are very beautiful and are often nicknamed the village flower, or the most beautiful woman in the village. Who would have guessed that the shabby girl in front of him was now also the man’s daughter?

“You have conveyed my message to the Head of the Neighborhood, right?”

“Yes, Sir, last night. He seems a bit shocked, but also has no other choice.”

“Hm. In that case, good.”

“Ngh, Sir.”

“What is it?”

Galih looked doubtful. “Have you … talked about getting remarried with all the madams in the house?”

Because of Galih’s question, Sakha squinted at him. “Who called you?”

“Mrs. Henia, Sir,” replied Galih.

“Hm, since when did you have a bucket mouth like that, Galih?”

“I-I didn’t tell her, Sir! Mrs. Henia said she only heard the rumors from gossipy villagers.”

Sakha was silent for a while, muttering, “I shouldn’t have brought them here.” Having said that, Sakha walked away.

***