Jakarta, 2015
The sky starts to turn grey as the party is over. I take more photos to wrap things up. There was a commotion near the food stall, but it ended quickly. It was my family's reunion party, but a riot started near my location, so the party must end abruptly.
While I'm reviewing the photos, someone's calling me.
"Zio, kita mau pulang ini. Mau ikut?"
"Iya, tunggu!"
My mother called me from her car. My family is already there, too. I continued to take more photos around the stalls, park, and statue. I go to find Andrea. A little while later, I see him at the lamppost. His dyed-white hair is still messy. He wears his grey jacket, blue jeans, and sneakers. I wave as I meet him.
"Took you a while to find you. Where have you been after the party?" I asked. He lights up a cigarette from his pocket and takes a puff. Mint-flavoured, as usual.
"Need to cool off. I don't know what they talking about."
"Why? Because of their language?"
"Probably. All they can say is Where are you from, mister?, and what is it? Bule?"
This is his first time visiting Indonesia, so he's annoyed with that question. I laughed.
"Don't worry about it. Some people are just excited to see foreigners like you."
"Ah, figures..."
"By the way, did something happen? I heard the news."
"The family is just fine. The Gambinos haven't bothered us in a while. Also, last week hunting game is decent."
"Ooh! What's the haul?"
"Ducks, a deer, and a piglet. Enough for two weeks."
"Nice, but I'll skip for the piglets."
"Why?"
"Just don't like it."
It's because of my religion, though... I said to myself.
"Your loss, then," He says as he puffs his cigarette. "Speaking of which, how's your school?"
"Still hanging on."
"On what?"
"My grades, to say the least."
"Just keep it up and don't be like me, a dropout turned to a hunter."
"Will do!"
Then, there's silence. I look around after the small talk while Andrea is still smoking. These days have been rough. Riots and conflicts have risen in number after the election. But I'm glad the reunion went well. Meeting some new and old faces was a pleasing experience.
"Well, Anzio. I think your family have waited long enough. You should return to them," Andrea breaks the silence as he finishes his cigarette.
"Oh, alright. Wanna take a selfie?" I offer.
"Sure. Where's your phone?"
I reach into my pocket and grab my phone. After I open the camera app, we pose together.
"Nice. Now hurry up before your parents leave you behind!" Andrea exclaims.
"Alright, alright. Ciao!"
"Ciao!"
I wave goodbye at Andrea and walk to my parents' car. I can hear the cries and shouts far north, followed by sirens and gunshots. The situation is getting dire. I hasten my pace.
More and more people start running away to safety. I dodge them as best as I can. I can see my parents' car and my family waiting for me. As I get closer, I hear a plane above my head. A familiar sound...
Then, I turn around and look up. A cargo plane turns away from what I see is a flash of light. As suddenly as it happens, the plane's tail part explodes and rapidly descends to earth. People around the park gasped and panicked after witnessing the incident.
I turn around to look at my family. They're terrified and quickly get into the car. But, as I walk about four paces, the car explodes. I can feel myself thrown away, tumbling on the pavement, then nothing. I peek up at the scene, but all I can see is a blur and a mix of red and yellow. I lost all my strength to get up. My consciousness starts to fade away.
I hear faint footsteps of people coming to me. They talk to each other, and one person speaks to me.
"...Sorr... zio... I bet... you..."
Andrea...?
Then, everything goes black...
