Naufal Hasbi just arrived at his house after school. The 17-year-old teenager's face looked very bright. His stomach was very hungry, especially imagining the aroma of his beloved mother's cooking. He hurried off his motorbike and stepped into the house.
"Mama," he called as he opened the door.
There was no answer. The house looked very quiet. He saw a 2-year-old boy sitting on the floor playing with a car. Akhzam Hasbi was the boy's name, Naufal's youngest brother, who was 15 years younger than him. In front of Azam, as he was usually called, the TV was on, broadcasting an animated show. So engrossed in playing with the car, Azam didn't realize his older brother had come home.
"Ma."
Naufal walked towards the kitchen, maybe his mother was preparing lunch for them. But the woman was nowhere to be seen there.
"Mama!"
This time Naufal called louder. He walked towards the front room. He knocked on the door while calling again.
"Mama!"
Naufal opened the bedroom door. His steps stopped immediately. Adelia Rani, the 39-year-old woman, was sitting on the side of the bed. In her hands, she held 2 savings books and 2 sheets of paper.
"Ma," Naufal called.
Adelia turned around.
"You're home?"
"What's wrong, Mama?"
Adelia was silent for a moment before finally saying.
"Take your little brother to lunch, okay? Mama doesn't feel well."
"Ma," he whispered softly, he walked over and sat next to Adelia.
It was only then that he noticed that his mother's eyes were swollen. A thin smile, which looked more like an attempt to hold back tears, was etched on her lips.
"What's wrong, Mama?" Naufal repeated his question.
For some reason, he felt that something was wrong. The warm feeling he had felt before had now disappeared, replaced by a gripping anxiety.
Adelia handed Naufal the papers, which turned out to be bank statements, and the two savings books. Her hands were shaking violently.
"Look at this, son," she said, her voice broken by sobs.
Naufal took the sheets of paper and the two savings books that his mother offered. He opened the savings book.
"This morning, Mama wanted to withdraw money, not much. Only 200 thousand. But it couldn't be done, the screen said insufficient balance. Mama thought the machine was malfunctioning. Because it felt strange, but after Mama checked, there was only 100 thousand left in the account. I rushed home to get the savings book. Mama had a bad feeling. Papa's phone was not active. Mama immediately went to the bank. There, Mama asked for help to print the book. Sure enough, there were several withdrawals in large amounts. Still not believing it, Mama asked the bank to print the bank statement. And it was true. There were indeed several withdrawals."
"Papa took it??" Naufal guessed.
"I don't know, Papa's cellphone hasn't been active until this afternoon."
"What's even more painful is that when Mama tried to print your education savings book, it was also completely drained."
Naufal's face immediately turned red, there was anger in it.
"Mama!" Akhzam's call was heard from outside, followed by his appearance. "There are people in front."
"Let me see, Mama stay here."
Naufal walked out. Walking towards the living room.
He opened the door. Two men stood in front of the door.
"Good afternoon," said one of the men.
"Afternoon. Excuse me, who are you two?"
"I am Amril Anwar, who owns this house."
The man with glasses introduced himself.
"This house? What do you mean?" Naufal asked.
"Two weeks ago, I made a deal to buy this house. The plan is that today I want to renovate it so that my daughter can live in it next month. I was surprised, why are there people in this house? Whereas in the agreement it should have been empty since last week when Fatar Hasbi handed over the keys."
"What? But this house is not for sale, sir."
"How can that be? All the documents are complete. Even Fatar's wife has signed it. Fatar is having a very difficult time with money. Because we used to work at the same company, that's why I want to help him with his difficulties."
"Mama agreed? Have you met Mama?"
"Fatar said that his wife was suffering from stage 4 brain cancer. She couldn't come. When I came here two weeks ago to see the condition of the house, it was very quiet. He said his wife was being treated in her hometown."
Naufal was shocked. He just remembered the events of 2 weeks ago. That day, Mr. Fatar Hasbi, his father, came home from the office and told them that he had a surprise for them all. Fatar showed tickets for a vacation to Malaysia for departure the next morning. How happy Naufal and Akzham were at that time to be able to spend the weekend in that neighboring country. They would leave the next day on the first flight. But on the day of departure, his father received an important phone call, there was a problem at his office which meant that his father could not go with Naufal, Akzham and their mother.
Naufal clenched his fist. It turned out that this was the answer to everything that happened that day. Fatar wasn't having problems at the office. He had indeed planned to get Adelia and her children out of the house. So that he could bring the house buyer who wanted to sell without his wife's knowledge, to come and see the condition of the house directly. He also intended to forge Adelia's signature.
"Mama is not sick. Mama never agreed to and signed the sale of this house," said Naufal.
"What do you mean?"
"Did Papa receive all the money, Uncle?" Naufal asked.
"Yes. That day too, after I saw it here. I immediately gave the down payment. And a few days later the payment was completed in front of a notary."
"What's wrong?" Adelia, who had just come out of the room, walked towards Naufal. "Who came?"
Amril looked at Adelia.
"Adelia? Fatar's wife?"
"Yes. You?"
"I bought this house from Fatar. I'm Amril, Fatar's friend when he worked in the public relations department of the paper factory. We met twice at an event held by the office."
"Buy?"
"Uncle Amril said, Papa sold this house," Naufal explained carefully.
Adelia froze when she heard her eldest son's words. She hurriedly left the room, back to the bedroom. She opened the closet, reached for the drawer key that she kept in a small box. She opened the drawer with trembling hands. Usually there were several files stored in the drawer. She looked at each map in the drawer one by one. That's right! She didn't find the house certificate in it.
Adelia's world felt like it was collapsing instantly. After losing all the money in her savings, now she had to face the reality of losing the house certificate.
It felt like tears could no longer come out. Adelia came out of the room.
In the living room, Naufal was seen talking seriously with Amril. They both stopped talking when Adelia approached.
"Can we have time to empty this house?" Adelia asked.
Amril looked at Naufal, then turned his gaze to Adelia.
"I've heard the story from Naufal. You can stay here until you find a new house. I'll help contact Fatar."
Adelia was unable to speak.
"Thank you, Uncle," Naufal represented his mother.
Amril stood up.
"Uncle says goodbye, you can contact Uncle at the number Uncle gave you earlier."
"Alright."
"I'll take my leave, stay strong, Del."
"Thank you," said Adelia.
Amril patted Naufal's shoulder.
"Take good care of your mother," he said before leaving the house.
Naufal waited until the car carrying Amril and the man with him disappeared from view. He went back inside and closed the door. Adelia was no longer in the living room.
Naufal clenched his fist when he saw their family photo on the wall. He stared at Fatar's face full of anger.
"One day you have to be able to explain why you could do such a cruel thing to Mama!"