Interpretations #001: Forget Jakarta
The suffocating smell of automobile fumes was the first sensation that I picked up as I stepped down for the first time ever from the cramped shuttle bus to the land of the Great Capital City. The fumes became my first greeting which made it felt like it was an intentional thing, as if a warning of other suffocating things that I’d yet to have seen.
I barely walked five steps when a young man, barely the age of 20, rushed over to me. He carried with him a rattan basket filled with pens and luggage tags, forcefully shoving it onto my face asking me to buy one. The young man was followed by another man, slightly older but certainly not any less forceful, offered to me a similar basket in which there were hand-made bracelets made of interwoven threads. The latter gave me the utmost fascination because of its bright intricate patters, but my head was already spinning so badly thanks to the searing early noon heat of the Great Capital City. I shook my head while raising my open palm, which I soon learned was quite a useless gesture.
My old friend Jonas was the one who brought me here. “Brought” might be a stretch, because he only told me vague terms. I considered how bland my life had been the past few years, and I literally would have taken any chance of change I had.
“You’ll see plenty of opportunities here, Arthur. You’ll meet wonderful people,” “Not to mention you’ll find someone,” which I could tell even from afar that he winked.
Ever since I knew him from high school, Jonas has always been the energetic one. He’s so full of spirits, which if he’d taken you to the bar, that could mean a lot of other things.
I resignedly escaped the forceful souvenir peddlers and made my way towards the always-excited Jonas in a sky-blue striped tees, waving excitedly at the lone man with a t-shirt drenched in sweat like a dirty rag, quite literally cashless with only his lone luggage that he dragged like a sack of potatoes.
“Arthuuur! Finally,” he opened his arms wide in an embracing gesture. I let my luggage go to welcome his embrace. “Hey, buddy!” he said, as he patted my back. “Welcome to the Great Capital City!”
“Hey, man,” he said nervously, which made me wonder what was wrong. “So yeah about that job I told you… actually that was a lie.”
“What?” I replied in confusion. Jonas tiredly shook his head and motioned towards his mini-SUV. “I’ll explain to you in the car. Come on.”
Still confused, I followed him into the car, escaping the unbearable heat of the Great Capital City noon. What he told me in the care made my heart drop so hard, it might as well slide down the passenger seat and onto the burning asphalt underneath.
