Leave Me Alone

Ana looked down at the dough. She couldn’t look at Walter. “No,” she said. “I saw it on a video. On my phone. A baker in France does it like that.”

Ana melihat ke bawah ke arah adonan. Dia tidak bisa melihat ke arah Walter. “Tidak,” kata dia. “Aku melihat itu di sebuah video. Di ponselku. Seorang pembuat roti di Prancis membuat seperti itu.”

It was her second lie to Walter. This one was bigger than the first.

Itu adalah bohong kedua dia kepada Walter. Bohong ini lebih besar dari yang pertama.

Walter looked at her for a long time. The radio played. Crumb moved in his sleep by the oven. Then Walter sat back in his chair.

Walter melihat ke arah dia lama sekali. Radio menyala. Crumb bergerak dalam tidur di dekat oven. Lalu Walter duduk bersandar di kursi dia.

“A video,” he said. “Of course. Everything is on the phone now.” He closed his eyes. “Put them in the oven. Twenty-five minutes.”

“Sebuah video,” kata dia. “Tentu saja. Semua ada di ponsel sekarang.” Dia menutup mata. “Masukkan roti-roti itu ke oven. Dua puluh lima menit.”

But he didn’t open his eyes again for a long time, and Ana knew that he didn’t believe her.

Tetapi dia tidak membuka mata lagi untuk waktu yang lama, dan Ana tahu bahwa dia tidak percaya.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, Ana walked to the canal. It was raining again. She didn’t stop at the red boat or the blue boat. She went straight to the Second Chance and knocked hard on the door.

Pada pukul dua siang, Ana berjalan ke kanal. Hujan turun lagi. Dia tidak berhenti di perahu merah atau perahu biru. Dia pergi lurus ke Second Chance dan mengetuk pintu dengan keras.

“Mick! I know you’re there. Please. I need to talk to you.”

“Mick! Aku tahu kamu ada di sana. Tolong. Aku perlu bicara dengan kamu.”

After a minute, the door opened. Mick was wearing his old blue jumper. His eyes were red, and he looked like he didn’t sleep. “I start work in fourteen hours,” he said. “What do you want?”

Setelah satu menit, pintu terbuka. Mick memakai baju wol biru tua dia. Mata dia merah, dan dia tampak seperti tidak tidur. “Aku mulai kerja dalam fourteen jam,” kata dia. “Apa yang kamu mau?”

Ana didn’t go in. She stood on the path in the rain. “Walter burned his hand last week. He can’t hold a tray now. His hands shake all the time. The doctor wants him to go to the hospital for tests, and he won’t go.”

Ana tidak masuk. Dia berdiri di jalan setapak di tengah hujan. “Walter membakar tangan dia minggu lalu. Dia tidak bisa memegang baki sekarang. Tangan dia gemetar setiap waktu. Dokter mau dia pergi ke rumah sakit untuk tes, dan dia tidak mau pergi.”

Mick’s face didn’t move. But his hand was holding the door very hard.

Wajah Mick tidak bergerak. Tetapi tangan dia memegang pintu dengan sangat keras.

“And last night,” Ana said, “he talked about his son. He said: I have a son, somewhere. Every day I think, today I’m going to look for him. And every day I don’t.”

“Dan tadi malam,” kata Ana, “dia bicara tentang anak laki-laki dia. Dia berkata: ‘Aku punya anak laki-laki, di suatu tempat. Setiap hari aku berpikir, hari ini aku akan mencari dia. Dan setiap hari aku tidak lakukan itu.’ ”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Kenapa kamu mengatakan ini kepada aku?”

“Because I turned a loaf the way you showed me. Two fast turns at the end. And Walter saw it. He said only one person in the world turns a loaf like that.”

“Karena aku memutar roti seperti cara yang kamu tunjukkan kepada aku. Dua putaran cepat di akhir. Dan Walter melihat itu. Dia berkata hanya satu orang di dunia memutar roti seperti itu.”

For a second, Mick closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were hard and cold.

Satu detik, Mick menutup mata. Ketika dia membuka mata, mata itu keras dan dingin.