Pekan Raya Musim Dingin

Selama tiga detik yang terasa lama, tidak ada yang bergerak. Roti di tangan Michael begitu panas sampai-sampai Ana bisa melihat uap mengepul dari situ. Gelas Jess masih kosong. Lalu Ana mendengar suaranya sendiri, terdengar ceria dan cepat, seakan-akan ada orang lain yang memakainya.

For three long seconds nobody moved. The loaf in Michael’s hands was so hot that Ana could see the steam rising from it. Jess’s glass was still empty. Then Ana heard her own voice, bright and quick, as if somebody else was using it.

“Jess! Kamu bangun pagi sekali. Kamu ingat Mick? Yang dari stasiun?” Dia menyeka tangannya pada celemeknya. “Dia pembuat roti. Yang asli, dari Manchester. Aku memintanya membantu pesanan untuk pekan raya musim dingin. Tiga ratus roti gulung, Jess. Aku tidak bisa mengerjakannya sendiri.”

“Jess! You’re up early. You remember Mick? From the station?” She wiped her hands on her apron. “He’s a baker. A real one, from Manchester. I asked him to help with the order for the winter fair. Three hundred rolls, Jess. I couldn’t do it alone.”

Jess memandang Ana, lalu Michael, lalu kembali lagi. “Kira saya kamu bekerja di gudang,” katanya kepada Michael.

Jess looked from Ana to Michael and back again. “I thought you worked in a warehouse,” she said to him.

Michael meletakkan roti itu hati-hati di atas rak. “Memang,” katanya. Suaranya sudah tenang sekarang, lebih tenang daripada suara Ana. “Aku dulu pembuat roti. Dulu sekali. Ana minta bantuan, dan aku masih ingat caranya.”

Michael put the loaf down carefully on the rack. “I do,” he said. His voice was steady now, steadier than Ana’s. “I used to be a baker. A long time ago. Ana asked for help, and I still remember how.”

“Lalu kenapa kalian melakukannya tengah malam begini, seperti pencuri?” Jess meletakkan gelasnya ke meja dan melipat tangannya. “Apakah Kakek tahu?”

“And why are you doing it at midnight, like burglars?” Jess put her glass on the table and crossed her arms. “Does Grandad know?”

Ini pertanyaan yang selama ini ditakutkan Ana. Dia menarik napas. “Tidak. Dan tolong jangan beritahu dia. Kamu tahu sifatnya, Jess. Kalau dia tahu ada orang asing yang membakar rotinya, dia akan turun ke sini jam tiga pagi dengan tangannya yang sakit dan mencoba membuatnya sendiri. Dokter bilang tidak boleh kerja berat. Dia tidak akan mau menerima bantuan dari orang yang tidak dia kenal. Dia terlalu gengsi.”

This was the question Ana had been afraid of. She took a breath. “No. And please don’t tell him. You know what he’s like, Jess. If he finds out that a stranger is baking his bread, he’ll come down here at three in the morning with his bad hands and try to do it himself. The doctor said no heavy work. He would never accept help from someone he doesn’t know. He’s too proud.”

Semua kata itu benar, pikir Ana, dan semua kata itu bohong. Dia tidak bisa memandang Michael saat mengatakannya.

Every word of it was true, Ana thought, and every word of it was a lie. She could not look at Michael while she said it.

Jess diam sejenak. Lalu, perlahan, dia mengangguk. “Ya. Memang persis begitu yang pasti dia lakukan. Dia lebih rela menjatuhkan baki ke kakinya daripada minta tolong.” Dia melihat ke enam kotak berisi roti gulung di dekat pintu, dan wajahnya berubah. “Tunggu. Kalian berdua membuat semua ini malam ini?”

Jess was quiet for a moment. Then, slowly, she nodded. “Yeah. That’s exactly what he would do. He’d rather drop a tray on his foot than ask for help.” She looked at the six boxes of rolls by the door, and her face changed. “Wait. Did you two make all of these tonight?”

“Tiga ratus,” kata Michael. “Dan lima puluh roti tawar. Dan roti untuk toko hampir siap.”

“Three hundred,” Michael said. “And fifty loaves. And the bread for the shop is nearly ready.”

Jess mengangkat sehelai kain dan melihat roti gulung di bawahnya. Semuanya sempurna, bulat dan kuning keemasan, ukurannya seragam. Dia mengambil satu, membelahnya, dan memakan separuhnya sambil berdiri, seperti caranya memakan apa saja. Lalu dia memandang Michael dengan rasa kagum baru. “Baguslah,” katanya. “Ini enak sekali. Aku tidak akan bilang kepadanya. Tapi aku tetap di sini. Kalian butuh orang untuk mengangkut kotak-kotak.”

Jess lifted a cloth and looked at the rolls underneath. They were perfect, round and golden, all the same size. She took one, broke it open and ate half of it standing up, the way she ate everything. Then she looked at Michael with new respect. “OK,” she said. “That’s actually really good. I won’t tell him. But I’m staying. You need someone to carry boxes.”

Maka selama satu jam berikutnya, mereka bertiga bekerja bersama di dapur. Jess mengenakan sweter di luar piyama dan mengemas roti ke dalam kotak-kotak. Michael menyelesaikan roti untuk toko. Ana menghitung semuanya dua kali dan menuliskannya di daftar. Tidak ada yang membicarakan hal-hal penting. Mereka mengobrol tentang betapa beratnya tepung, suara pengaduk yang seperti suara sapi, dan apakah balai kota punya cukup meja.

So for the next hour, the three of them worked together in the kitchen. Jess put on a jumper over her pyjamas and packed the loaves into boxes. Michael finished the bread for the shop. Ana counted everything twice and wrote it on the list. Nobody talked about anything important. They talked about how heavy flour was, and about the cow-noise of the mixer, and about whether the town hall had enough tables.

Sekali, Jess bertanya kepada Michael di mana dia belajar membuat roti. “Dari ayahku,” katanya, tanpa mengangkat kepala dari adonan. Jess berkata bahwa kakeknya hanya mengajarinya membuat roti panggang dan tidak ada yang lain. Tangan Michael terhenti sesaat. Lalu bergerak lagi.

Once, Jess asked Michael where he had learned to bake. “From my father,” he said, without looking up from the dough. Jess said that her grandad had taught her to make toast and nothing else. Michael’s hands stopped for a second. Then they started again.