Di Antara Rak-Rak

“Empat puluh anak?” kata Hamid. “Di toko saya?”

“Forty children?” said Hamid. “In my shop?”

“Setiap hari pukul empat. Sampai malam Natal. Hanya setengah jam.” Saya memegang daftar saya erat-erat. “Aula ditutup untuk pementasan. Gereja terlalu dingin di hari kerja. Saya tidak punya tempat lain, Hamid.”

“Every day at four. Until Christmas Eve. Only for half an hour.” I held my list tight. “The hall is closed to the play. The church is too cold in the week. I have nowhere else, Hamid.”

Hamid sudah dua puluh lima tahun berada di St Nicholas Square, di toko yang buka sampai larut di sudut. Dia memandang berkeliling pelan-pelan: beras, kaleng, koran, lemari es penuh susu.

Hamid has been on St Nicholas Square for twenty-five years, in the late shop on the corner. He looked round it slowly: the rice, the tins, the newspapers, the fridges full of milk.

“Para raja bisa berdiri dekat roti,” katanya. “Para malaikat di dekat jendela. Domba-dombanya bisa masuk ke belakang, dengan kardus-kardus. Domba suka kardus.” Dia memakai kacamatanya. “Ya, Bu Novak. Tentu saja ya.”

“The kings can stand by the bread,” he said. “The angels by the window. The sheep can go in the back, with the boxes. Sheep like boxes.” He put on his glasses. “Yes, Miss Novak. Of course yes.”

Ruth tidak senang. “Pementasan kelahiran,” katanya, “di antara sabun cuci dan makanan kucing.” Tetapi dia datang pukul empat hari Rabu, dan dia membawa piano listrik kecilnya, dan dia memainkannya di atas freezer.

Ruth was not happy. “A nativity,” she said, “between the washing powder and the cat food.” But she came at four on Wednesday, and she brought her small electric piano, and she played it on top of the freezer.

Berhasil. Para gembala berjalan di antara rak-rak. Maria duduk di atas kardus jeruk. Hamid memberi semua orang teh dalam gelas kertas. Para pelanggan berdiri dan menonton, dan seorang bapak tua menangis sedikit melihat para malaikat.

It worked. The shepherds walked between the shelves. Mary sat on a box of oranges. Hamid gave everyone tea in paper cups. Customers stood and watched, and one old man cried a little at the angels.

Malam itu saya tinggal sampai larut di ruang kelas saya, menggunting bintang-bintang kertas. Pukul tujuh seorang perempuan muda mengetuk pintu, dengan salju di mantelnya dan mata gelap seperti mata Hamid. Leila Yousef, putrinya, seorang jurnalis, pulang dari Toronto. Ayahnya sudah bercerita kepadanya tentang ide rumah sakit saya.

That evening I stayed late in my classroom, cutting out paper stars. At seven a young woman knocked, with snow on her coat and Hamid’s dark eyes. Leila Yousef, his daughter, a journalist, home from Toronto. Her father told her about my hospital idea.

Seorang jurnalis. Saya menaruh gunting saya.

A journalist. I put down my scissors.

“Ini mimpi buruk,” kata saya. “Pementasan ini mimpi buruk. Rumah sakit belum berkata ya. Father Tom belum bertanya kepada uskup. Dan empat puluh anak di dalam salju, malam hari?”

“It’s a nightmare,” I said. “The play is a nightmare. The hospital hasn’t said yes. Father Tom hasn’t asked the bishop. And forty children in the snow, at night?”

“Ada seseorang di alun-alun ini yang akan sangat menyukainya,” katanya. Dia tidak berkata siapa. “Saya bisa menelepon rumah sakit. Dan kalau Anda butuh satu orang dewasa lagi di salju, saya akan berjalan bersama anak-anak.”

“Someone on the square would like it very much,” she said. She didn’t say who. “I can phone the hospital. And if you need another adult in the snow, I’ll walk with the children.”

“Saya akan coba,” kata saya.

“I’ll try,” I said.

Tetapi itu ide saya, dan Kofi Mensah bertanya tentang pementasan itu setiap hari. Hari Kamis saya menelepon suster kepala bangsal itu lagi sendiri. Dia masih berkata mungkin. Malam itu saya menulis kepadanya juga, sebuah email singkat.

But it was my idea, and Kofi Mensah asked about the play every day. On Thursday I phoned the ward sister again myself. She still said maybe. That night I wrote to her too, a short email.

Yth. Suster, kami empat puluh anak dan lima orang dewasa. Kami bisa datang pukul tujuh pada malam Natal, menyanyikan tiga lagu Natal, dan pergi dalam dua puluh menit. Saya akan bertanggung jawab atas setiap anak. Tolong katakan ya. Clara Novak, Sekolah St Nicholas.

Dear Sister, we are forty children and five adults. We can come at seven on Christmas Eve, sing three carols and leave in twenty minutes. I will be responsible for every child. Please say yes. Clara Novak, St Nicholas School.

Kamis malam dua orang ayah dan saya menyelesaikan kandang di gereja. Kami punya gambar-gambar Marco, dan banyak paku, dan tidak punya ide. Kami memasang atapnya. Lalu kami melihat atap itu terbalik, dan melepasnya, dan memasangnya lagi. Pintunya membuka ke arah dinding. Ketika saya bersandar pada kandang itu, seluruhnya bergerak sedikit, seperti kuda yang lelah.

On Thursday evening two fathers and I finished the stable in the church. We had Marco’s drawings, and a lot of nails, and no idea. We put the roof on. Then we saw it was the wrong way round, and took it off, and put it on again. The door opened into the wall. When I leaned on the stable, the whole thing moved a little, like a tired horse.