MATI KUTU

 

Mati Kutu

BLOG NURLAELI UMAR- “Hati-hati Mbak Ani, ini malam Jumat kliwon lho!” Kalimat itu terlontar dari mulut Mbak Vina yang kutahu itu hanya sekadar meledekku, karena suamiku malam ini sedang dinas shift malam.

“Be careful, Mbak Ani, tonight is Friday Kliwon!” The remark slipped from Mbak Vina’s mouth. I knew she was only teasing me, because my husband was on the night shift tonight.

Aku bukan seseorang yang memercayai hari-hari tertentu dan menghubungkannya dengan dunia lain, entah itu dikategorikan istimewa atau kesialan. Cerita yang barusan terjadi dan mengular, itu pun karena acara menawarkan barang belanjaan berupa baju-baju model terbaru ke rumahku diperhangat dengan kehadiran beberapa tetangga yang tanpa kuminta menceritakan tentang isu yang beredar.

I am not someone who believes in certain days and links them to another world, whether they are considered special or unlucky. The story that had just happened and then dragged on existed only because a program was offering shopping items—clothes in the latest styles—to my home, made livelier by the presence of several neighbors who, without my asking, shared the circulating rumors.

Entah siapa yang memulai kemudian menyebarkannya, kematian penghuni dua kontrakan yang berselang seminggu dengan keadaan hamil dihubung-hubungkan dengan penampakan perempuan berambut panjang bergaun putih di sekitar patung kuda tidak jauh dari komplek rumahku. Menurut kabar yang beredar dan pembicaraan sore tadi, kemunculannya bersamaan dengan tiga hari sesudah perempuan ke dua itu meninggal.

No one knows who started it and then spread it, but the deaths of two tenants—occurring a week apart while both were pregnant—were being linked to sightings of a long-haired woman in a white dress around the horse statue not far from my housing complex. According to the rumors and the afternoon chatter, her appearances began three days after the second woman died.

 Lebih diperparah lagi dengan kontrakan itu kosong, lengkingan tangis sekaligus tawa, juga jerit bayi kecil yang mati bersama ibunya konon hadir menghantui setiap tengah malam.

It was made even worse by the fact that the rental unit now stood empty. Piercing cries mixed with laughter, and the shrieks of a small baby who had died along with its mother, were said to haunt the place every midnight. 

Bulu tengkukku meremang, kurasa ini karena hawa dingin saja. Kuambil jaket dan kaus kaki, aku memang mempunyai kebiasaan seperti itu. Kutarik selimut setelah kupastikan semua lampu mati kecuali dapur. 

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end; I told myself it was just the cold air. I took a jacket and socks—I do have that habit. I pulled the blanket over me after making sure all the lights were off except for the kitchen.

Rumahku adalah kontrakan tiga petak, dengan satu petak untuk menerima tamu dan ruamenonton televisi, ruang tengah tempat aku tidur sekarang dan menempatkan lemari bajuku, lalu ruang belakang untuk dapur dan kamar mandi.

My home is a three-unit rental house: one section for receiving guests and watching television, the middle room where I am sleeping now and where my wardrobe stands, and the back area for the kitchen and bathroom.

Yang meremang tidak hanya bulu di leher belakangku, tapi di lengan atasku juga, lalu dadaku berdegup kencang. Suasana yang tidak pernah kualami sebelumnya. Aku berdoa dan masih berpikir ini adalah aku yang kelelahan dan dingin yang ingin kuacuhkan.

It wasn’t only the hair on the back of my neck that prickled, but also the hair on my upper arms, and then my heart began to pound. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. I prayed and kept telling myself that I was just tired and cold—something I wanted to ignore.

 Aku sedikit gelisah, tapi akhirnya gelisah itu kalah oleh kantukku. Pekerjaan di kantor plus kedatanagn tukang baju tadi memang mengurangi jatah istirahatku.

I felt a little uneasy, but in the end that uneasiness was defeated by drowsiness. Work at the office, combined with the visit from the clothes vendor earlier, had indeed cut into my rest.

Bukan itu yang membuat aku gelisah, tetapi tentang tanda-tanda kehadiran peremuan itu yang katanya mulai nakal dengan mengetuk-ngetuk pintu, dan ketika dibuka tidak didapati siapapun juga. Pintu rumah orang yang diketuk berarti ajakan untuk mengikutinya ke alam lain. Rumor itu menyebar dan ada, karena kematian perempuan ke dua setelah perempuan yang pertama itu konon karena sehari sebelumnya perempuan ke dua itu bercerita mendapat perlakuan seperti itu.

What truly made me uneasy wasn’t the fatigue, but the signs of the woman’s presence—said to be growing mischievous by knocking on doors, only for no one to be there when they were opened. A knock on someone’s door was believed to be an invitation to follow her into another realm. That rumor spread after the death of the second woman, following the first, because it was said that the day before she died, the second woman had told others she experienced exactly that.

Tuk … tuk … tuk ….

Ketukan itu tiga kali-tiga kali. Ketukan itu mirip kentongan pertanda ada kematian yang terjadi, tiga kali berulang-ulang. Ketukan itu bukan berasal dari pintu depan seperti cerita tadi sore di ruang depan. Ketukan itu berasal dari dapur kontrakanku.

Thud … thud … thud …

The knocking came in sets of three, again and again. It sounded like a kentongan, the wooden alarm struck to signal a death—three beats repeated over and over. It wasn’t coming from the front door like the story told earlier that afternoon. It was coming from the kitchen of my rented house.

 Mungkin tikus atau tetangga sebelah. Kulirik jam dinding berwarna merah dengan jarum penunjuk berwarna hitam yang terlihat karena bias lampu dari dapurku yang kuletakkan sedikit lebih tinggi dari permukaan meja kecil tempat alat make-up-ku. Pukul satu tepat!

Maybe it was a rat, or a neighbor next door. I glanced at the red wall clock with black hands, visible in the glow of light from my kitchen lamp, which I had placed slightly higher than the surface of the small table where I keep my makeup. Exactly one o’clock.

Aku mulai terpengaruh, rasa takut menghampiriku. Leherku seperti dicengkram sebuah tangan dengan kekuatan besar, hingga nyaliku untuk bangun dari tempat tidur menciut.

I began to be affected; fear crept over me. My neck felt as if it were being gripped by a hand of immense strength, draining my courage to get out of bed.

“Nanana …nanana … nina bobo, oh nina bobo …”

Lirik lagu itu disenandungkan berulang-ulang dari lamat-lamat menjadi terdengar jelas, dia datang dari arah dapurku! Oh Tuhan, aku mati kutu!

Jakarta, 20 mei 2014 

“Nanana … nanana … nina bobo, oh nina bobo …”

The lyrics of that lullaby were hummed over and over, growing from faint to clearly audible. It was coming from my kitchen! Oh God, I was completely frozen.

Jakarta, May 20, 2014