NAMA: EVI RAHMAWATI

NIM: J1A018027

Lia, Willy, and The Other Side of Them

Her name is Lia, she is eight years old. Her hobbies are reading and playing. She likes
television show, Spongebob Squarepants, which is aired early in the morning. Do not forget
also that she likes Dora which is aired at five in the morning on television. Lia diligently gets
up early, not to help mom, but instead to watch television.

"Lia, please help me wash the vegetables."

"Later Ma'am, this is the fun part. Dora has managed to find the location of Sweeper."

"Geez, girl, every day you wake up in the morning not to help mom, but instead you watch
television. Don't watch television too closely, your eyes might get farrsightedness." Lia's
mother said, reminding her second child to not watch television only within one meter.

"Yes, ma'am. Yes." Lia walk away from and return to watching television.

"Tomorrow, help mom, okay."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't just say yes, Lia must be responsible for Lia's words."

"Fine, ma'am.”

Mother cooks in the kitchen for an hour while Lia watches Dora and Rudy Tabooti.
Sometimes she laughs, sometimes she feels tense and worried, carried away by watching the
cartoon atmosphere. But overall, everything is fun for Lia.

"Come on, Sam, Lia, get some food."

"Yes, ma'am." Lia and Sam said together while walking towards their mother.

"Don't forget to pray and wash your hands before eating."

Lia and Sam took turns taking plates, taking rice and side dishes, then washing their hands. It
is their family's habit to have breakfast in front of the television early in the morning.

They pray before eating, like thousands of days before.

"Liaaaaaa!" Sam yells at Lia because her sister has stolen his fish while he was drinking and
then she licks Sam's fish.
Sam, who is five years older, immediately gets angry.
"I told you, don't bother me when I'm eating!" Sam stamps his feet on the ground, Lia just
giggles to see Sam behaves like that.
"Sam ..." Lia's mother sighs deeply.
"Get more fish in the kitchen, there are still some."
"But Sam wants the pliers earlier. The fish was big." says Sam still gets annoyed. His
forehead wrinkles.
"See, Sam, there's still some left in the kitchen. Why don't you just take it? Why make it
hard?" Says Lia. Their mother was silent, tired of the squabbling of siblings on a peaceful
morning.
"Annoying!" Sam glares at Lia. Lia giggles and glares back at Sam.

That Monday, in addition to stealing Sam's food, Lia also uses Sam's belongings without him
knowing this so Sam gets angry again. He is furious when he sees Lia comes home late in the
evening bringing his oversized shoes full of mud.

"What have you done ?!" Sam looks at Lia sharply. His hands are balled into fists.

"I played volleyball with complex kids on the field. That was so exciting!"

"Ma'aaaam!" Sam shouted, his mother immediately came out. Seeing Lia returning carrying
Sam's dirty shoes, she only sighs heavily.

"Lia, come here. We have to talk."

"Like an adult?" Lia smiles mischievously.

"Yeah, like an adult. You have to learn slowly how to become an adult."

Seeing Sam's smirk, Lia realizes she is in trouble. Especially this time again to involve his
mother. This is not the first time for Lia, but Lia does not like being in this situation.

"Lia." Her mother speaks softly

"Yes?" Lia holds the crumpled tip of her shirt.

"I told you, don't use your brother's things unless he permits."

"Sorry."
"Lia always says that and repeats it again. Sam is annoyed, Mom is also tired when I have to
wash dirty shoes like this."

"Can Lia wash it?"

Her mother paused, she has never realized her kid would say such thing.

"Of course. Consider this as Lia's responsibility for breaking the rules. Tomorrow, don't
repeat the same mistake."

"Fine, ma'am."

That night, after bathing in the afternoon, Lia washes Sam's shoes thoroughly. She feels tired
but manages to have a dinner with her family.

But Lia is still Lia. In the following days she continues to use Sam's belongings. Sam gets
angry, calls their mother, then Lia receives punishments as a responsibility. Lia obeys the
sentence given by her mother.

"What happened, sir?" Lia's mother asked Lia's teacher.

"Um… your child fights with several boys."

"Again?"

"Yes. This is the third time. We don't know what the problem is because Lia is always silent
when asked what's wrong."

"At home, she also does things for no reasons, sir." Lia’s mother gets confused yet sad.

"Maybe it's better if your child goes to a special school. This school is too small to take care
of kids like Lia."

"But, maybe they started it first, right? Some of the boys."

"They say that Lia started it first."

Lia's mother, again, exhaled heavily.

"Okay, sir. If that's the only way, I'll do it. Furthermore Lia hasn't been here for a long time."
"Willy." A boy of Lia's age stretches out his right hand to Lia.

"Lia." Lia returned the handshake of Willy.

"We will be close friends. I mean, best friends." Willy says to Lia with confidence. He grins
before leaving Lia who is thinking that maybe Willy is having a fever so he is hallucinating.
She herself doesn't like Willy. Especially because Willy is far too confident, according to Lia.

In her new environment, there are some supervisors who handle some children. One
supervisor for five children.

Lia has a supervisor. And coincidentally, her supervisor is the same as Willy's.

In her new school, Lia often feels bored. The children here are very disciplined, except Willy.
Only Willy, according to Lia, is challenging.

"It seems we will really be close friends." Lia speaks to Willy at four o'clock that afternoon.
Lia grins. Willy laughs. This time, they will really be in trouble.

"This time, who can take the guava at the top by climbing this tree, will be the winner." There
is no reward, but rivals are rivals. They struggle to prove who is superior and deserves to be
called the winner.

"Alright, I accept your challenge." Lia answered. She is wearing sweatpants in her skirt. She
tightens her hair and then after Willy starts on cue, they climb the guava tree in front of their
school. No one knows whether one of them will get the guava or not.

"See guys! Lia and Willy are climbing the guava tree!" Some children begin to gather and
cheer under the guava tree. No one at their school does not know who Lia and Willy are.

"Lia! Lia! Lia!" Some of them shout the name of Lia while some others shout the name of
Willy, especially the boys.

Lia swiftly climbs the guava tree, and so does Willy. His feet creep against the tree, deftly his
hands grab the branches above.

The tree is large and has many branches, so it is easy for them to stand, crawl and reach for
branches. Lia feels sweaty and so does Willy. Thy both feel that their feet and hands are achy
but they keep climbing while their school mates are keep shouting their names loudly.
"Lia! Willy! Get down!" Suddenly they hear the voice of their supervisor. Willy and Lia who
were shocked immediately lose balance.

Bruk!

They fall down. Their hands and knees are chafed, they grimace but don't cry.

Some children begin to whisper before finally moving to the north and watching Willy and
Lia. Willy and Lia nod while feeling guilty.

"Come with me!"

Without saying anything, Willy, Lia, and a few boys walk behind Mrs. Sarah into her room.
However, before entering, they are asked to clean their clothes from dust.

In that cold room by four meter square, there are several chairs, a table, a flower vase, neatly
arranged books on a shelf, a set of computers, and a garbage can. Lia sits on a chair in the
right while Willy sits on a chair in the left side, with Mrs. Sarah in front of them. At the other
end of the table.

"What were you two doing?" asked Mrs. Sarah fiercely.

"Willy challenged me to climb guava trees, ma'am." Answered Lia.

"Is that right, Willy?" Mrs. Sarah asked Willy.

"Just ask the kids outside, ma'am."

"But ma'am," Sarah knows Willy would tell the children to say what he wants to hear. And
Lia is right, the boys outside say that Lia was the one who started the challenge to climb the
guava tree.

"Why don't you compete for better things?"

"It's like competing in academic matters, competing for knowledge." Mrs. Sarah continued
her words. Willy and Lia look furiously at each other.

Great idea.

That afternoon, on the veranda.

"Lia, what are you reading dear?"

"The material taught by the teacher this afternoon, ma'am."

Lia's mother is silent, maybe her daughter has started thinking. Since then, there have been no
more troublemakers at home. They eat calmly. No more Sam's items that Lia uses without
Sam's permission. They get along because Lia spends most of her time reading. Sam also
becomes diligent. Their mother is proud of her two children even though Lia prefers
watching television early in the morning rather than helping her mother before breakfast.

"So, what rank did you get?" Willy asked Lia arrogantly.

"Why?"

"I know, hahaha. I told you, I'll win."

"Fine, I acknowledge your victory."

"Eh, thank you." Willy is a bit surprised to hear Lia's words earlier.

Lia knows, not the ranks she is after, but science. No matter how much she tries to gain
knowledge, he would not care about ranking. But it seems that Willy is different. He wants to
get the first rank and forget the essence of learning itself.

One day, on a sunny Sunday morning, Lia walks with Sam in the park. Many people are
there. There are food vendors, dogs, cats, grandparents, grandmothers, to sculptors and
violinists.

“So, Lia, how did this week go for you?” asked Sam.

“Not bad. I still had time to play with you on weekend and to play with some classmates on
afternoon every day. I don’t spend my whole day studying. So don’t worry, Sam.” Lia swings
her hands in the air. It feels cold.

“You know me well.”

“Well, I feel you are not that bad. I thought you were just an annoying brother.”

“But now that you have get closer to me, you know how kind I am. You’re welcome!”

“Hahaha, I dislike your confidence!.” Lia makes an evil smirk.

They walk near a bridge which is located near a main street.

“Lia, isn’t he your classmate? The one you told me that he always behaved badly and was so
arrogant.”

“Willy?”

“Yes, he’s around there.”

She sees Willy helps a dog. She starts to think that Willy is actually a good boy, she just sees
his bad side. A week later, Willy sees Lia helps an elder crossing the street. He silently
realizes what Lia realized.

That morning, Lia and Willy meet each other after class in the afternoon. They gazed at each
other awkwardly. Both of them feel something different toward each other.

“You talk first.” Said Lia.

“No, you first.” Sam points at Lia.

“No, you first.”

“Okay. I actually saw you helping an elder last weekend.”

Lia smiles a bit.

“And I saw you helping a dog a week before you saw me helping the elder crossing the
street.”

She feels a bit relieved and shy. Her cheeks turn reddish and Willy laugh at her.

Lia and Willy graduates from elementary school with good grades and later they become
friends. They both have dogs and play together often.

“See, I told you.” Willy starts a conversation.

“Told me what?”

“I told you we’d become good friends, no, I mean, best friends!”

“Yeah, I was never sure about this, but we did it.”

“Yeah, we did it.”

That afternoon, Willy and Lia watch cars and motorcycles passing by the street while eating
ice cream. They know it is not the end. This is the beginning for a longer journey ahead.