Sea by Heidi Kling

Author:Heidi Kling
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

MAGIC

Outside the temple, we stopped at a food booth and Deni asked the clerk for a minte nasi bungkus, a packed meal to go. I followed him to an emerald patch of grass, Borobudur our picnic’s backdrop.

Deni carried plastic bags filled with liquid tied with rubber bands in one hand and something wrapped in brown paper in the other. As he juggled everything, he explained what we would eat: ayam goring (fried chicken), gulai (coconut curry) and layers of green banana leaves that held small servings of sticky white rice.

He made two plates of banana leaves, one for me, one for him.

“And tempe,” he said, handing me some sort of soybean cake. “You like sambal?”

It looked like salsa, which I didn’t like, but when in Rome. I said yes, and he poured it on my tempe.

On the grass, we ate the meal silently, using our right-hand fingers as spoons. For dessert, Deni held a fresh coconut to my lips, its dark green top sliced off with a straw sticking out. “Drink,” he said. “It’s very sweet.”

I wrapped my hands around the coconut, thinking he would let go once I took it, but he didn’t, and so my hands were on top of his as I drank; milky water dripping down my chin like sugary rain.

Deni wiped the smear of liquid off my skin. “It tastes like candy, no?”

“Yeah,” I said. I sighed and lay back on the grass, feeling spinny and dizzy, full and happy.

Deni did the same, resting his head back on entwined hands like his arms were wings.

I watched birds fly over us, heard oxen-driven carts roll slowly by, and the palm fronds that rustled over us in the breeze.

Then I felt his eyes burning into my skin, so I tilted my face toward him. “Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” he said, a slow smile crawling up his lips.

My stomach flipped.

Then his smile faded; he blinked, sat up quickly. Raked his fingers through his hair.

I sat up too, wondering what had spooked him.

“Do you know sate kuda?” he said.

“Um. No. What is sate kuda?”

“Horse meat.”

My nose crinkled. “Horse?! Seriously?”

He laughed, but it wasn’t a real laugh. “I knew not to order it for you.”

“Thanks.” I fingered moist blades and soil, still curious as to why he sat up so suddenly.

“More to drink?” he asked. “Es jeruk. Ice orange. It is my favorite.”

“Orange is my favorite flavor too.”

The bubbly soda tasted like a Popsicle, which reminded me of Spider, which reminded me of home. Then I felt weird in too many ways at once.

“Can you take a picture of me, Deni? So I can show my friends later?” I asked. I suddenly felt guilty for not thinking about them more.

I handed him the camera and took another long swig of the sweet orange drink. “Try to get the motor in the background, okay? Oh, and the temple! And some of the food!”

My enthusiasm cheered me right back up. Deni too.

He smiled and the weirdness from the moment before vanished.

Click.

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