After Yudhi introduced Susi and Reine to Durian, that was just the beginning of adventures for everyone at the Urwani house on this night. Mrs. Urwani had begun cooking. Meanwhile, Susi and Reine followed Yudhi up to the attic.
“Here it is!” he exclaimed.
“You brought us up here for a volleyball net?”
“This is much more than a volleyball net,” said Yudhi.
Yudhi and the girls went out to the alley beside the Urwani house. Yudhi tied one end to the eye hook that was attached to the Urwani house. Susi stretched the net across the alley and attached the other end to an eye hook attached to the wall of Mr. Onato’s Auto Shop.
“Now we can play Sepak Takraw,” said Yudhi as he admired his work.
“Where’s the takraw?” asked Susi.
“Oh no!” groaned Yudhi, “How could I forget about that?”
“That’s the most important thing,” said Susi, “It could be anywhere.”
“That’s okay,” said Reine, “I’m very good at finding things. What does it look like?”
“It’s about seven centimeters across. Although it looks like it’s made from woven reeds, it’s actually made from white and black plastic strips. I guess you could say it looks like a woven wiffle ball.”
“That should be easy,” said Reine.
They searched all the boxes and drawers in Yudhi’s room. They looked under Yudhi’s bed, too. They searched Susi and Reine’s bedroom, the living room, both bathrooms, and then the kitchen.
“What on Earth are you looking for?” asked Mrs. Urwani.
“The takraw,” replied Susi.
“Ask your father. He might know,” replied Mrs. Urwani.
Mrs. Urwani returned to her work in the kitchen, preparing Chicken Satay. She pierced pieces of chicken with bamboo skewers and placed them aside. Then, she worked on the marinade. In a deep dish, she stirred cumin and turmeric into Indonesian soy sauce. Afterwards, she placed the skewers into the dish and placed it inside the refrigerator. This allowed the chicken to absorb the sauce until dinnertime.
The children filtered back through the living room to the front porch. As usual, Mr. Urwani was sitting in his rocking chair.
“Hello children. What are you doing this afternoon?”
“Uncle Yong, we’ve been looking for the Takraw. Have you seen it?”
“I think I know where it is,” replied Mr. Urwani.
He led the children upstairs to his room. He searched every crevice and corner within his bedroom. He was not able to find the tiny woven ball, either. He crossed his arms and looked around for an answer. He looked low and he looked high. As he glanced at the chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling, he had an idea.
“I know where it could be,” he said triumphantly.
He led the children upstairs again. This time, they went into the musty attic. Cardboard boxes were stacked along the far wall.
“Everyone pick a box,” he said.
The children opened boxes as if it were Christmas morning, searching their contents for the surprises inside.
“I found some badminton rackets and birdies,” said Yudhi.
“We might find a use for those,” said Mr. Urwani.
“I found your volleyball,” announced Susi.
“That’ll come in handy, too.”
Susi sat it next to her father and returned to the stack of boxes. Just then, Reine stretched a hand high above her head. She grasped a bright white ball tightly in her fingers.
“Is this it?” she asked.
“That’s it!” exclaimed Uncle Yong.
Reine smiled brightly.
“I told you I was good at finding things.”
They gathered all the sports equipment and returned to the alley. Mr. Urwani moved his rocking chair to the edge of the porch to watch.
“We’ll split into two teams,” said Yudhi, “Me versus the two of you.”
“What are boundaries?”
“We’ll use trash cans to mark the end lines and use the sides of the alley for the out-of-bounds.”
Yudhi stood behind the end line formed by the trash can to serve.
“Who will be Tekong?” asked Susi.
“I’ll be my own Tekong.”
Normally, one player tossed the takraw to the server to start play. Since Yudhi was playing alone, he’d have to serve to himself. He tossed the takraw into the air and punted it over the net. It bounced off Susi’s knee before it went out-of-bounds.
“1-0,” said Yudhi.
He served the ball again. It flew over the net and directly at Reine. Reine ducked out of the way and the takraw bounced on the ground.
“2-0,” said Yudhi.
“What are you doing?” Susi said to Reine.
“It was going to hit me.”
“You’re supposed to kick it.”
“But I don’t want to kick it.”
“If you don’t kick it, we won’t win.”
As Susi and Reine argued, a group of kids came down the street. Yudhi invited them to join. Meanwhile, Reine got her wish. She sat on the bumper of Yudhi’s car and kept score. Yudhi’s team scored twenty-one points, winning the first game.
They played another game. This time, Susi’s team won. The third set was the tie-breaker. Mrs. Urwani came out to the front porch and sat next to Mr. Urwani and watched the children. It was a hard fought battle, but Susi’s team won again, winning the match.
“It’s time for dinner,” announced Mrs. Urwani.
“Want to play again after dinner?” asked one of the boys.
Yudhi looked up at the setting sun.
“We’ll run out of sunlight before we can finish. If you want, you can play while we eat dinner.”
As the remaining children played Sepak Takraw, the cousins went inside to wash. After they washed, they said their evening prayer.
Everyone gathered around the dining room table. Mrs. Urwani sat the Chicken Satay in the center of the table. The pieces of chicken were bright yellow, colored by the turmeric powder in the Indonesian soy marinade. There were also rice cakes and a cucumber salad.
The bright yellow color reminded Reine of the bright yellow Soto Ayam.
“Aunt Maly, why are so many foods yellow?”
“I thought we went over this,” answered Mrs. Urwani, “It’s because we Indonesians cook with Mustard and Tumeric.”
“There’s also yellow vegetables and fruit,” added Reema.
Susi bit into her Chicken Satay. The sauce was salty like soy, but sweet, too. The turmeric and cumin added a dark, smoky flavor.
"The chicken is so moist and tender, ma," said Susi.
“It’s an old marinade recipe,” replied her mother.
Chicken Satay was just another of the Muslim influences that had come from Turkey and the Middle East. Arabic traders often moved in caravans, never settling in any one place for too long. This meant that their food had to travel, too. For this reason, they used reeds and rattan to create skewers. This made for easy cooking. After they ate their meals, they could toss the skewers into the fire and be on their way.
Susi finished her skewer and then ate her cucumber salad and rice cakes. She washed it down with soy milk and was ready to go play again.
“I’m going back outside,” she announced to the table.
“Me, too,” said Yudhi.
“Me, three,” added Reine.
“Not until you rinse off your plate,” said her mother.
The children obeyed, sharing space at the kitchen sink. Yudhi washed while Susi dried. Meanwhile, Reine stood on top of a stool, so she could put the dishes into the cabinet overhead. When they were finished, Yudhi snatched his cousin off the stool and stood her on the floor. Susi grabbed the stool and put it away. Now the children were ready to return outside.
“Okay, shoo,” said Mrs. Urwani with a general waving motion.
The children scampered outside, only to find the sun sitting at the edge of the horizon. Soon, there would be very little light to play Sepak Takraw. In fact, the boys were already having problems with the fading light.
“I have an idea,” said Yudhi.
“What’s that?” answered a boy.
“Why don’t we play badminton instead?”
“That’s a good idea.”
Yudhi handed out the rackets and picked up the badminton birdie. Although sunset lasted only moments, streetlights illuminated the badminton court in fluorescent light.
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