Yudhi turned down the alley leading to the Urwani house. All of the parking spaces were filled, so he parked in the small lot behind Mr. Onato's Auto Shop. Luckily, Yudhi worked for Mr. Onato, so he often parked behind the Auto Shop.
As they walked through the alley between the Auto Shop and the Urwani house, Reine inhaled deeply. "What do I smell?" asked Reine.
"Papa must be smoking one of his clove cigarettes," said Susi.
Sure enough, as they rounded the corner, Reine spotted Mr. Urwani sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. He pinched a clove cigarette between his teeth as he glanced at the children.
"Good evening, Uncle Yong!"
"Good evening, Reine. Where have you been?"
"Yudhi took us to the park."
"They're showing Mount Sindoro all over the news. There was a minor eruption."
"We saw a smoke flume coming from the mountain. The dragon must be angry," said Reine.
"We should stay inside until it's safe," said Mr. Urwani.
As they entered the house, the smoky odor of the clove cigarette mixed with spicy aroma of chili powder, black pepper, and curry. Mrs. Urwani was cooking in the kitchen.
"I fixed curried lamb for dinner. I hope that's alright with our guest of honor."
"I don't think I've ever tasted it."
Mrs. Urwani held a wooden spoonful to Reine's lips. Reine bit into the piece of lamb. Reine quickly spit it into her open hand and waved her other hand in front of her mouth.
"Hot?"
Reine nodded, "and spicy, too."
Mrs. Urwani poured a glass of cold milk and gave it to Reine. It soothed
Reine's mouth as she chugged it down.
"I'll see if I can fix it so it's not so hot. Meanwhile, everyone wash up and get ready for prayers.”
Yudhi led the way through the narrow stairwell as they raced up to the second floor bathroom. As soon as he rinsed his face, he headed up to his bedroom loft in the attic.
His room was narrow and angular. The rafters pointed upward, like an old Dutch church steeple. Throughout downtown Yogyakarta, all the buildings looked the same. Yudhi liked it that way. Although his loft was narrow, it was both long and tall. It gave Yudhi plenty of room to himself. He changed into a loose-fitting shirt and comfortable jeans and headed downstairs.
Meanwhile, Reine followed Susi to their room, which sat below Yudhi's bed and above the kitchen. Reine sniffled, still reacting to the spicy chili powder.
"Here, blow your nose," said Susi as she handed Reine a tissue. Reine blew her nose and returned to the bathroom. As soon as Susi finished changing, she headed downstairs. On the way, she spotted Reine, bent over the bathroom sink, her hands cupped under the faucet.
"Are you okay?"
"My mouth is like a volcano!"
Susi took Reine to the kitchen, passing through the dining room where everyone waited.
"Where are you going?" asked Yudhi.
"Reine's having problems with the chili powder.”
Mrs. Urwani got up from her seat and attended to Reine.
"Would you like some Milk and Milo?" offered Mrs. Urwani.
She poured a tall glass of milk and fetched the container of Milo from the cupboard. She dumped a spoonful of brown cocoa powder into the milk and stirred it. She handed it to Reine. Reine gulped it down. While she drank the chocolate flavored milk, Aunt Maly made a peanut butter sandwich. She sprinkled cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar over the peanut butter before adding the second piece of bread.
"Ahh!" gasped Reine as she finished her milk.
"Feeling better?" asked her
Reine nodded.
Aunt Maly mixed a third glass of milk for Reine, adding Milo at the end. They returned to the dining room and began eating. As everyone else enjoyed the spiciness of the curried lamb, Reine munched on her peanut butter and sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg sandwich.
"Aunt Maly?" she said.
"Yes, dear?"
"Why do we use spices for everything?" asked Reine.
"I suppose it has to do with us being the Spice Islands."
"What does that mean?"
"A long, long time ago, Indonesia was very famous for its spices. Whether its cloves or nutmeg or cinnamon, they all came from a place called Maluku. Have you heard of it?"
"I think so."
"Traders from China and Australia came to the Maluku Islands looking for fine things to trade. The people of Maluku had something nobody else did: exotic spices. In fact, for some time, the Nutmeg tree only grew in Indonesia."
"What happened next?" asked Reine.
"Ships came from Holland. Those traders had never experienced spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. Equally, the people of the Maluku Islands had never seen things like watches, clocks, and toys made of metal and iron. The Dutch also traded with people of China, bringing silk and cotton to the Indonesians. It was a good for everyone."
"Wasn't my father from Holland?" asked Reine.
"Yes, he was. Your last name, van Dyke, is definitely a Dutch name."
"Are you Dutch, Aunt Maly?"
"No, I'm part Indonesian and part Malaysian, just like your mother. That's why my mother named me Maly."
"How about you, Uncle Yong?"
"I grew up in China," replied her Uncle, "That's why Indonesia's motto is: 'Many Yet One.' Although we come from many places, we are all one people."
"Then what nationality is Uncle Pieter?"
"He's part Russian, part Turkish, and part Indonesian, too."
"Whew! That's too much to remember."
"Just remember that we're all Indonesian," replied Mrs. Urwani.
Reine nodded as she took yet another bite of her spicy peanut butter sandwich and followed it with a drink of malted chocolate milk. The spices, however, were nothing like the spices in the curried lamb. The cinnamon and nutmeg were warm and smoky, like a spice cookie. The sugar and chocolate were sweet, like sugar and chocolate always were.
At the end of her sandwich, Reine's tummy was full, mostly from the Milo Milk, but full nonetheless. She waited patiently for Susi to finish her curried lamb. The girls took their dishes to the kitchen sink and rinsed them.
"Mother, may we go outside and play bekel?"
"Why can't you do that inside?" asked Mrs. Urwani.
"You know we need a hard surface. We'll stay near the porch."
"I don't know."
"I'll go sit on my rocking chair and look after them," reassured Mr. Urwani.
"Thank you, Uncle Yong."
"Thank you, father."
Susi fetched a small leather bag from upstairs. She came downstairs and sat on the ground next to her father, who sat in his rocking chair. Reine kneeled next to her cousin. Susi opened the pouch and spilled its contents on the floor.
Bekel was one of those things that the Dutch brought to the Indonesians. It was their version of 'Jacks'. Each piece, however, looked more like a small copper letter H. Each side of the H was flat. One side, however, was marked with a red dot.
"You can go first," offered Susi.
Reine gathered the bekels and rubber ball in her hand and began to play. She tossed everything into the air and snatched the rubber ball before it bounced a second time.
After that, she tossed the rubber ball and picked up a bekel without disturbing any of the other bekel before the ball bounced a second time. She did this until she removed all the bekel.
"Pits up," said Reine.
She tossed the bekel on the ground and grabbed the rubber ball. Each time she tossed the ball, she adjusted one bekel at a time, so the red dots all faced 'pits up'.
"Pits up pick up," said Reine.
She picked the bekel up just like she had at the beginning of the game. Soon, she cleared all the bekels from the ground.
"Twos," said Reine.
She picked up the bekel two at a time.
Then, she started over, turning the bekel pits up two at a time.
Then, she picked up the bekels, two at a time.
Unfortunately, the ball bounced a second time as she attempted to pick up the pits up bekels two at a time. Now it was Susi's turn.
Quickly, Susi moved through the sets, picking up bekels and turning them, too. Soon, she had gone through every set.
"One point," she said.
She did so again, completing every set while Reine watched.
"Two points," she said.
Reine leaned over, placing her hands upon her knees.
"Is this boring you?" asked Susi.
“I guess so," replied Reine with a shrug.
"It's okay. I have bigger hands, plus I have been playing this since I was five. Now I am nine. Reema is even better at this than I am."
"It's okay," replied Reine, "What's the most sets you've completed?"
"Five, I think."
"Let's see if you can break your record."
Sure enough, Susi made it through five sets and moved onto her sixth set. Just then, Mrs. Urwani came out to watch the girls.
"It's getting late. I think you girls should get ready for bed," she announced.
"But Susi's setting her bekel record," pleaded Reine.
"Okay, but once she drops a bekel or misses the ball, you both have to come inside."
Now the pressure was on. Susi carefully completed her sixth and seventh sets. Mrs. Urwani came out to the porch again.
"Girls, it's time for bed."
The problem Susi now faced was the same one Reine had faced earlier. On the eighth set, Susi had to pick up eight bekels at one time. She made it through the first part. Unfortunately, as she moved on to 'eight pits up', she had a problem. She threw down the bekel. Only one bekel faced 'pits up'. She tossed the ball into the air. As it bounced, she tried moving the bekel with separate fingers. Before she could turn all bekel, the ball bounced a second time.
"Finally," said Reine.
"Yes, finally," echoed Mrs. Urwani.
Susi gathered everything and secured the leather pouch.
"I was rooting for you," said Mr. Urwani.
"Me, too," said Mrs. Urwani, "I am just very, very tired. Tomorrow is another day, anyway."
"Me, too," echoed Susi, "I don't think I would've lasted much longer, anyway. My eyes were getting tired from all that focusing."
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