A Wheel for the Yellow Truck

Yaw has worked at the cemetery for exactly nine days, and in that time he has learned three things. The lawns need cutting twice a week, and the paths need raking every morning. Nobody expects him to understand the head gardener's English the first time.

Yaw sudah bekerja di pemakaman itu tepat sembilan hari, dan selama itu ia telah belajar tiga hal. Rumput perlu dipotong dua kali seminggu, dan jalan setapak perlu disapu setiap pagi. Tak ada yang mengharapkan ia mengerti bahasa Inggris kepala tukang kebun pada kali pertama.

Today the head gardener is away at a supplier, and Yaw has the place to himself. He eats his lunch in the tool shed, where it smells of cut grass and oil. A radio on the shelf plays quietly, and the only other sound is the rustle of a plastic bag in the corner.

Hari ini kepala tukang kebun sedang pergi ke pemasok, dan Yaw menjaga tempat itu sendirian. Ia makan siang di gudang perkakas, tempat yang berbau rumput potong dan oli. Sebuah radio di rak memutar suara pelan, dan satu-satunya bunyi lain adalah gemeresik kantong plastik di sudut.

He is halfway through his second helping of rice when someone knocks on the open door. A man stands there with a cardboard box in one hand and a small yellow toy truck in the other. He looks like someone who has been apologising for most of the day.

Ia sedang menyantap nasi porsi keduanya ketika seseorang mengetuk pintu yang terbuka. Seorang pria berdiri di sana dengan sebuah kotak kardus di satu tangan dan mobil-mobilan truk kuning kecil di tangan lainnya. Ia tampak seperti orang yang sepanjang hari meminta maaf.

"Excuse me," the man says. "I am looking for the office. A woman at the gate said it was behind the chapel, but I think I walked in a circle."

"Permisi," kata pria itu. "Saya mencari kantor. Seorang wanita di gerbang bilang letaknya di belakang kapel, tapi sepertinya saya berjalan memutar."

"The main office is closed today," Yaw says slowly, choosing each word. "Only me. I am the gardener. New gardener."

"Kantor utama tutup hari ini," kata Yaw pelan, memilih setiap katanya. "Hanya saya. Saya tukang kebun. Tukang kebun baru."

The man lets out a long breath and sits down on an upturned bucket, as if his legs have made the decision for him. His name is Madu, and he delivers flowers and stone samples for a company across the city. He has a van parked at the gate and a customer waiting in the chapel office. He also has a problem that has nothing to do with either of them.

Pria itu menghela napas panjang dan duduk di atas ember terbalik, seolah kakinya yang mengambil keputusan. Namanya Madu, dan ia mengantar bunga dan contoh batu untuk sebuah perusahaan di seberang kota. Mobil vannya diparkir di gerbang dan seorang pelanggan menunggu di kantor kapel. Ia juga punya masalah yang tak ada hubungannya dengan keduanya.

"It is my daughter's truck," Madu explains. He turns the toy over, and Yaw sees that one of the back wheels is missing. "She is four. She gave it to me this morning and said, 'Look after him, Papa.' Then, on the gravel path, the wheel just jumped off. I heard it roll away, and I could not find it anywhere."

"Ini truk mainan putri saya," Madu menjelaskan. Ia membalik mainan itu, dan Yaw melihat salah satu roda belakangnya hilang. "Umurnya empat tahun. Tadi pagi ia menyerahkannya kepada saya dan berkata, 'Jaga dia baik-baik, Papa.' Lalu, di jalan kerikil, rodanya tiba-tiba terlepas. Saya mendengarnya menggelinding pergi, dan saya tidak bisa menemukannya di mana pun."

Yaw leans closer. The truck is old, painted a cheerful yellow, with a small tipping bed at the back and a name scratched into the roof: BIG TOM. The axle is a thin steel rod, bent slightly at the end where the wheel used to sit.

Yaw mencondongkan badan. Truk itu sudah tua, dicat kuning ceria, dengan bak kecil yang bisa dimiringkan di belakang dan sebuah nama tergores di atapnya: BIG TOM. Porosnya sebatang baja tipis, sedikit bengkok di ujung tempat roda dulu terpasang.

"She will ask for him tonight," Madu continues. "If I come home with a broken truck, I will have to explain that her father is a man who loses things. She already thinks I forget everything."

"Nanti malam ia pasti mencarinya," Madu melanjutkan. "Kalau saya pulang membawa truk yang rusak, saya harus menjelaskan bahwa ayahnya adalah orang yang suka menghilangkan barang. Ia sudah menganggap saya pelupa."

"Do you forget everything?" Yaw asks, and then worries that the question sounds rude.

"Apa Anda memang melupakan segalanya?" tanya Yaw, lalu cemas pertanyaannya terdengar kasar.

Madu laughs, a short surprised laugh. "Only the important things."

Madu tertawa, tawa pendek yang terkejut. "Hanya hal-hal yang penting."

For a moment neither of them speaks. Yaw looks at the truck, then at the shelves behind him. They are crowded with the odds and ends of a place that repairs everything itself. There are jars of screws, coils of wire, rubber washers, and a battered metal box labelled SPARES. Back home, he fixed bicycles for his cousins every holiday. He has not touched a toy in years, but his hands remember the work better than his English does.

Sejenak keduanya tidak berbicara. Yaw memandang truk itu, lalu rak-rak di belakangnya. Rak-rak itu penuh dengan barang-barang serba ada dari tempat yang memperbaiki segalanya sendiri. Ada toples-toples berisi sekrup, gulungan kawat, ring karet, dan sebuah kotak logam penyok berlabel SPARES. Di kampung halamannya, ia memperbaiki sepeda untuk sepupu-sepupunya setiap liburan. Sudah bertahun-tahun ia tidak menyentuh mainan, tetapi tangannya mengingat pekerjaan itu lebih baik daripada bahasa Inggrisnya.

"Wait," he says. "I think I can help."

"Tunggu," katanya. "Saya rasa saya bisa membantu."

Madu looks up, doubtful but hopeful. "You can fix a truck?"

Madu mendongak, ragu tetapi berharap. "Anda bisa memperbaiki truk?"

"I can try. Maybe."

"Saya bisa coba. Mungkin."

Yaw clears a corner of the workbench and switches on the lamp. First he straightens the bent end of the axle with a pair of pliers. He taps it gently against the vice so that the metal does not crack. Then he searches the jars for a wheel. He finds a wooden button, a bottle cap, and the lid of a spray can, but none of them is the right size.

Yaw membersihkan satu sudut meja kerja dan menyalakan lampu. Pertama-tama ia meluruskan ujung poros yang bengkok dengan tang. Ia mengetukkannya pelan ke ragum agar logamnya tidak patah. Lalu ia mencari roda di dalam toples-toples. Ia menemukan sebuah kancing kayu, sebuah tutup botol, dan tutup kaleng semprot, tetapi tak satu pun berukuran pas.

"This is more difficult than I thought," Yaw admits.

"Ini lebih sulit daripada yang saya kira," Yaw mengaku.

"Every repair is," says Madu, who has begun to watch with real interest. "My father was a carpenter. He always said that the first fix is only a rehearsal."

"Setiap perbaikan memang begitu," kata Madu, yang mulai memperhatikan dengan sungguh-sungguh. "Ayah saya tukang kayu. Ia selalu berkata bahwa perbaikan pertama hanyalah latihan."

Yaw almost smiles at that. He picks up the SPARES box and tips it onto the bench. Among the rusty nails there is a small rubber wheel from a seed trolley. It is about the same width as the other three, though a little greyer and a little newer. It is not a perfect match, but it spins smoothly when he flicks it with a finger.

Yaw hampir tersenyum mendengarnya. Ia mengambil kotak SPARES dan menumpahkannya ke meja. Di antara paku-paku berkarat ada sebuah roda karet kecil dari troli benih. Lebarnya hampir sama dengan ketiga roda yang lain, meski sedikit lebih kelabu dan sedikit lebih baru. Tidak persis sama, tetapi berputar mulus ketika ia menjentiknya dengan jari.

"This one," he says. "It is not yellow."

"Yang ini," katanya. "Tidak kuning."

"It does not need to be yellow," Madu says. "It needs to roll."

"Tidak perlu kuning," kata Madu. "Yang penting menggelinding."

The hole in the middle of the wheel is too wide for the thin axle. Yaw cuts a short piece from an old garden hose. He slides it inside as a sleeve. He presses the wheel on, adds a washer, and bends the tip of the axle over with the pliers so that nothing can slip off. The whole job takes twelve minutes, and by the end he has forgotten that he is supposed to be on his lunch break.

Lubang di tengah roda itu terlalu lebar untuk poros yang tipis. Yaw memotong sepotong pendek dari selang kebun tua. Ia menyelipkannya ke dalam sebagai selongsong. Ia menekan roda itu ke poros, menambahkan ring, dan membengkokkan ujung poros dengan tang agar tak ada yang bisa lepas. Seluruh pekerjaan itu memakan waktu dua belas menit, dan pada akhirnya ia sudah lupa bahwa seharusnya ia sedang istirahat makan siang.

He sets the truck on the bench and gives it a push. It rolls straight and true all the way to the edge, and Madu catches it before it falls.

Ia meletakkan truk itu di meja dan mendorongnya. Truk itu menggelinding lurus dan mantap sampai ke tepi, dan Madu menangkapnya sebelum jatuh.

"Incredible," Madu whispers. He turns the truck over, checks the new wheel, and tests it once more across his palm. "It runs better than before. She will not believe this."

"Luar biasa," bisik Madu. Ia membalik truk itu, memeriksa roda barunya, dan mengujinya sekali lagi di atas telapak tangannya. "Jalannya lebih baik dari sebelumnya. Putri saya tidak akan percaya."

"One wheel is grey," Yaw warns him. "She will see."

"Satu roda berwarna kelabu," Yaw memperingatkan. "Ia akan melihatnya."

"Of course she will see. She sees everything." Madu pauses, thinking. "I will tell her that Big Tom had an accident and a doctor fixed him. Children understand that kind of story. The scar will be a good detail."

"Tentu saja ia akan melihat. Ia melihat segalanya." Madu terdiam sejenak, berpikir. "Saya akan bilang bahwa Big Tom kecelakaan dan seorang dokter memperbaikinya. Anak-anak mengerti cerita seperti itu. Bekas lukanya akan jadi detail yang bagus."

Yaw feels a strange warmth in his chest, and it takes him a moment to recognise it. For nine days he has been the person who asks for help. He nods at instructions he only half understands, and he writes new words on the back of his hand. Now a stranger is thanking him, and the words are simple enough that he understands every one.

Yaw merasakan kehangatan aneh di dadanya, dan butuh waktu sejenak baginya untuk mengenalinya. Selama sembilan hari ia menjadi orang yang meminta bantuan. Ia mengangguk pada petunjuk yang hanya setengah ia pahami, dan menuliskan kata-kata baru di punggung tangannya. Kini seorang asing berterima kasih kepadanya, dan kata-katanya cukup sederhana sehingga ia mengerti setiap katanya.

Madu stands up, tucks the truck carefully into his jacket pocket, and picks up his box. At the door he stops.

Madu berdiri, menyelipkan truk itu hati-hati ke saku jaketnya, dan mengambil kotaknya. Di pintu ia berhenti.

"Please, tell me how I can pay you."

"Tolong, katakan bagaimana saya bisa membayar Anda."

"No payment," Yaw says. "It was a small job. Just show me the office."

"Tidak usah dibayar," kata Yaw. "Cuma pekerjaan kecil. Tunjukkan saja kantornya."

"I will do better than that. I will walk you there myself, so that the next person who asks you can say, 'Yaw knows the way.'"

"Saya akan melakukan lebih dari itu. Saya akan mengantar Anda ke sana sendiri, supaya orang berikutnya yang bertanya bisa bilang, 'Yaw tahu jalannya.'"

They leave the shed together and cross the lawn, where the grass is damp from the sprinkler. The paths are marked by neat lines from Yaw's rake. Madu points out a group of tall trees. His daughter likes to count them when he drives past on the main road. Yaw tells him their names in the language of his home, and Madu repeats them badly, and both of them laugh.

Mereka meninggalkan gudang bersama-sama dan melintasi halaman rumput yang basah oleh air penyiram. Jalan-jalan setapak ditandai garis-garis rapi dari sapu lidi Yaw. Madu menunjuk sekelompok pohon tinggi. Putrinya suka menghitungnya saat ia berkendara melewati jalan raya. Yaw menyebutkan nama pohon-pohon itu dalam bahasa kampung halamannya, dan Madu mengulanginya dengan salah, dan keduanya tertawa.

At the chapel, Madu delivers his box to the woman in the chapel office, who signs without looking up. Then he turns back to the doorway where Yaw is waiting with his hands in his pockets.

Di kapel, Madu menyerahkan kotaknya kepada wanita di kantor kapel, yang menandatangani tanpa mendongak. Lalu ia berbalik ke ambang pintu tempat Yaw menunggu dengan tangan di saku.

"One last question," Madu says. "If the wheel breaks again, where do I bring him?"

"Satu pertanyaan terakhir," kata Madu. "Kalau rodanya rusak lagi, ke mana saya harus membawanya?"

Yaw considers this seriously, with the full weight of his nine days of experience.

Yaw mempertimbangkannya dengan sungguh-sungguh, dengan seluruh bobot pengalaman sembilan harinya.

"Here," he says at last. "We are the best workshop in the city. Our customers never complain."

"Ke sini," katanya akhirnya. "Kami bengkel terbaik di kota ini. Pelanggan kami tidak pernah mengeluh."