The Blank Tag at the Sea Wall

The kite shop stood in a narrow building at the end of the sea wall. For three weeks it had been the scene of a war with no weapons. On one side was Damir, who had worked there for two summers. On the other side was Vasco, who had arrived in July with a rucksack and a smile that Damir did not trust.

Toko layang-layang itu berdiri di sebuah bangunan sempit di ujung tanggul laut. Selama tiga minggu tempat itu menjadi medan perang tanpa senjata. Di satu pihak ada Damir, yang sudah dua musim panas bekerja di sana. Di pihak lain ada Vasco, yang tiba pada bulan Juli membawa ransel dan senyum yang tidak dipercaya Damir.

The war was kept on a whiteboard behind the counter. Every kite sold was marked beside a name. The owner had drawn the board herself, and she had made one promise about it. Whoever sold more kites by the night before the festival would fly the shop's giant kite on the beach, in front of the whole town.

Perang itu dicatat di papan tulis putih di belakang meja kasir. Setiap layang-layang yang terjual ditandai di samping sebuah nama. Pemilik toko menggambar sendiri papan itu, dan ia membuat satu janji tentangnya. Siapa pun yang menjual lebih banyak layang-layang pada malam sebelum festival akan menerbangkan layang-layang raksasa toko di pantai, di depan seluruh kota.

By Friday evening the score was thirty-eight to thirty-eight.

Pada Jumat sore skornya tiga puluh delapan sama.

"This is ridiculous," Vasco said, leaning on the counter. "You sold that last diamond kite to your own cousin."

"Ini konyol," kata Vasco sambil bersandar di meja kasir. "Kamu menjual layang-layang berlian terakhir itu kepada sepupumu sendiri."

"And you sold a box of string to a man who only wanted directions," Damir said.

"Dan kamu menjual sekotak benang kepada orang yang cuma ingin bertanya arah," kata Damir.

"He wanted the string."

"Dia memang menginginkan benang itu."

"He wanted the pier."

"Dia menginginkan dermaga."

The owner interrupted them by dropping a heavy metal ring on the counter. It held nine keys, and eight of them wore small paper labels in her neat handwriting: Front Door, Till, Cellar, Bike Lock, Store. The ninth key was longer and darker than the others, and its label had worn away completely. A blank square of grey card hung from it.

Pemilik toko menyela mereka dengan menjatuhkan sebuah cincin logam berat di meja kasir. Cincin itu memegang sembilan kunci, dan delapan di antaranya memakai label kertas kecil dengan tulisan tangannya yang rapi: Pintu Depan, Laci Kasir, Gudang Bawah Tanah, Kunci Sepeda, Gudang. Kunci kesembilan lebih panjang dan lebih gelap daripada yang lain, dan labelnya telah aus sepenuhnya. Sehelai kartu kelabu kosong berbentuk persegi tergantung padanya.

"I have to drive to the next town at dawn to collect the festival order," she said. "I will meet you on the beach at noon. The giant kite is in the loft, and the lines are in the locker on the sea wall. Do not lose the keys. Do not break anything. And do not kill each other."

"Saya harus menyetir ke kota sebelah saat fajar untuk mengambil pesanan festival," katanya. "Saya akan menemui kalian di pantai tengah hari. Layang-layang raksasa ada di loteng, dan talinya ada di loker di tanggul laut. Jangan hilangkan kuncinya. Jangan merusak apa pun. Dan jangan saling membunuh."

"Which key opens the loft?" Damir asked.

"Kunci mana yang membuka loteng?" tanya Damir.

"You are clever boys. You will work it out."

"Kalian anak-anak pintar. Kalian akan menemukannya."

She left before either of them could point out that this was not an answer.

Ia pergi sebelum salah satu dari mereka sempat menunjukkan bahwa itu bukan jawaban.

The morning of the festival arrived bright and breezy, and the first problem arrived with it. The loft door had a brass padlock, and neither of the two boys could find the key for it. Damir tried the keys in the order he thought made sense. Vasco tried them in the opposite order, because he refused to do anything Damir did. Neither of them bothered with the labels for other rooms: Store, Cellar and Till.

Pagi festival tiba cerah dan berangin, dan masalah pertama datang bersamanya. Pintu loteng memakai gembok kuningan, dan kedua anak laki-laki itu tidak bisa menemukan kuncinya. Damir mencoba kunci-kunci itu dalam urutan yang menurutnya masuk akal. Vasco mencobanya dalam urutan sebaliknya, karena ia menolak melakukan apa pun yang dilakukan Damir. Tak satu pun dari mereka memedulikan label untuk ruangan lain: Gudang, Gudang Bawah Tanah, dan Laci Kasir.

By nine o'clock they had both tried every other key twice, and the padlock hung there like a stubborn tooth.

Pukul sembilan mereka sudah mencoba setiap kunci lain dua kali, dan gembok itu tergantung di sana seperti gigi yang keras kepala.

"It must be the blank one," Vasco said.

"Pasti yang kosong itu," kata Vasco.

"Obviously it is the blank one. I tried it first."

"Jelas yang kosong itu. Aku mencobanya pertama kali."

"You tried it upside down."

"Kamu mencobanya terbalik."

"I did not try it upside down."

"Aku tidak mencobanya terbalik."

Vasco took the ring, turned the blank key the other way, and pushed it into the lock. It stopped halfway. He pulled and twisted, and then he swore quietly, a word that was very mild and very Vasco. The lock did not move.

Vasco mengambil cincin itu, membalik kunci kosong itu ke arah lain, dan mendorongnya ke dalam gembok. Kunci itu berhenti di tengah. Ia menarik dan memutar, lalu mengumpat pelan, kata yang sangat ringan dan sangat khas Vasco. Gembok itu tidak bergerak.

For a few minutes they argued in the narrow hallway, close enough to hear each other breathe. Then Damir stopped in the middle of a sentence.

Selama beberapa menit mereka berdebat di lorong sempit itu, cukup dekat untuk mendengar napas satu sama lain. Lalu Damir berhenti di tengah kalimat.

"Wait," he said. "Say that again."

"Tunggu," katanya. "Ulangi lagi."

"Say what?"

"Ulangi apa?"

"The part about the blank key. You said it stops halfway."

"Bagian tentang kunci kosong itu. Kamu bilang kunci itu berhenti di tengah."

"Because it is the wrong key."

"Karena itu kunci yang salah."

"Or because it is not for this lock," Damir said slowly. He took the ring from Vasco's hand. For the first time that summer he looked at the key properly instead of looking at the person who held it. "The owner said the lines are in the locker on the sea wall. We never opened the locker. We assumed the old key was for the loft, but the loft is a normal padlock. This one is a long barrel key. I have seen a lock like that. It is the locker."

"Atau karena itu bukan untuk gembok ini," kata Damir pelan. Ia mengambil cincin itu dari tangan Vasco. Untuk pertama kalinya musim panas itu ia memandang kunci itu dengan saksama alih-alih memandang orang yang memegangnya. "Pemilik toko bilang tali ada di loker di tanggul laut. Kita tidak pernah membuka loker itu. Kita mengira kunci tua itu untuk loteng, padahal loteng memakai gembok biasa. Ini kunci laras panjang. Aku pernah melihat kunci seperti ini. Ini untuk loker."

Vasco looked at him for a moment without his usual smile. "Fine. You go and open the locker. I will find the loft key."

Vasco menatapnya sejenak tanpa senyum seperti biasanya. "Baik. Kamu pergi buka lokernya. Aku akan mencari kunci loteng."

"You already tried them."

"Kamu sudah mencobanya semua."

"I tried them as a person who was angry at you. Give me ten minutes."

"Aku mencobanya sebagai orang yang sedang marah padamu. Beri aku sepuluh menit."

It was not an apology, and Damir knew it, but it was close enough to be useful.

Itu bukan permintaan maaf, dan Damir tahu itu, tetapi cukup dekat untuk berguna.

He ran out to the sea wall with the ring jangling in his fist. The locker was a grey steel box bolted into the stone, half hidden by a rusty life ring, and the blank key fitted it perfectly. Inside lay six coils of kite line, a pair of gloves and a canvas bag with the shop's name printed on it. Damir carried the bag to the shop. There he found Vasco kneeling in front of the loft door with a pencil and a page of the owner's old receipts.

Ia berlari ke tanggul laut dengan cincin berkelontang di genggamannya. Loker itu sebuah kotak baja kelabu yang dibaut ke batu, setengah tersembunyi di balik pelampung karatan, dan kunci kosong itu pas sempurna. Di dalamnya ada enam gulung tali layang-layang, sepasang sarung tangan, dan sebuah tas kanvas dengan nama toko tercetak di atasnya. Damir membawa tas itu ke toko. Di sana ia menemukan Vasco berlutut di depan pintu loteng dengan pensil dan selembar struk lama milik pemilik toko.

"Look," Vasco said. "She writes everything down. The loft key is on the list under Store, not Loft. She never changed the label. It is that one."

"Lihat," kata Vasco. "Ia menuliskan semuanya. Kunci loteng ada di daftar di bawah Gudang, bukan Loteng. Ia tidak pernah mengganti labelnya. Yang itu."

The padlock opened with a small, ordinary click.

Gembok itu terbuka dengan bunyi klik kecil yang biasa saja.

It took them another twenty minutes to carry the giant kite down the narrow stairs. It was three metres wide, built of orange sailcloth and thin white poles, and every corner of the staircase seemed designed to catch it. Damir took the front. Vasco took the back. They stopped arguing about who should walk backwards, and then they simply took turns.

Mereka butuh dua puluh menit lagi untuk membawa layang-layang raksasa itu menuruni tangga sempit. Lebarnya tiga meter, terbuat dari kain layar oranye dan tiang putih tipis, dan setiap sudut tangga seakan dirancang untuk menyangkutkannya. Damir memegang bagian depan. Vasco memegang bagian belakang. Mereka berhenti berdebat tentang siapa yang harus berjalan mundur, lalu mereka begitu saja bergantian.

At twenty to twelve they arrived on the beach, breathless, with a kite that smelled of dust and old wood. The festival was already bright with colours. Children ran across the sand dragging paper dragons. Somebody had set up a loudspeaker. Half the town seemed to be there, and the owner stood at the front with her arms folded and an expression nobody could read.

Pukul dua belas kurang dua puluh mereka tiba di pantai, terengah-engah, dengan layang-layang yang berbau debu dan kayu tua. Festival itu sudah semarak oleh warna. Anak-anak berlarian di pasir menyeret naga kertas. Seseorang telah memasang pengeras suara. Separuh kota tampaknya hadir, dan pemilik toko berdiri di depan dengan tangan terlipat dan ekspresi yang tidak bisa dibaca siapa pun.

"You found the loft," she said.

"Kalian menemukan lotengnya," katanya.

"We found the loft," Damir said, "and the locker."

"Kami menemukan lotengnya," kata Damir, "dan lokernya."

"Good." She looked at the blank tag on the ring. "I meant to write that label last week. I forgot."

"Bagus." Ia menatap label kosong di cincin itu. "Saya berniat menulis label itu minggu lalu. Saya lupa."

"You forgot?" Vasco said.

"Anda lupa?" kata Vasco.

"I am a kite maker, not a locksmith." She almost smiled. "Which of you is flying it?"

"Saya pembuat layang-layang, bukan tukang kunci." Ia nyaris tersenyum. "Siapa di antara kalian yang menerbangkannya?"

The two boys looked at each other. The whiteboard in the shop still said thirty-eight to thirty-eight, and they both knew it.

Kedua anak laki-laki itu saling berpandangan. Papan tulis di toko masih menunjukkan tiga puluh delapan sama, dan keduanya tahu itu.

"It needs two people," Vasco said. "Look at the size of it."

"Ini butuh dua orang," kata Vasco. "Lihat saja ukurannya."

"Somebody has to launch and somebody has to hold the line," Damir said. "It is not a one-person kite."

"Seseorang harus meluncurkannya dan seseorang harus memegang tali," kata Damir. "Ini bukan layang-layang untuk satu orang."

"No," the owner said. "It never was."

"Bukan," kata pemilik toko. "Memang tidak pernah."

They carried it down to the water's edge, where the wind came in steady from the sea. Damir held the line. Vasco lifted the kite over his head, ran six steps across the wet sand, and let go. For a heartbeat it hung there, heavy and undecided. Then the wind caught the orange sail, and the line pulled hard against Damir's gloves, and the whole kite rose.

Mereka membawanya ke tepi air, tempat angin datang stabil dari laut. Damir memegang tali. Vasco mengangkat layang-layang itu di atas kepalanya, berlari enam langkah di atas pasir basah, dan melepaskannya. Sedetik layang-layang itu menggantung di sana, berat dan ragu-ragu. Lalu angin menangkap layar oranye itu, dan tali menarik keras sarung tangan Damir, dan seluruh layang-layang itu naik.

The crowd cheered, and the loudspeaker crackled. Neither boy heard any of it.

Kerumunan bersorak, dan pengeras suara berderak. Tak satu pun dari kedua anak laki-laki itu mendengarnya.

Later, when the festival was over, they sat together on the sea wall with the ring of keys between them. The giant kite flew far out over the water, a small orange shape against the last light, and the line hummed softly in their hands.

Kemudian, ketika festival usai, mereka duduk bersama di tanggul laut dengan cincin kunci di antara mereka. Layang-layang raksasa itu terbang jauh di atas air, bentuk oranye kecil di bawah cahaya terakhir, dan tali itu berdengung lembut di tangan mereka.