The Coat the Lock Keeper Inherited

The uniform arrived on Bo's first morning in a plastic bag, folded as neatly as a letter. It was a dark green jacket with brass buttons, a pair of trousers, and a cap with the river authority's badge on the front. Everything was one size too large.

Seragam itu tiba pada pagi pertama Bo dalam sebuah kantong plastik, terlipat serapi sepucuk surat. Isinya jaket hijau tua berkancing kuningan, sepasang celana panjang, dan topi dengan lencana otoritas sungai di bagian depannya. Semuanya satu ukuran terlalu besar.

Bo stood in the little office beside the lock and rolled the sleeves up twice. The jacket hung from her shoulders like a tent, and the trousers collected in soft folds around her boots. When she looked in the cracked mirror on the wall, she saw a child dressed up for a school play.

Bo berdiri di kantor kecil di samping pintu air dan menggulung lengan bajunya dua kali. Jaket itu menggantung dari bahunya seperti tenda, dan celananya menumpuk dalam lipatan lembut di sekitar sepatu botnya. Ketika ia melihat ke cermin retak di dinding, ia melihat seorang anak yang berdandan untuk pentas sekolah.

"It will do for a week," she told herself. "Then you can order your own."

"Cukup untuk seminggu," katanya pada dirinya sendiri. "Lalu kamu bisa memesan sendiri."

She had taken the job because the city had given her very little else. A temporary contract, a room above the lock-keeper's store, and a handbook as thick as a brick. The previous keeper had retired the month before, and the authority needed someone to run the gates until a permanent replacement was found. Bo knew rivers well enough to respect them. She did not yet know this particular lock, with its heavy black gates and its stubborn, groaning wheels.

Ia mengambil pekerjaan ini karena kota tidak memberinya banyak hal lain. Kontrak sementara, sebuah kamar di atas gudang penjaga pintu air, dan buku panduan setebal batu bata. Penjaga sebelumnya pensiun bulan lalu, dan otoritas membutuhkan seseorang untuk menjalankan pintu-pintu air sampai pengganti tetap ditemukan. Bo cukup mengenal sungai untuk menghormatinya. Ia belum mengenal pintu air yang satu ini, dengan gerbang hitamnya yang berat dan roda-rodanya yang keras kepala dan berderit.

The first boat of the day appeared a little after seven. It was a long working barge, low in the water, loaded with sand. A tall man stood at the wheel with a flask of coffee in his hand. When the barge slid into the chamber, he looked up at Bo with an expression she could not read.

Perahu pertama hari itu muncul sedikit lewat pukul tujuh. Sebuah tongkang kerja yang panjang, rendah di air, bermuatan pasir. Seorang pria jangkung berdiri di kemudi dengan termos kopi di tangannya. Ketika tongkang itu meluncur masuk ke bilik, ia menatap Bo dengan ekspresi yang tidak bisa ia baca.

"Morning," he called. "Is the keeper in?"

"Pagi," serunya. "Penjaganya ada?"

"I am the keeper," said Bo, straightening her cap.

"Saya penjaganya," kata Bo sambil meluruskan topinya.

"Ah." He studied her for a moment, taking in the sleeves, the cap, and the buttons. "I see. Of course. I only meant, is the usual keeper in?"

"Ah." Ia mengamatinya sejenak, memperhatikan lengan baju, topi, dan kancingnya. "Begitu. Tentu saja. Maksud saya, apakah penjaga yang biasa ada?"

Bo felt her face stiffen. She had expected people to doubt her, but she had not expected it to happen before breakfast. "The usual keeper has retired," she said. "I'm managing the gates now. I can take you through, if you're ready."

Bo merasakan wajahnya mengeras. Ia sudah menduga orang akan meragukannya, tetapi tidak menduga hal itu terjadi sebelum sarapan. "Penjaga yang biasa sudah pensiun," katanya. "Sekarang saya yang mengurus pintu-pintu air. Saya bisa meloloskan Anda kalau Anda sudah siap."

"I'm ready. Thank you." He smiled, slightly too widely, and she decided that he was laughing at the coat.

"Saya siap. Terima kasih." Ia tersenyum, sedikit terlalu lebar, dan Bo memutuskan bahwa pria itu menertawakan mantelnya.

She closed the lower gates and opened the sluices with a clumsy rush of effort. The water seethed into the chamber, lifting the barge slowly towards the upper level. The man, whose name she saw painted on the boat as Naveen, kept glancing at her over the rail. Each time she caught him doing it, she stiffened and turned her attention to the wheel.

Ia menutup gerbang bawah dan membuka katup dengan susah payah dan canggung. Air mendidih masuk ke bilik, mengangkat tongkang itu perlahan ke permukaan atas. Pria itu, yang namanya Naveen terlihat tercat di perahunya, terus melirik ke arahnya dari balik pagar. Setiap kali ia memergokinya, ia mengeras dan mengalihkan perhatian ke roda pemutar.

By the end of the week the same thing had happened four more times. Naveen's barge came through every morning and returned every evening, and every time he asked a variation of the same question.

Pada akhir minggu itu hal yang sama telah terjadi empat kali lagi. Tongkang Naveen lewat setiap pagi dan kembali setiap sore, dan setiap kali ia menanyakan variasi dari pertanyaan yang sama.

"Is the boss in today?"

"Hari ini bosnya ada?"

"Is the other keeper back yet?"

"Penjaga yang satunya sudah kembali?"

"Will the old coat be coming back, do you think?"

"Apakah mantel lama itu akan kembali, menurut Anda?"

Bo's patience wore thin. On Friday she said nothing at all when he arrived, merely pointing at the gate and turning her face away. Naveen waited for a moment, as if hoping that she would speak. Then he sighed and drove the barge into the chamber.

Kesabaran Bo menipis. Pada hari Jumat ia tidak mengatakan apa-apa ketika pria itu tiba, hanya menunjuk ke gerbang dan memalingkan wajah. Naveen menunggu sejenak, seakan berharap ia akan bicara. Lalu ia mendesah dan mengemudikan tongkang masuk ke bilik.

That night she sat on the step outside her room and wrote a message to her sister. "Everyone here is lovely except one boatman," she typed. "He keeps asking where the real keeper is. I think he finds my coat funny. I think he finds me funny."

Malam itu ia duduk di undakan di luar kamarnya dan menulis pesan kepada kakak perempuannya. "Semua orang di sini baik, kecuali satu tukang perahu," ketiknya. "Ia terus bertanya di mana penjaga yang asli. Kurasa ia menganggap mantelku lucu. Kurasa ia menganggapku lucu."

Her sister answered within a minute. "Maybe he doesn't. Have you asked him?"

Kakaknya menjawab dalam semenit. "Mungkin tidak. Sudah kamu tanya?"

Bo looked at the message for a long time. It had not occurred to her to ask. It had seemed far easier to be offended, a simple feeling that needed no courage at all.

Bo memandangi pesan itu lama sekali. Ia tidak pernah terpikir untuk bertanya. Rasanya jauh lebih mudah untuk tersinggung, perasaan sederhana yang tidak membutuhkan keberanian sama sekali.

The next morning she stood by the gate at six, cold and slightly sleepless, and watched the barge approach. When it entered the chamber, she did not wait for the question.

Keesokan paginya ia berdiri di dekat gerbang pukul enam, kedinginan dan agak kurang tidur, dan memperhatikan tongkang itu mendekat. Ketika tongkang memasuki bilik, ia tidak menunggu pertanyaannya.

"Before you say anything," she began, "I know the uniform is too big. The authority sent the wrong size, and I couldn't wear anything else. If you have a problem with that, tell me directly."

"Sebelum Anda mengatakan apa pun," ia memulai, "saya tahu seragamnya terlalu besar. Otoritas mengirim ukuran yang salah, dan saya tidak punya pakaian lain. Kalau Anda keberatan soal itu, katakan langsung kepada saya."

Naveen blinked. For a few seconds the only sound was the water slapping against the stone walls.

Naveen mengerjap. Selama beberapa detik satu-satunya suara adalah air yang menampar dinding batu.

"A problem?" he said. "Why would I have a problem?"

"Keberatan?" katanya. "Kenapa saya harus keberatan?"

"You laugh every time you see me. You keep asking whether the real keeper is in."

"Anda tertawa setiap kali melihat saya. Anda terus bertanya apakah penjaga yang asli ada."

"I laugh because I am nervous." He put his flask down on the deck. "And I ask because I didn't understand. May I show you something?"

"Saya tertawa karena gugup." Ia meletakkan termosnya di geladak. "Dan saya bertanya karena saya tidak mengerti. Boleh saya tunjukkan sesuatu?"

He disappeared into the little cabin at the back of the barge and returned carrying a flat parcel wrapped in brown paper. His hands, she noticed, were not quite steady.

Ia menghilang ke kabin kecil di belakang tongkang dan kembali membawa bungkusan pipih berbalut kertas cokelat. Tangannya, Bo perhatikan, tidak sepenuhnya mantap.

"Last month, before the old keeper left, he asked me to look after this," Naveen said. "He wanted it to go to whoever came next. But nobody told me who that would be, so I kept asking whether the keeper was in. I wanted to give it to the right person."

"Bulan lalu, sebelum penjaga lama pergi, ia meminta saya menjaga ini," kata Naveen. "Ia ingin benda ini diberikan kepada siapa pun yang datang berikutnya. Tapi tidak ada yang memberi tahu saya siapa orangnya, jadi saya terus bertanya apakah penjaganya ada. Saya ingin memberikannya kepada orang yang tepat."

Bo took the parcel, though she felt foolish doing so. Inside lay a small leather notebook, its cover worn smooth at the corners. On the first page, in slanting, careful handwriting, was a heading: Things the lock will not tell you.

Bo menerima bungkusan itu, meskipun ia merasa bodoh melakukannya. Di dalamnya terdapat buku catatan kulit kecil, sampulnya halus aus di sudut-sudutnya. Di halaman pertama, dengan tulisan tangan miring yang teliti, ada sebuah judul: Hal-hal yang tidak akan diceritakan pintu air kepadamu.

She turned the pages slowly. They were full of small observations. Which gate stuck in the frosty months. Which sluice leaked if it was opened too fast. Which boatmen were in a hurry, which of them were frightened of the dark chamber, and which of them liked to chat. On the last page was one short line. "The coat is always too big. You grow into it."

Ia membalik halaman-halaman itu perlahan. Isinya penuh pengamatan kecil. Gerbang mana yang macet pada bulan-bulan berembun beku. Katup mana yang bocor kalau dibuka terlalu cepat. Tukang perahu mana yang terburu-buru, mana yang takut pada bilik yang gelap, dan mana yang suka mengobrol. Di halaman terakhir ada satu baris pendek. "Mantelnya selalu terlalu besar. Kamu akan tumbuh memenuhinya."

For a moment Bo could not speak.

Sesaat Bo tidak bisa bicara.

"He wore that coat for thirty years," said Naveen quietly. "When it first arrived, he said it was so large he could have fitted his dog in the pocket. The first morning I saw you in it, I thought of him, and I couldn't stop smiling. I'm sorry. I should have said so at once."

"Ia memakai mantel itu selama tiga puluh tahun," kata Naveen pelan. "Ketika pertama kali tiba, katanya mantel itu begitu besar sampai anjingnya muat di dalam saku. Pada pagi pertama saya melihat Anda memakainya, saya teringat padanya, dan saya tidak bisa berhenti tersenyum. Maaf. Seharusnya saya mengatakannya langsung."

"I thought you were mocking me."

"Saya kira Anda mengejek saya."

"I thought you were angry that I kept asking." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We were both being very quiet, weren't we?"

"Saya kira Anda marah karena saya terus bertanya." Ia menggosok belakang lehernya. "Kita berdua sama-sama sangat diam, ya?"

She laughed, an unsteady little laugh, and wiped her eyes with the cuff of her enormous sleeve. Naveen laughed too, with real relief, and the sound bounced off the stone and came back to them twice.

Bo tertawa, tawa kecil yang goyah, dan menyeka matanya dengan manset lengannya yang sangat besar. Naveen tertawa juga, dengan kelegaan yang tulus, dan suaranya memantul dari batu dan kembali kepada mereka dua kali.

Then they worked together, as if the morning had only just begun. She raised the water, and he steadied the barge against the wall with his long hook. The gates opened one by one. The sun was climbing over the trees on the far bank. Its light reached down into the chamber and turned the water to a smooth sheet of gold.

Lalu mereka bekerja bersama, seakan pagi itu baru saja dimulai. Bo menaikkan air, dan Naveen menahan tongkang agar tetap di dinding dengan galah kaitnya yang panjang. Gerbang-gerbang terbuka satu per satu. Matahari naik di atas pepohonan di tepi seberang. Cahayanya turun ke dalam bilik dan mengubah air menjadi lembaran emas yang halus.

When the barge slid out into the upper river, Bo stood at the gate in her borrowed coat, the notebook warm in her pocket. Her sleeves were still too long. She left them as they were, and she watched the wake spread slowly across the water, and flatten, and disappear.

Ketika tongkang meluncur keluar ke sungai bagian atas, Bo berdiri di gerbang dengan mantel pinjamannya, buku catatan itu hangat di sakunya. Lengan bajunya masih terlalu panjang. Ia membiarkannya begitu, dan ia memperhatikan riak di belakang tongkang menyebar perlahan di atas air, mendatar, dan menghilang.