The Last Night of the Foam

At night the car wash beside the motorway turned into a small bright island, and Ife liked the night shift for exactly that reason. From ten until six she sat in the glass booth with an apple and a library book. She watched the headlights slide past on the road and waited for the rare driver who wanted a wash at two in the morning.

Pada malam hari, tempat cuci mobil di samping jalan tol itu berubah menjadi pulau kecil yang terang, dan Ife menyukai giliran malam justru karena itu. Dari pukul sepuluh sampai pukul enam ia duduk di bilik kaca dengan sebuah apel dan sebuah buku perpustakaan. Ia memperhatikan lampu-lampu depan meluncur di jalan dan menunggu pengemudi langka yang ingin mencuci mobil pukul dua pagi.

Tonight nobody came. The owner had explained why before he left. At six, a crew would arrive to remove the old foam machines and install waterless sprays. These were cheaper and, in his words, boring but sensible. Tonight was the last night of the foam. At exactly three o'clock the system would flush the tanks for the final time.

Malam ini tak seorang pun datang. Sang pemilik sudah menjelaskan alasannya sebelum pergi. Pukul enam, satu kru akan tiba untuk membongkar mesin busa tua dan memasang semprotan tanpa air. Semprotan itu lebih murah dan, menurut kata-katanya, membosankan tapi masuk akal. Malam ini adalah malam terakhir busa. Tepat pukul tiga, sistem akan membilas tangki untuk terakhir kalinya.

At twenty past two, Ife was counting the bottles of wax on the shelf when she noticed that something was missing. For a week a cardboard crown had been sitting beside the vacuum cleaners. A customer had left it on the back seat of a car, and nobody had come back for it. It was the kind of crown children wear at parties, with crooked sequins and the word KING written in marker.

Pukul dua lewat dua puluh, Ife sedang menghitung botol-botol lilin di rak ketika ia menyadari ada sesuatu yang hilang. Selama seminggu sebuah mahkota kardus tergeletak di samping mesin penyedot debu. Seorang pelanggan meninggalkannya di jok belakang mobil, dan tak ada yang kembali mengambilnya. Itu jenis mahkota yang dipakai anak-anak di pesta, dengan payet yang miring-miring dan tulisan KING dari spidol.

The shelf was empty. Ife turned around, and a boy was standing in the doorway of the booth.

Raknya kosong. Ife berbalik, dan seorang anak laki-laki berdiri di ambang pintu bilik.

He looked about her age. His hair was wet, his feet were bare, and his coat shimmered like the skin of a soap bubble. He held the crown against his chest with both hands.

Ia tampak sebaya dengannya. Rambutnya basah, kakinya telanjang, dan mantelnya berkilau seperti kulit gelembung sabun. Ia memeluk mahkota itu di dadanya dengan kedua tangan.

"Please do not scream," he said. "Everybody screams."

"Tolong jangan menjerit," katanya. "Semua orang menjerit."

"That crown belongs to a customer," Ife said. She was surprised that her voice stayed calm.

"Mahkota itu milik seorang pelanggan," kata Ife. Ia heran suaranya tetap tenang.

"It belongs to a child," the boy said. "That is exactly why it works. A real crown would melt in the foam in a week. A crown that a child has made with glue and a lot of hope lasts as long as somebody believes in it. I am Wim. I am the last prince of the Kingdom of Foam."

"Itu milik seorang anak," kata anak laki-laki itu. "Justru karena itu ia berfungsi. Mahkota sungguhan akan meleleh dalam busa dalam seminggu. Mahkota yang dibuat anak kecil dengan lem dan banyak harapan bertahan selama ada yang memercayainya. Aku Wim. Aku pangeran terakhir Kerajaan Busa."

Ife looked at the clock on the wall. It said 2:21. "I think you should start from the beginning."

Ife melihat jam di dinding. Jam menunjukkan 2:21. "Kurasa kamu sebaiknya mulai dari awal."

He did, quickly. The kingdom, he said, existed only in the white hours between a dirty car and a clean one. It had lived inside this tunnel for sixty years, and every wash was a day of its history. Its people were made of the soft part of the suds. They had a road, which was the conveyor belt, and a throne, which was the great dryer arch at the far end.

Ia melakukannya, dengan cepat. Kerajaan itu, katanya, hanya ada dalam jam-jam putih di antara mobil kotor dan mobil bersih. Kerajaan itu sudah hidup di dalam terowongan ini selama enam puluh tahun, dan setiap pencucian adalah satu hari dalam sejarahnya. Rakyatnya terbuat dari bagian lembut buih sabun. Mereka punya jalan, yaitu ban berjalan, dan takhta, yaitu lengkung pengering besar di ujung sana.

"But the machines are being thrown out at six," Wim said, "and the foam ends at three. If the crown is not on the throne before the final flush, the kingdom has no king, and a kingdom without a king simply stops. If it is on the throne, it can sleep. It would wake up whenever someone makes foam there again."

"Tapi mesin-mesinnya akan dibuang pukul enam," kata Wim, "dan busanya berakhir pukul tiga. Kalau mahkota itu tidak ada di atas takhta sebelum pembilasan terakhir, kerajaan ini tidak punya raja, dan kerajaan tanpa raja akan berhenti begitu saja. Kalau mahkota itu ada di atas takhta, kerajaan bisa tidur. Ia akan bangun kapan pun seseorang membuat busa di sana lagi."

"Then put it on the throne," Ife said.

"Kalau begitu taruh saja di atas takhta," kata Ife.

"I cannot walk through the tunnel when it is running. Neither can you. The safety gate locks."

"Aku tidak bisa berjalan melewati terowongan saat ia beroperasi. Kamu juga tidak. Gerbang pengaman terkunci."

Ife thought about that. She knew the tunnel better than anyone, because she cleaned its nozzles every night. A normal wash took nine minutes from the entrance to the arch. A normal wash started after ten to three would reach the throne too late. By then the flush would have begun, and the foam, and everything that lived in it, would be gone.

Ife memikirkannya. Ia mengenal terowongan itu lebih baik daripada siapa pun, karena ia membersihkan nosel-nosenya setiap malam. Pencucian normal memakan waktu sembilan menit dari pintu masuk sampai lengkung itu. Pencucian normal yang dimulai setelah pukul tiga kurang sepuluh akan sampai di takhta terlambat. Saat itu pembilasan sudah dimulai, dan busa, serta semua yang hidup di dalamnya, akan lenyap.

"We need at least three minutes of margin," she said. "Maybe four."

"Kita butuh paling tidak tiga menit cadangan," katanya. "Mungkin empat."

"Can you make the wash shorter?"

"Bisakah kamu membuat pencuciannya lebih singkat?"

"The Express button skips the wax and the pre-soak. It takes only three minutes." She stopped. "But the entrance needs a car. There is a metal sensor in the floor, and the machine will not start without one."

"Tombol Ekspres melewati pelilinan dan perendaman awal. Hanya butuh tiga menit." Ia berhenti. "Tapi pintu masuknya butuh mobil. Ada sensor logam di lantai, dan mesinnya tidak akan menyala tanpa itu."

Wim's face fell. "There are no cars. There have been no cars for hours."

Wajah Wim murung. "Tidak ada mobil. Sudah berjam-jam tidak ada mobil."

Ife did not answer. She was looking at the cleaning cart in the corner, a steel frame on four wheels, with a mop bucket on top. The sensor in the floor did not care whether the metal on top of it was a car or a cart. She had seen it start for a delivery trolley once, to the owner's great embarrassment. She also knew that the brushes swung in only for objects taller than a metre, and the cart was half that.

Ife tidak menjawab. Ia sedang menatap kereta pembersih di sudut, rangka baja berroda empat dengan ember pel di atasnya. Sensor di lantai tidak peduli apakah logam di atasnya mobil atau kereta dorong. Ia pernah melihatnya menyala untuk troli pengantar barang, sekali, yang membuat sang pemilik sangat malu. Ia juga tahu bahwa sikat-sikat hanya berayun masuk untuk benda yang lebih tinggi dari satu meter, dan kereta itu setengahnya saja.

"Wim," she said, "I think I have a vehicle."

"Wim," katanya, "kurasa aku punya kendaraan."

They spent half an hour testing the safety gate and the floor sensor, and it was 2:54 when she wheeled the cart onto the belt. The crown sat on the bucket, leaning slightly, its sequins catching the light. Wim placed his hand on it for a moment. Ife could have sworn that his fingers were already thinning at the edges, like a drawing on a misty window.

Mereka menghabiskan setengah jam menguji gerbang pengaman dan sensor lantai, dan sekarang pukul 2:54 ketika ia mendorong kereta itu ke atas ban berjalan. Mahkota itu duduk di atas ember, agak miring, payetnya menangkap cahaya. Wim meletakkan tangannya di atasnya sejenak. Ife berani bersumpah jari-jarinya sudah menipis di tepinya, seperti gambar di jendela berembun.

"Whatever happens," he said, "do not let it sag."

"Apa pun yang terjadi," katanya, "jangan biarkan dia melorot."

"It is cardboard. It is going to sag."

"Ini kardus. Dia pasti melorot."

"Then do not let it sag too early."

"Kalau begitu jangan biarkan dia melorot terlalu cepat."

She ran back to the booth, pressed the Express button, and watched through the glass. The belt jerked and began to move. The first jets hissed, and a white curtain rose around the cart. The foam looked thicker than usual, almost solid, and it moved in slow, deliberate waves, like a crowd making room.

Ia berlari kembali ke bilik, menekan tombol Ekspres, dan menonton lewat kaca. Ban berjalan tersentak lalu mulai bergerak. Semprotan pertama mendesis, dan tirai putih naik mengelilingi kereta itu. Busanya tampak lebih tebal dari biasanya, hampir padat, dan bergerak dalam gelombang lambat yang disengaja, seperti kerumunan yang memberi jalan.

At 2:55 the brushes stayed up, exactly as she had hoped. At 2:56 the foam reached the middle of the tunnel, and she could no longer see the cart at all. She saw only a tall, pale shape walking beside it, with an arm raised, and she decided not to look closely.

Pukul 2:55 sikat-sikat itu tetap terangkat, persis seperti yang ia harapkan. Pukul 2:56 busa mencapai tengah terowongan, dan ia tak bisa lagi melihat kereta itu sama sekali. Ia hanya melihat sosok tinggi yang pucat berjalan di sampingnya, dengan satu lengan terangkat, dan ia memutuskan untuk tidak melihat terlalu dekat.

At 2:57 the belt carried the cart under the last arch. The dryer started with a roar, and the whole tunnel filled with warm wind. The crown rose from the bucket and spun once in the air. Then it settled on the highest beam of the arch, as if somebody had placed it there with great care.

Pukul 2:57 ban berjalan membawa kereta itu ke bawah lengkung terakhir. Pengering menyala dengan raungan, dan seluruh terowongan dipenuhi angin hangat. Mahkota itu terangkat dari ember dan berputar sekali di udara. Lalu ia mendarat di balok tertinggi lengkung itu, seakan seseorang menaruhnya di sana dengan sangat hati-hati.

For one second the white lights above the tunnel turned gold. A low, clear note rang through the metal, the kind that a very large bell might make a long way off. Then the lights went white again.

Selama satu detik lampu-lampu putih di atas terowongan berubah keemasan. Sebuah nada rendah yang jernih berdering melalui logam, jenis nada yang mungkin dibunyikan lonceng yang sangat besar di tempat yang jauh. Lalu lampu-lampu itu kembali putih.

Ife looked at the clock. It said 2:58.

Ife melihat jam. Jam menunjukkan 2:58.

At three, the flush began, exactly on schedule. The tanks roared, the foam poured down the walls, and it drained away in a long, pale river. In less than a minute the tunnel was silent and wet and ordinary.

Pukul tiga, pembilasan dimulai, tepat sesuai jadwal. Tangki-tangki menderu, busa tumpah menuruni dinding, dan mengalir pergi dalam sungai panjang yang pucat. Dalam waktu kurang dari semenit terowongan itu sunyi, basah, dan biasa saja.

She walked in slowly. The cart stood at the end of the belt with the mop bucket still on it. The crown was gone from the beam, and there was no sign of Wim anywhere. Only a few sequins glittered on the concrete beneath the arch.

Ia berjalan masuk perlahan. Kereta itu berdiri di ujung ban berjalan dengan ember pel masih di atasnya. Mahkota itu sudah tidak ada di balok, dan tak ada tanda Wim di mana pun. Hanya beberapa payet berkilau di atas beton di bawah lengkung.

Ife crouched beside the floor grate and listened. She heard the motorway, very faint, and the last water gurgling down the pipes. She heard nothing else.

Ife berjongkok di samping kisi lantai dan mendengarkan. Ia mendengar jalan tol, samar sekali, dan air terakhir yang bergemericik turun di pipa-pipa. Ia tidak mendengar apa pun lagi.

Then she noticed it, in the corner of the grate. It was one small bubble, no bigger than a coin. It was not white, but pale gold, and it trembled slightly in the draught from the dryer. She watched it for as long as she could. It did not pop.

Lalu ia melihatnya, di sudut kisi itu. Satu gelembung kecil, tidak lebih besar dari sekeping koin. Warnanya bukan putih, melainkan emas pucat, dan ia bergetar sedikit dalam embusan angin dari pengering. Ia memandanginya selama yang ia bisa. Gelembung itu tidak pecah.

It was still there at six, when the crew arrived with their wrenches and their long grey crates. Ife stood in the tunnel with her coat on, and she had still not decided what she was going to tell them.

Gelembung itu masih ada pukul enam, ketika kru tiba dengan kunci inggris dan peti abu-abu panjang mereka. Ife berdiri di terowongan dengan mantel masih terpakai, dan ia belum juga memutuskan apa yang akan ia katakan kepada mereka.