Chapter 157 - Ill Give It To You (2/2)

”Ah, we haven't used the rooftop after you... you know. But, then rumors said that there's ghost there. I went there before and the atmosphere really changed. It was creepy and terrifying there. Even after the old man has tried to brighten it up with more flowers, the atmosphere is still gloomy and dark. The old man is the only person who can go there without losing his mind. He didn't tell you, did he?” Rama talked fast as if he was afraid I would interrupt him.

”He didn't.” I nodded. I guessed the rumor started because of the ghost just now. But, I had sent it away, so it should be fine. How could I say that to Rama?

”What ghost? There's nothing there.” The old man came with a tray filled with my order.

”Right. I was okay just now. Nothing haunted me.” I nodded sincerely. I guessed it was better than to explain about the whole thing to Rama.

”But...” Rama was about to argue back, but his voice died down in his throat.

The old man walked passed us but the way he glanced at me didn't escape my eyes. I knew it! The old man knew about the ghost. But how he survived the seduction, I didn't know. Unless he wanted to talk to me about it, I didn't want to ask him, too.

We followed the old man back into the rooftop. My order was placed on the table as I sat back to where I was sitting before. Rama, on the other hand, was looking around full alert. The way he hesitantly walked while looking around almost made me laugh. Since when did he start to be afraid of ghost? I remembered him being the brave one who didn't believe in ghost and always walked in the front whenever we entered a haunted place.

”There's nothing here. You can relax.” I said to him. ”Didn't you say we have a lot to talk about? Why don't you sit here and start talking?” I nodded at the bench in front of me while stirring my juice. ”Thanks, Old Man.”

”Call me when you need anything.” He said before he went back behind the counter downstairs.

After he left, it was just the two of us. I was still stirring my apple juice, waiting for Rama to start talking. But, minutes passed and he had not uttered a word. He was just taking a sip of his black coffee almost every ten seconds.

”So?” If this went on, I doubted he would start speaking soon.

”Ah well...” He lowered his head. ”I'm sorry.” He said, barely audible.

”For what?” I leaned back after taking a big sip of my juice.

”You know...” He shrugged.

”Rama, I've told you before. It's okay. If anything, I'm glad that you both got married. There's nothing to be sorry about. You don't have to constantly feel sorry about it. I'm fine.” I emphasized every word I told him, hoping that this time it would be engraved in his mind and heart that I was happy with the both of them.

Rama looked up and met my eyes carefully. He must be feeling guilty all these years for taking my girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, as his wife. Well, he could feel so because he really took our friendship seriously, otherwise, he wouldn't feel anything towards me after taking her as his wife.

”Say sorry about it once again and I'll completely disregard our friendship.” I glared at him, warning him not to be foolish.

He grinned. ”Glad you're back, buddy. You don't know how broken heart we were when we got the news.” He said, even though he was still feeling a bit reluctant, he had successfully supressed it and decided to go with the flow.

”I thought I was dead, too. It was terrible.” I shook my head. I was telling the truth, but maybe Rama thought I was talking about what happened in that ship. ”Now, tell me, what happened to your son?”

His smiled bitterly after I asked that question. ”Well, he fell down... from the stairs.” His voice trailed off. ”Nita was watching over him in the living room in the second floor but because she rarely had a good sleep at night, she fell asleep just for mere seconds. Our son was only ten months, that's the time where baby was the cutest, they started to babble and imitate us. Because our room was in the second floor, I made sure that everything was safe for both Nita and our son. I even installed a safety gate on top of the stairs to prevent him from falling from the stairs, but somehow... he still did!”

I watched the aggrieve expression on my bestfriend's face. He said Nita blamed herself, but I knew he blamed himself, too. There must be something more about it.

”Are you sure the safety gate is working?” I asked carefully.

”I installed the permanent one, a large and wide baby gate. Only a.d.u.l.ts can open it. You can come to our house to see it for yourself.” Rama answered hastily as he took a sip of his coffee. ”Nita said that she had made sure the baby gate was closed before she laid down on the mat, watching our son playing. She said, she was dreaming. She saw someone opened the baby gate, and played with our son. Then she woke up because she heard our son's cry so loud, but then she heard nothing. But...” He couldn't continue. His jaw hardened as he tried so hard to control his emotion. His face contorted in agony. The image of losing his son in a horrible way seemed to haunt his mind.

”Where were you?”

”I was working. My mother called me to inform what happened and I rushed to the hospital. But, my son had gone.” He clenched his fist tightly that I saw his knuckles turned white. He was not there to see what had happened to his son, but the image in his mind tortured him. What about Nita? No wonder she looked that pale and weak.

”Nita cries every day, blaming herself. It's hard for her to sleep at night. She always has a nightmare and wakes up feeling agitated. I feel sorry for her. She always says that she saw someone opened the gate and led our son to the stairs. Someone must have targeted our son. She's starting to accuse some people in our house. There's something wrong with her. I think I should take her to see a psychologist.”

Ah, their problem seemed complicated. Any mothers would lose their mind when their children died. Put my mother as an example. I was already so big when she got the news that I was dead, but even after two years, she had not forgotten about me. What about Nita who had just got the taste of being a mother for several months? I couldn't imagine the pain she was feeling.

But, why did I feel this was not as simple as it looked like? Throwing a piece of toast into my mouth, I sharpened my eyes to see the man in front of me carefully. If I saw any dark mist hiding in him, I would make sure that whoever sent these shadows would rot in the hottest magma in Death Volcano.

Ah, they would not rot in magma. Before long, they would end up as firewood for Putra Semesta.