Member-only story
Buried House
The translation of Satmoko Budi Santoso’s Indonesian short story “Rumah Yang Dikuburkan” by Tjahaja.
If one day he found his father hanging himself, he would immediately be grateful. If one day he caught his mother making love with who-knows-who in the shed behind the house, of course he would also be grateful. It was only natural that his father should make the decision to hang himself. It seemed to be the only possible way, given that his own wife was getting more and more reckless in her lust. In the past, he had thought that the incident in the shed behind the house would never happen again, and as a man, his father would easily forget. Apparently, the incident in the shed behind the house kept repeating, even as if it were a deliberate request so that his father could see them with his own eyes.
“How is it, Dad?” he once asked.
“It’s okay. That’s how it should be.”
“Should it be?”
“Yes. There is no need to look for causes or reasons. What is certain is that it happened. Whether with any man, I don’t care.”
“You’re not jealous? As a man, you don’t prosecute, don’t feel defeated?”
“Your question is good. But, indeed, it is better.”
