“I can’t stand these girls anymore! They keep trying to be smart with me, and sarcasm practically drips from their mouths…” He stops to take a much needed breath, and he starts again, “And they can’t give me any respect! You know, just the other day---”
He breaks off to catch Daus’ gaze. It holds strong, steady, and he cannot look away.
“Poor you.”
He swallows thickly. The tirade is broken by something soft and secret brimming in the man’s eyes. “U-uh, thank you. “ The hubbub in the rest of the staffroom does nothing to break the sudden silence settling on them, like dust. The air conditioning unit creaks and whines. Muhammad takes in ragged breath. “I—I needed that,” he mutters softly, tearing his face away from Daus. There is a hard painful lump in his throat and his eyes burn, with the promise of weakness and frustration.
Daus ducks his head. “It’s hard being a teacher.”
No one turns, then. No one turns to look at Muhammad worriedly and coo, “Oh, tough day?” No “These girls!” No sympathetic clucking and gazes. Even Yuni is leaning into the screen, muttering inaudible figures as the screen cast a faint glow onto her golden face.
There is only Daus, standing before him, all too tangible, so warm and comforting, and the air around him is heavy with lavender and that mysterious, tantalising smell, whilst he peers into Muhmmad’s eyes. Does he see Muhammad’s shoulders quiver slightly? Does he see his loafers shift closer to each other?
Daus squints briefly. “You know… Since school is already over, I’d like to take you somewhere. We can sort this out.”
Before he can even toss out a vague word of protest, Daus already has both their bags hitched onto his small, shapely shoulders. Muhammad’s a brown leather sling and his own a black computer bag. He swivels on his heel towards the door, and he hollers gently. “Muhammad and I are going liao.”
A weak chorus of “Bye,”s, “Safe trip!”s are echoed simultaneously after them as they slip out the door, out of the cool staff room and into the warm, humid corridor, where Muhammad realises, as they trot down the flight of stairs together, past stray green-pinafored girls, that he is alone with Daus, and his knees feel soft and weak.
VOUS LISEZ
Rhapsody of The Two Male Grasshoppers.
Roman d'amourSet against the backdrop of a school with girls uniformed entirely in grasshopper green, a fresh, new young teacher is thrown into the career that will shape the rest of his life, as he meets another charming man in the staffroom that isn't quite so...
