During Bemo's Journeys. Part II.

Finally after some hard time, I can (read: forced by Coolz) continue the stories of my bemo experience.

You can read Story 1 and Story 2 here.

What I love and hate most about traveling around by bemo is the time when I have to switch from Bemo A to Bemo B at the terminal Jayabaya. Love is the fact that I can watch more people with more diversities in acts and says. While hate is the terminal is just the least comfortable place to visit and/or transit; i.e. pickpockets, sexual abuses, cheats etc. Belows are a few of the stories.

Story 3.

It happened when I was still working at CDU about last year or the year before. It was a beautiful morning, indeed, with the sun shining warmly all over the place. I had to take Bemo V at the Jayabaya terminal, and as usual it's all crowded with people going off for work. They filled up the bemo until they could see that there was no other inch-space on the seats of the vehicle. Seven in the left, two in the right, two beside the driver, two sitting backwards, and one sitting in the back on a disrespectable little wooden seat, pressed by the other people's knees in both sides. Yet, the passengers did willingly take any available seats, for the sake of being on time to work.

There were these three men, chatting joyfully to one another. Until the bemo was almost full, one of them suddenly exclaimed: "Hey, isn't this bemo going to Sepanjang?" The other passengers said no. Laughing, they all got out of the bemo and went away.

Silence...

"Oh shit... my handphone was stolen," a guy sitting in front of me said. Everyone directly put great attention to him. His face was troubled and annoyed. No wonder, cause we all knew who did that.

Yes, those three men who pretended to take the wrong bemo.

Assholes!

Story 4.

About a month ago, I jumped out of Bemo P, and luckily got the next bemo (Bemo O) I should be in in almost no time.

The back seats were not too full. There were two boys in their twenties in the very back and three guys of thirties in the rather front of the place. I came in and took a seat in front of the three guys, sitting diagonally and giving my back to one of them. After a few hundreds meter, the guy beside me (or behind me, whatever) started to act like being land-sick. He made sound of vomitting and frequently touched my back (or bag) as if he wanted to get a hold. He mumbled sorry that he was sick, but kept his hands on my back as if he was trying to throw up, which failed and could only spit on the floor of the bemo.

I felt uneasy and very much annoyed.

Even a stupid person should have seen that he was not at all pale or sick. He was just acting like it and repeating spitting and spitting dirtily on the floor of the bemo, when he could actually throw up out of the window! And why the hell did he keep holding on me when I was sitting in a quite of a distance from him?!

I knew he was planning something bad, so I got my awareness to the maximum level.

Another passenger asked me to move instead beside him, but I still got the feeling that this one other guy was also not good, though he was smiling all over and trying to be nice. I moved, as suggested, prefering to avoid the dirt of the spitting action the other man was producing, but I still got my hold on my bag tighter, with its front openning facing my chest.

Not long after that, the three men got out of the bemo and paid the fare. I was frowning in dislikes.

I stopped on Jl. Kertajaya Indah at the same time another passenger who sat beside the driver also got out of the car. My mood was already not very good when he started to talk to me as we walked. But something in his words got me interested.

"Lady, those three men who got out before you, were pickpockets. Check your belongings now, if any were stolen."

I was not a bit surprised and knew that I protected my bag quite well, but checked it anyway. As expected, nothing was missing.

The kind man smiled and asked me to remember the trick they just did, and to be careful. He said he wanted to warn all of us in the back, but he didn't dare enough to confront them.

I thanked him. Though I already knew pretty good what the three men were aiming.

To be continued..

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