Branded

The car entered the giant parking lot. A parking staff, in his bright-colored uniform directed my car to the next available parking spot. We could hear music filling the air when we got out of the car. It was one of their famous tunes! Colorful banners with a picture of their favorite character marked the area where the car was parked. I noticed there were also other parking lots with different banners and tunes, while I was riding the free tram to the main gate.

I looked at her. Her eyes were sparkling. She could not stop smiling either. Walking... No, hopping her way through the entrance, she made her first step into a dream-comes-true realm. Yet, along the way, she held my arms tightly, to make sure we would not get separated. People literally thought we were a couple; it made me super uncomfortable with that situation. Dating your own mom? That sounds wrong in so many level! And trust me, I did try hard to convince these people that she was my mom. They just didn’t buy it! Do I look that old? Or, does Mom look that young? I really hope it is the second! :-) Nobody would guess she was 57 and a grandmother of three. That day was a celebration of her childhood dream becoming a reality: going to Disney World!

Mom has a very gentle heart. A heart so tender that seeing blood will make her face turning pale. At the same time, she is also very extrovert. She needs the presence of other people to give her energy. This dependency makes up one of her primary weaknesses. Mom is always afraid of being alone. Unfortunately for her, it had led her to a life pressed under other people's thumbs. To make it worse, she was surrounded by wicked people. People who would not hesitate to push her off the cliff just to take advantage of her! Yes, Mom has a tough life. A life stained with harassment, disappointment, and failures. She has been carrying a scarlet letter even until this day.

The earliest memory I can recall about Mom was the time when we lived in a house of many people. We shared the house with other families, and one of the families were not even related to my family. Mom was a famous cake baker in town that time. She was always busy baking and decorating cakes. Especially around holidays, when orders came in like a flood. A lineup of cakes was spreading from the living room all the way to the kitchen — a 300-foot long. Her cake business was getting bigger and bigger. Sadly however, the business was pulling her away from the family. Her relationship with Dad was also slowly going south.

As a little child, seven years old at that time, I suspected nothing of Mom spending more time with another man. However, my street-smart sister reacted differently. She kept telling me that Mom and Dad would have a divorce sooner or later. I guess I was in a state of denial. No, I did not believe my sister's warning at all. In my naive eyes, Mom was still together with Dad, even when this other man finally moved into our house.

One night the whole family received news that Dad had accepted a job offer. And it was in Bali! We were all glad knowing that we were moving to one of the finest islands in the world. Not long after, the whole family were sitting in the backseat of a van, on our way to Bali. Funny as it might sound, this other man also moved along with my family. When we arrived at the rented house, I noticed how the room arrangement was also ridiculous. That man and Mom were sharing a room, while Dad got to sleep in the living room. Even though I saw it with my very own eyes, I still chose to be the most ignorant child in the family. Everyone else knew that Mom had been married to the other man, but I did not want to accept the reality.

When my mind had finally opened and reality had kicked me in the back, I slowly swallowed the bitter facts about my family. The tie had been broken. There were other people that I had to accept as part of the family. Especially later, when my younger sister was born.

Things were going even worse when Mom and that guy decided to move back to Jakarta. I rebelled against her plan to take all kids with them. So Mom left me alone in Bali with Dad, while the rest of the family migrated to Jakarta (see Abandoned).

Little that Mom knew, moving with that other man was a total disaster. Subtly, that man used up all Mom's savings. He asked Mom to invest in his entrepreneur ideas, but none were making a break. So, while Mom's cake business didn't pick up well, she still had to feed a husband and three kids. To make things worse, this man introduced Mom to an imam — a teacher and leader of Islam's way. This imam convinced Mom to embrace the belief. In her desperation, she converted to Islam.

I didn't know anything about her conversion to Islam. However I had become a follower of Christ when the incident happened. One day, I visited her at her house. I was so shocked when I saw many Arabic writings taped and hanged on the walls of the house. Obviously they were all verses from the Koran. My heart was so troubled that night, but I had no intention of asking her the truth. I was scared that the truth will hurt me even more. I could only whisper a prayer to God, telling Him how worried I was about Mom.

Apparently, the shocking events didn't stop there. From other sources I found out that Mom had also gone to a mystical place in Central Java. A place believed to have a spiritual presence. People went there to give an offering and worship the god who inhabited that place. Undoubtedly it was a place filled with all demonic activities. Broken-heartedly, I could only prayed and cried to God, asking Him to help Mom.

With my sister ran away from home and literally threw her life away (see A Faded Flower), my mom started following a demonic-Islamic cult, and every single member of my family was separated from each other, I remember that time as the darkest moment of my family.