Manusia Penggenggam Peluh

Nenek Ylva pernah menceritakanku sebuah kisah mengenai para manusia penggenggam peluh.

Madam Justice

Hello, dear lady.

A lovely evening, is it not?

Forgive me for intruding.  Perhaps you were intending to take a stroll.  Perhaps you were merely enjoying the view.

No matter.  I thought that it was time we had a little chat, you and I.

Ahh…I was forgetting that we are not properly introduced.

I do not have a name.  You can call me V.

Madam Justice…this is V.

V…this is Madam Justice.

Hello, Madam Justice.

“Good evening, V.”

There.  Now we know each other.  Actually, I’ve been a fan of yours for quite some time.  Oh, I know what you’re thinking…

“The poor boy has a crush on me…an adolescent infatuation.”

I beg your pardon, Madam.  It isn’t like that at all.

I’ve long admired you…albeit only from a distance.  I used to stare at you from the streets below when I was a child.

I’d say, to my father, “Who is that lady?” and he’d say, “That’s Madam Justice.”  And I’d say, “Isn’t she pretty.”

Please don’t think it was merely physical.  I know you’re not that sort of girl.  No, I loved you as a person. As an ideal.

That was a long time ago.  I’m afraid there’s someone else now…

“What?  V!  For shame!  You have betrayed me for some harlot, some vain and pouting hussy with painted lips and a knowing smile!”

I, Madam?  I beg to differ!  It was your infidelity that drove me to her arms!

Ah-ha!  That surprised you, didn’t it?  You thought I didn’t know about your little fling.  But I do.  I know everything!

Frankly, I wasn’t surprised when I found out.  You always did have an eye for a man in uniform.

“Uniform?  Why, I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.  It was always you, V.  You were the only one…”

Liar!  Slut!  Whore!  Deny that you let him have his way with you, him with his armbands and jackboots!

Well?  Cat got your tongue?

Very well.  So you stand revealed at last.  You are no longer my Justice.  You are his Justice now.  You have bedded another.

Well, two can play at that game!

“Sob!  Choke!  Wh-who is she, V?  What is her name?”

Her name is Anarchy.  And she has taught me more as a mistress than you ever did!

She has taught me that justice is meaningless without freedom.  She is honest.  She makes no promises and breaks none.  Unlike you, Jezebel.

I used to wonder why you could never look me in the eye.  Now I know.

So goodbye, dear lady.  I would be saddened by our parting even now, save that you are no longer the woman that I once loved.

Here is a final gift.  I leave it at your feet.

The flames of freedom.  How lovely.  How just.  Ahh, my precious Anarchy…

“O beauty, ’til now I never knew thee.”

Valerie's Letter

I know there's no way I can convince you this is not one of their tricks, but I don't care, I am me.
My name is Valerie, I don't think I'll live much longer and I wanted to tell someone about my life.
This is the only autobiography i'll ever write, and god, I'm writing it on toilet paper.

I was born in Nottingham in 1985,
I don't remember much of those early years, but I do remember the rain.
My grandmother owned a farm in Tuttlebrook,
and she use to tell me that god was in the rain.
I passed my 11th lesson into girl's grammar;
it was at school that I met my first girlfriend, her name was Sara.
It was her wrists. They were beautiful. I thought we would love each other forever.
I remember our teacher telling us that is was an adolescent phase people outgrew.
Sara did,

I didn't. 

In 2002 I fell in love with a girl named Christina.
That year I came out to my parents. I couldn't have done it without Chris holding my hand.
My father wouldn't look at me, he told me to go and never come back.
My mother said nothing. But I had only told them the truth, was that so selfish?
Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free.
I'd always known what I wanted to do with my life, and in 2015 I starred in my first film, "The Salt Flats".
It was the most important role of my life, not because of my career, but because that was how I met Ruth. The first time we kissed, I knew I never wanted to kiss any other lips but hers again.
We moved to a small flat in London together.
She grew Scarlet Carsons for me in our window box,
and our place always smelled of roses. Those were there best years of my life.
But America's war grew worse, and worse.
And eventually came to London.
After that there were no roses anymore. Not for anyone.

I remember how the meaning of words began to change.
How unfamiliar words like 'collateral' and 'rendition' became frightening.
While things like Norse Fire and The Articles of Allegiance became powerful,
I remember how 'different' became 'dangerous'.
I still don't understand it, why they hate us so much.
 They took Ruth while she was out buying food.
I've never cried so hard in my life.
It wasn't long till they came for me.

It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place, but for three years,
I had roses, and apologized to no one.
I shall die here.
 Every inch of me shall perish.
Every inch, but one.
An Inch, it is small and it is fragile, but it is the only thing the world worth having.
We must never lose it or give it away.
We must never let them take it from us.
I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place.
 I hope that the world turns and that things get better.

But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean
when I tell you that even though I do not know you,
and even though I may never meet you,
laugh with you,
cry with you,
or kiss you.
I love you.
With all my heart,
I love you.

-Valerie, V For Vendetta

Night of 1913

Hujan lagi, lalu becek lagi, lalu semua orang mulai memaki, lalu banjir lagi: cucianku belum lagi kering, dan semua orang semakin memaki.
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