# 6
The first day was filled with simple activities. They introduced themselves, invited the children to play, read books, drew pictures, and even created group games.
Naira looked like she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
She sat among several little children who were busy drawing.
“What’s this a picture of?” she asked, pointing to a boy’s paper.
“A house.”
“That’s really good.”
“Really?”
Naira nodded firmly.
“Yeah. But why does the house have two eyes?”
The boy laughed.
“So the house can see you, Naira.”
Naira laughed along with him.
From a distance, Shaka, who was helping several children play soccer, happened to glance over.
A small smile appeared on his face when he saw Naira laughing freely. For some reason, seeing that girl happy always lifted his mood too.
A few minutes later, however, Shaka’s phone vibrated.
He stopped in his tracks. The moment he looked at his phone’s screen, his expression changed.
His smile disappeared.
Shaka walked a little farther from the children before answering the call.
Naira, who happened to be standing nearby, noticed.
“Yeah?”
Shaka’s voice was low.
Naira hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. But from his expression, it was obvious the call wasn’t about anything pleasant.
Shaka’s brows drew together. Every now and then, he gave only brief replies.
“I know.”
“Not now.”
“I’ll call you back later.”
The call ended.
Shaka slipped his phone into his pocket, then rubbed his face for a moment.
After that, he went back to the children as if nothing had happened.
Naira only watched him. She felt that something was off.
“Shaka.”
“Hm?”
“Who was calling you earlier?”
Shaka fell silent for a moment.
“Dad,” he answered briefly.
“Is something bad happening?”
The question slipped out before she could stop it. Naira immediately felt a little guilty.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
Instead, Shaka gave her a faint smile.
“It’s okay.”
Then he picked up the ball near one of the children’s feet.
“It’s just a family matter.”
Naira nodded.
“Then I hope everything’s okay.”
Shaka looked at her for a few seconds, winking with one eye.
“Thank you.”
Naira gave him a small smile.
They went back to their respective activities. But that wasn’t the only call Shaka received that day.
Toward evening, his phone vibrated again. Every time he answered one of those calls, his face grew tense.
Naira, who was organizing books inside a cardboard box, saw him again.
Shaka walked away to answer the call. This time, he looked far more serious.
Naira didn’t know who was calling. She didn’t know what problem Shaka was hiding, either.
What Naira did know was that, for the first time, she was seeing another side of the man who had always seemed calm and outgoing.
Shaka was facing something. Whatever it was seemed serious enough that the man couldn’t even hide his unease.
“Sir, I’m sorry. Mr. Arshaka has been difficult to reach,” Arsen Baskara’s assistant said.
“Email him everything. Send him a message. He needs to finish it all tomorrow,” Arsen Baskara ordered.
Not long afterward, Arsen’s phone rang. Arshaka’s name appeared on the screen. Without thinking, he answered.
Before Arsen could even open his mouth, Arshaka was already complaining.
“Can’t this wait until I finish my community service program? I just started.”
“No, it can’t. This is your responsibility now. A man has to keep his promises.”
The call ended just like that, without a word of goodbye.
“Just send him everything he needs to work on,” Arsen told his assistant.
“A promise is a promise, Shaka.”