Hundreds of people accompanied Subandi's body until the burial was complete. Rumiyati was still kneeling as she wiped Subandi's gravestone. It was as though the overcast sky had come to complete the grief of the beautiful widow.
“Such a shame he didn't get to see Bandi's thing after it supposedly turned blue,” one of the villagers blurted out.
“Yeah. I was curious too. Wanted to know. Damn, they wrapped him in a shroud too soon. Too late now,” one of the men lamented.
Apparently, they had all gathered not merely out of curiosity about Subandi's sudden death, but also because word had spread quickly that the man's penis had turned blue. Bruised, like someone who had been abused.
The gossip had started with one of the villagers who helped wash the body. He had been extremely shocked to see Subandi's penis a dark blue. Several people had even suggested reporting it to the police, in case the man had died because he had been assaulted.
Subandi's father, who had also helped wash the body, stopped the villagers from taking things any further. He couldn't bear the thought of Subandi's body being autopsied, cut open and poked apart like a chicken at the market. The middle-aged man said it was possible Subandi had spent the entire night having sex with Rumiyati before he died. That was why his penis had turned blue when he passed away.
“It had just been put through some hard work. Maybe the blood vessels were still tense,” Subandi's father offered.
No one knew where that theory had come from, but everyone nodded along in agreement.
It was a convincing enough explanation for villagers with little education or knowledge of health. They didn't dare argue. After all, Subandi's father was highly respected in the village. And this was his own son. If a parent didn't want the child's body autopsied, the villagers felt they had no right to force the issue. Even so, they continued whispering behind his back.
It didn't take long for the rumor to spread throughout the village. Within minutes, everyone was buzzing about it.
All kinds of theories kept emerging. The fact that Subandi's penis was bruised blue lent credence to the gossip that he had suffered a heart attack because he had been pushed too hard to have sex. Some villagers accused Rumiyati of having a sexual disorder—of being hypersexual—and forcing her husband to keep satisfying her.
Another rumor claimed that Subandi might have been struck by teluh sent by his rivals. What man wouldn't want Rumiyati? If all the woman's admirers were gathered together, their line might stretch for a kilometer. It could also have been the line of resentful admirers of Subandi himself who sent teluh after becoming furious that the handsome young man had chosen to marry Rumiyati.
Some people even cruelly claimed that Subandi had become a sacrifice in Rumiyati's family's pesugihan. Her father had once changed his fortunes remarkably quickly, going from dirt-poor to a fabulously wealthy man. It was as if he could simply print money in the backyard.
All kinds of mystical stories began circulating. The villagers even made a list of people suspected of having sent teluh at Subandi. They seemed far busier than the family he had left behind.
That night, as was customary in the village whenever someone died, they gathered to pray together after the Isha prayer. Rumiyati joined in reciting Surah Yasin from the living room, while the men gathered in the sitting room and the spacious front porch.
Rumiyati tried to stay strong after losing her beloved husband. Becoming a widow at such a young age was certainly not something she had dreamed of. The spiteful gossip would soon be directed at her. Being a beautiful widow was a heavy title to bear in the community, especially when she was both beautiful and wealthy.
“There is something I need to tell you, Rum,” Banar, Rumiyati's father-in-law, said after all the villagers had gone home.
“What is it, Dad?” Rumiyati asked, her eyes still swollen from crying as she looked at Banar.
“Don't be shocked, dear. When I washed your husband earlier, I noticed that his penis was blue. The villagers were making a fuss about reporting it to the police, but I managed to stop them. I couldn't bear to have Bandi's body poked and prodded like a chicken.”
“How could it have turned blue, Dad?” Rumiyati exclaimed. She was still reeling from her husband's death, and now she had to hear something even more shocking.
“I don't know either, dear. Just accept it and let him go. Pray as much as you can, and recite Yasin and Al-Fatihah for him. I hope Bandi can rest peacefully in the next world. Don't listen to the gossip and rumors that will surely be spreading out there, dear.”
Rumiyati lowered her head, utterly dejected. What other trial would await her? Her husband's death, followed by rumors about his abnormal body, and her status as a beautiful widow—it was all too much.