That morning, Parman was already awake before he heard the roosters behind his house. The air was still cold, while the sky outside his window slowly shifted from dark to gray. He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the school uniform hanging on the wall.
“Wake up, Man. You’ll be late,” Mom called from the kitchen.
“Yeah, Mom. Just a second.”
Parman rubbed his face and stood up. The small room didn’t have much in it. There was only a thin mattress, a wooden table that had started to tilt, and an old wardrobe that had belonged to his grandfather. On the table sat a blue notebook covered in scribbles.
Parman picked it up for a moment.
On the last page, he had written a sentence a few days earlier.
I have to have a better life.
He read the sentence again, then smiled faintly.
“Who knows when,” he muttered.
After changing clothes, Parman left his room. In the kitchen, his mother was preparing simple fried rice. His father was already sitting in a chair, sipping coffee.
“Eat first,” Mom said.
“There’s still time, Mom.”
“Whenever you say there’s still time, you usually end up running five minutes later.”
Dad chuckled.
“That’s right. Your son is really good at making excuses.”
Parman pulled out a chair.
“It’s not an excuse, Dad. I’m just not used to waking up early.”
“That’s what habits are. If you want to change, you have to make it a habit,” Dad replied.
Parman fell silent. The sentence was simple, but for some reason, it stuck in his mind.
He often said he wanted to change. He wanted to have his own money, help his parents, and get a better job. But so far, all of it had remained nothing more than wishes.
After breakfast, Parman said goodbye and left.
The road to school was fairly crowded. Several groups of kids walked along, joking around. Parman usually walked alone. It wasn’t because he didn’t have friends. He just didn’t really like joining the crowds.
In front of the corner stall near the school, he saw Riko and Darto buying drinks.
“Man!” Darto shouted.
Parman turned around.
“What’s up?”
“Come here a second!”
Parman walked over to them.
Darto handed him a piece of bread.
“Here.”
“What’s this for?”
“I bought too much.”
Riko immediately cut in.
“Liar. You said earlier that you still had plenty of money.”
Darto glared at him.
“Shut up.”
Parman laughed.
“If you don’t want it, give it here.”
“Hey, no. So, are you taking it or not?”
“Yeah, go ahead, take it.”
The three of them laughed before finally heading into school.
The day went by as usual. Classes, assignments, joking around during break, then back to the classroom. But there was one thing Parman couldn’t stop thinking about.
During break, he saw an upperclassman arrive on a new motorcycle. Several kids immediately gathered around him.
“Is that a new motorcycle?”
“Yeah.”
“You bought it yourself?”
“No. I saved up for it from working.”
Parman happened to be standing nearby and overheard the conversation.
“What kind of work do you do?”
“All kinds of things. Sometimes I help out at a store, sometimes I sell things online.”
The answer left Parman silent.
So it’s possible, he thought.
All this time, he had assumed that people who owned nice things or lived more comfortably had simply been lucky from the start. It turned out some people started with small things too.
After school, Parman didn’t go straight home. He stopped by a corner stall owned by Mr. Harun, who lived a few houses away from him.
“Mr. Harun, do you still need help?” Parman asked.
Mr. Harun, who was arranging boxes, turned around.
“Help with what?”
“Well... helping out around here.”
“Why? You want a job?”
Parman nodded.
“If that’s okay.”
Mr. Harun studied him for a moment.
“You’re still in school, right?”
“Yeah.”
“If it’s only from the afternoon until sunset, that’ll work. But don’t let it interfere with school.”
“Got it, sir.”
“The pay isn’t much.”
“That’s okay.”
Mr. Harun smiled.
“Come back tomorrow. For today, help me carry these boxes first.”
Parman got to work right away.
He moved boxes of drinks from behind the stall to the storage shelves. His hands began to ache, but he didn’t complain. When he finished, Mr. Harun gave him some money.
“Here.”
Parman looked at the amount.
“That’s a lot, sir.”
“Don’t say it’s a lot. That’s your share.”
Parman accepted the money carefully.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Come back tomorrow if you want to.”
Parman nodded.
On the way home, he kept his hand around the money in his pocket. It wasn’t much, but it felt different. It was money he had earned with his own effort.
When he got home, Mom immediately asked him,
“Why are you home so late?”
“I helped Mr. Harun.”
“Helped him with what?”
“Just worked a little.”
Mom looked surprised.
“Worked?”
Parman took the money out of his pocket.
“Here.”
Mom didn’t take it right away.
“Where did you get that?”
“Mr. Harun paid me.”
Mom smiled.
“It’s good that you want to learn how to earn money. But remember, don’t let it make you skip school.”
“Yeah, Mom.”
That night, Parman sat at the small table in his room. He opened the blue notebook again.
This time, he wrote something new.
First day. I earned money from working on my own.
He paused for a moment, then added another sentence.
Turns out starting isn’t as hard as I thought.
But after closing the notebook, Parman realized one thing. Earning money was only the first step. He still didn’t know what he was supposed to do next.
The next day, Parman went back to help Mr. Harun. The day after that, he came again. It continued like that for several weeks.
Over time, Mr. Harun entrusted him with more work.
“Man, check the drink inventory, please.”
“Got it, sir.”
“Write down anything that’s running low.”
“Okay.”
Parman began learning how to count the merchandise, record sales, and serve customers. At first, he made mistakes often. One afternoon, he accidentally gave a customer too much change.
Mr. Harun called him over immediately.
“Man.”
“Yes, sir?”
“How much change did you give that customer?”
Parman recounted it.
“Oh, man.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I made a mistake.”
Mr. Harun didn’t get angry.
“That’s why you can’t count while you’re daydreaming.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”
“Everyone makes mistakes like that. The important thing is that you learn.”
The words made Parman feel relieved.
One afternoon, Darto came to the stall.
“Wow, look at you. You’re an employee now?”
Parman laughed.
“What employee?”
“This. You’re even wearing an apron.”
“Better than just hanging around.”
Darto grabbed a drink from the shelf.
“I’m curious. Why’d you suddenly start working so hard?”
Parman was silent for a moment.
“I want to have something.”
“Something what?”
“I don’t know.”
Darto furrowed his brow.
“What do you mean?”
“I just feel like my life is going nowhere.”
Darto stared at him for a few seconds.
“Then figure out what you want to be.”
Parman smiled.
“That’s the problem. I don’t know yet.”
“Then figure it out as you go.”
Darto’s answer sounded simple, but Parman liked it.
That night, before going to sleep, he opened the blue notebook again.
He wrote more than usual.
I don’t know what I’ll become. I also don’t know whether I can succeed. But if I keep sitting still, my life won’t change either.
Parman closed the notebook.
For the first time, he felt he had a reason to wake up earlier the next morning.
He didn’t have much money yet.
He didn’t have a business.
He didn’t have any big plans.
But at least he had started moving forward.