Chicken (an animal, a coward, an escort)

Terjemahan aslinya berarti ayam.

“Bu Keke, chicken krupuk” kata Niko, mantan murid saya di TK dulu yang sekarang sudah kelas 1 SD, memberikan julukan demikian kepada saya karena dilihatnya bekal makan siang saya pasti ada menu berbahan dasar ayam. Dan krupuk tidak pernah ketinggalan.

Jadi di mata seorang Niko, ibu Keke itu identik dengan ayam dan krupuk. Hehe.

Nah omong-omong, chicken juga dipakai sebagai ungkapan orang Amerika yang artinya takut.

“Honey, don’t be such a chicken” ledek si bule waktu saya menolak diajak ikutan paralayang di Puncak beberapa bulan lalu. Terjemahan bebas dalam ucapannya itu adalah ‘Say, jangan jadi penakut dong’.

“Who do you call a chicken?” jawab saya kesal pada waktu itu. ‘Siapa yang takut?’.

Ya, akhirnya saya kemakan juga dengan ledekannya itu sehingga menerima tantangan dan ajakannya. Nyesel? Ga juga. Tapi jangan harap saya bakal mau terbang paralayang lagi biar pun diledek chicken sejuta kali. Hehe.

Tapi kata yang sama itu dipakai sebagai ungkapan yang berbeda artinya dalam bahasa Indonesia karena ‘Ayam’ dipakai sebagai kata pengganti untuk sebutan perempuan nakal.

Tempat paling umum yang dipakai sebagai tempat nongkrong para ayam adalah café atau bar. Kadang sulit membedakan mana yang ayam dan mana yang bukan karena penampilan mereka tidak ada bedanya dengan orang kantoran yang lagi clubbing seusai jam kantor.

Nah, para ayam ini umumnya datang bersama dengan orang asing. Kalau pun tidak, tempat clubbing yang mereka datangi pasti dipilih yang banyak dikunjungi oleh orang asing karena disanalah mereka akan mencari teman kencan.

Mungkin gara-gara hal ini saya pernah dikira ayam. Hehe. Edan betul. 

Ceritanya waktu itu saya dan si bule pergi clubbing ke café yang cukup terkenal di Jakarta. Setelah masuk dan menemukan tempat yang agak lowong di pojok ruangan, dia pergi sebentar ke bar untuk memesan minuman. Sementara saya berdiri diam-diam menunggunya sambil mendengarkan musik.

Rasanya mungkin baru semenit saya disitu ketika datang dua orang bule. Berdiri di sebelah saya. Awalnya saya tidak memperhatikan. Sampai kemudian saya baru sadar yang seorang kok nempel ke saya. Karena heran, saya menoleh ke arahnya. Orangnya masih muda. Mungkin 30an. Temannya lebih tua.

Kami bertatapan. Bertukar senyum. Saya pikir wajarlah. Tapi yang tidak wajar adalah lama-lama kok makin mepet ke saya. Untuk menghindar tidak mungkin karena posisi saya ada di pojok tembok. Mau pindah lokasi, nanti si bule kebingungan mencari saya. Mau menyusul dia ke bar, saya takut nanti tidak ketemu karena penerangannya minimalis sementara pengunjungnya begitu banyak. Nanti malah bisa saling cari-carian.

Jadi saya pikir lebih baik saya tetap disitu. Eh, saya makin dipepet sama bule itu. Bahkan temannya pindah ke sisi yang satu lagi sehingga posisi saya jadi terjepit di antara mereka berdua. Wah, saya mulai waspada karena pikir saya jangan-jangan ini copet. Saya pun beranjak sambil berjaga-jaga.

“Where are you going?” si bule muda menarik tangan saya.

“To the bar” jawab saya “I need a drink”

“My friend here can get you a drink” dia tidak hanya memegang tangan saya tapi juga merangkul pinggang saya. Wah, ini pertanda kurang baik, pikir saya.

“No, thanks, I'll get my own drink” saya berusaha tetap tenang walau sebetulnya mulai panik dan takut. Aduh, si bule kok lama banget sih.

“Come on, baby, let’s have a drink with us” kata temannya “spend the night with us too?”

Buset, pikir saya. Ga salah denger? Gue diajak kencan sama dua bule ini? Edan apa? Untungnya pada waktu kritis itu si bule nongol.

“Honey, what took you so long?” saya lega banget melihatnya. ‘Duh sayang, kok lama banget?’. Tanpa suara saya juga mengucapkan ‘HELP’. Untunglah dia melihat dan bisa membaca gerak bibir saya itu.

“Is there a problem?” dari nada suara, tatapan mata dan bahasa tubuhnya, saya tahu si bule mengambil ancang-ancang untuk membuka konfrontasi “She is with me, guys. She is my girlfriend”.

“Sorry, man, we didn’t know” dengan ucapan itu ke dua bule mesum itu pun meninggalkan kami.

Tapi insiden itu membuat saya intropeksi diri. Apakah penampilan saya malam itu sangat ‘menggoda’? Saya bercelana jeans, tank top hitam yang saya tutupi dengan kemeja kotak-kotak biru, bersepatu pantofel. Dandanan muka rasanya biasa saja. Hanya bedak dan lipstik tipis. Kalau menurut penilaian saya rasanya penampilan saya sangat menggambarkan diri saya, sporty alias tomboy dan kasual. Atau mungkin karena di tempat itu ada banyak ayam yang berpenampilan kasual seperti saya sampai akhirnya orang sulit membedakan mana yang ayam dan mana yang bukan. Apes saja saya yang malam itu di kira ayam oleh dua bule itu.

Namun berbekal pengalaman itu juga saya dan si bule memutuskan kami tidak boleh terpisah kalau berada di tempat clubbing. Jadi kalau mau pesan minuman, kami ke bar berdua walau setiap kali itu pula dia harus menggenggam tangan saya erat-erat karena mengetahui saya suka terserang panik saat berada di tempat yang penerangannya minimalis dan penuh sesak dengan manusia.

Yah, begitulah kisah yang berhubungan dengan chicken… seru kan? Hehe..

____________________________

Its actual meaning is an animal.

“Miss Keke is chicken and chips” dubbed Nico, my former student in kindergarten, after seeing that my lunch always consists meal made of chicken and always have the chips.

So for him, I have become identic with chicken and chips. Lol.

By the way, chicken is an American slang for coward.

“Honey, don’t be such a chicken” teased my ‘dear’ friend when I declined his offer to go paragliding in Puncak few months ago. ‘Don’t be such a coward’.

“Who do you call a chicken?” was my respond at that time.

Well, wanting to prove him that I was not a coward made me accepted his offer and chalange to go paragliding. Did I feel sorry? Nope. But never expect me to do such thing again in the future no matter he would tease or call me chicken a million of times.

Chicken, however, is a different slang in Indonesian because it stands for escort girl (prostitute).

This kind of chicken prefer to hang out at café, pub or bar. It is hard to tell which one is the chicken because they appear like women who work in offices and go to those places after office hour.

So, they usually come with their dates (they prefer to date foreigner). Or they would go to café, pub or bar that oftenly attend by foreigners to get a date for the night.

Now I was once mistakenly thought as a chicken. Unbelievable.

It was when my ‘dear’ friend and I went clubbing to a quite well known café in Jakarta. Once we got inside and found a place in a corner of the room, he went to the bar to order our drinks. While I stayed in our corner, listening to the music.

It was probably just a minute when two white men came to my side. At first I didn’t notice until I realized one of them has pressed himself to me. This made me stared at him. He was a young man in his 30s. His friend was older.

We stared at each other. Exchanging smiles. Nothing wrong so far. Until I realized he pressing himself way too close to me. I couldn’t move away because I was already cornered. I thought of moved to other location but afraid my ‘dear’ friend would have trouble of finding me. Went to the bar was not an option either because the light was dim and the place was so crowded, I was afraid I wouldn’t able to find him.

So I thought I’d rather stay there. But these two guys stood on my right and left side. Making me unable to move anywhere. This alerted me. Thinking they might be pick pocket made me stood on guard as I moved away.

“Where are you going?” the young guy grabbed my hand.

“To the bar” was my reply “I need a drink”

“My friend here can get you a drink” he didn’t just hold my hand. He put his arm on my waist. Oh no, this isn’t good, I thought.

“No, thanks, I'll get my own drink” I appeared calm when infact I  started to feel scared and panic. What took my ‘dear’ friend so long anyway?.

“Come on, baby, let’s have a drink with us” said the other guy “spend the night with us too?”

Whatta? Have I heard it well? These guys just asked me for a date??. But right at that critical time, my ‘dear’ friend came.

“Honey, what took you so long?” I have never been so relief to see him coming. I motioned my lips to say ‘HELP’ with no sound. He saw it.

“Is there a problem?” I knew from his tone, eyes and body language that he was about to open a confrontation “She is with me, guys. She is my girlfriend”.

“Sorry, man, we didn’t know” those two guys got the message and left us.

That incident, however, made me wonder if I dressed too flirty? I made self intropection. I wore jeans, tank top under my blue shirt, with a pair of sneakers. So very little make-up. I appeared as myself, the sporty and casual me. Or too many chicken dressed like that so they can’t tell the difference?. If so, it wasn’t my luck to be mistakenly seen as a chicken that night.

It also made me and my ‘dear’ friend decided that we should always be together when we go clubbing. If we want to order a drink then both of us will go to the bar. Though he must hold my hand tightly all the way there knowing that I could get panic attact in a crowded room with dim light.

So there goes my story regarding the chicken..