Dividing the House

Corbin and Rhiannon had spent the whole weekend sorting through their mother's house, room by room, deciding what to keep, sell, or give away. It was slower and harder than either of them had expected.

Corbin dan Rhiannon menghabiskan seluruh akhir pekan untuk memilah-milah isi rumah ibu mereka, ruangan demi ruangan, memutuskan apa yang disimpan, dijual, atau diberikan. Pekerjaan itu lebih lambat dan lebih berat daripada yang dibayangkan keduanya.

The piano was the only thing they hadn't agreed on by Sunday afternoon. Rhiannon wanted to keep it. Corbin, who was paying to store everything else in a rented unit, thought it made more sense to sell it and split the money.

Piano adalah satu-satunya hal yang belum mereka sepakati hingga Minggu sore. Rhiannon ingin menyimpannya. Corbin, yang membayar sewa unit penyimpanan untuk barang-barang lainnya, merasa lebih masuk akal menjualnya dan membagi uangnya.

"It's an expensive piece of furniture neither of us plays," Corbin said, trying to keep his voice reasonable. "Storage isn't cheap, and neither of us has room for a piano in an apartment."

"Itu perabot mahal yang tidak dimainkan oleh salah satu dari kita," kata Corbin, berusaha menjaga suaranya tetap masuk akal. "Biaya penyimpanan tidak murah, dan kita berdua tidak punya ruang untuk piano di apartemen."

However, Rhiannon didn't answer right away. She ran her hand along the closed lid, the way their mother used to before she sat down to play in the evenings.

Namun, Rhiannon tidak langsung menjawab. Ia menyusurkan tangannya di atas tutup piano yang tertutup, seperti yang dulu dilakukan ibu mereka sebelum duduk bermain di malam hari.

"You think I want the money that badly," she said finally. "That's not what this is about."

"Kamu kira aku menginginkan uangnya sebegitu besar," katanya akhirnya. "Bukan itu soalnya."

"Then what is it about?" Corbin asked, more gently than before.

"Lalu apa soalnya?" tanya Corbin, lebih lembut dari sebelumnya.

Rhiannon told him something he hadn't known: two years earlier, their mother had asked her to promise the piano wouldn't be sold. If they sold it now, she said, it would feel like breaking a promise that still mattered.

Rhiannon mengatakan sesuatu yang belum Corbin ketahui: dua tahun sebelumnya, ibu mereka memintanya berjanji bahwa piano itu tidak akan dijual. Kalau mereka menjualnya sekarang, katanya, rasanya seperti melanggar janji yang masih berarti.

Corbin sat down slowly on the piano bench. If he had known about the promise from the start, he would never have suggested selling it at all.

Corbin duduk pelan-pelan di bangku piano. Seandainya ia tahu soal janji itu sejak awal, ia tak akan pernah mengusulkan untuk menjualnya.

"You should have told me that yesterday," he said, though there was no real anger in it, only something closer to regret.

"Kamu seharusnya bilang itu kemarin," katanya, meski tak ada amarah sungguhan di dalamnya, hanya sesuatu yang lebih mirip penyesalan.

"I didn't want it to sound like I was using her against you," Rhiannon admitted. "I know how that would have looked."

"Aku tidak mau terdengar seperti memakai Ibu untuk melawanmu," Rhiannon mengaku. "Aku tahu bagaimana kelihatannya nanti."

They ended up renting a slightly larger storage unit than planned, one with enough space for a piano neither of them could play. By then, both of them finally understood why it mattered.

Akhirnya mereka menyewa unit penyimpanan yang sedikit lebih besar dari rencana, yang cukup luas untuk sebuah piano yang tak bisa dimainkan keduanya. Pada saat itu, mereka berdua akhirnya mengerti mengapa piano itu penting.