The Kitchen Renovation

The old kitchen had been annoying Birte and her husband for eleven years, so they were quite ready to argue about replacing it. They were not ready for how much there was to argue about. The tiles came first. Birte wanted white, and her husband wanted dark green. They brought home forty-one samples and taped them to the wall, and for two weeks they walked past them like people avoiding a debt.

Dapur lama itu sudah menjengkelkan Birte dan suaminya selama sebelas tahun, jadi mereka cukup siap untuk berdebat tentang menggantinya. Mereka tidak siap untuk betapa banyak hal yang bisa diperdebatkan. Ubin datang lebih dulu. Birte menginginkan putih, dan suaminya menginginkan hijau tua. Mereka membawa pulang empat puluh satu contoh dan menempelkannya di dinding, dan selama dua minggu mereka melewatinya seperti orang yang menghindari penagih utang.

Then came the layout. Birte wanted to knock down the wall between the kitchen and the living room. Her husband said that a kitchen without walls was a kitchen where every dirty pan became public property.

Lalu soal tata letak. Birte ingin merobohkan dinding antara dapur dan ruang tamu. Suaminya berkata bahwa dapur tanpa dinding adalah dapur tempat setiap wajan kotor menjadi milik umum.

The fridge was the worst. He wanted it beside the door, so that he could open it the moment he came home. She wanted it at the far end, away from the stove. They discussed it for three entire evenings. "If you had your way," he said, "I would have to cross the whole room for a glass of water."

Kulkas adalah yang terburuk. Suaminya ingin kulkas di dekat pintu, supaya ia bisa membukanya begitu pulang. Birte ingin kulkas di ujung paling jauh, jauh dari kompor. Mereka membahasnya sepanjang tiga malam penuh. "Kalau menurutmu, aku harus menyeberangi seluruh ruangan hanya untuk segelas air," kata suaminya.

On the fourth evening, the contractor arrived to take measurements. He listened to the argument for an hour, tape measure in hand, and then he finally put it down. In thirty years of renovating kitchens, he said, he had never seen a couple truly fight about tiles. "People fight about what the room is for," he said. "So what is this room for?"

Pada malam keempat, kontraktor datang untuk mengukur. Ia mendengarkan pertengkaran itu selama satu jam, dengan meteran di tangan, lalu akhirnya meletakkannya. Dalam tiga puluh tahun merenovasi dapur, katanya, ia belum pernah melihat pasangan yang sungguh-sungguh bertengkar soal ubin. "Orang bertengkar soal untuk apa ruangan itu," katanya. "Jadi, ruangan ini untuk apa?"

Nobody answered for a while. "For being near someone while I cook," Birte said at last. "In my parents' flat, the kitchen was a corridor, and I was always in the way. I want a room where somebody can sit and talk to me."

Tak seorang pun menjawab untuk beberapa saat. "Untuk berada dekat seseorang selagi aku memasak," kata Birte akhirnya. "Di apartemen orang tuaku, dapurnya hanya lorong, dan aku selalu menghalangi jalan. Aku ingin ruangan tempat seseorang bisa duduk dan mengobrol denganku."

Her husband looked at the floor. "My father came home every evening and went straight to the fridge," he said. "My mother was always standing beside it. That's where they talked, for ten minutes, before anything else. It was where the day started."

Suaminya menatap lantai. "Ayahku pulang setiap malam dan langsung menuju kulkas," katanya. "Ibuku selalu berdiri di sebelahnya. Di situlah mereka berbicara, sepuluh menit, sebelum hal lain apa pun. Di situlah hari dimulai."

Birte stared at him. In fourteen years of marriage, she had never heard that.

Birte menatapnya. Dalam empat belas tahun pernikahan, ia belum pernah mendengar hal itu.

"So you want the fridge by the door," she said slowly, "and I want you in the kitchen with me. And you want to keep the wall."

"Jadi kamu ingin kulkas di dekat pintu," katanya perlahan, "dan aku ingin kamu ada di dapur bersamaku. Dan kamu ingin mempertahankan dindingnya."

"Yes," he said. "A little."

"Ya," kata suaminya. "Sedikit."

The contractor scratched his chin. "I could put a hatch in the wall," he said. "A wooden hatch at counter height, with a sliding shutter. You keep your wall, and she keeps her conversation."

Kontraktor itu menggaruk dagunya. "Saya bisa membuat lubang saji di dinding," katanya. "Lubang saji kayu setinggi meja dapur, dengan penutup geser. Dinding Anda tetap ada, dan percakapan Ibu tetap ada."

"That's ridiculous," said her husband.

"Itu konyol," kata suaminya.

"It's a hole in the wall," said Birte.

"Itu lubang di dinding," kata Birte.

They looked at each other. "I love it," they said at the same time.

Mereka saling menatap. "Aku suka," kata mereka bersamaan.

The fridge went beside the door. The tiles were white, with one dark green row at the height of the hatch. The shutter was painted green too. The contractor, who had never learned to hide his opinions, wrote "client's idea" next to it on the invoice, in capital letters.

Kulkas ditempatkan di samping pintu. Ubinnya putih, dengan satu baris hijau tua setinggi lubang saji. Penutupnya juga dicat hijau. Si kontraktor, yang tak pernah belajar menyembunyikan pendapatnya, menulis "ide klien" di sampingnya pada faktur, dengan huruf kapital.

On the first evening, her husband came home, dropped his keys on the table and opened the fridge. Birte, at the stove, said hello. He stayed there for ten minutes, talking about nothing. Then he took a book to the sofa. A minute later, the shutter slid open, and a wooden spoon came through the hole.

Pada malam pertama, suaminya pulang, melempar kunci ke atas meja, dan membuka kulkas. Birte, di depan kompor, menyapanya. Suaminya bertahan di sana selama sepuluh menit, berbicara tentang hal-hal tak penting. Lalu ia membawa sebuah buku ke sofa. Semenit kemudian, penutup itu bergeser terbuka, dan sebuah sendok kayu menjulur lewat lubang.

"Taste," said Birte.

"Cicipi," kata Birte.

He tasted. "More salt," he said, and the shutter slid closed.

Suaminya mencicipi. "Kurang garam," katanya, dan penutup itu bergeser menutup.