Scarface

Scarface is the scar-chinned officer whose abuse of Scarlet Blush becomes a defining trauma in Ajo Kawir’s life. First seen in uniform alongside another policeman, he uses his authority to assault Scarlet Blush and force Ajo Kawir to witness, an act that the boys later conceal and that returns in Ajo Kawir’s memories.

Identity and Introduction

Ajo Kawir and Gecko initially identify the newcomers only as two policemen by their uniforms; they do not recognize either man. In the dim light, however, Ajo Kawir sees that one has a scar crossing his chin and nearly splitting his lip. That physical detail later supplies the only identifying feature he can offer while searching for the officer. The narrative names this man Scarface, distinguishing him from his companion, whom the boys remember by his clove cigarette.

Assault on Scarlet Blush

At Scarlet Blush’s house, Scarface orders her to bathe. When she does not respond, he kicks her repeatedly, then seizes her by the collar, drags her to the bathroom, and turns on the water. He keeps her under the faucet when she tries to move away, strips her clothes, and washes her. The sudden shift from force and insults to the act of washing does not lessen the coercion: he controls where she is and what happens to her throughout.

Afterward, Scarface and the other officer take turns raping Scarlet Blush. Scarface makes Ajo Kawir remain and watch, while his partner holds a pistol to the boy’s head. Ajo Kawir is terrified and unable to speak. Gecko, who has returned to the window, sees his friend immobilized by the threat and decides not to intervene or seek help. The episode therefore binds the assault not only to Scarface’s abuse of power but also to the boys’ helplessness and subsequent silence.

Identification, Retaliation, and the Weight of Memory

Years later, Ajo Kawir and Gecko try to locate the two officers. Ajo Kawir describes one by the scar across his chin; the companion is remembered by his clove cigarette. At the guard post and precinct office, they are told that officers move between territories and squads, and no one can identify the men. Their search reaches no resolution in the available account, leaving Scarface recognizable by a feature that was first glimpsed in the dim light but insufficient to establish his whereabouts.

The assault is kept from Iwan Angsa when he asks what happened to Ajo Kawir. Gecko says that they do not know, unwilling to disclose what the boys had seen or add to their troubles; Ajo Kawir repeats that he does not know why his body has changed. Their concealment leaves the incident unspoken between them and helps explain why the remembered violence cannot be treated as a closed episode.

The book also sets Scarface’s conduct against a wider world in which violence is organized and exchanged. The Empty Hand, though often mistaken for an ordinary gang, is hired to kill and is skilled with weapons; later, an old blind man advises Ajo Kawir to surrender to the police, presenting prison as a safer place than the Tiger’s men and a way to extinguish the anger within him. These surrounding forms of paid violence and coercion do not directly identify Scarface’s later fate, but they place the officers’ abuse within a society where force is repeatedly exercised under the cover of authority or made into a service for others.

Scarface remains a figure of unresolved pursuit rather than a fully traced character arc. Ajo Kawir’s memory of the Tiger and Iteung, and the sound of a skull cracking that returns as he travels alone, show how violence continues to intrude on the present; the text does not explicitly connect that particular sound to Scarface. His clearest narrative consequence is instead the lasting trauma attached to the assault and to Ajo Kawir’s forced witnessing, while the officer himself disappears from the boys’ search.

Identification, Retaliation, and the Weight of Memory

Years later, Ajo Kawir and Gecko try to locate the two officers. Ajo Kawir identifies one by the scar across his chin and the other by his clove cigarette. At the guard post and precinct office, they learn that policemen move between territories and squads, but receive no identification or lead that resolves the search. Scarface remains recognizable by the feature first glimpsed in the dim light, yet the men’s whereabouts stay unknown.

When Iwan Angsa asks what happened to Ajo Kawir, Gecko says they do not know, unwilling to reveal what the boys witnessed or add to their troubles. Ajo Kawir likewise says he does not know why his body has changed. Their silence preserves the assault as something neither boy can bring into the open with Iwan Angsa, even as the event remains consequential in Ajo Kawir’s life.

The account places Scarface’s abuse within a broader landscape where violence is organized, exchanged, and enforced. The Empty Hand is widely mistaken for an ordinary gang, but its members are sometimes paid to kill and are skilled with weapons. Later, an old blind man advises Ajo Kawir to surrender to the police, presenting prison as safer than the Tiger’s men and as a way to put out the anger consuming him. These other forms of violence do not establish Scarface’s later fate, but they show the coercion he exercises as part of a world where force operates through both official authority and hired services.

Narrative Role and Limits of the Record

Scarface’s role is sharply consequential but narrowly documented: the account establishes his actions during the assault, while offering no confirmed later encounter or outcome for him. Ajo Kawir and Gecko’s search yields no identification at the guard post or precinct office, where they are told that policemen move between territories and squads. The trail ends without establishing whether Scarface remains in service, where he goes, or whether he is ever held accountable.

That absence matters beside the uncertainty surrounding other violence in the story. Accounts of Agus Cornpipe’s killing conflict over whether soldiers stormed the house, shot him during dinner or in the bedroom, or a lone sniper waited outside; Iwan Angsa says only Scarlet Blush and the men responsible could know for certain. Scarface’s identity is more concrete—the scar across his chin—and his assault is witnessed by Ajo Kawir and Gecko, but the perpetrators still evade the boys’ efforts to find them. The contrast makes the remembered harm definite while leaving the possibility of justice unresolved.