by J. F. Gump
In spite of the hot night, Mike felt a cold chill start at the base of his neck and work its way down both arms and up across the top of his head. Something wasn’t right.
“Two or three days ago,” he replied, hiding his growing apprehension. “Thursday morning in fact. Why do you ask?”
“No reason, really,” Randy answered, nonchalant. “Just curious.”
“Bullshit,” Mike blurted. “First you show up forty-five minutes late, second you start your conversation with a question on something you don’t even care about, and then you act like it means nothing. God damn you, Randy. What the fuck is going on? What in the hell are you getting at?”
Randy did not reply. He sipped on his beer and looked like he was in deep thought. Finally, he turned to Mike and sighed. “It didn’t take me long to shower and change clothes. I had some time to kill so I decided to walk here and save the baht-bus fare. By the time I reached Soi 2, the beers I’d drank at the TQ had really kicked in and I had to piss like a racehorse. I went to the two-baht john on the south side of the bars. You know the one I mean?”
Mike nodded.
“Well,” Randy continued, “After I finished in the john, I had to walk through the bars to get back to Second Road. That’s where I saw her.” Randy hesitated.
“Saw who?” he asked.
“Well, you know,” Randy stammered.
“You mean you saw Math?”
“I’m not sure. I think it was her. If it wasn’t, it was her twin sister.”
“What did you say to her? What did she say?”
Randy paused before answering, “I didn’t say anything. I didn’t stop. She was with another man, a farang.”
Mike was stunned. He felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest and thrown on the bar in front of him. Maybe Randy was mistaken. “Are you sure it was her? I know you have met her, but maybe it wasn’t her. You know how many of these people look alike to us.”
Randy’s sympathy for Mike was obvious when he said, “I don’t know 100% for sure, but it really looked like her. I might be wrong, and god knows I hope I am. I can tell by the way you have been acting lately that you like her very much. If you weren’t my friend, I would just laugh and forget the whole thing, but I can’t. I wouldn’t want you to hide anything like this from me. I don’t want you to believe something that is not true. We’ve both seen these girls set guys up just to get money from them. I am not saying that is what’s going on or anything. I don’t know what to think. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it wasn’t her.” For a moment Randy was silent, then he muttered, “I almost didn’t come to meet you. I wasn’t sure what to do. Now I wish I’d never said anything.”
Mike picked up his beer and finished it in one long swallow. He ordered another one. He sat there drinking, thinking, and moping. Surely, Randy must be wrong. He had fleeting images of Math sitting with another man and it made his scrotum tighten in reflex. His anger built each time the thoughts entered his head.
Quickly, he finished his beer. He had decided what he would do. “Thanks for telling me what you saw,” he said, setting the empty bottle on the bar. “Don’t worry about telling me because it’s not important. She really doesn’t mean anything to me. She can do whatever she wants. I am not her father or her husband or her boyfriend.”
Randy knew Mike was lying. His voice and his face betrayed his words.
Mike asked for his bill to be totaled and stood up from the barstool. He wobbled slightly.
“Where are you heading?” Randy asked. “You’re still going to Soi 8 with me, aren’t you?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” he answered. “Right now I’m going to Soi 2.” Without waiting for his bill, he threw 500 baht on the bar and walked away.
Randy reached for his wallet, threw another 500 baht on the bar, then hurried to catch up with Mike, who was moving pretty fast, though at staggering gait. He worried that Mike might do something stupid in his drunkenness. “Hey Mike,” he said. “I still have that ten baht piece. What say we take a baht-bus to Soi 2?”
Soi 2 was only three blocks away, but tonight it seemed like a very long three blocks. Mike agreed and they flagged down the next baht-bus that passed by.
When they arrived, Mike asked, “Which bar? I want to see her, but I don’t want her to see me. Know what I mean?”
Randy nodded. “It’s down here.” He led the way.
On Randy’s cue, they stopped. Randy pointed and Mike looked. The girl’s back was toward them and he couldn’t get a good view of her, but by God, from this side, it surely looked like Math.
“I can’t see her face,” Mike whispered, his words slurred.
“Just wait a minute,” Randy responded. “Maybe she will turn around.”
The girl was sitting beside a man, a farang - a very big farang. She appeared to be talking to the man and a girl behind the bar. Sometimes Mike could hear them laugh, but he couldn’t hear their conversation. Three times the farang put his arm around the girl and she didn’t pull away. After what seemed like an eternity, she turned and looked in the direction of the Toy Bar. Mike got a perfect look at her face. It was Math. For a moment he thought he was going to either hyperventilate or burst into a rage. He forced himself to be calm.
“I’ve seen enough. I’m leaving now.”
“Where are you going?” Randy asked. “Let’s go to Soi 8 and forget about that whore-bitch.”
Mike gave Randy a look that could kill. “She’s not a whore and she’s not a bitch. She is a cunt. I don’t know where I’m going, but right now it’s anywhere but here.”
Randy’s face blushed red. “Do you want me to say anything to her? I will, if you want.”
“Tell her to go fuck herself,” Mike said, then turned and walked away.
Randy watched his friend leave, debating what to do. He was already in trouble with his new girlfriend because he was late. On the other hand, another couple of minutes wouldn’t make much difference one way or another. He walked toward the bar where Math sat with the big farang..
Chapter 15
When Math left the condo earlier that Saturday evening, she went directly to Soi 2. By the time she’d parked her motorcycle, it was nine o’clock. Lek cast an evil glare at her, but said nothing. Som Jai was there and Math motioned her over to the side of the road. “Have you seen Mike?” she asked.
“I haven’t seen him tonight,” Som Jai answered, glancing at Lek. “And I shouldn’t be talking to you. Lek has threatened to fire anyone who talks to you or Mike. I don’t know what her problem is. She acts like she owns him. I think she is crazy. There is a girl working here on Soi 2 who knows your sister. Her name is Yui. She works at Peter’s Place Bar. It’s near the toilets. I told her I have seen you and she wants to meet you. She has a letter from your sister. Something about her falling and breaking her foot. Maybe she cannot walk right again. Why don’t you go talk to her?”
“Someone has a letter from my sister?” she asked.
“Yes. Her name is Yui,” Som Jai repeated. “I have to stop talking to you now. I cannot afford to lose my job.” Som Jai pointed in the direction of the toilets and Peter’s Place, then she turned and walked away.
Math walked in the direction that Som Jai had pointed. She knew nothing about her sister being hurt. But, she had been away from home for two weeks and had not spoken with her mother while she was in Phitsanulok. Anything can happen in two weeks.
Peter’s Place was easy to find. Math took a seat at the bar and ordered a coke. When she asked if anyone knew Yui, one girl responded immediately. Math explained that she was Itta’s sister. After they talked for a few minutes, Yui showed Itta’s letter to Math.
Math knew it was from her sister, because she recognized the handwriting. For some reason, Itta was telling this girl things she had never told her own family. She knew her sister was unhappy, but she never knew how cruel Ian was. Itt
a had never told her family of the beatings Ian gave her. Nor had she ever mentioned Ian making her have sex with his friends for money. She wanted to cry for her sister but could not in such a public place. She was relieved when a customer, a farang, came to the bar and sat down. He was a distraction from her thoughts.
At first, the farang sat a few bar stools away, but he moved closer when he discovered that Math spoke English. His closeness made her uncomfortable, but she said nothing. She was waiting for Mike to show up at the Toy Bar, but she couldn’t wait for him there because of Lek.
From where she sat at Peter’s Place, she had a good view of Toy’s. Every few minutes she would look to see if Mike was there. The farang put his arm around her from time to time, but he was being very nice and did not ask her to go with him, so she ignored his actions. Yui was fun to talk to and Peter’s Place seemed like as good a place as any to wait for Mike. She had already decided that if Mike didn’t show up by eleven thirty, she would go back to his condo and wait.
When eleven thirty came with no sign of Mike, she asked Yui for her check. She was getting money from her purse, when she heard someone behind her say her name. She turned and came face to face with one of Mike’s friends. “Oh,” she said surprised. She recognized his face but could not remember his name. “How are you? Have you seen Mike?”
Randy just stared at her, a look of disgust on his face.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “You look ill.”
“Mike said you went to your home,” Randy said, his face expressionless. “Now all of a sudden you are here, and with a farang.” he nodded in the direction of the foreigner.
“What do you mean?” she asked. Panic nipped at her. “I am not with anyone. I waited for Mike at his condo for a long time, but he did not come home. I came to find him. Lek at the Toy Bar doesn’t like me, so I am waiting here. This lady knows my sister. She had a letter for me to read.” She waved the letter in front of Randy as evidence. “Where is Mike?” she demanded.
“You Thai women must think all farangs are stupid. With as many people as Mike knows in this town, didn’t you think he’d find that you are out whoring around?”
The farang sitting next to Math stood up. He wasn’t just big, he was huge. “Is this man bothering you, sweetheart?” the big farang asked.
Math turned to the man. “You shut up,” she ordered sharply then turned back to Randy. “I am not with him. Just ask him.”
Randy looked at the man. “Well?” Randy asked. The man said nothing.
Math looked at the big man. “Why don’t you answer him?” she demanded.
“You told me to shut up,” the farang said.
“I was only joking,” she shouted shrilly. “Just tell him the truth.”
“Okay,” the big man said, stepping back from her outburst. “The young lady is right, I don’t know her. She was sitting here talking to Yui when I came in. I noticed she spoke good English and I wanted to talk to her. In case you haven’t noticed, good English is somewhat of a rarity around here. She told me she had just come back from Phitsanulok and was waiting for her boyfriend to get home from work. This girl is not with me. I have a Thai wife who wouldn’t be very happy if I was with another lady. My wife isn’t very big, but she is meaner than hell when she’s jealous.”
“Well, now what do you think?” Math asked contemptuously.
Randy sputtered, “I think maybe I made a mistake.” He hesitated for a minute before adding, “Mike saw you with this man.”
“Mike saw me?” she asked wide-eyed. Panic bit hard. “How could he see me? He hasn’t been here. I have been watching for him all night.”
Randy’s faced flushed. “Actually, I saw you first, earlier, and then Mike and I sort of sneaked up on you.”
“What do you mean, you sort of sneaked up on me?” she shrieked. “I can’t believe you men. I never thought farangs were stupid before, but I am sure thinking it now. Do you know where Mike went?”
“I don’t know,” Randy answered. “Maybe he went to Soi 8 or maybe he went home. I don’t know.”
“Well, let’s find him,” she said, calming herself down as much as she could. “Let’s start at his condo. I have my brother’s motorcycle. I will take us there.”
Randy agreed. He paid for Math’s tab and they left.
***************
Mike was angry when he left Randy at the strip of bars on Soi 2. He couldn’t clear his mind of the image of Math sitting next to that man, laughing and having fun. It was even worse than he had imagined while sitting at the Music Lover Bar. The scene he had just witnessed repeated itself over and over in his head. The farang putting his arm around Math, and Math smiling at the attention. He tried to shut the image off but he couldn’t. Instead, his throat cramped tight and his eyes filled with tears.
Mike didn’t understand his feelings, they didn’t make sense. He hardly knew the girl. She shouldn’t be affecting him like this. He was a married man. It was crazy.
After a few moments, and as hard as it was for him to admit it, he realized he had fallen in love with that girl Math. How could he have let himself be fooled into loving a common bar-girl? He had a sudden urge to hurt her, but it faded quickly. He took a deep breath. The cramp in his throat eased and his eyes stopped tearing. As he continued his way home, he decided that tonight he would drink until he had erased her from his head. Tomorrow, he would get an AIDS test.
He stopped at the gas station and bought a liter bottle of beer. It was gone before he reached the condo. He threw the empty bottle hard against the sidewalk, but felt no satisfaction at its shattering.
Inside the condo, the afternoon guard was gone but Jem, the manager, was still on duty. “Is Jahl still eating dinner?” Mike asked, trying to smile.
“Not really,” Jem answered. “Right now I think she is getting rid of her dinner. Seems she ate something not so good for her. I am stuck here until my night boy comes to work. I called him to come early, but he isn’t here yet.”
“That’s too bad,” he said. “I feel sorry all three of you.”
“Never mind,” the manager responded. “I guess you want your key?”
He nodded and Jem handed it to him. He removed the key from its oversized ring and dropped it into his pocket. He handed back the empty ring. She raised her eyebrows in question.
“I’m taking it with me. I want to be sure my ex-friend, that girl named Math, doesn’t get the key to my room. And, I don’t want anyone letting her in with a master key, either. Make sure you tell your night boy that. I don’t want her here. Do you understand me?”
Jem blinked at the force of his words.
“I am sorry for how that sounded,” he said, trying to soften the impact. “I’m a little upset. I just don’t want that girl to have access to my room. That’s all.”
“Okay,” the manager said. “I will make sure she doesn’t get into your room. And I will make sure the night boy understands too.”
“Thank you,” Mike said. “One more thing. If I happen to show up with a girl tonight, keep an eye on me. Okay? Seems like I’m not very good at picking trustworthy friends.” Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left the condo.
***************
Math steered her motorcycle into the condo parking area less than ten minutes after Mike had left. The guard looked at her and Randy suspiciously. Math ignored the guard and pulled into a parking spot. Randy was glad to be off of the motorcycle. Math had struggled to control it with him on the back.
The night boy was on duty in the condo lobby. “Have you seen Khun Mike?” Math asked politely in Thai.
“No,” the boy shook his head.
“Is his key here?” she asked.
The boy reached up and pulled down the ring, minus the key, and held it out for her to see. “He is not here and you are not allowed here either.”
“What d
o you mean, I am not allowed here?” she demanded, surprised at his words.
“I don’t know what I mean,” the boy answered. “All I know is that Ms. Jem said you were not allowed here. She didn’t say why. She just said it. Maybe you should go now.”
“What’s going on?” Randy asked, seeing the expression on Math’s face.
She explained, her voice filled with questions and confusion.
“Mike must have been here already,” Randy said. “Ask him how he knows Mike isn’t here, if he hasn’t seen him.”
Math asked and the boy gave her an extended answer. She interpreted for Randy. “When he came on duty, the condo manager told him that Mike had taken his key and gone outside. She said he looked very drunk and not happy. She told the boy that he should alert the security guard, if Mike came home with a girl. The manager also said that I am not allowed in his room and that I should be asked to leave if I come here.”
“That’s Mike,” Randy said. “100% pure Mike. Come on, let’s go. Maybe he went to Soi 8 like we planned. I was taking him there to meet my new girlfriend. I don’t know where else to look. First, let’s ask the girls at the bar out front if they have seen him or know where he went. If they don’t know, then we’ll go to Soi 8.”
They left the condo and walked to the Music Lover Bar. The girls had seen Mike go into the condo, but they had not seen him leave. As far as they knew, he was already in bed. Randy and Math caught a baht-bus to Soi 8.
***************
Mike had left the condo lobby just seconds before the night boy came on duty and only minutes before Math and Randy had arrived. When he left, he took the side road that bypassed the bars out front. He didn’t want to see anyone he knew and he especially didn’t want to see Randy. When he thought about their earlier conversation, he realized that Randy had somehow known his feelings for Math, even before he knew them himself. Were his feelings always so clear to everyone except himself? He was embarrassed at the way Math had fooled him. Randy and the others were probably having a field day laughing at him. He didn’t want to see any of them tonight. He had lost face. He walked to Soi 6.