“When my mother…she get sick, I live up-country in Udon Thani. I have no money. I have nothing. I need medicine for my mother. She have cancer. I no have any money for her. I not have any-ting I can give.”
“Noi, I understand. You had to become a bar girl to take care of your mother…”
“No, Danny, you not listen me. I try tell you. You listen to me please.”
“Okay, sorry.”
“Danny, I ask everybody in village. I ask everybody how I can get money. Nobody have money for me, and my mother she very sick. I think she die soon. I meet man who give me money. He tell me he give me money for my mother…he buy her medicine and then I work for him as bar girl in Nana. He give me money first, then I pay back when I work. I owe him money now, Danny. I owe him money teesud” a lot “and if I not pay he hurt me or hurt my family up-country. I have to pay him or I cannot leave. Kaw jai mai?” Do you understand?
“So if you want to be with me, you have to pay him money?”
“It’s so much money, Danny, I not have. He take care my mother and I have to pay him back. I only work Lollipop two month, and I have to work long time to pay back.”
“How much money do you owe him, Noi?”
“It’s so much money Danny.”
“But I can pay for you, Noi. I can pay it for you.”
“No, Danny, I cannot ask you pay money for me. It money so much.” She was stiff, and looking away.
“How much.”
“No, Danny, I cannot let you pay.”
“Noi, how much is it?”
“It’s…it’s so much.”
“Yes, but how much?”
“Too much, Danny…too much…”
“Noi, I don’t have much money, but if I have enough I will pay for you…”
“No, Danny, I cannot ask you.” Her voice was choking. A tear moved down her cheek.
“Please, Noi, just tell me how much you owe.”
“It so much. I not know how tell you.” Eyes to the floor now.
“Just tell me, please…”
“I mean, I not know English numbers. So mak mak.”
“Can you show me with your fingers then?”
She paused. More tears were moving down her cheeks. Head down. Danny was about to speak again when she slowly raised her right hand. He noticed her hand shaking. She held up two fingers. She then made her hand a circle, and did so five times. Two hundred thousand. Nearly seven thousand US dollars. She pushed one hand into the other, and began to wring them. Then stood up and turned away.
He laid his head down. He had it, but it was every penny he had after this trip.
But why not then? For the first time in nearly a year, he was happy, and felt love. Here was a woman he could see himself with. He could see a future with her. He could pay off this debt for her, move her in with him, and then with his wages they could begin to build a new life for her.
But he could imagine Malkie’s voice shouting at him, You bloody wanker…you know you can never trust a bar girl. She’ll take every penny you have if you let her.
He pushed away those thoughts. He knew Noi was different. He knew he could trust her. He knew she wasn’t like the other bar girls. And he loved her…he hadn’t felt this way in a long time, and he didn’t want it to end. Seven thousand dollars? He had spent that on a bedroom set once. A meager amount to save a sweet young woman from a life of prostitution.
“Noi?” he called out softly. No answer. “Noi?” a bit louder. And then she was standing there, in the doorway to the bedroom of their suite. He was wishing now that he had gotten a cheaper room.
“Yes, Danny. Are you mad at me?” Voice raspy.
“No, I’m not mad, Noi. Please, sit down on the bed again.” She did. “Noi, I have enough money to pay this debt for you.”
“No, Danny, I cannot ask you do this.”
“You’re not asking. I’m telling you. I want to pay this debt for you. But if I pay this debt, you leave the bar, okay? And you move in with me. I make enough to take care of us both. We won’t be rich, but we’ll have enough for food and things.”
“Danny…” she was looking at the headboard, not him. Her eyes seemed fearful of his. “I cannot ask you pay this for me. This money…too much. You so kind, but I cannot. Then I owe you money I cannot pay back.”
“I don’t want you to pay me back, Noi. I want you to live with me and we take care of each other. I want us to live together and share our love.”
“But Danny, I cannot pay you back. An’ my mother, she so sick she might need more money.”
“I would never expect you to pay me back. Why would you think that? If your mother gets sick again, I will help when I can. I can teach extra at my school. And make extra doing other work. I will have enough to take care of you.”
“Danny…” She seemed weak. She sank down into the bed…into his arms. Back turned to him. Heart-shaped hips pressed against his. He could smell her hair and soft perfume and body lotion.
“It’s okay, Noi. I will do this for you. When we get back, I will go to the bank. How can we pay this man who loaned you money?” She was silent. A stone. “Noi, how do we pay him?”
“I have his number. He like to stay near Grace Hotel on Soi Sam,” 3rd Street. “I can call him when we back. But Danny, I don’ wan’ you do this for me. I cannot pay you back ever. You such good man, Danny. You don’ know how hard it for me to let you do this.”
“Noi, I keep telling you…you will pay me back by being with me.”
She turned suddenly, and buried her face in his chest. And then the sobs came. He felt his chest getting soaked with her tears. He held her tight.
“Danny, you are such good man.” And, for once, he felt like it.
XXXIX
Danny was carrying the envelope in his crotch. The largest note in Thailand is a thousand baht, so he had two hundred of them in an overstuffed white envelope. He wore a loose shirt that hung in front of him. He hoped nobody would notice. It wasn’t comfortable. Each movement shoved a corner of the envelope into delicate areas.
As the taxi came to a stop at the hotel, he paid the driver, took Noi by the hand, and stepped out to the street. The Grace Hotel was known for its seediness. He knew that it was a center for human trafficking in Bangkok. He knew that there were gangsters frequenting the clubs and restaurants that surrounded it. Many were armed. The Russian Mafia shared space with Pakistani skin traders. It was daytime, though, so he felt he would be fine. He was a farang in Thailand, after all, and generally could count on a supportive police force. They didn’t want to discourage tourism, so keeping farang safe was part of the deal. Western tourists brought in a lot of money, so industries they utilized, especially the sex industry, were important to the entire economy of restaurants, taxis, hotels, and corrupt police.
“I don’ see him, Danny,” Noi said, softly. She was scanning the faces of the people standing around. At first glance, they appeared no different than any crowd on the streets of Bangkok. When he looked closer, though, he noticed they were all looking at him. Predatory looks. Sizing him up. More whites and Middle Easterners than Thais. Eyes examining, probing for weaknesses. “Oh, I see him, Danny.” She didn’t point, but nodded her head. He was standing on the street a half-block away from the hotel. Danny was relieved. He worried about thieves. The street seemed safer.
He took Noi’s hand, and they walked up the street, moving through sidewalk traffic.
The man smiled and waved. “Hello.”
“Danny, this Lek. He man I owe money.” Danny was worried he would be a thug or tough. Instead, he was a slender man in his twenties. He wasn’t worried about him physically, which was a relief. Danny stuck out his hand.
“Hello, Danny. Nice to mee’ you,” Lek said.
“Nice to meet you too, Lek.” He began to reach into the front of his pants.
“No, no…” he looked around quickly. He put his hand on Danny’s arm. “No take out money here. Too dangerous. Grace Hotel have many bad pe
ople.” He pronounced people as pee-pun.
“Oh, sorry.” Danny felt embarrassed. “Where should we go?”
“Let’s get away from Grace. We go up to restaurant I eat at. Much safer.”
“Okay. Lead the way.”
Lek smiled and turned. The sidewalk was narrow, so he stepped forward and Danny followed, turning sideways to hold Noi’s hand. They were walking single file. Away from the hotel, there were food carts, and people lining up to eat at them. Eventually, Danny had to let go of her hand. There were just too many people to weave through.
They soon reached a restaurant, which was recessed from the street. Stepping out of the crowded street, Danny welcomed the respite. He couldn’t wait to hand over the money and get this transaction over with. He looked at Noi and she gave him a shy smile, grabbing his arm.
“Okay, we step over here, away from people eating.”
Danny stepped forward, and began, “Lek, thanks so much for meeting us so quickly...” He felt Noi take a step to the side away from him, and then he felt a heavy, dull thud on the back of his head. Kunk! He lost his vision and hearing instantly, but felt the blows to his face and body as soon as he slammed into the cement. He felt kicks and punches, and periodically a hard metallic crack on his face and body. He was surprised he could tell them apart. The impact of kicks to his mid-section turned him from his right shoulder and arm, where he had landed, over onto his back. Sharp, wet crunching blows rained down on his nose and jaw. He felt his front teeth splinter from a metallic stroke across his mouth. Tears poured out of his eyes. Air chased out of his lungs from heavy kicks. He curled up instinctively. His vision returned, though through his tears he couldn’t see much more than dark shapes. He saw the fists, arms, and legs of at least three attackers. One of them was female. Her kicks were pointed, and landed on his stomach and hips and crotch. Grunts and thuds filled the air around him, mixed between the wet crunching blows.
He could not see the cause of the metallic thuds, but they were so damaging he registered them with every strike. Then a rough hand was in his pants. The envelope was jerked out. His other pockets were rifled. He shook the blood and tears from his eyes, just in time to see Noi grab the left arm of Lek. Lek proudly held the envelope up to show him. His laugh was loud.
“You look for us I kill you. You hear me?” Her young face was now as hard as iron. He pointed his finger at him menacingly.
Danny didn’t reply. He was spitting teeth shards and blood out of his mouth. He saw the other assailant step over him, and the black metal asp baton in his hand was dripping blood. This man, much darker and heavier than Lek, turned and gave a final downward stroke, hitting Danny in the chest, forcing a coughing gasp once more.
Then he saw her again, and he heard her laugh. Her head was thrown back, and her eyes were wicked. Her eyes were the eyes of a wolf. “Bye, Danny! Chok dee nah!” Good luck! She gave him the finger, and then walked away triumphantly holding Lek’s arm. As they walked away, he saw Lek give her a hard kiss, and she returned it with fervor. She looked back a final time with a savage smile on her face. The other man followed them, still shaking the blood off the asp. He heard them get into a car, and saw the car drive off. He never saw her again.
I was going to give them the money no matter what. Why did they have to beat me?
He turned his head, and rolled onto his right shoulder. Red, gooey blood ran from several places on his face. He spit a large glob of it from his mouth, and saw another white chunk of tooth bounce on the ground. He looked at the mess of his own blood, thick and slippery. Everything inside of him was flowing out, pouring out on the dirty cement. It looked like he had lost a lot of blood already, and he wondered if this was the end for him. He pondered how long it would be before he lost consciousness.
And then there were softer hands on him. A soft hand on his shoulder, easing him down onto his back. Another touching his left arm. Compassionate eyes staring down at him.
“You okay, man? Oh my God.” He knew the alarm was for the state of his face. He wanted to stand, but he knew he was in no condition to. He tried to sit up, but the gentle hands held him down.
“You stay here, mistah! We get taxi…take you Bum-run-glad, nah?”
He was so grateful to see these caring eyes looking at him. He looked back into them, pleading in his. Their presence calmed him. He knew everything would be okay if they were there to protect him. He reached out, and grabbed the arm of the man kneeling beside him. The man smiled at him. “It okay, man…lay down…”
He tried to press himself up to a sitting position again, this time pressing down with his right arm, and pulling on the arm of the man next to him. He felt the break in his right forearm, and he collapsed under it. He didn’t feel pain yet…he knew the adrenaline was protecting him from the agony that was to come. He felt the throbbing quite clearly. The throbbing vibrated inside him…warning him that soon he would feel. He knew it would be intense.
A pink taxi pulled up. All at once hands grabbed him. Legs. Waist. Shoulders. Head supported. He was carried to the taxi, where the driver waited, holding the door open, face agonizing for what he saw on Danny’s face. He knew Lek had taken his wallet, and he didn’t know how he would pay for this trip. Sitting up, the blood from his nose and mouth flowed freely onto his shirt and jeans. He didn’t know who would clean up this taxi when he arrived. He didn’t know how much blood he lost, but knew it was substantial.
Though Bumrungrad Hospital was just a block away, traffic was tight, and it went the wrong direction. He saw many young men stepping out to the street, yelling in Thai. Several cars pulled over and made an alley for his taxi on the far side. The car drove the wrong way up Soi 3, scraping the curb at times. At the corner of the alley to the hospital, a police officer wearing an orange vest waving coned flashlights looked inside at him. His shocked expression told Danny how his face looked. He peeked up and could just see a bit of his face in the driver’s rearview mirror. It was a mask of split and bleeding tissue. Raw hamburger. The taxi sped into the hospital drop-off, and a man with a wheelchair was waiting for him. He heard the gasps. He heard the surprise. He heard the murmurs.
But most of all he felt shame. That wasn’t a new experience for him, though. He was getting rather good at shame.
XL
Inside the emergency room, the dull throbbing intensified, and now the sharp edge his adrenaline had blocked began to pierce through. He started to grunt and groan at its sharp onset. The nurses were moving quickly, and once an IV was in place they administered pain medication. The good stuff. He felt its warming tendrils through his veins. He drifted into a dazed, half-sleep feeling. The throbbing pain was still there, but distant…like a radio playing in another room.
An older man stood next to him. “Sir, hello. I’m Doctor Chularat. Can you hear me?” Danny nodded. “You’ve been badly beaten. We need to take care of some of these cuts on your face. It appears your arm is broken also, and you’ve likely broken a couple ribs.” Though he was in pain, Danny was impressed with the doctor’s English, as if that mattered somehow. “I am going to send you to have x-rays. Do you give permission for this treatment?”
“Yes.” Danny was shocked to hear his missing teeth made his response “Yef.”
“Okay sir. It appears you do not have any information on you. No identification. What is your name?”
“Daniel Raymond Shields.” Again f-sounds. “I have been here before.” He didn’t think it was important to tell them that his only previous visit had been for a case of gonorrhea.
“Okay Mistah Shields.”
An hour later, he had a cast on his right arm, from the elbow down to his knuckles. One rib was cracked, but none broken. His face was being stitched. Two doctors sat on either side of him, each stitching different wounds. Sterile cloths were draped over his face. The opiates dulled the pain tremendously, but not entirely. The tugging was the worst. The local injections were sharp pain still, and the stitching needles felt like swords. The co
ld water that rinsed his wounds made his facial bones ache.
He heard booted feet enter the room, but the cloths over his face blocked his vision.
“Mistah Shield. Hello.” Danny raised his right casted hand and wiggled his fingers. “I am Officer Latchulaporn. I am chief of police for the Lumphini district. I am here to colle’ info-mation about your…incident.” His voice was deep and commanding.
“I can’t tell you much, officer.” He didn’t recognize his voice, and his missing teeth caused a loose flapping of his words.
“We understand from witness that two men and a woman beat you. They took something from you. Please give us detail, Mistah Shield.”
And now he was faced with it. He hadn’t thought of what his response would be.
“Mistah Shield?”
“Sorry, I’ve had a rough day, sir. My head is very cloudy right now.” They sent the chief of police to take his report?
“Do you know the name of who attack you?”
He thought for a bit. “No, I don’t know them. I was taking my rent payment from my bank. They must’ve known I had it.”
“Why you follow ‘dem?”
“Follow…?”
“Two witness say you walk wit’ ‘dem to side of restaurant.”
He knew his lie would be bad, but it was all he could think of. “I was trying to pay for sex with the girl.” In some ways, this was the truth.
Long pause.
“I think you not tell me truth, Mistah Shield. Why?”
“What reason would I have to lie to you? Why would I lie about someone attacking me like that?” He couldn’t help it. He let out a laugh when he heard how much play there was on his upper lip. Maybe it was the morphine. He pictured himself as a toothless hillbilly, complete with banjo. But when he laughed, the roots of his broken teeth ached terribly, and his laugh turned into a groan.
Another long pause.
“Okay, Mistah Shield.” He heard writing. Their boots didn’t move. “We have one more problem to talk wit’ you. Mistah Week in Pattaya. He say you and you frien’ try to make him sell drug. You know about drug wit’ Mistah Week?”
The One Way (Changes Book 1) Page 20