‘Today, Mike. It’s going to be a busy day, today.’
‘Oh, yes. Today.’
‘I’ll see you later, then. I’ll lock up.’ She stood before him and gave him a wai. She waited.
Oh, bloody hell, he thought. What do I do? If I wai, will she tell me off? If I don’t, will that be wrong? What if I smile? Hang on, Mike thought. He knew what to do. He’d known for a long time. A smile is used for children and lesser persons. It’s used to acknowledge people with a lower standing in life. People you don’t need to show respect. He stood and gave her the most polite wai he could.
‘Well done, Mike. We’ll get along just fine. Goodnight,’ she said and smiled at him before turning away.
‘Goodnight, Siswan,’ he said, watching her leave.
Time for a whiskey, he thought. No better not. Maybe a cigarette? No. Best just get some sleep. He turned towards the stairs at the back of the bar. For the first time in a long time there was a smile on his face. Life was certainly going to get busy.
*****
Over the course of the next six weeks Siswan made changes. Lots of them. The bar was cleaned. Top to bottom. The lights were fixed. Some replaced. The toilets were repaired. The place shone like a new bar.
That was the least of it. The girls were given a makeover the like of which Mike had never seen before. They all wore identical uniforms. Short skirts, not too short mind, and skimpy tops that revealed their stomachs rather than their breasts. High heeled, open-toed sandals that made them taller, more elegant. They looked sexy. Incredibly sexy.
Siswan taught them how to apply just the right amount of make-up. It looked as though they weren’t wearing any. Their long black hair shone in the new lighting. They looked good. And it wasn’t just their looks she had changed. It was their attitude. They acted differently. For one thing, they were more respectful. More friendly.
‘You can all speak English,’ Siswan told them. ‘So don’t be afraid to talk.’
‘But what do we say?’ Jom asked.
Siswan had dealt with Jom in exactly the same way as the others. The girl had turned up on the morning they all went shopping. Lon and Tak hadn’t gone to a club either. Just to bed.
‘Tell them stories. Funny stories about your life. About your family. Don’t make the stories too long or they’ll get bored. Listen to what they have to say. Enjoy their company. Don’t just pretend, learn to really enjoy,’ Siswan had told them.
‘But they talk bad and just try for a free grope,’ Tak said.
Siswan had been patient. She’d told them how to deal with a farang that swore too much. How to move away whenever a hand strayed too far.
‘Tell them. Be direct. Farangs don’t mind being told. They aren’t the same as local men. They don’t get angry. Just tell them that they can look as much as they want but to touch will cost them money. Laugh as you tell them,’ Siswan said.
She had demonstrated exactly want she meant. She had taken the loudest, most drunk and foul mouthed farang and, within minutes, had him acting like a little school boy.
‘You see?’ she said later to the girls. ‘It’s not up to them how they behave. It’s up to you.’
‘But what if we can’t control them? What if they go too far?’
‘Then you come to me or Mike,’ she said. ‘If ever you get into trouble, if ever you are unsure, you come to me or Mike. About anything.’
The girls felt better. They felt as though Siswan was working with them. Was one of them. Willing to help. She was a hard boss, that was for sure. She wouldn’t allow anything underhand. No one was allowed to take advantage, but, when they worked hard, did as she expected, she took care of them. Was fair to them.
She had cut their drink and bar fine commissions to ten percent. She wouldn’t allow anyone to dip their hand in the till. Wouldn’t let them sit in the chairs outside. They had to be inside. Looking after the customers. Checking that their glasses were full, without being obvious about it.
She showed them how to smile, how to laugh with the regulars. Even though they heard the same story twenty times, it didn’t matter. Laugh and say the right thing, always. She taught them respect for the customer.
‘The customer is always right,’ she told them. ‘Even when he’s wrong, he’s still right.’
Slowly the girls began to learn. Apple picked it up the quickest, just as Siswan had thought. Slowly though, they all got it. The bar began to attract new customers.
As farangs walked past, they could hear the laughter coming from within. There were no girls outside trying to tempt them. There didn’t need to be. When they looked through the doors they could see smart, sexy girls all chatting and having fun with the customers. It looked like a good place to be. The girls really looked as though they were enjoying themselves, rather than just pretending. Even Pan was coming out of her shell. She was being bought so many drinks and earning so many tips, she was making more than when she’d been stealing from the till.
New customers came and stayed. Became regulars. Tourists would come every night of their two week holiday. They liked the place. It was full of laughter and fun.
‘Don’t ask the farangs to go with you,’ Siswan taught the girls. ‘Make sure it’s their idea.’
‘But what if they don’t ask?’ Tak said.
‘Oh, they will. As soon as they realise that you don’t care one way or the other, they’ll ask. Men are easy. You’ll see.’
And she’d been right. The less interest the girls showed, the more interest the men had. Even the regular regulars were finding themselves going home with a girl on their arm every now and then.
‘Don’t just aim for the good looking farangs. The chances are they will have had lots of girls and may be a health risk. Their money isn’t any better than an old or ugly one, either.’ Siswan taught them. ‘Remember to look after the regulars. They’re the ones who deserve better treatment.’
She never missed a trick. She made certain that a farang wasn’t left alone for too long. She circulated, spoke to everyone. Made sure no one was lonely. Before long the bar was packed every night. Twenty times the takings turned into thirty times. Still she wanted more.
‘Mike, we need two more girls,’ she told him at the end of a busy night. ‘I’ll look out for a couple tomorrow.’
‘Oh, right you are,’ Mike said.
He didn’t know why she bothered to ask him. She was running the place. In charge of it all. He did his best, of course. Tried to come up with new ideas. Tried to keep up with her, but she was miles ahead of him. She never seemed to sleep. Always the first to arrive. She worked tirelessly. He was too old for all this now. She was leaving him behind.
The funny thing was that Siswan did keep asking him. She included him in everything she did. He knew she could walk all over him, but she didn’t. At the end of every night she went over the books with him. Showed him exactly what had been earned. Clearly showed him the profits, the outgoings, the expenses. She had halved how much he was paying for the girls accommodation. She had found them a much nicer place closer to the bar at half the price of the other rooms. The girls were over the moon. They each had their own small room as well as a large lounge where they could watch TV or just sit and talk. The landlord gave them no trouble at all and even sent a woman around to clean the place once a week.
The bar was not only paying for itself it was making a handsome profit. More than Mike had ever earned before.
‘We need your room, Mike,’ Siswan told him one day.
‘My room?’ He looked worried.
Maybe this was the final push. When she got him out and took over completely. He didn’t know why she kept him there.
‘Yes. To make the food,’ she smiled.
‘Food?’
‘We can make a lot of money from food, Mike.’ S
he sat him down at the bar and went over her new idea. ‘We don’t do anything too fancy. Just bar snacks, but we make them very tasty and good value.’
He just looked at her. It was a good idea and would keep everyone drinking instead of leaving to find a restaurant. But what about him? What about his room?
‘We talked about this before, Mike,’ she said.
‘Did we?’
‘Yes. The very first night we met.’
‘Oh. Yes. I expect so.’
‘Yes. We discussed what you needed. Whiskey. Cigarettes. A better room. Remember? You added that you wanted some new clothes.’
‘But I’m hardly drinking. Don’t smoke so much either,’ he muttered.
‘That’s good, Mike. You were only killing yourself, anyway.’ She looked at him and smiled. ‘I’ve found you a really nice place. Care to take a look?’
Mike moved into his new apartment two days later. It was a fantastic place. A big lounge, large bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and, best of all, a balcony that afforded him a view right down to the beach.
‘So, what do you think, Mike?’ Siswan asked him, as they looked out at the vista below.
‘It’s amazing!’ he replied. ‘It’ll cost an arm and a leg though.’
‘No. Not very much.’
When she had shown him the rental agreement he could hardly believe his eyes. He would have paid four times that amount.
‘I figure we’ll be able to make that much on food in less than a week. The rest will be profit,’ she told him.
She was right as well. She brought in a short order cook who could knock up bar meals like there was no tomorrow. They were good as well. Big servings to suit the farangs. The cook, a local woman named Rican, had been operating her own little stall for the last few years. She was delighted with her new job. She earned more money and no longer had to pay for a licence. Mike took to her friendly attitude immediately and, more often than not, would eat all his meals in his own bar. Rican fussed over him. He liked it.
Siswan brought in two more girls. Young ones who had just arrived in the resort. She hadn’t wanted girls who had worked for too long.
‘Easier to teach, Mike,’ she told him.
She put both of them into the care of Apple and explained what she wanted.
‘They aren’t to go with anyone until they are ready,’ she said to her. ‘Don’t force them into doing anything that they aren’t willing to do.’
‘Okay, Miss Siswan.’
Apple and the other girls all called her ‘Miss Siswan’ now. She hadn’t told them to, they just did. Out of respect.
Apple, Tak and Lon were all earning good money. Apple had taken eighteen thousand home in her wage packet that month.
‘Thank you, Miss Siswan.’
She had beamed when she saw the breakdown. Ten percent of the money they were now making was a lot better than the fifty percent she earned before.
‘Are you still with your boyfriend?’ Siswan asked her.
‘I’ve told him to go but he won’t listen.’ He was the only bane in her life now. ‘He comes to the house and just takes any money I have.’
Siswan sighed. She knew all about this kind of thing. Sometimes men just wouldn’t listen. They had to be taught.
‘Okay. I’ll see what I can do,’ she told Apple. ‘Write down his full name and address.’
A week later, she asked Mike if it would be all right for her to deal with the police when they called for their monthly protection money.
‘Yes. Why not?’ Mike had agreed. He had no reason not to agree. She was dealing with everything. He just couldn’t understand why she asked him anymore. He wasn’t complaining. He just didn’t know.
When the police did call, they were surprised to find themselves dealing with a young local woman. The two officers, in their skin tight brown uniforms were leaning nonchalantly against the bar as she approached them. They were both drinking the beers Pan had given them upon their arrival. They both smiled at Siswan and she made a low wai to them in reply. They just smiled once more. A lesser person. No need to wai back. Didn’t deserve respect.
‘Thank you for calling,’ Siswan said.
‘Where’s the farang?’ the senior of the two asked her. A sergeant.
‘Oh, he is far too busy to deal with you two today,’ Siswan said. ‘He asked me to speak with you instead.’
That caught their attention. She saw the sudden look of surprise cross the sergeant’s face.
‘So,’ she said, innocently enough. ‘What do you want?’
Both of them stood more upright. Became more tense in their attitude. What was she talking about? This bar girl. Who was she to speak to them like this? She must know what they wanted. They came every month. Pay up or move out.
‘Protection costs more now,’ the sergeant said, with a smile.
‘What protection are you talking about?’ Siswan carried on looking into his eyes.
‘Police protection. You know what I am talking about.’ He was getting a little annoyed. But it wouldn’t do to lose face. Not in front of his colleague. Not in front of this woman.
‘We don’t get any protection from you,’ Siswan stated.
‘Everyone gets protection,’ he said, emphatically.
‘How much does it cost?’ she asked.
‘Five thousand.’ That would teach her. They had only been taking three before. They knew this bar couldn’t afford too much more.
‘No,’ Siswan said.
He couldn’t believe what she had said. He looked at her. She looked a little different than the other girls. More beautiful, sure, but there was something else. Something hard about her. She acted older than she looked. More confident. As though this was something she did every day.
‘I will speak with the farang,’ he told her.
‘No. You will speak with me,’ she answered.
‘I tell you. Five thousand!’ He was angry now.
‘That is a stupid price for what I want.’ She remained calm.
He was just about to storm out. He’d make her pay for this outrage. How dare she speak to him this way. Wait, what had she said? He stopped. Wait, think. What had she just said? He was puzzled.
‘What do you want?’ he asked, cautiously.
‘Several things,’ she said. ‘Firstly, when you come into this bar I do not want you in uniform. It makes the girls nervous.’
Yes, but not you though, he thought to himself. It doesn’t make you nervous at all. He decided to listen. There might be something in what she had to say.
‘Go on,’ he said, calmer now.
‘If we call you, we want you here quickly. Let’s say five minutes maximum. Any later and we’ll deduct the amount we pay. We want a written agreement that you will not charge extra for a fast response.’
She knew exactly what she wanted. She laid it out like a list.
‘We will need another agreement that the cost of protection will not increase for another year and then only by a maximum of five percent.’
He nodded. He couldn’t help himself. There was something about the way she spoke. The way she looked at him. He wasn’t talking to a bar girl. He knew that now.
‘If we do need your help, we expect you to be courteous. Don’t come in here with your macho attitude.’
He began to take a real interest. This woman was no fool. She knew exactly what she wanted. This was the same arrangement they had with the big bars. The ones that could afford to pay for the best protection.
‘We want a late night extension. Four o’clock. We won’t want to work any later than that.’
It sounded as though she had finished. She was just looking at him to make sure he had understood everything she had said.
‘And how much
are you willing to pay?’ the sergeant asked, testing her. He’d already worked it all out. She was asking for everything. Even some of the really busy bars didn’t get a five minute response. He was interested though. Not so much with the deal, more interested in her. He looked at her properly. Not a bar girl. Definitely. Maybe a five minutes response would be okay. How much, though? That was the important bit. He knew that level of protection would be ten thousand a month. Nothing less.
‘Twenty thousand a month,’ she said.
He looked at her. About to laugh. That was twice what the other bars were paying. In the end he didn’t laugh. He just listened as she spoke again.
‘That’s twice what the other bars are paying. We want twice the service. You send a man down here every two hours. No uniform. He just glances through the door. Makes sure everything is all right and leaves. He doesn’t come in unless there’s a problem.’
He nodded. What else could he do? This woman was no bar girl, he thought, again. She was clever. Beautiful, and clever.
‘For that money we’ll take good care of you,’ he told her. ‘What is your name please?’
‘Siswan,’ she told him.
‘Well, Siswan, my name is Mirak. I think we’ll get along just fine,’ he smiled. A genuine smile.
‘Thank you, Mirak,’ she smiled back. ‘There is a favour I need to ask you.’
‘No problem. Ask away.’
He was hooked. Captivated. He knew it, so did she. Siswan handed him the piece of paper Apple had given her. A name. An address.
‘One of our girls is very upset,’ she told him.
Nothing more needed to be said. A visit would be arranged. A talk. Perhaps more if the words weren’t enough.
‘Very well. It will be taken care of,’ Mirak said, slipping the paper into his pocket. ‘Now, a question of money?’
When all the agreements had been signed, when all the paperwork was in place, Siswan handed over nineteen thousand and some change.
Bar Girl Page 6