Bar Girl

by David Thompson

  It didn’t take long for the other cheap charlies to realise that Siswan wasn’t going to be playing their game. They finished their beers, paid the small tab, and left. The two other customers who had joined up to enjoy the three revellers were paying their way. No problem.

  ‘Hey, Siswan!’ Harry shouted over. ‘Come out and enjoy the fun!’

  ‘And who would serve the drinks, Harry?’ she shouted back, with a smile. She watched as Harry slipped a finger inside the crotch of Nok’s shorts.

  She shook her head and returned to serving more drink.

  The public scenes of sex had shocked her when she had first started. The groping, kissing and touching had been an eye opener. Now she was used to it. It happened all the time. A hand on a leg. A hand up a skirt, inside a blouse, down the back of a pair of jeans. It was all part of the bar scene. The girls didn’t mind and the farangs thought it was all very funny.

  Amidst much laughter, one or two would see just how far a bar girl was willing to go before she dragged herself away from the probing fingers. All part of the game. The game between the sexes. Between the races.

  Money was what it was all about. Money was the prize. If a farang was willing to pay enough, he could see his wildest fantasies come true. Two in a bed, three in a bed. Whatever. It was all about the money. One farang she had met when she first started had summed it all up for her.

  ‘We’re like kids in a sweet shop, Siswan,’ he’d said. ‘The only difference being is that we’re not kids and the sweets aren’t sweets.’

  Thomas, who Siswan had guessed would indulge himself after a few drinks, was really getting into the concept. He had Mai wriggling her behind all over his crotch and, at the same time, was feeling up the back of Joy’s thighs as she drooled all over Steve. No one seemed to mind. Least of all Joy who was enjoying the attention.

  Siswan was still surprised by the girls sometimes. When the bar was quiet, and they had time to sit and talk amongst themselves, all she ever heard them do was bemoan the farangs. They’d each take turns in telling their tales of debauchery, each trying to out do the others as to how awful their experiences had been.

  Many times Siswan had heard them say that they were leaving. That the life was killing them. That they hated being sex objects to drunken old fools who thought the girls actually liked them. Many times she’d listened as they moaned about the farangs who were taking Viagra, the ones who couldn’t get enough, the ones that wanted anal sex as well as vaginal.

  From what she’d heard she would have guessed that the girls hated farangs, hated them with a vengeance, but here they were again. A few drinks inside them, a dose of ya baa for Nok, and they were all over the farangs. As though they couldn’t get enough.

  The evening finally ended at three in the morning. Steve, who could hardly stand, was escorted home by Joy, who could hardly walk. Harry, who’d made another vain attempt at buying Siswan, finally wandered off with Nok and Bee each supporting an arm. Thomas, the quiet man, staggered off with Mai in search of a place to dance.

  Siswan cleaned up the mess left by the revellers, secured the wooden boards and added up the cash against the totals in the book. A good night. A very good night. The girls would be pleased with their cut of the lady drinks.

  Before making her way home, Siswan called to the bank and used the twenty four hour deposit drawer. It wouldn’t do to be carrying that much money around with her. She called for a motorbike taxi and returned to the apartment block. At least she had the room to herself that night.

  When she turned up for work the following day, Nong was already there. The older woman looked worried.

  ‘What happened last night?’ she asked, as Siswan approached.

  ‘It was a good night. Very busy,’ Siswan told her. ‘Why?’

  ‘The police called. Mai got hurt,’ Nong said.

  There was always a risk of getting hurt. All the girls knew it. There had been many stories. Sometimes a farang went too far. Sometimes what fuelled his desire was something that the girls didn’t enjoy. He could get angry. Things could get out of hand.

  ‘What happened?’ Siswan asked.

  ‘I’m not too sure,’ Nong said. ‘The police called. The cleaners in the hotel found her. She was beaten. Quite badly, I think.’

  ‘Where is she now?’

  ‘In the hospital. I should go,’ Nong said. ‘To see her, I mean.’

  ‘Yes. You go,’ Siswan agreed. ‘I’ll take care of things here.’

  Whilst Nong was gone the other girls turned up. They looked tired. Worn out from the night before. Only Nok seemed awake, and that was drug induced.

  ‘Where’s Mai?’ she asked Siswan. ‘Got lucky with that farang, I suppose.’

  ‘No,’ Siswan answered. ‘She’s in hospital.’

  Bee and Joy suddenly took an interest as well.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘I don’t know. Nong has gone to see her,’ Siswan told them all.

  ‘Did she get beaten?’ Joy asked.

  ‘It seems so, yes.’ Siswan took control. ‘Until Nong gets back we won’t know. It’s no good talking about it until then.’

  The girls moved back to their favourite corner. There really wasn’t any point in discussing what had happened. All they could do was wait for Nong. Up until then it was just business as usual.

  When Nong did arrive, they were all eager to find out the news.

  ‘She’s not too bad,’ Nong told them. ‘The cleaners in the hotel over reacted because of the blood.’

  Nong told them the whole story. Mai and Thomas had gone off to find a night club but the farang had been too drunk to dance. They’d had another drink and then made their way back to his hotel.

  Mai had gone into the bathroom to shower whilst Tom had virtually collapsed on the bed. When she’d come out, he was asleep. She’d covered him with the sheet, removed his shoes and climbed into the bed beside him.

  When she’d been in the shower her period had started. She had been really pleased but also a little worried that Tom wouldn’t like it if she couldn’t have sex. She’d gone into the bedroom to get the sponge out of her handbag but when she saw Tom fast asleep she didn’t bother. If he wanted her in the morning she could slip it in then. She tucked a pad into her panties and very quickly fell asleep.

  Apparently, while she slept, Tom woke up and started touching her up. By the time she awoke he was already pushing into her from behind. He obviously hadn’t noticed the thin pad as he’d pulled down her underwear. She was half awake and still pretty drunk from the bar. She forgot about the sponge.

  When Tom finished, he rolled out of the bed and went to the bathroom to shower. The next thing Mai knew, he was shouting that she was a dirty slut and hitting her across the arms and legs. When she turned to confront him he laid into her with his fists. She was too startled to do anything about it and, even before she could cry out, the blows had beaten her almost unconscious.

  The next thing she remembered was the cleaner lady waking her up and crying about all the blood on the bed. When the cleaner saw her face she called the police.

  ‘Was she cut?’ Nok asked.

  ‘No. Just bruised and dazed. The blood was from her period. It was a heavy one,’ Nong told them.

  ‘I knew a guy that didn’t like that,’ Joy said. ‘He wouldn’t go near me when I was on.’

  ‘Most men don’t like it,’ Nong said. ‘That’s why we use the sponge.’

  ‘Fucking bastard,’ Nok put in. ‘How’d he like to bleed every month?’

  ‘The most important thing is that Mai is okay,’ Nong said. ‘She’s badly bruised and has a hell of a bump on her head, but she’ll live.’

  ‘What is it with men, anyway?’ Bee said. ‘Don’t they know a woman can’t do anything about it?’

 
‘It’s only blood,’ Joy said.

  ‘Yeah. I’d like to see them put a rag in their ass holes every month,’ said Nok

  ‘In their ass holes?’ Joy asked.

  ‘Well, they haven’t got a vagina,’ Nok pointed out.

  ‘Yeah, but wouldn’t it be better if they just bled out of their dicks for a week?’ Joy asked.

  ‘Well, okay. But they should also have something big shoved in their ass holes. That’s what they expect us to do,’ Nok pointed out.

  ‘Did they catch him?’ Siswan asked, whilst the rest of the girls contemplated Nok’s suggestion.

  ‘What? Oh. Yes, they caught him,’ Nong replied. ‘Apparently, he left the hotel early in the morning. Packed up all his stuff and moved to another one. The police tracked him down.’

  ‘Good!’ Joy said. ‘I hope they put him in prison.’

  ‘That won’t happen,’ Siswan said, quietly.

  ‘How do you know?’ Nok turned on her. ‘You don’t know!’

  ‘He’ll be fined. Told to leave. If he pays enough he won’t even have to do that,’ Nong put in.

  ‘That’s not fair,’ Bee said.

  ‘Life isn’t fair, Bee,’ Siswan said.

  ‘But, what about Mai. What about her?’ Joy asked.

  ‘She’ll stay in hospital for another night,’ Nong told them.

  ‘Then what?’ Nok shouted, angrily. ‘Then what happens?’

  ‘She’ll have to pay the hospital bill and either come back to work or go home,’ Siswan said.

  ‘Doesn’t anyone care what happens to her?’ Joy asked, quietly.

  ‘No, Joy,’ Siswan said, flatly. ‘No one cares what happens to a bar girl. Why should they?’

  ‘Because we’re human. Because we have feelings. Because we can get hurt as well,’ Nok pointed out.

  ‘Who cares?’ Siswan said.

  Nok rushed at her. Made to grab at her throat, her hair. She was almost crying in rage. Spittle sprayed out of her mouth as she shouted.

  ‘You don’t fucking care! You don’t give a shit!’

  Siswan easily slipped out of the way of the girls hands. Easily ducked the clawing fingers. She didn’t fight back. Didn’t lash out at the girl. There was no need. No need to fight because it was over before it started. Nok sank to her knees in front of the bar. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  ‘Nobody gives a shit,’ she said, quietly. ‘Nobody gives a fucking shit.’

  Joy and Bee helped her to her feet. Sat her down on a bar stool. Siswan went and got her a drink of water. She held the glass out to the distraught girl. A few moments passed before she spoke.

  ‘The only people we have on our side, Nok,’ she told her. ‘Are ourselves. There’s no one else.’

  Nok looked up at her through her tears. She drank some of the water.

  ‘I didn’t want to do this,’ she said, between sips.

  ‘No.’ Siswan looked at all of the girls around her. ‘I guess you didn‘t. It just seemed an easy way to make money, didn’t it.’

  None of the girls spoke. None argued. The money. It was all about the money and sometimes, just sometimes, the price they paid was high.

  ‘Okay,’ Nong said. ‘Let’s go back to work.’

  There was nothing else they could do. Nothing else that mattered. Siswan knew that all the shouting, kicking and screaming in the world wouldn’t do any good. You chose your life. You lived your life.

  It was about an hour later that Steve came to the bar. He looked awful. As he approached he gave a wai to each of them in turn. He knew their ways.

  ‘I am so sorry,’ he said to the girls. ‘I am so very sorry.’

  ‘It’s not your fault, Steve,’ Nong said to him. ‘Sit down. You don’t look so good.’

  ‘I only found out about it this evening,’ he said, taking a seat. ‘I didn’t know. I’m so sorry. How’s the girl? I don’t remember her name.’

  ‘Why would you remember, Steve?’ Siswan asked him. ‘She was only another bar girl.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be like that, Siswan,’ he said apologetically. ‘You know I don’t think like that.’

  Siswan didn’t believe him. Not for one second did she believe that he cared. He was a nice enough guy. Was always polite, always bought a drink for the girls. Nice enough. He was no saint though. He still took the girls. Still had sex with them.

  ‘No, I know that, Steve,’ she smiled at him. ‘Her name is Mai.’

  ‘How is she?’

  ‘She’ll be fine. We’ll take care of her,’ Siswan said, in a voice loud enough for all the girls to hear.

  ‘Well. If there’s anything I can do?’ Steve asked.

  There’s loads you can do, she thought. You can pay the hospital bill. You can go to the police. You can cause a stink over this. A stink that the authorities would have to listen to. You could make sure that Thomas gets what he deserves.

  ‘No. There’s nothing you can do, Steve,’ she said.

  Steve sat awkwardly for a few moments more. She could tell he wanted to buy a drink. A drink to calm his nerves. A drink to take him through another night in paradise. She didn’t offer any help.

  ‘Well, I’d better be going,’ he said.

  ‘Okay, Steve,’ she smiled. ‘Thanks for coming.’

  ‘I didn’t know, Siswan. Honestly I didn’t,’ he said, before leaving the bar and walking away.

  Mai was sent home the following evening. Nong and Siswan met her at the hospital entrance and took her back to the apartment. Her face was a mass of black and blue bruises. One eye was so swollen it was almost closed.

  ‘I don’t think I can work tonight,’ she joked to Nong.

  ‘No. Maybe tomorrow?’ Nong joked back.

  Siswan helped Mai into her room. Sat her on the bed. She looked into her face.

  ‘Are you alright?’ she asked, as she held the girls hands.

  ‘Yes. I’ll be okay,’ Mai said. ‘I don’t remember much. Just his voice shouting at me.’

  Siswan didn’t reply. Just sat there on the edge of the bed and held her hands. She wanted to give Mai time. Time to talk if she needed to.

  ‘I should have used the sponge,’ she said, quietly.

  ‘No. It was his fault, Mai. His alone,’ Siswan replied. ‘He was wrong. Just a fool of a man who got scared at the sight of blood.’

  ‘I’m not pregnant though,’ Mai tried to smile at her. ‘That’s good.’

  ‘Yes,’ Siswan said. ‘That’s very good.’

  ‘I took his shoes off. He had them on the bed.’ Mai leaned into Siswan’s shoulder.

  Siswan felt the sobs rather than heard them. Mai cried without any noise. Normally so talkative. A girl who talked so much. Now, as she cried into Siswan’s arms, she didn’t make a sound. Siswan held her tightly.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Mai said, after a few moments.

  ‘That’s okay. You don’t have to be sorry about anything,’ Siswan said, looking into her face.

  ‘I didn’t expect him to do that,’ Mai said, wiping away the tears. ‘He seemed like a nice man.’

  ‘They all do,’ Nong put in. ‘They all seem nice.’

  ‘Wasn’t bad looking, either,’ Mai continued.

  ‘Maybe, but he didn’t have a good heart did he?’ Siswan told her.

  ‘No. That’s for sure,’ Mai almost laughed. ‘He didn’t even pay me.’

  All three girls laughed together then. The crises was over. Mai was going to be fine. Siswan was amazed at her courage. Amazed at all the girls, really. The life they chose, or found themselves in, wasn’t an easy one. At first it seemed an easy route to take. An easy path to follow. They could make a lot of money. A lot of money to please their families. A lot of money to change their lives. It seemed
so easy. At first.

  Once they’d been doing it for a while, they learned that it wasn’t so easy after all. That there wasn’t as much money as they had first thought. The families soon got used to the little they sent home. Got used to it and wanted more. Demanded more. Once you became a bar girl it was difficult to stop. And of course, there was always the dream. The one in a million chance that a farang with a good heart would come to take you away. The dream that kept them going. Kept them turning up night after night. The dream of the man with a good heart. One in a million.

  The problem was that nights like the one Mai had been through happened all too often. One in ten thousand? One in a thousand? The odds were definitely in the favour of the nightmares. Not the dream.

  ‘You’ll be alright, Mai,’ Nong told her. ‘We’ll soon have you chattering away in the bar again.’

  ‘Oh, no,’ Siswan groaned, and they all laughed again.

  ‘Oh, don’t,’ Mai said. ‘It really hurts when I laugh.’

  The three girls looked at one another for a few seconds before bursting out in gales of laughter. The more Mai groaned in pain the more all three of them laughed. They couldn’t stop. Even in pain, Mai giggled uncontrollably. Siswan felt pains in her sides and she still couldn’t stop laughing. Finally, with tears rolling down her face, Mia pushed them both out of her room.

  ‘Get out! Before you kill me!’ she shouted through the pain of her laughter.

  ‘Out!’

  Nong and Siswan finally stopped giggling by the time they got back to the bar. They both agreed that Mai would be fine and spent the night serving farangs as usual.

  ‘She’ll be back within a week,’ Nong stated to the others. ‘You’ll see.’

  As it happened, Mai never returned to the bar, or any other bar come to that. When Bee got home that night she hadn’t noticed anything unusual. Mai had been tucked up in bed, fast asleep. At least Bee had assumed she was asleep.

  It wasn’t until half way through the following morning that anyone knew that something was wrong. Siswan had got up, early as usual, and had headed for the beach. She hadn’t seen anything wrong.