It was when Nok awoke a few hours later that the awful truth dawned. She had opened her bedside drawer to discover that her whole stock of ya baa was missing. About thirty tablets all in all.
Mai had taken every one of them and had died in her sleep the night before. When Bee had pulled back the sheet they had seen the staring eyes. The bruised face even more darkened by the congealing blood. A thin line of vomit had trickled from the corner of Mai’s mouth and had trailed onto the pillow.
When the car came to take her body to the hospital, Siswan had asked one of the men what would happen to her.
‘Her family will be told,’ he’d said.
Siswan wondered what the family would do. Would they give her a good funeral in the temple? Hold a party in her honour? Call all the friends and relatives around to celebrate the life of a girl who had taken care of them for so long?
She wondered how the family would be able to pay for such a funeral, such a party? Now that the bread winner was gone? How would they manage now? Did Mai have a sister who could take her place? A brother who could earn as much as she could? Siswan didn’t think so. She didn’t think there would be a party. She didn’t think anyone would be invited to celebrate the life of a bar girl.
The following day Siswan bought herself a new knife. She chose a fairly small blade but one that looked evil. It had a curved edge, a sharp point and a serrated back. With the press of a button the blade slid out from the handle. What had happened to Mai wasn’t going to happen to her. Not without a fight.
Chapter 13
Mike, Apple and Siswan listened in horror as the police officer told them what had happened to Lon. The police suspected she was the victim of a gang that had operated in the country before. A gang that made video films for sale via the internet. Torture tapes they were called.
There had been two similar attacks in the last twelve months. One on the south coast and one in the north of the country. It seemed that the films were sold illegally and made a lot of money.
Siswan couldn’t believe how anyone, in their right mind, could bear to watch one, let alone actually purchase the tape.
The police officer told them that three farangs had been seen renting a house on the hill overlooking the resort town. The house was remote enough so that any noises or disturbances wouldn’t be heard. That was where they had found Lon. She had been lucky.
A local man, who was employed by the letting agency to clean the pool and carry out general maintenance, had called early that morning and noticed the door was ajar. When he’d gone in, he had found Lon barely alive and had called the police. There was no sign of the farangs.
‘If he hadn’t called early, she most certainly would have died from her injuries,’ the officer told them. ‘He’d gone early because his wife wanted him to go to the market with her in the afternoon.’
‘What did they do to her?’ Siswan asked.
‘I think it will be better to speak to the doctor about that,’ he told her.
‘Where is the doctor?’ Mike asked. ‘I want to speak with him.’
He wandered off down the corridor in search of a member of staff. Siswan noticed how distraught he looked. How his shoulders sagged when he walked.
The police officer told them he wanted to speak with Lon as soon as she was up to it. They needed to catch this gang before they struck again. All they had at the moment was a name registered with the letting agency.
‘We suspect that’s going to be false.’ He shook his head. ‘Fake passports, identity cards, even birth certificates, they’re just so easy to buy.’
Siswan and Apple promised to call him as soon as Lon awoke. As soon as she could speak. They thanked him for his help before he left.
When Mike returned with the doctor they began to understand just how bad Lon’s injuries were. Siswan translated all that he said to Mike. Several times her voice almost cracked as she told him what the doctor was telling them.
‘She was beaten badly. About the face, stomach and back. They probably used a stick or other blunt instrument,’ the doctor said, as though reading from a list. ‘She has a great deal of cigarette burns on her body. Two fingers from her left hand were amputated. We have the fingers in cold storage. Three toes were cut off her right foot. We have those as well. She has four fractured ribs, one of which punctured her right lung. Her nose is broken and several teeth are missing. She may have swallowed those as we believe she was gagged at the time. There are bruise marks around her neck that would suggest a gag was used.’
The doctor cleared his throat. The list read like something from a horror movie and he wasn’t finished.
‘She was repeatedly raped, anally as well as vaginally. Her right arm is fractured as well as her left wrist. We believe a serrated knife, or small saw, was used to cut her in various places. There are signs of electrical burns on her stomach and neck. Basically it’s a miracle she’s still alive.’
The three of them looked at the doctor in shock. Mike found his voice first. He made demands that Siswan translated for him.
‘I want her moved to a private room,’ he said, quietly but forcefully. ‘She’s to have a nurse with her at all times. I want the best treatment possible for her. Get specialists in. Counsellors. She has to have everything. Everything possible.’
‘Yes, of course,’ the doctor said.
‘I’ll pay,’ Mike told him.
‘So will I,’ Siswan added to the translation. ‘Whatever it takes.’
When the doctor left to get things organised, the three of them returned to Lon’s side. The girl looked more dead than alive.
‘What do we do, Miss Siswan?’ Apple asked.
‘There’s not much we can do,’ Siswan answered, quietly. ‘Just hope and pray.’
‘I’d like to get my hands on those bastards,’ Mike said.
‘We all would, Mike,’ Siswan leaned over, held his hand.
‘What’s the matter with men?’ he asked no one. ‘What the hell is the matter with us?’
Apple and Siswan said nothing. They didn’t have the answer.
It was another three days before Lon recovered enough to be able to help the police. She gave a horrific account of what had happened. Siswan sat with her the whole time. By the end of the interview both girls were crying. Siswan wondered if she could have been as brave as Lon.
When the police finished, Siswan joined them in the corridor outside Lon’s private room. Her nurse was allowed back in to sit with the injured girl.
‘Will all that help?’ Siswan asked one of the officers.
‘Yes. It will,’ he replied. ‘We’ll get them, don’t worry. We’re already talking to police in other countries.’
‘If you catch them, will they be tried here? Will they go to prison here?’ she asked.
The two officers knew exactly why she wanted to know. Prison life was hard in their country. Harder than most. Especially for foreign sex offenders.
‘Yes,’ the most senior officer said, emphatically. And repeated ‘We’ll get them.’ Siswan had considered calling Mirak. Asking for his help. Considered it but then told herself she was being silly. There wouldn’t be anything he could do and, anyway, she questioned her reasons for wanting him involved.
All she could was visit Lon as often as possible and carry on working. Apple was coping well enough. She ran Mike’s Bar with her usual efficiency. It was Mike, himself, that worried Siswan.
He was spending almost all of his time at the hospital annoying doctors and staff alike with his constant nagging. He wanted to know everything. Wanted to be kept informed of Lon’s progress. Kept trying to improve things.
In the end, Siswan called on Rican’s help to get him away from the place. He had his wedding to organise, things to do in the bars. He couldn’t do any more in the hospital.
&
nbsp; When Rican finally convinced him to go back to the bar he wandered around aimlessly. As though he could no longer justify what he did for a living. As though, in some way, he were to blame for what had happened to Lon.
‘You aren’t responsible, Mike,’ Siswan told him.
‘She worked here, didn’t she?’ he said, morosely.
‘She could have worked anywhere. Any bar. Any town. She was just unlucky, that’s all,’ Siswan tried to explain.
‘Unlucky?’ Mike said. ‘Unlucky to have been a bar girl in the first place? Unlucky to have been born in a god forsaken country that allows bar girls? That does nothing to stop the trade?’
‘Yes, Mike. All of those things, and more. Sometimes people are lucky, sometimes they’re not. That’s life,’ Siswan told him. ‘All we can do now is make sure she gets good treatment and isn’t left alone.’
‘And afterwards, Siswan?’ Mike asked. ‘What happens to her afterwards, when she can leave the hospital, what then?’
‘Then she’ll go home to her family, Mike,’ Siswan told him.
‘A family that sent her here in the first place?’ he said, scornfully.
‘Yes, Mike,’ Siswan said. ‘The same family.’
Mike looked at her. Shocked at the calmness in her voice. The acceptance of all that had happened.
‘Christ, Siswan. They tortured her!’ he shouted.
‘Yes. And you’re right, Mike. This has to stop.’ She indicated the bar around them. ‘We have to stop it.’
‘What the hell can we do, Siswan? We’re the perpetrators for Christ’s sake.’
‘We can do something, Mike,’ she told him. ‘We already have.’
‘What?’ he asked. ‘What have we done?’
‘Our girls, Mike. They earn really good money. They don’t have to go with so many farangs. They can pick and choose. They get good wages and time off. It’s better, Mike. It’s not good, but it’s better,’ she said.
‘Tell that to Lon, Siswan,’ he said.
‘Lon was unlucky, Mike,’ she countered. ‘I don’t like it any more than you do but if we give up, if we stop trying, how many more girls will get hurt?’
‘Siswan, what the hell are you talking about? We don’t help the girls, we make money from them.’
‘Yes. We do,’ she said, quietly. ‘There’s a reason, Mike. A reason for making so much.’
‘What reason?’ he asked.
Siswan told him of her dream, her goal. Why she wanted to earn so much. Why she worked in the bars. The promise she had made to Sood and Karn. It took a little while for her words to sink in. After sitting quietly for a few moments Mike turned to her.
‘And you honestly believe you can do it?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Someone has to at least try. Someone has to care.’
‘But, hell, Siswan. That’s a hell of a task,’ he said.
‘I can start it, Mike. Other’s will help,’ she told him. ‘It’ll grow. Maybe it’ll take the rest of my life, even longer, but someone has to start.’
‘Well, I’ll be,’ he said. ‘I never guessed.’
‘No,’ she smiled. ‘It isn’t something I discuss too much. Not around here.’
‘Well, Siswan,’ he smiled back. ‘I don’t know how many years I have left, not too many I’m sure, but I’ll help as much as I can. So will Rican. I know she will. We owe that much to Lon.’
She smiled. Leaned towards him. Kissed him on the cheek.
‘All it takes is money, Mike. A lot of it!’
Four nights later Mirak came into Swan’s Bar. He walked immediately to where Siswan stood talking to customers.
‘I just heard,’ he said, interrupting her conversation. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I didn’t expect to see you again.’
‘I’ve been north. Working,’ he told her. ‘An old case.’
‘I was going to call you,’ she said.
‘You should have.’ He smiled. ‘I wanted you to call.’
‘I’m sorry. It’s just that,’ she started.
‘It’s okay, Siswan. You don’t have to explain,’ he told her.
‘But I’d like to try, Mirak,’ she said.
‘No,’ he said. ‘You don’t need to. I only came to offer my condolences.’
He turned to leave. To walk away from her. She couldn’t let him. There were still feelings for him. Deep within her.
‘Mirak,’ she said, quickly. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘So am I, Siswan,’ he replied, before turning and walking out of the bar.
She couldn’t blame him for leaving. Couldn’t blame him for not wanting to be with her. She had hurt him, both physically and emotionally. She had to let him go. Had to remove him from her mind. She had so many other things to do. Between visiting Lon and running the bars, Siswan had her hands full. All the girls knew what had happened and it took all her efforts to convince them that the same wouldn’t happen to them.
Eventually they settled down. Apple helped immensely. Siswan didn’t know what she would have done without her. She was an example to the other girls and made it easier for Siswan to calm them down.
She and Apple very often went to see Lon together. The girl was recovering. Slowly she was coming to terms with what happened to her and, although still weak, was able to ask how the bars were doing. Siswan soon realised that Lon needed to be told every detail. Everything that happened each night. It was her way of keeping sane. Her way of staying in touch with her life. Siswan and Apple spent hours at a time recounting the smallest of details.
Life continued that way for the next three months. The nights in the bar, with the bright lights, the loud music, the laughter and drinking, contrasted so vividly with the hours spent sat with Lon. The sterile environment of the hospital versus the sullied atmosphere of the bars.
When it came time for Lon to leave the hospital, her father turned up to collect her in a battered old pickup. Siswan, Apple and Mike were all there to see her off.
‘You will keep in touch won’t you, Miss Siswan?’ Lon asked.
‘Yes, of course.’ Siswan smiled and hugged her.
‘And you too, Mike.’ Lon looked to him.
Mike was finding it difficult to hold back tears as he looked at her.
‘Of course,’ he said, and wrapped his arms gently around her shoulders. Finally, after hugging Apple and promising to call as often as she could, Lon climbed into the passenger seat beside her father who hadn’t said a word.
They could all see how close to tears she was. Not only was she leaving her friends but she would be returning to the village in shame. A bar girl who had got what she deserved. Unable to buy her respectability, she would have to live the rest of her life as an additional burden to her family.
Siswan turned to Mike. There were tears rolling down his cheeks as he watched the pickup make its way into the traffic.
‘She’ll be the first, Mike,’ she told him, and took his arm.
‘Yes.’ He sniffed back the tears. ‘She has to be. Let’s get this scheme of yours moving.’
‘What scheme?’ Apple too was wiping tears from her eyes.
As the three of them strolled back to the bar, Mike and Siswan told Apple all about it. By the time they arrived at the door she was convinced.
‘Well, you can count me in,’ she told them. ‘I have a lot saved up now.’
‘It’ll take hard work,’ Siswan warned.
‘Yes, it will. Let’s get started,’ Apple replied.
*****
Two months later Siswan had two visitors in one night. The first was Mirak and she was surprised to see him as he walked across the crowded bar to reach her.
‘Hello, Mirak,’ she smiled at him.
> ‘I need to speak with you. Somewhere private,’ he said, without greeting her.
‘What about?’ She was puzzled at his abruptness.
‘Somewhere private,’ he repeated.
She led him into the small back room where the kegs were stored. The coolers rattled in the corner but it was quieter than in the main bar.
‘What’s this about, Mirak?’ Siswan turned to face him.
‘You, Siswan,’ he said, taking a notebook from his back pocket.
He flicked through the pages. Stopped when he reached the one he needed.
‘When did you arrive here?’ he asked.
‘I told you, about five years ago, nearly six now,’ she answered.
‘And where did you stay?’
‘Mirak, if I’m in any kind of trouble, if you need to question me, then I think you ought to do it somewhere a little more formal.’ She spoke quietly.
‘Okay. I’ll tell you. I was working on an old case. An unresolved case. Sometimes we go over them before filing them away for good,’ he told her.
She didn’t say anything. Her stomach was sending signals she didn’t like. There was something in his manner. Something different about him. She couldn’t figure out what it was. Almost as though he found this as unpleasant as she did.
‘An old man in a park, Siswan. A young girl who ran away. I often wondered how you got that scar on your arm,’ he told her.
‘Why didn’t you just ask? Most people do,’ she answered, as calmly as her beating heart would allow.
Was it all over? Had she come this far to be thrown back by a wave she couldn’t possibly overcome? Would her promises to Sood, to Karn and now to Lon, all be in vain?
‘I didn’t want to, Siswan. I didn’t want to pry into your past,’ he said.
‘But you did though, Mirak. You did pry didn’t you?’ She looked at him.
‘I didn’t know it was you until now, Siswan,’ he told her. ‘Of course I could have proved it anyway. You left blood traces all over the place. A simple enough test. The old man died in the hospital two days after you ran away.’
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