by J. F. Gump
"I've been in Thailand for about three hours. The jetlag thing is really kicking my ass. My head thinks it's about 2:00 in the afternoon but my eyes think it's the middle of the night; the rest of me don’t know what to think. I came out to have enough beer to put my head to sleep. It's not working yet." Mike paused, lit a cigarette, and then continued, "So, you've been here for four months, huh? You must be an old-hand by now."
"Hardly. I don't have time. Work keeps getting in the way. If your company is like mine, you'll understand soon enough."
"I know already. But I'm only here for a few weeks, so I don't care. Besides, I'm too old to be doing much nightlife. In another five or six years you'll understand what I mean."
"I know what you mean already," Jon laughed.
Mike only smiled. "So, how do you like Thailand?"
"It's okay. I would like it better if it wasn't so damned hot. I spend half of my life sweating, taking showers, and changing clothes. I spend the rest of my time drinking cold beer and hanging out in air conditioned places. When I'm not working, that is."
Mike wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Yeah, Thailand is one hot mother. Any problems working with the Thais?"
"Not since I quit trying to change them. I wasted my first two months here trying to westernize their work habits. They have their own way of doing things, most of which makes little sense to me. I became so frustrated I nearly grew an ulcer. My best advice is to let them do what they want because that's what they are going to do anyway."
Mike remembered the years he had spent here. The Thai way was annoying. They would make a short term effort to please you, and then go back to their old habits. You either learned to deal with it or you left Thailand. There was no middle ground. "Sounds like good advice."
Jon nodded but offered nothing further on the subject. "Can I buy you a beer?" he asked.
"Maybe another time. I have to get to bed. Like I said, this jet lag is kicking my ass." He turned to one of the bar-girls, "Ghep tang krup."
The girl added the bills from the wooden cup sitting beside his empty beer bottle. "Two hundred sixty baht," she said in very clear English.
Mike handed her 300 baht and turned away, indicating she should keep the change. Her big smile told him he had just made a friend.
"This isn't your first time here, is it?" Jon asked.
"No, I've done this once or twice before."
The two men stared at each other but said nothing. Strange how they had met halfway around the world at a second-class bar on Second Road in Pattaya, Thailand. Mike stuck his hand out to Jon, "My pleasure to meet you, Greene County."
He shook Mike's hand firmly, "You can call me Jon."
Mike smiled and stood to leave. "You'll always be Greene County to me. I'm staying at the Amari Hotel. Stop by some evening and have a beer or two. Ask for Mike Johnson, someone will find me."
Chapter 25
Mike's steps were less steady than he thought they should be. He had drunk only four beers, certainly not enough to make him intoxicated. Must be the jet lag, he decided, as he walked north on Second Road.
It was after two in the morning, but the music and the tourists were still going strong. As he neared the cluster of bars on Soi 2, a few of the left-over girls stared in his direction. They were waiting for him to get within hearing distance. He took a deep breath and shuffled onward.
"Hello sexy man", "I love you too much", "I want love you long time", and all of the other things the girls had been taught to say drifted to his ears. Mike smiled at the attention but didn't look at them. He knew that would be a mistake.
Not far down the street he saw Toy's Bar. A couple of girls looked vaguely familiar but he doubted they were anyone he knew. The bar-girls in Pattaya came and went on a regular basis. Sometimes they never came back. Mike would be surprised if anyone he knew was still there.
In a moment he saw Lek and Toy, the bar owners, going through their routine of welcoming and attending their customers. He hadn't seen them earlier but they were here now, wringing every last baht from the tropical night. If either saw him, they didn't acknowledge him. They were too busy to notice a lone farang still two bars away. He decided to stop and say hello.
He fell in behind three men heading in the same direction. He stayed several steps back, and kept his face lowered. He wanted to surprise Lek and Toy both, but mostly he wanted to surprise Lek.
Mike considered Lek his best friend in Pattaya. At one time he had considered her as something more than a friend, but their relationship had fizzled almost as quickly as it had started. Still, he had strong feelings for her.
The three men entered Toy's Bar ahead of him. Lek, the consummate bar hostess, swooped in on the men and led them to empty seats at the bar. Toy stopped what she was doing and headed in their direction to help. Mike turned around, putting his back to them. He listened as the women welcomed their newest customers. He peeked over his shoulder once he was certain they weren't looking in his direction.
Lek was busy talking with the men she had pulled into the bar and Toy was happily introducing everyone to her ladies. The men allowed themselves to be seated. Lek made sure everyone had a drink.
Mike slipped unnoticed toward the end of the bar opposite of where Toy, Lek, and the three men sat. He took a seat near back. It was a perfect location. Lek and Toy were hidden from his view by a cheap mirrored column that disguised one of the roof's steel support posts. He studied the faces of the working girls. There was no one he knew.
He ordered a beer from one of the ladies. He passed the time nursing his beer, listening to the new three man band, and waiting for Lek to make another of her endless rounds of the bar.
Mike had always found Lek to be an interesting woman. When she was younger, she had been married to a police captain, had taught school, and had a comfortable life. All of that changed after her son was born. Her husband had left her for another woman and her teacher's pay was barely enough to make ends meet. Her sister Toy had opened a bar in Pattaya and had asked Lek to help run it. Lek's personality and business acumen had made the bar one of the most popular at the north end of Second Road.
While Mike had lived in Thailand, he had become entranced with Lek. After weeks of wooing her, she finally decided she liked him, too. But once Math had entered the picture, Lek became a fond memory. Through it all, Lek and Mike's friendship had survived. He was anxious to see his old friend again.
After about fifteen minutes, Mike caught a glimpse of Lek as she slipped away from the men and started another circuit of the bar. He turned slightly to keep his face hidden from her view. In a moment he heard Lek's voice directly behind him.
"Hello darling," she was saying. "What your name?"
He turned and came face to face with her. "My name is Mike."
Her eyes opened wide, her hand leapt to her mouth to stifle a scream. For a moment, he thought she might faint.
"How are you, Lek?" he asked, when she didn't speak. "I've missed your beautiful smile. Did you miss me?"
"I don't believe it!" she said loudly, recovering from her surprise. She threw her arms around Mike and hugged him furiously. "Yes, I missed you, too."
When she finally eased her grip, Mike was able to pull away for air. "What a welcome! I didn't expect you to be so happy, but I'm glad you are. Please, sit down; I'll buy you a drink."
"No, wait, You must say hello to my sister. Toy, come quickly! Come see who has returned to Thailand."
Toy repeated the same wild scene Lek had made. He was embarrassed, but didn't protest. Actually, he liked the attention and was embarrassed by his embarrassment.
Mike sat with Lek on one side and Toy on the other. They talked about old times and the people they knew in common. He bought Lek and Toy drinks and they bought him drinks. In a while, Toy wandered off to take care of other customers leaving Mike and Lek to talk alone.
"How are your wife and family?" Lek asked.
Mike tensed despite his jetlag and the seve
ral beers he had consumed. "My wife is dead," he answered, his smile fading.
"I know that already. She died over a year ago. You told me that when you came for her sympathy ceremony. But that was your mia noy. I mean, how is your American wife?"
He took a deep breath. "She is dead, too."
Lek just stared, as if not sure how to respond. Finally she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Please forgive me for asking. Are you okay?"
"Almost. I'll survive whether I deserve to or not. But let's not talk about that. How are you? Have you been well?"
"I am very happy." Her smile turned to a beaming radiance. "I'm in love with a man from Canada. His name is Chris and he has a business in Pattaya, a computer business. He is very smart, very handsome, and very rich. I don't know why he loves me, but he does."
For some reason her happiness made him feel even lonelier than he had felt before. If it hadn't been for the beer, his smile would have disappeared altogether. "I'm very happy for you," he lied. "Can I meet him someday? I would like to meet the man who has stolen your heart from me."
Lek hit him playfully on the shoulder. "My heart will always belong to you, Mike. But for now my love belongs to Chris."
"Well, at least I have something." His laugh was artificial. If Lek noticed, she didn't mention it. "I really need to get back to my hotel. I'm about to fall asleep right here with the sexiest girl in the world sitting next to me. I should be trying to make you forget your boyfriend, but all I can think about is a soft bed."
"With me in it?" Lek smiled seductively.
This time his laugh was genuine. "Yeah, that too. But not tonight, I'm too tired. Maybe tomorrow." He stood to leave.
"Okay then, tomorrow. I like handsome men to pay attention to me. I will wait for you. Come early and I will introduce you to Chris. Be careful going home."
"Thanks, Lek, I will." He started the long walk back to his room.
He fell asleep as soon as his head landed on the pillow.
Jonathan "Greene County" Yeager had two more beers before deciding he should go to bed. He really didn't need his last beer but he drank it anyway.
He politely ignored the bar-girls and passed the time thinking about the man he just met—Mr. Mike Johnson from Pittsburgh, PA. He was impressed at the way the man had picked up on his accent. Thousands of miles from home and someone had pegged his background to a small spot on the Pennsylvania map.
Funny, he thought. He could have passed the man on the streets at home and they never would have met. But put them half way around the world in a backwater tourist trap and they couldn't pass the chance to talk. Familiar strangers. Jon had met a lot of them here in Pattaya, but Mike Johnson was the first to be from so close to his hometown. Definitely the first one to know he was from Greene County, Pennsylvania. One day he would look Mr. Johnson up for a beer at the Amari.
Jon paid his tab and left the bar. The number of beers he had consumed during the course of the evening became apparent as he wobbled toward home. It was a short walk to the condo lobby, but every step was a staggering challenge. The security guard watched bemused at Jon's efforts to maintain a sense of balance. The night boy was asleep, his head on the counter behind the front desk. Jon reached over and pushed at the boy's arm.
"Key," he said as clearly as his thick tongue let him.
The boy jerked awake and handed Jon his room key.
"Thanks," Jon mumbled, stumbling away.
The elevator was open and waiting. As the doors shut, he saw a Thai woman asleep on a chair in the lobby. Her head was turned away so he couldn't see her face. The door closed and the elevator inched its way to his floor.
He heard the phone ringing as he struggled to unlock his room. Julie, the word jumped into his beer-pickled brain, she was calling to confess her sins and to beg his forgiveness. In a moment he was inside and picked up the phone. "Hello!"
"So sorry," a male voice said. "Lady wait you in lobby." It was the boy at the front desk.
Jon heard the words but they didn't registered. "Arai, na? What?"
"Thai lady," came the answer. "Want come you room."
Thai lady? Thai lady? Thai lady? he repeated to himself. What Thai lady? A vague recollection wormed its way inside. "Okay," he said without thinking. The phone clicked dead.
Jon sat at his kitchen table and waited. In a moment there was a knock. He toe-heeled his way to the door and pulled it open. "Come in," he mumbled without really seeing who was there.
Nuang stared at him. This was not the same man she had met just a couple of hours before. This was a very drunk farang. She stood in the hallway not moving.
"I think I have the wrong room," she said, turning to leave.
His eyes focused on her face and his memories blossomed into drunken recognition. "Wait!" he said very loud then softened his tone. "I promised you a place to sleep. Take your things in there." He pointed toward the room he never used. "That's where you sleep. I'll sleep in there." He pointed toward his own bedroom. "I'm drunk and I'm going to bed now. Just leave my stuff alone. Okay?"
With that he staggered to his room, flopped unceremoniously onto the bed, and fell asleep. He left his door wide open.
Nuang stared at him for a long time. She wondered who was crazier, herself for being here, or him for letting a total stranger into his apartment and then passing out. Earlier, when she decided to come here, she was sure he would want to have sex with her despite what he had said at the bar. Now she was sure he wouldn't. Or more correctly, he couldn't. She was surprised. For her entire life she had heard that all farangs were sex maniacs, able to make love even when they were falling down drunk. Obviously this farang couldn't. He was no different from Thai men when they drank too much.
She struggled with herself deciding what she should do. He had paid her two thousand baht for something. He said it wasn't for sex but he hadn't said what it was for. She was confused.
Finally she went to the room he said was hers and pushed the door closed. Five minutes later, she was curled under a blanket. Just before falling into a deep sleep, she had a fleeting dream of her sister, Itta. She had no way to know that at that very same instant Itta was at their mother's house and having a dream about her.
Chapter 26
When Thichakorn "Itta" Bongkot left Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport, she went directly to the train station and boarded the last train heading north. As happy as she was to be off of the plane, the train didn't seem much better.
Itta's flight had been long and grueling. Instead of going east across Europe from Scotland to Thailand, she had been routed westward through America and Japan. It wasn't by choice but by financial necessity.
One of her regular customers at the restaurant in Scotland ran a courier service that sent time sensitive materials from Europe to America and the Far East. He had arranged a series of flights which had been incredibly cheap, but on a route that took her three days to travel. Thankfully she had been put in a business-class seat on the last leg of her trip.
She had dropped a package at the airport in New York, and then collected another in Chicago which she delivered to a man in Tokyo. It had been a marathon journey that left no time for hotels. She never even left any of the airports. She hadn't bathed since leaving Scotland, but she had washed, changed clothes, and doused herself with deodorant and perfume at every stop. She had slept some in the airports and on the flights, but it wasn't restful sleep, not even in the business-class seat. She was exhausted.
The smells that were Thailand drifted through the train car. They filled her nose and put her at ease. She leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes. Images of her seatmate from Tokyo to Bangkok drifted through her head. What was it he had said? Do you know the Bongkot family? or something like that. Tell them I think of them often? She wasn't sure of his exact words yet they haunted her. In a while she succumbed to her exhaustion and fell into a fitful sleep. She slept during most of the ride northward.
When she arrived at the Phitsanu
lok depot, her family was there to meet her. Her mother Nui looked just like she remembered. Her brothers, Anan and Yai, and her sister Neet had changed, but not much. Their reunion was full of smiles and tears. It felt good to be with people who loved her. It took a long time before she stopped crying at her happiness.
Itta and her family squeezed into a single taxi and headed home. It was crowded but no one seemed to mind. Itta, especially, didn't mind. She felt at peace for the first time in years.
As they rode to her mother's house, the family discussed Nuang's mysterious disappearance. It had been six weeks and still no one had heard from her. During that time, their initial worry had shifted to fear, then sadness, and finally to numbness. Everyone still cared, but their emotions had turned callused. Itta vowed to find Nuang, but, in reality, she had no idea how. It was one of those things people said to make others feel better.
After washing up she lay next to her sister and fell into a fitful sleep. That night Itta dreamed about her sister Nuang. Her dreams were so vivid they might have been real.
The next morning, Itta was awakened by the annoying crow of a neighbor's rooster. She looked toward the window. Dawn had barely touched the morning sky. She glanced at the clock on the dresser. Not yet seven. She had slept less than two hours.
Her sister, Neet, snored soft beside her. Itta moved her hand until it touched her sister's back. She could feel the warmth of her body and the gentle motion of her breathing. Having her sister so near made her feel good. She closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep but couldn't. The land of dreams eluded her.
Finally she slipped from the bed, walked through the living area, and stepped outside. It had been dark when she arrived and had seen only what showed in the taxi's narrow headlights. Now daylight was coming and she could see the landscape forming through the night's shadows. It was a familiar world she had seen a thousand times before on mornings just like this. This was her home.
Home! It didn't seem real. She breathed deep the air of Phitsanulok. She would recognize its scent anywhere. Coconut palms lined the dusty road. The smell of newly lit charcoal drifted to her nose on a soft breeze. In the distance she could hear the roar of the trucks and motorcycles as they hurried their way through the early morning streets. The neighbor's dog barked one obligatory yap then ignored her completely. The smells, the sounds, the houses, and everything overwhelmed her. She had been away for so long that her own home seemed almost alien.