Stu groaned as Spock adjusted his hat to look more Errol Flynn-esque.
The four posed for several minutes, much to the curiosity of the other passengers looking from the buses windows as it pulled away.
They gave their passports, both phoney and original, to one official and then got into a large stretched Imperial Palace limousine, which drove out of the airport.
Taksin showed them a copy of that morning’s Bangkok Post and pointed at the headline, which showed a news item explaining how the original story had been a ruse.
The article described a plot by terrorists and how the Tinju Prime Master along with his English colleagues had infiltrated the gang and recovered the Holy Relic. It said that pictures would be in the next issue showing them arriving back in Thailand.
When Spock and Stu read the bit at the bottom that told how the King had sanctioned the story, they thought, ‘That’ll impress the girls.’
Although they knew that Thais didn’t sensationalise things, they wanted to milk their new celebratory status and Stu whispered. “We will get tomorrow’s Bangkok Post in Pattaya.”
The limousine arrived at Pon’s quarters, where an overjoyed Banti and family greeted them. They hugged and excited Samnan as they glanced at each other. With no words spoken, the look of happiness on their faces said it all.
Vitchae and Cenat came a short while later and they all ate.
Pon noticed Spock and Stu kept looking at their watches and realised that they wanted to go to see their wives. He leant across the table and said to Stu. “Your Hilux is parked around the back; it’s clean and has a full tank of ga...”
Once again talking to himself as the lads whizzed around the table, shook Taksin’s hand, wai-ed the monks, hugged the women and kissed Samnan.
They rushed out of the room, shouting back that they would call them later and see them soon.
Driving along the motorway, Spock took his phone from his bag and turned it on. The signal for Thai 1-2-call flashed up and he looked at Stu.
“Aren’t you going to call Dao matey?” he asked.
Stu shook his head. “Nah,” he said, “I want to surprise her.”
Spock saw Stu looked troubled as he puckered his brow and furled his lower lip as he drove.
Spock put his phone in his pocket. “Yeah, good idea matey. Let’s surprise them.”
****
The new detainees in Giam Chi Hoa prison holding cells felt subdued and terrified after being given the same information by their respective Embassies. They looked sullen and accepted the hopelessness of their situation.
Mophi, the eunuch, after being dumped and shackled with the others earlier, felt uncomfortable and winced in pain from his recent operation. An infestation of flies swarmed around his gauze-covered lesions but he felt too weak to lift his shackles to swat them away.
Later that day, a Vietnamese official accompanied by two armed guards came into the cell. He told them that the date to announce their guilty verdict and hand down their sentence was set for six months hence, in the interim they would be incarcerated in the main prison.
The official smirked as he left and the armed guards unlocked their manacles. Apart from Mophi, they sat and rubbed the red welts on their ankles.
“Stand!” said a guard glaring at the prisoners.
Feeling stiff, they stood.
Mophi winced in pain as two mercenaries helped him to his feet.
The guards waved their rifles and one said. “Move!”
Feeling the pain from their shackles, and now knowing their fate, they shuffled outside and across a small forecourt.
They went into a large foreboding building of the main hot and sweaty prison housing. They heard chains clanking and saw Vietnamese prisoners standing at their cells doors watching the condemned men. Grimes saw the vacant expressions on their faces and he trembled.
They shuffled along until the guard opened a 3m x 3m cell.
Three foreign convicts already in there with their wrists chained, sat on the hard wooden floor staring at them. ‘They’re Westerners,’ thought Grimes as the guards locked the door and left.
The two mercenaries helping Mophi laid him down as he winced and groaned. The pair looked at Mophi with contempt and sat on the floor along with the other mercenaries looking at one another and wondering what to do.
Grimes stood at the bars of their cell and stared into the cells nearby. He saw gaunt Vietnamese men standing at the cell doors glaring back at him, with a look of hopelessness in their eyes. He noticed some of the cells contained about twenty men and looked cramped and inhumane with no room to move. Grimes put his head against the cell bars and felt in despair.
Grimes then sat on the floor next to Akhim and looked at the foreign prisoners who now rested their heads on their knees.
He saw the three looked gaunt and pallid as Akhim rubbed his ankles and whispered. “At least we don’t have our legs shackled so we can move around.”
They jumped as a guard hit the cell bars with a baton and they all looked at the sneering guard as he said something in Vietnamese and walked away.
“What did he say?” asked Akhim furrowing his brow.
An old American convict looked up and translated:
“Welcome to hell.”
****
Warm air circulated around the temple on a hot mid-afternoon.
Vitchae and Cenat went with Pon to the Temple of the Sacred Light.
The old monks chanted while Pon climbed up the statue and returned the fake Holy Relic to its glass case on the Buddha statue’s head.
He climbed down and they all sat crossed legged on the floor chanting as they awaited the iridescent rainbow of lights as the sun passed overhead. The three Tinju monks then looked up when the multi-coloured halo bathed the statue’s head and smiled. They continued chanting until the sun passed over.
Vitchae and Cenat noticed that Pon seemed distant, but if he wanted to talk about anything, they were there to listen.
After several minutes of silent meditation, Pon asked them for their guidance and told them about Kim and Ca.
The two elder monks listened. Although shocked, they reminded him that what happened was in the past. Cenat looked at Pon who looked confused and he said. “Prime Master, Lord Buddha taught us not to think of the past or the future, one has gone, and the other hasn’t happened, only think of the present. The solution lies not in abandoning right from wrong, but learning how to use them wisely, so forgive your wife and move forward.”
Pon knew his old mentors gave him wise guidance and wai-ed the two old monks. “Excuse me Masters, but I have something important to attend too.”
With a glint in his eye, Pon left the temple and strode towards his quarters while trying to remember where he’d left his mullet.
****
Stu drove along Sakhumvit Road, the main highway into Pattaya.
Spock tapped his lips together. “Shall we go for a welcome home beer matey? The girls will be at their market stall, so there’s no rush.”
The closer they got to Pattaya the more nervous Stu felt. Something did not feel right, and although he longed to see Dao, he had a niggling doubt.
He nodded and saw the turnoff for Pattaya Nua. “Yeah, good idea. We can pop into a beach bar for a couple of cold beers.”
They headed down Pattaya Nua Road towards the dolphin roundabout.
Stu suddenly gasped and slammed on the brakes when he saw someone familiar sitting outside an open-air restaurant before the roundabout.
Spock jolted forward and then saw Stu looking back, so he looked and puckered his brow. “Huh, what’s Dao doing there, and who’s that she’s with?”
“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out,” said Stu, glowering at the pair.
Stu backed the SUV into a parking space and he and Spock got out.
Dao had her back turned to the lads as they walked up and stood behind her.
John saw the lads hovering and Stu glaring at him. Unawa
re who they were, he nodded at Dao to look around.
Dao turned and saw a cut and bruised Spock and her husband glaring at her.
She gasped, looked shocked, and spluttered, “Oh err... Hello darling.”
Stu felt like his stomach had hit his throat. Feeling dizzy and bewildered, he pointed to John and bawled. “Who’s that cunt?”
Dao, fumbling for any words that would come out, stammered. “It’s my friend, John… he’s from Wales.”
John looked at the two men, and realising Stu was Dao’s husband, he didn’t want to get involved in a domestic dispute, especially not with the two rough looking characters who now glared at him.
“What do you mean, a friend? Is he the reason your phone has been turned off?” yelled Stu, becoming angrier by the second.
Dao, taken aback and lost for words, kept looking at John for moral support, which never came as Stu’s nostrils flared and he looked enraged. It was the same look that Spock saw when Stu bashed Grimes and Akhim, and he did not want his friend to hurt like this.
Spock saw other customers and staff looking at the commotion, and sounding calm said. “Let’s all go talk somewhere more private; we don’t want the restaurant to call the cops.”
Stu glowered at Dao and then at John who felt nervous and stood, waved his hands, and with a quiver in his voice said. “I don’t want to get involved. All I did was send Dao money and stay with her when I come to Pattaya.”
Stu thought about the times Dao used to tell him she went home to be with her son, when she must have been meeting John.
Stu glared at John, leant over, and thumped him hard on his nose.
John yelped as blood splattered from his beak and he held his hands over his broken nose, which brought tears to his eyes.
Stu glared at the frightened looking Dao before he turned and walked back to his SUV, with Spock hot on his heels.
They got into the Hilux and screeched away.
The car sped down beach road. Spock saw sweat glistening on Stu’s furrowed brow as he grasped the steering wheel and looked furious as he drove and seemed unaware of the other traffic around him.
“Come on matey,” said Spock, knowing from his own past experience that whatever outside pain Stu had endured over the last few days, paled into insignificance compared to what he now felt inside. “Let’s stop for a beer and chat. You don’t want to crash,” said Spock looking concerned as he saw how close Stu was getting to the other vehicles on the road, especially the slow moving baht buses that had a nasty habit of stopping without indicating.
Stu looked at the concern on Spock’s face, sighed, and eased his foot off the accelerator.
“Sorry mate,” said Stu and turned off onto Soi 6, parked the SUV, and went into the King Kong bar and ordered two Singha beers and tequila shots.
He knocked back a shot, gulped the beer, and ordered the same again. “Not for me matey,” said Spock, knowing Stu planned to get wankered as quick as possible, so he would stay sober and drive them home.
Stu never spoke, he stared at the bar looking deep in thought. He felt numb and looked morose. He ignored everything and everyone around him including the short time girls who played with his limp todger over his shorts as he tried to drown his sorrows with Spock looking on.
Thirty minutes later, Spock’s phone rang. He looked at the number, went outside the dimly lit bar into the sunshine, and answered.
Dao had phoned Moo sounding upset. Moo felt furious with Dao and kept snapping at her. “Som nam nah, Chan buk Khun, serves you right, I told you so.”
Moo shook with rage as she spoke to Dao who cried over the phone. Moo told her she now had a big problem, and not only with Stu. Dao pleaded with her to help her speak with Stu and Moo reluctantly agreed, but told her that she would no longer hide the truth from Spock. She warned her of the consequences should she have to choose between her best friend or her husband.” She hung up and called Spock who said.
“Hello Goyt head, we have a problem. Stu saw Dao with another man. Did you know anything about it?”
Moo sounded angry as she told Spock that Dao had called and told her, she then asked. “Why didn’t you call me when you got back?”
“Why?” said Spock, sounding angry, “so you could tip her off?”
Moo sighed. “I’m sorry Spock; I will tell you everything when we get home. What are you doing?”
“I’m with Stu. I will drive him home when he is ready. Close the shop and meet me at home,” said Spock and hung up.
Moo stared at the phone, cursing Dao for putting her in this position. Moo knew Spock was angry by his tone. She was always the one who ranted and raved during their arguments while Spock usually sat and laughed at her.
Moo seethed as she started packing the stock away and then Dao turned up.
The lads went home early evening with Stu wankered. Spock and the bar girls helped Stu out of the King Kong bar and into the Lexus after he had fallen off his bar stool. Stu wobbled and growled as Spock drove them home.
Spock helped him into his house where Moo and a tearful Dao waited in the living room. Stu saw Dao and yelled at her to get out before he staggered up to their bedroom and packed her bags.
Spock ignored Dao and stared at Moo. “Did you know about that John character?”
Moo glanced at Dao and then looked guilty as she bit her lower lip and stared at the floor.
Dao sniffed back her tears and said. “Moo didn’t know, I told her it had finished.”
Spock glared at Dao who trembled because she had never seen Spock looking so enraged. “You better shut up, you’ve caused enough trouble.”
Dao trembled and went upstairs to see Stu, but returned a few moments later with her clothes dumped inside bags and in tears.
She went outside, got on her moped, and drove away.
“I’m sorry Spock,” said Moo, “I knew about John, but I couldn’t say anything. Besides, she kept telling me that she would finish with him.”
Spock felt angry, but knew the Thai way was not to cause other Thai’s problems.
“I’ll check Stu’s okay, and then we will go home.”
Moo looked at Spock, smiled, and said. “You look even more of a twat in that hat with all those cuts, and what happened to your teeth?”
Stu lay on the bed wankered and feeling empty inside. He closed his eyes and as his head spun, Nicks warning all those years ago now rung in his ears. ‘Fall in love with Thailand, but not the girls.’
Stu had a restless night tossing and turning in bed and thinking about Dao, the happy times they’d spent together, and the ‘what if’s’? He felt guilty and blamed himself, and even though he and Spock often talked about getting a shag, neither of them had been unfaithful while being married. “Maybe I have bad Karma,” he thought trying to understand why this had happened.
He thought about what he had just gone through in Vietnam and felt glad to have Spock, Moo, and the Heads to help him through. ‘I will phone Pon later and see what words of wisdom he can give me to mend a broken heart,’ he thought while watching the early morning sunlight filter through the curtains. He fell asleep around 9 am.
Spock and Moo called in at 9:30 am. Spock went to the bedroom, but seeing Stu asleep, decided to leave him and call in on the way back from the dentist.
Dao had called Moo earlier sounding frantic. She told Moo she had called Stu many times, but he had switched off his phone. Apologetic, Dao wanted her and Spock to help, but an angry Moo again told her, “som nam nar.” Moo would help her, but not yet.
Spock and Moo went to the dentist’s who took impressions and moulds to make Spock’s new dentures.
He and Moo walked out of the dentist’s reception and Spock took a newspaper off the table, which he casually walked out with, much to Moo's distain.
“You are a Ki-Moy, thief,” she said to a smiling, gummy Spock, who assured her, “I’ll bring it back when my teeth are ready.” He smiled and said. “We might be in this newspaper.”
&nb
sp; He glanced at the front of the newspaper. “Huh! It’s not the Bangkok Post and it’s three days old,” he grumbled, looking at the date. “Oh well, I will read it at home.”
Arriving home around lunchtime, Spock went to check on Stu, who still slept.
Moo went to open the clothes shop while Spock pottered around his house and garden until Stu woke up.
Stu awoke around 4 pm, turned on his phone, and within five minutes received a phone call from Dao. He felt hungover, exhausted, and numb while Dao spoke for ten minutes apologising and telling him how much she loved him.
Stu, not wanting to listen to her anymore, told her that he would talk to her later and hung up.
He went downstairs and switched on the kettle.
Spock came in a few minutes later after seeing Stu at his kitchen window. He put the three-day-old newspaper on Stu’s coffee table and said. “How are you feeling matey?”
“Rough,” said Stu, through bloodshot eyes and looking like a walking zombie with his head pounding. He belched and Spock grimaced after getting a whiff of his tequila camel breath that lingering in the room.
“I brought you the newspaper,” said Spock, looking pleased with himself.
Stu picked up the paper and Spock saw a twinge of excitement on Stu’s face as he asked. “Are we in it?”
Spock shrugged. “Nah, it’s three days old. It’s the Independent and I know you like reading English newspapers.”
“Huh,” said Stu, throwing the newspaper back on the table. He went into the kitchen, fried him and Spock crispy bacon sandwiches, and made two mugs of tea.
****
Ca sat alone in the police holding cell. He felt afraid after being told that he would be transferred to the main prison the following day, which was where he would remain until the powers that be decided his fate.
It was a hot afternoon and he sat on the floor staring out of his cell bars. With his wrists shackled and the large pad still covering his severed ear, he heard familiar voices arguing with a guard at the end of the corridor about how much they wanted to visit a prisoner. (This is standard in Southeast Asia.)
Bimat--A Vietnamese Adventure Page 24
