Bimat--A Vietnamese Adventure

by Robert A Webster

  Ca heard the deal struck by his mother and his brother, Phaol.

  He went to the cell bars and smiled as his teary-eyed mother and older brother came to the cell.

  They stood outside while the guard went in and removed Ca’s shackles.

  Ca put his arms through the bars and with tears in his eyes held onto their hands. “We heard what you did Ca, and what could happen to you… why?” asked Phaol looking at his cut and bruised brother with a bandage around his head.

  Ca sighed, and they all sat on the floor with the cell bars between them, Ca told them what had happened and how an Englishman had conned him.

  When he had finished, his mother looked angry and said. “But why son? It was over between you and Hern a long time ago. You are married now with children and have a good business.” She sighed and shook her head, “but now Tuong is dead, and you will lose everything... so why?”

  Ca sighed, and with tears in his eyes and looking remorseful, said. “I don’t know mother, I never thought it would turn out like this. I should not have got Tuong involved and I don’t know the words to express how sorry I am.”

  “You didn’t think… period,” said his brother glaring and chastising him.

  Ca shook his head and said. “I know, and I am sorry.”

  He looked at his mother with tears in her eyes looking angry and asked. “Will you take care of my family, mother?”

  Diudang nodded, “Yes son, but your wife’s furious, and it will take time for her to heal. Your thoughtlessness got her brother killed and she won’t forgive you for that.”

  Ca sighed and swallowed hard. “I know,” he said with a quake in his voice.

  Diudang then went into a bag, brought out polystyrene cartons of food, opened a carton of barbequed fish, and another one with rice.

  She handed a chunk of fish and rice to Ca through the bars.

  While Ca ate the food, he looked at his mother and brother and felt uncertain how to break his news.

  His mother handed him more fish through the bars and he took the food, looked at his mother, and with a quake in his voice, said. “Father is still alive.”

  Diudang, taken aback, looked at her younger son and furrowed her brow.

  “What?” asked Phaol looking surprised.

  Ca nodded and then told them about meeting his brother Captain Ca, and about how he had rescued them and saved his life.

  Diudang and Phaol looked dumbfounded as Ca told his story and about how Nguyen lived in a village in Cambodia and was unaware he had a family in Vietnam.

  Diudang shook and wept when Ca told her and the memories of the past came flooding back.

  “I would like to meet Captain Ca,” said Phaol looking unconvinced.

  “He said he would contact you,” said Ca, “but I know he has a lot to do. His soldiers were badly beaten and one was killed.”

  Their conversation went on uninterrupted for an hour until the clanging of the outer doors opening disturbed them.

  Phaol and Diudang looked concerned and Phaol said. “We are not leaving yet. We paid enough to visit all day.”

  Phaol assumed the guards were coming to either kick them out or get more money. He was wrong on both counts as a smartly dressed soldier wearing a Cambodian uniform with his arm in a sling came over to Ca’s cell.

  Phaol and Diudang gasped as they looked up at the soldier, stunned how much he resembled a younger Ca. They just stared at him with mouths agape as the Captain smiled down at them and then nodded at Ca.

  Old Diudang tried to stand but her legs wobbled from sitting on the hard wooden floor. Captain Ca told them not to get up and sat.

  After the initial shock, Ca introduced Captain Ca to his mother and brother.

  The Captain smiled and said how pleased he was to meet them.

  Diudang trembled with trepidation with this startling, unbelievable revelation, and with many questions running through her head, her voice quivered when she asked about her husband and her sons’ father Nguyen.

  The family chatted to Captain Ca for twenty minutes about his life and upbringing. Captain Ca said his father never spoke about his past life in Vietnam, and he told them that Nguyen couldn’t remember anything from that period. He told them how his mother had found him almost dead after being shot.

  This put Diudangs mind as to why Nguyen had never tried to contact her, although she felt saddened by the news.

  Ca then took a photograph from his pocket and showed it to them. The photograph, taken a few years earlier in Sereypheap village, showed the Captain in his uniform standing between his mother, Darah, and his proud father, Nguyen. He handed Diudang the photo and she again sobbed as she stared at the image of Nguyen. Although he now looked elderly, she could still make out the features of the man she fell in love with and married.

  The men continued chatting while Diudang held onto the photograph smiling and trembling. Her mind wandered to the past, chuckling to herself as memories popped into her head.

  The conversation between the men ebbed. Captain Ca promised that when he returned to Cambodia he would visit his parents and tell his father about his old family and maybe they could all meet. Even though he was unsure what his father’s reaction would be.

  Diudang wasn’t sure of her feelings either. It had been too many years and they would now be strangers.

  She handed the Captain back the photograph, but he insisted that she hung on to it.

  The Captain told them he had to return to Cambodia with his Commander, Brigadier Lee, in a few days, so he would stay in Ho Chi Minh City and visit Ca again until ordered back to Hanoi. He looked at Ca and said. “Yesterday I met with Minister Tangh and others to plead your case, which we discussed until well into the evening.”

  Ca sat back away from the bars, afraid of what his brother was about to tell him.

  The Captain smiled. “After my Commander, Minister Tangh’s brother, and Pon spoke on your behalf, Minister Thran decided to show leniency.” The Captain saw Ca looking surprised and said, “you have to be punished Ca, but you will only receive the minimum sentence of two years imprisonment.”

  Ca and his family felt relieved by the news of his incarceration, as they’d all expected him to receive the death penalty.

  Ca smiled and put his arms through the cell bars, shook Captain Ca’s hand, and said. “Thank you brother. That’s again you’ve saved my life.”

  —Epilogue —

  If you are going through hell, just keep going!

  Spock felt bored, so read the three-day-old Independent newspaper that he swiped from the dentist’s reception.

  Stu stared at the television but his thoughts were elsewhere.

  Spock knew his friend had a lot on his mind and knew that nothing he could say would help.

  CNN news was on, and Spock, knowing Stu hated the news, continued reading the newspaper. The headline caught his eye. “Hmm,” Spock mumbled as he read the story.

  Spock looked startled. “Listen to this matey,” he said and read the article aloud.

  “Saudi armed forces combined along with coalition special forces and antiterrorist squads; today raided the palatial home of Sheik Mohammed Del Alaz in the district of Riyadah Saudi Arabia. Undercover investigations unearthed evidence of weapons of mass destruction after an anonymous tip-off that Alaz intended to detonate a nuclear device.”

  Spock grinned and looked at Stu who gazed at the television with the volume turned low.

  ‘Hum,’ thought Spock, ‘he isn’t interested.’

  Spock continued to read the paper in silence as the story told about it being the first joint raid between the allies, paving the way towards more co-operations in the fight against terror in the Middle East.

  The story went on about Alaz’s possible connection to IS and Al Qaeda and his prior connection to Saddam Hussein. Spock then read a section and his eyes widened. ‘Stu will want to know about this,’ he thought as he looked at the photographs and he read aloud, “Del Alaz was found dead and a spe
cialist unit had to disarm a small nuclear device. Several of Del Alaz’s acquaintances were detained for questioning and scores of hidden weapons and priceless treasures have been uncovered and removed, whi…” Stu interrupted his sentence.

  “Which will take weeks, maybe months to catalogue and the Saudi government will have to either return them to the rightful owners, sell them at auction, or keep them in a museum. The treasure could amount to billions of dollars.”

  With his mouth agape, Spock looked at Stu gazing at the television, puckered his brow, and asked. “How do you know that, smartarse?”

  Stu pointed to the T.V. and said. “Because the story’s still making headlines and that’s what’s written on the bottom of the screen.”

  While Stu turned up the volume, Spock looked at the screen and said. “There’s no photograph of him in the paper, but it showed a stiff being wheeled out in a body bag. I bet that’s the same bloody Ab dab who caused us all that grief.”

  His suspicions were confirmed a few moments later when an old photograph of an unwell looking Sheik Mohammed Del Alaz flashed on the TV screen.

  “Look! that’s him, that’s the bastard who croaked it on the screen in that English twat’s office,” said Spock pointing and looking angry.

  They both listened as the broadcaster continued about how Mohammed’s prized treasures had been found and removed three days after his death.

  The dead pharaohs must have been having a right good giggle.

  After the news finished, Spock could see that his old friend was no longer paying attention. He turned down the volume, sat back into the chair, and sighed.

  Spock knew from his own experiences that this mental torture gnawed away at Stu and neither pill nor potion could cure the hurt.

  Spock had long since forgotten his own heart-wrenching episode in Grimsby, which now seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Spock knew Stu needed time to contemplate with his friends there to support and guide him. ‘What words of wisdom would Shithead use in a situation like this,’ he thought and scratched his chin while racking his brains and smirked. Recalling a movie he had seen many years earlier, he leant over to Stu.

  “Matey,” he said. “When two people are in love, but things are going wrong, when do they decide enough is enough?”

  Stu looked at his long-time friend’s smiling large face. With no teeth and cuts and bruises, Spock’s face now resembled a jigsaw puzzle.

  After a few minutes, Stu smirked and sounding hoarse, said. “Never Spock… you never decide to give up trying.”

  Spock smirked and eased himself further back into his chair looking like a two-legged dung beetle whose shit pile had been too heavy. With fingers intertwined and smirking like a wise man who had discovered the meaning of life and imparted his wisdom to his apprentice, nodded and said. “So what are you going to do about Dao, mend it, or end it?”

  Stu shrugged his shoulders, envisioning Spock with his newfound enlightenment suddenly shrinking and turning green, with his ears becoming even pointier and leaping around the room with a light sabre, squealing. “Jedi Vulcan I am, human, you buck up.”

  This flash made Stu smile, and in a silly Yoda voice squeaked. “Going for a beer we will, master.”

  Spock puckered his brow and looked at Stu as if he had farted a dead rat and asked. “What’s with the stupid Yoda impression buggerlugs?”

  Stu shook his head and smirked. “Nothing,” he said, “private thought. But before you get all melancholy and wise again, we saw that stupid Brad Pitt movie, the Mexican, together.”

  Spock scratched his head and grinned. “Oh, yeah, but I know what will cheer you up. How about if I tell everyone about how we used to drink ba…?”

  “Okay,” said Stu interrupting. “Let’s go out.”

  Spock smirked and said. “So you don’t want anyone to know about how we sob…”

  “No Spock, let’s also keep that to ourselves,” said Stu, again interrupting,

  Stu smiled and said. “I have a great idea. How about you stop yapping and we go for a beer.”

  Spock tittered and the two old friends got out of their chairs and walked outside into the warm Pattaya air.

  They got into Stu’s Lexus and drove towards Beach Road smirking, with their embarrassing Bimats, Vietnamese meaning Secrets, still intact… Until now.

  They both drank Babycham and sobbed like little girls when Bambi’s mother died.

  ‘When a man once loved a woman he will do anything for her, except continue to love her.’ Oscar Wilde.

  THE END

  Thank you for taking time to read Bimat. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and I will be extremely grateful and might share my chocolate with you… only might.

  In the unlikely event that you didn’t enjoy Bimat, please write bad reviews under my pen name, Charles Dickens… he won’t mind.

  Please enjoy Protector - Siam Storm 4 - The Final Adventure.

  —Appendix —

  East Pattaya, commonly referred to by the locals as The Darkside, is the area of the city across the train tracks on the other side of Sukhumvit Road. The Darkside in Pattaya stretches to highway 36 in the north, Huai Yai Road in the south and Lake Mapbrachan in the east.

  The Darkside Pattaya, gets its name from the fact that up until recently street lighting was few and far between so as night fell that whole district was plunged into darkness.

  Fast forward to present day and thankfully The Darkside in Pattaya is now fully lit throughout and packed full of businesses, housing and leisure opportunities.

  There is a huge expat population in East Pattaya, seldom visited by tourists the immigrants have made The Darkside their own. As a result there is a wealth of beer bars, pubs and a go-go clubs scattered throughout this massive district.

  The highest concentration of bars etc. is along Soi Khao Noi and Soi Khao Talo. You will find a variety of bars, pubs and clubs which is on a par with any city centre strip, just not quite as numerous.

  This area of Pattaya is home to several Gentleman Clubs and Beer Bars which can be found around the Darkside Pattaya district.

  A House moment. In the T.V series when Dr House gets a flash diagnosis five minutes before the show finishes after spending most of the episode, faffing around discussing Lisa Cuddy’s menstrual cycle and suddenly announces that it’s not an infection and administers the patient drugs that miraculously cure them and they bugger off home.

  Hanoi is Vietnam’s small capital city, serving as the entry point for visitors drawn to the country’s mountainous north and the craggy islands of Halong Bay.

  With a French accent and a venerable old heart – largely spared from American bombings – it’s full of bustle, but more attractive than sprawling Saigon in the south. The focal point is Hoan Kiem lake, a green oasis with an island pagoda, steeped in legend and caressed by the fronds of banyan trees.

  The French Quarter’s boulevards and faded colonial buildings spread from its southern shore, and to the north is the web of lanes that make up the Old Quarter. If it weren’t for the mopeds nipping at your heels, you could feel little has changed on these narrow streets – each home to a historic guild, with merchants plying the same wares as the generations before them.

  Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC for short), but still known as Saigon to its seven million or so inhabitants, is Vietnam's centre of commerce and the country's biggest city by far, though not its administrative capital – an honour that rests with Hanoi. Fuelled by the sweeping economic changes wrought by doi moi in 1986, this effervescent city, perched on the west bank of the Saigon River, is in the throes of a programme of re-invention shaking it to its French-built foundations. Years of rubbing shoulders with the consumer-oriented Americans made the Saigonese wise to how to coin a profit. Now they are pressing old, near-forgotten skills back into service, as the market economy shifts into gear again, challenging Singapore, Bangkok and the other tradi
tional Southeast Asian powerhouses

  Phú Quốc [known as Koh Tral by Cambodians] is the largest island of Vietnam. Administratively the island is part of Kiên Giang province. The district of Phú Quốc includes the island proper and 21 smaller islets. The district seat, Dương Đông, which is located on the west coast, is also the largest town on this island, whose total area is 574 km². On May 1, 1975, a squad of Khmer Rouge soldiers raided and took Phu Quoc Island, but Vietnam soon recaptured it. This was to be the first of a series of incursions and counter-incursions that would escalate to the Cambodian– Vietnamese War in 1979. Tourism plays an important part of the economy with the beaches being the main attraction. Phu Quoc is served by Phu Quoc Airport with air links to Ho Chi Minh City [Saigon]'s Tan Son Nhat Airport and Rach Gia's Rach Gia Airport.

  The Chu Chi tunnels are an amazing collection of tunnels just outside Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) stretching about 75 miles long that were part of a network of tunnels that went all over Vietnam. Cu Chi district, was well-known worldwide as the base where the Vietnamese mounted their operations of the Tet Offensive against America in 1968.The tunnels are between 0.4 to 1m wide, just enough for a small person to crawl along. However, parts of the tunnels have been modified to accommodate tourists. The upper soil layer is between 3 to 5m thick and can support the weight of a 60-ton tank and protect against damage of light cannons and bombs. The underground network provided meeting rooms, sleeping quarters, operation centres and hospitals. By visiting the Cu Chi tunnels, provides a better understanding of the prolonged resistance war of the Vietnamese people and of the persistent and clever character of the Vietnamese nation.

  Vietnamization The Tet Offensive increased public discontent with American participation in the Vietnam War and led the U.S. to gradually withdraw combat forces and to shift responsibility to the South Vietnamese, a process called Vietnamization. Pushed into Cambodia, the Viet Cong could no longer draw South Vietnamese recruits.In May 1968, Truong Chinh urged "protracted war" in a speech that was published prominently in the official media, so the fortunes of his "North first" fraction may have revived at this time. COSVN rejected this view as "lacking resolution and absolute determination."The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 led to intense Sino-Soviet tension and to the withdrawal of Chinese forces from North Vietnam. Beginning in February 1970, Le Duan's prominence in the official media increased, suggesting that he was again top leader and had regained the upper hand in his longstanding rivalry with Truong Chinh.After the overthrow of Prince Sihanouk in March 1970, the Viet Cong faced a hostile Cambodian government which authorized a U.S. offensive against its bases in April. However, the capture of the Plain of Jars and other territory in Laos, as well as five provinces in northeastern Cambodia, allowed the North Vietnamese to reopen the Ho Chi Minh trail. Although 1970 was a much better year for the Viet Cong than 1969, it would never again be more than an adjunct to the PAVN. The 1972 Easter Offensive was a direct North Vietnamese attack across the DMZ between North and South. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued. In March, Tra was recalled to Hanoi for a series of meetings to hammer out a plan for a massive offense against Saigon.