Even Thai Girls Cry

by J. F. Gump

  Lek was older than the rest of the girls in the bar. The way she moved, talked, and directed everyone made it clear that she was not just another lady of Pattaya - she was the boss. After Lek made her entrance, she stashed her purse under the counter, then washed non-existent dirt from her hands. She was ready to work.

  That night, Lek strolled around the outside of the bar stopping to greet each customer. Some she hugged, some she didn’t. He was going to be her last stop before she finished her route. As he watched, he became more and more enthralled with her presence. She was sure and confident. She had an easy way about her that made her different. He felt like a schoolboy. What would he say to her? She walked up to him and held out her hand. As drunk as he was that night, he could still remember every word of their conversation.

  “My name is Lek,” she said, smiling, her English far less than perfect. “I never see you before. What you name?”

  “Mike Johnson,” he managed to spit out after a short moment of being tongue-tied. The two-man band music muted his words.

  “What you say?” Lek asked. “I don’t understand what you say.”

  “Mike,” he answered. “Just Mike”

  “Pleased to meet you, Just Mike,” Lek said. “You like some more drink?”

  He shook his head.

  “You like I get girl for you?” she asked.

  Again, he shook his head.

  “Maybe you like I get boy for you?” she laughed.

  He smiled, “No. No boys for me either.”

  “Then what you want darling?”

  Mike looked her straight in the face and said, “I want you.”

  Lek had heard lines like that a thousand times before. She laughed and touched his shoulder. “No, darling, cannot. Must take care for my bar. I find nice lady sit with you.”

  A few minutes later, a very attractive and sexy young lady came to sit at his side. He was very polite to the girl, even though he wished it were Lek sitting beside him.

  Mike had long ago formed his opinion of the bar-girls and he felt sorry for most of them. The girls who work the beer bars in Pattaya are nothing like most people think. He had taken the time to know some of them as people and found that he liked them as friends. Most of the bar-girls are uneducated, but smart nonetheless. In Thai society, it often falls to the daughters to help aging parents and younger siblings survive. Sometimes, the pressures of their responsibility are tremendous. The menial jobs they find in their hometowns are mostly as farmhands and common laborers. The pay is barely enough to survive. Working in Pattaya is an option for the prettier ones, and it beats slaving in the hot sun twelve hours a day or longer. The girls are not proud of what they do in Pattaya, but they are not ashamed of it either. It is a matter of survival. Mike didn’t look down on them for their professions and they were thankful.

  Mike spent the rest of that first evening sharing his attention between the untouchable Lek behind the bar and the bar-girl sitting beside him. Late that night, Lek told him he could take the girl home and there would be no bar fine. He hadn’t been sure of what to do. Finally, he left with the girl. As soon as the bar was out of sight, he gave the girl 500 baht and sent her on her way. That night, like the other nights before, Mike slept alone in Thailand.

  As the weeks passed, Mike found himself obsessed with Lek. He wasn’t sure if it was because he actually loved her, or if it was the challenge of making her love him. He would spend every evening at the bar, waiting for the time Lek would spend with him. It was never enough. Every night that passed found him staying just a little bit longer. Before too long, he had charmed Lek into liking him.

  He soon discovered that Lek was not just the boss at the bar; she and her sister owned it. It was named after her older sister, Toy. Toy’s Fun Bar or just plain Toy’s for short.

  If you have never seen a Pattaya beer bar, they are hard to describe. Imagine a large, two-car, steel-pole garage with a roof but no sides. Inside is either a rectangular or horseshoe shaped bar with stools all around. The ceiling holds rotating fans and pink florescent lights. Some bars have bands in the center and some don’t. Picture a dozen or more of these bars sitting so close to each other that their roof eaves touch. Music blaring from each in overlapping confusion. A pink florescent city that makes cigarette cherries glow green. Insert fifteen or twenty smiling bar-girls, some older or fatter, but mostly young, thin, and sexy. Add hordes of tourist, mostly German, and mostly male. Throw in a lot of beer and some Mekong Whiskey, and you have it - a Pattaya beer bar. They might seem unique anyplace else in the world, but Pattaya churns them out like cookie cutters. Beer bars are in the business of selling beer, booze, and sex. When a girl leaves the bar with a man, he must pay the bar money for the privilege of taking her out. It is called a bar fine and it is usually just nit noy money.

  On the nights when Mike went to Toy’s bar, he almost always sat on the same stool in the music mix zone. The fan above him dried excess sweat, while blowing away the mosquitoes. Before long, everyone but the weekend tourists recognized it as “his” seat.

  The music mix zone. That was where Mike sat tonight. Lek was ignoring him, Toy and that girl kept pointing at him, and he was getting drunk. What a wonderful fucking evening this was turning out to be.

  He was finishing what he had decided would be his last beer when Toy came and sat beside him. He glanced in the direction of Eduardo, but he seemed not to notice.

  “Mike,” Toy said, “Do you have two beds in your condo?”

  “Why?” he asked. “Are you looking for a place to live?” His words came out thick, slurred, and cynical. The last few beers had done their job well.

  “No,” Toy answered, ignoring his tone. “That girl, Math, was going to spend the night at Som Jai’s house, but Som Jai is going with a man tonight. She doesn’t want Math to stay at her house when she is not there. I told her she could stay with you, if you don’t mind.”

  He stared stupidly at her for a full minute. Finally, he said, “I have to talk to Lek for a minute.” He stood and stumbled to where Lek was talking to a customer.

  “Lek,” he said louder than necessary to overcome the music. “Are you going to come home with me tonight and have sex or not?” It was not a polite thing to do or say, but Mike was too drunk to know, or even care, what he was doing. A couple of the bar-girls looked in his direction.

  Lek stood closer to her customer. She glanced briefly at Math, then glared at Mike and said just one word, “No!”

  Her voice was even louder than Mike’s had been. Now, everyone in the bar stared in their direction. The band stopped playing. Mike could feel eyes drilling holes in his body. “Then I will take some other woman home with me,” he grunted, boasting.

  “I don’t care,” Lek lashed back. “Go ahead and fuck some bar-girl, if that is what you want.”

  Stunned, he stared at Lek trying to understand what had just happened. For the first time ever, he had directly asked Lek to go with him and she had rejected him. She had made him lose face in front of everyone. He turned and stumbled back to his seat, his face burning with anger and embarrassment.

  “The girl can come with me, if she wants,” he said to Toy, his voice tight. “Whatever she wants to do is up to her.”

  Toy smiled in satisfaction and walked to where Math was sitting. They talked for a minute, then Math came hesitantly to sit beside Mike.

  “Are you okay?” she asked him, her tone meek. “You look maow. Er, I mean, I think you have had too many beers.”

  “I will let you know when I have had too many beers.” He shouted at one of the girls to bring him yet another.

  Math said nothing.

  He sipped at the beer for about ten minutes. The angry frown never left his face. Lek didn’t say anything else to Mike, but her eyes shot pointed daggers at him and Math. Math did not look in Lek’s direction. She knew she was caught in the middle of
something she did not understand.

  Finally, Mike said, “I am leaving now. If you want to sleep at my place, you can. I won’t bother you, if you don’t bother me. What you do is up to you.” With that, he stood and left the bar.

  “Where are you going?” Lek shouted at Mike. When he didn’t answer, Lek turned her glare toward Math.

  Math had been having doubts about going with the farang, but now she was 100% sure she didn’t want to stay at this bar. For a moment, she considered going back to her brother’s house, but decided that was a bad idea. She grabbed her purse and followed Mike. When she caught up to him, she took his hand. “I don’t want to lose you,” she said, but actually, she didn’t want him to fall and get hurt while she was with him. Together, they started the three-block walk to his condo.

  Halfway home, Mike stopped at a gas station. “I want to buy water,” he said, wobbling his way toward the entrance. Math followed, still holding his hand.

  Inside, the attendant spoke to Mike. Clearly, the man knew him. He gave Math a puzzled stare. In a moment he said, “Are you taking him home?”

  “Yes,” she answered. “Seems he’s had too much beer tonight, doesn’t it?”

  The man only smiled. Mike stopped here almost every night on his way home. He would buy water, cigarettes, and beer. He was a regular customer. Tonight was the first time the attendant had ever seen him with a lady.

  Mike stared at the cooler doors, as if trying to decide which brand of water to buy. Since there were only two choices, Math wondered what was taking so long. After a couple of minutes, he selected two bottles of water, a wine cooler, and two bottles of beer. He carried them to the counter. Math rolled her eyes at the attendant. The man only smiled.

  “I need Marlboro Lights, too,” Mike slurred. His words were unnecessary. The attendant had already laid them on the counter.

  “Hey you,” Mike said, looking at Math, “You want anything?”

  She did. She went to the cooler and got two cans of iced coffee. Without even pausing, she proceeded to get a large bag of potato chips, some sweet snacks, a bag of nuts, a loaf of bread, and a can of Pepsi. She put them on the counter next to the things Mike had bought.

  He stared at her incredulously. Nervy bitch, he thought. The attendant rang up the items, Mike paid, and they left. As they exited, the attendant said something in Thai. Math said something in return. Mike did not understand what either one of them had said. At that moment, he didn’t really care.

  A few minutes later, they passed between the mostly empty beer bars that lined either side of the narrow street leading to his condo. The girls at the bars had great fun shouting at Mike and making comments about his lady friend. Math blushed. Mike ignored them.

  In the lobby of the condo, the night clerk seemed surprised to see Mike with a girl, but only smiled and said hello. After a short elevator ride to the third floor and a twenty-foot walk, they were inside his room.

  Mike raced to the air conditioner and turned it on. Next, he put everything he had bought into the refrigerator, except for the cigarettes and one beer. He struggled briefly with the bottle opener before the cap flipped off and skittered across the floor. He sat in the swivel chair by the desk, lit a cigarette, and then looked at Math. “You can sleep on the couch. I’m going to read for a while and then I’m going to bed - alone. I think you understand what I mean. The bathroom is there if you want a shower.” He pointed at a door, then picked up a book and proceeded to read.

  Math had showered only a few hours earlier, but decided another one wouldn’t hurt. Besides, it was obvious Mike wasn’t going to start any meaningful conversation. She went into the bathroom, locked the door, adjusted the water temperature, and took a very long shower.

  While toweling herself dry, she heard a thud outside the bathroom door. She didn’t know what the noise was, but she was sure it wasn’t good. In quickly time she put on her clothes, eased open the door, and peeked out. She half expected to see Mike passed out on the floor.

  He was passed out alright, but not on the floor. He was sitting upright in the chair. The book he had been reading was laying on the floor. That must have been the noise. He had fallen asleep and dropped the book. Math picked it up and put it on the desk.

  She stared at him for a while, deciding what she should do. She noticed the swivel chair had wheels. Slowly, she rolled him and the chair toward the bed. He didn’t stir. She took him by the arm and shook him gently. He awoke enough to make unintelligible noises.

  After a minute of hesitation, she pulled on his arm and he stood, swaying back and forth. She put one of his arms across her shoulders, and one of her arms around his waist, and then guided him to the bed. He literally fell onto the mattress, pulling her with him.

  After untangling herself from his arms, she stood beside the bed, wondering what to do next. She thought about taking off his clothes, but decided that was a bad idea. Instead, she removed his shoes and pulled the blanket over him. Next, she looked through the closets trying to find an extra blanket. Nothing. The only blanket was on the bed. She looked in the bathroom and found a dry towel. It would have to do.

  While listening to Mike’s drunken snoring, Math helped herself to a can of iced coffee, a few chips, and a whole bag of nuts. She knew she shouldn’t be eating this late at night, but she was hungry and, with his loud snoring, sleep was out of the question. In a while, she went to the bed and rolled Mike onto his stomach. His snoring stopped at once. She turned off the light, lay on the couch, and covered herself with the towel.

  The air conditioner’s fan ran at full speed, blowing straight down onto her. The thin towel did nothing to stop the penetrating cold. After a few minutes she was shivering. Before long, she was sure she would freeze to death by morning. She got up, turned on the light so she could see, and turned the air conditioner off. She switched the light off again and lay back down on the couch.

  She was still cold. The towel was so short she could cover her feet, or she could cover her shoulders and bare arms, but she couldn’t cover both. She glanced over at the bed. The blanket called warmly to her. After a few minutes she gave in. She abandoned the couch, walked quietly to the bed, and slipped under the covers.

  The sheets were frigid. Math moved her feet around, hoping to find one spot that would be warmer than another. In a moment she found a spot much warmer. She pushed her feet in that direction until they encountered Mike’s leg. He stirred when she touched him. For a minute she didn’t move, afraid he would wake up, but he didn’t.

  Dear Buddha, his leg felt so warm. Inch by inch, she eased her body closer to Mike until her back was touching his. She lay there for a long time, absorbing his body heat. She wondered what her friends in Phitsanulok would say, when she told them she had slept with a farang? Probably not believe her, she decided.

  After a while, she felt warmer and the sheets on her side of the bed less cold. Then, slowly, inch-by-inch, she moved away from Mike. She curled herself into a fetal ball, pulled the blanket over her head, and fell asleep.

  Chapter 7

  Mike awoke the next morning when a ray of sunlight sliced through a crack in the curtains and shined on his closed eyes. He moved his head far enough to put his face back into the shadows. He glanced at the clock. It was ten thirty. He was soaked with sweat, his mouth tasted like shit, and his bladder felt like it might explode at any moment. He didn’t hear the air conditioner running, which probably accounted for the room feeling like a sauna.

  He got up from the bed, switched on the air, and went to the bathroom. He was still half asleep and probably still half drunk. He sat lady style rather than standing, because he didn’t trust his aim. As he sat there, he tried to recall last night, but with little luck. The liquid, brown-bottle, memory eraser had worked well. Bits and pieces came back to him, but mostly they were just blurry fragments. He didn’t remember coming home. In fact, he didn’t remember much of any
thing after Lek had given him the third degree about going downtown with Toy and Eduardo and that girl, whatever her name was.

  With his bladder empty and very much relieved, Mike brushed his teeth and splashed cold water on his face. He groped for a towel but found none; he dried his face with the tail of his shirt. He caught a glimpse of his image in the mirror. It was an ugly sight. He looked like shit. He wasn’t surprised - he felt like shit, too.

  Mike left the bathroom, took a bottle of water from the fridge, then sat at his desk. There he noticed a half-full bottle of beer. Must have been really drunk last night, he thought. He was not a person to stop halfway through a beer.

  His eyes scanned the desk and the kitchen table. No newspaper. He had forgotten to buy a newspaper. He would have to satisfy himself with doing crossword puzzles out of a book until he was awake enough to shower without drowning.

  He lit a cigarette, took a drink of water, and attacked the puzzle on the first page he opened. By the time he had finished the cigarette, the room had cooled down some and his sweating had slowed to a clammy discomfort. The puzzle was only half finished, so he wasn’t quite ready for the shower.

  As he sat staring at the crossword, a movement in the bed caught the corner of his eye. He turned his face to look at it directly. There was a small lump under the covers. He hadn’t noticed it before. But then, he had been so groggy when he got up that he would not have noticed an elephant in his room. A shot of adrenaline pumped into him. His heart sped, and he became instantly awake.

  He stood from the desk and walked to the side of the bed. Definitely not a pillow. Carefully, he pulled back the edge of the blanket to see what was underneath. It was that girl. What the hell was her name? It was something weird, but he couldn’t remember what it was. He lowered the blanket into its original position and moved away from the bed.

  He returned to the desk and lit another cigarette. As hard as he tried, he could not remember the girl coming home with him. What had they done last night? Did they have sex or something? He still had his clothes on, but, then again, she was in his bed. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he just sat there staring.