by Lilburne,Guy
“Sa-teven, if we call police they take us to monkey house for sure. They think we do murder and sell drugs. We in prison for long, long time. You not understand Thai police.”
“Actually, I have had experience of the Thai police. They arrested me for a murder that I didn’t commit and sent me to prison.”
“Good. So you understand that we cannot involve the police.”
“So. What do we do?”
“We have problem.”
“Yes. I understand that bit. What are we going to do about it?”
“I’ll speak to the monk and we can burn body at temple.”
“The monk will do that! I would have never done that when I was a monk. That’s just disposing of a murder victim.”
“No problem. You not good monk. Here monk my cousin. We can burn today and have service.”
“What about all the people who have already seen the body?”
“Yes. They all come to funeral and pay respect. Then we not have to worry about body anymore.”
“What about the drugs?”
“There we have a problem. They already know who you are, but we not know who they are. Maybe we can sell them their drugs back. I’ll think about it. You not worry Sa-teven. I take care of you and then we find your girlfriend.”
“Thanks” I said, and I meant it. I was so happy to have Angel on my side. I’m not very good at dealing with life and I need someone to help me. I was OK at most things, but making decisions was never going to be easy for someone like me.
Angel made some phone calls and everything was taken care of. Some men came with a home-made coffin that had obviously been made out of wooden pallets. The body parts were placed inside the coffin in more or less the right place. The coffin was lifted onto the back of a pick-up truck and we followed it in procession to the temple. Four of the monks sat in a row and gave prayers and blessings. The coffin was carried around the incinerator temple three times before it was carried up the steps and placed at the opening to the incinerator. We all walked up the steps to pay our last respects to the unknown dead drug dealer before the coffin was pushed inside the oven and everything was burnt to ashes. We watched the grey smoke drift out of the high chimney and float off gently across the cloudless sky. Our drug dealer was on his way to his next life. We walked back to mama’s house where her brother was still waiting in his refrigerated coffin for his own funeral service. A party just started the way that they seem to do in Thailand. We moved the car under the house and covered it with a tarpaulin. We stayed at mama’s house for another two days before her brother finally got his funeral. We never saw anything more of the farangs who tried to steal the car and nobody in the village sighted them either.
“What are we going to do with all that cocaine?” I asked Angel, as we ate fish and rice for our last breakfast at mama’s house, before we drove to Bangkok to go and tell Pom that I loved her.
“I think we can sell it for big money and we share 50-50. They don’t know who you are, right?”
“No. They don’t know me and I don’t know them. Only me and Jack Sparrow know each other. He won’t believe it when we tell him what happened.”
“Jack sparrow is involved with these people, Sa-teven.”
“No. I don’t think so. I’m a good judge of character. He picked me up out of the kindness of his heart. He didn’t have to, you know.”
“He picked you up to drive the car so that he didn’t have to take any risk. He set you up. Believe me, tee rak, he is involved in all this. How much does this Jack Sparrow character know about you?”
“He only knows my name and date of birth. Oh! And he copied down the address where Pom is staying with her boyfriend’s family.”
“So your girlfriend Pom is in big danger now I think.”
“Why is she?”
“Because you are supposed to deliver a car full of drugs and a dead body to an address in Bangkok. To Jack Sparrow and whoever else he may be working for. After you deliver the drugs I think they kill you for sure. Now they worry because you not take drugs straight to Bangkok. Now maybe they go and kill your girlfriend, or maybe kidnap her to make you deliver drugs.”
“Oh my God! Do you really think all that could happen, Angel?”
“Yes! For sure.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We have to go to Bangkok and check out address they give you to take car. We need to find out who these people are. We have to be very careful. I think we are all in big danger very much. Maybe we can save life of your girlfriend and her boyfriend. How did you get in this mess, Sa-teven?”
“Because I was waiting for a bus, but I wasn’t waiting in the right place.”
Angel frowned and then shrugged her shoulder. She kissed me on the forehead. She walked back to her mama’s house and walked up the rickety steps. She returned a few moments later, loading bullets into an old revolver as she walked towards me.
She spun the chamber and tucked the gun into the waistband of the denim shorts.
“Angel, that’s a gun!”
“Yes. I think we need. We are going to go and meet some bad men. They know where my family live now, so we have to go after them before they come after us. Sorry. I only have one gun, so I not have one to give you.”
“That’s OK. I’m feeling a bit scared Angel. Do we have a plan?”
“Yes. The plan is we go now to Bangkok. We think about everything when we cross some bridge.”
“What bridge?”
“I don’t know. It something English people say.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
We said goodbye to Angel’s family and drove off along the unmade mud roads in the battered old blue Toyota. I know that Angel thought that Mr. Sparrow was involved somehow in everything, but I was still finding it difficult to believe. Angel had never actually met him and I had spent time with him. He had taught me how to drive a car and then lent me his car to get to Bangkok. I decided to remain undecided until I knew some more. I sat back in the passenger seat happy with my own wisdom.
We got onto a proper made up road which was obviously a major highway, but we didn’t drive very far before Angel pulled off the road and drove along another dirt track where she parked under a tree behind a derelict wooden house that was falling apart.
“Tee rak, you wait here. I not be long time.”
Angel got out of the car and I saw her run back along the dirt track. I have to say that, for someone who was dying of cancer, she seemed pretty fit. I waited for about 20 minutes before Angel drove back up the lane in a brand new white Honda Civic with no registration plates on it.
“Come on, Sa-teven. We have to put drugs in new car.” She started to transfer the illegal cargo.
“Where did you get the car?”
“Garage lend to me.”
“How much did this cost you?”
“Nothing. They do for free.”
“For free?”
“Yes. They not know yet that they do. I borrow from big parking lot. They not know for some time.”
“You stole this, Angel?”
“No. I just borrow.”
“It hasn’t got any number plates.”
“Not need for new car. In Thailand can drive for six months with no plates on new car.”
We transferred the drugs into the boot of the Honda Civic and we were back on our way to Bangkok. I have to say that I had never been in a new car before and it was lovely. It smelt lovely too - a mixture of leather and polish. It was so smooth and quiet. I would highly recommend this car to anyone. Angel adjusted the radio as she drove along until she found a Thai channel that was playing some decent music. The air conditioning was set to a very pleasant 24 degrees and it was turning into a wonderful day.
“How long bef
ore we get to Bangkok?”
“Oh! We not get there today, tee rak. Too far. We stay at some resort tonight and get into Bangkok tomorrow.”
I realized that Bangkok must be the furthest city away from anywhere. It just seemed to take forever to get there. I couldn’t help but think to myself that there must be a short cut that somebody, somewhere, knows about!
The resort wasn’t really a resort. Well, not like I imagined a resort to be like. There was no swimming pool, bar or restaurant. It was just two rows of rooms with a space to park a car in front of each room. More like a motel really, but Angel said that in Thailand it is called a resort. We had stopped to eat at one of the temporary road side restaurants that can be found alongside every road in Thailand and arrived at the resort just before it got dark. The only reason we stopped at that particular resort was because it was brand new and Angel said that it would be clean. It was.
We showered together again. I realized that Angel just didn’t like to shower on her own and, to be honest, I really enjoyed showering with her. I was hoping that she would give me another of those ‘suck jobs’ and I tried to slip my penis into her mouth every time she bent down for something. I didn’t want to make it look too obvious and I was going to act surprised when I managed to get it into her mouth, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. I had it in her ear, up her nose and in her hair, but I didn’t manage to get it in her mouth. After the shower we got into bed and she wrapped her beautiful smooth body around me.
“Tell me about yourself, Sa-teven.”
“There is nothing to tell.”
“Of course there is. Tell me anything, everything. Tell me secrets. Tell me your thoughts, your feelings. Just tell me about yourself. I want to know everything.”
“Well I used to masturbate a lot. I still do actually. I think that is all there is to tell.”
Angel put a delicate hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. Then she burst out laughing and she laughed for a long time.
“Oh tee rak! You are funny. Tell me about your parents.”
“They were lovely parents. My mum died when I was young. She died of cancer.”
“Oh! That must have been a very hard time for you watching your mother die when you were still so young.”
“I didn’t know anything about it. I never saw my parents that much when I was young. They liked to keep themselves to themselves. I only knew that she died because dad invited me to the funeral. I didn’t even know that she was sick.”
“Wow! I think that your parents really hate you sure!”
“No Angel. You are wrong. They loved me. I think that they just didn’t want me to worry.”
“You have brother and sister?”
“No. I was an only child.”
“Did you have many friends?”
“No. Nobody was allowed in the house and I wasn’t allowed out.”
“Did your mum and dad play with you or spend time with you?”
“No, not really. They were always busy and they liked to encourage me to be independent.”
“Were you clever at school?”
“Good God no! I was never blessed with brains or common sense. My dad used to say that God has a way of balancing things up in life. He will make really beautiful people stupid or make stupid people beautiful so that everyone gets a chance in life. Dad said that God had a day off when I was born. That’s why I’m stupid and ugly. I know my dad was right, but I have been blessed with a happy life anyway.”
Angel kissed me.
“God gave you a good heart, tee rak. But you need someone else with a good heart to take care of you.”
“Yes. I agree. I think that’s why he sent Pom into my life. She could do a lot better than me, but he made her love me anyway.”
“OK.” Angel didn’t sound convinced.
“Why did you become a monk?” she continued.
“Well, I used to work in a plastic mouldings factory. I worked there from leaving school. It wasn’t a great job really. I used to smell of toxic fumes all the time, but at least I didn’t need any qualifications. I bought a second hand book on Thailand from a charity shop and I read it from cover to cover. After that I saved all my money and went on my first ever holiday alone. I went to Phuket and had a wonderful holiday, but I ended up getting arrested for a murder that I didn’t commit. I met a ghost and I made friends with a ladyboy. After I spent some time in prison I was released and went back to England, but I had already been sacked from my job. I didn’t know what else to do, so I studied to be a monk and eventually they sent me to Khanchanaburi to the lost temple. I had to rebuild it. I fell in love with Pom and she fell in love with me. But she has another boyfriend who has asked her to marry him. So that’s it, really. I need to get to Bangkok and tell her that I love her too and then she will marry me. I’d love to have a baby as long as it isn’t stupid or ugly like me.”
“Tee rak, I think you are beautiful. I see something very beautiful when I see you. I cannot explain it too much, but I feel it very strong.”
“I think you are beautiful too Angel, even though you have cancer and I know you don’t have long left to live.”
“I have cancer? I not live long now? How do you know all this?”
“Oh! I can see.”
“Because you are a monk?”
“No. Because you have lost all your hair, even your lady garden. Because of the chemotherapy.”
“I not have chemotherapy. I just shave my head for fashion.”
“So you don’t have cancer?”
“No! But now I think we go and check. You make me worry too much.”
“What about your lady garden?”
“What lady garden mean?”
“Your private fanny area.”
“My pussy?”
“Yes. Why don’t you have hair there either?”
“I haven’t had hair there since I was 14 years old. It’s fashion.”
“So you don’t have cancer and you are not dying then?”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s a miracle. I pray every day for you. I feel so relieved now.”
“Thank you for pray for me, tee rak.”
Angel rolled on top of me and started kissing me. I think we were both happy that she wasn’t dying anymore. Something felt different. It felt like there was a happiness that was sort of pulling us together. We made love again and for the longest time. I decided that we were very good friends, so making love was OK until I found Pom again. Once I was married to Pom the sex with Angel would definitely have to stop. I thought that that would be for the best and I decided that I probably wouldn’t tell Pom about Angel and myself. We must have both been very relaxed and very tired because we both fell asleep with Angel still lying on top of me and still entangled in the act of love. I drifted off to sleep thinking about how good it felt being with Angel and what she had said about seeing something beautiful in me. It was the nicest thing that anyone had ever said to me in all my life. In the morning we showered and left the resort. We stopped by a roadside restaurant for breakfast. I had two pieces of paper in my pocket. One had the address of Pom’s boyfriend and his family on it. The other one had the address that Jack sparrow had given me - the address that he had told me to deliver the car too. Angel was convinced that he was involved somehow with the body of the dead drug dealer and the boot full of drugs that we found in his car. I wasn’t so sure. Angel wanted to see the address in Bangkok, so I handed her the paper that Mr. Sparrow had given to me. The address didn’t mean anything to me and after Angel looked at it for a few minutes it was clear that it didn’t mean anything to her either, because she suddenly pulled out her mobile phone and rang a friend. Her friend was a ladyboy who lived in Bangkok and she seemed to know everything that there was to know about Bangkok. Angel gave her th
e address and I gathered from Angel’s side of the conversation that her ladyboy friend was going to check out the address before we arrived in Bangkok. Angel arranged to meet her friend at her friend’s house. I sort of stopped listening to the conversation as I looked at Angel. I started thinking how happy I was that she wasn’t going to die of cancer. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t realize how sad it had been making me, just thinking that she only had months or even weeks left to live. She was a beautiful girl with a lovely heart and I was very happy that she was going to live a full and happy life. She was one of life’s nice people and she deserved a good life.
“OK, tee rak. Finish coffee and we go to Bangkok.” She interrupted my train of thought and I suddenly couldn’t remember what I had just been thinking, but I knew that it was something nice. We finished the coffee and got back in our brand new car and continued our journey to Bangkok. We arrived in the sprawling, concrete wrapped city in the afternoon. It was busy and confusing with all the flyovers and underpasses. The tangle of multi-lane roads and U-turn bridges were all a bit overwhelming to me. I was very happy that Angel was driving.
“Angel, I thought that you were coming to Bangkok to get treatment in a big hospital for your cancer.”
“I told you I not have cancer.”
“Yes. I know that now. So, why are you coming to Bangkok?”
“I just needed a change. I can get job working in bar and get more money than working a bar in Chiang Mai. My life just empty and I look for something special now.”
“What are you looking for?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“How will you know when you find it?”
“I don’t know that either.”
I squeezed her hand because I didn’t know what else to say and it sort of just felt like a hand squeezing moment.
I had been to Bangkok a few times and I still wasn’t sure how I felt about the city. Sometimes I loved it and sometimes I hated it. I didn’t know if that was just me or if the city makes everyone feel like that. They have some magnificent buildings, both new and old. They have some splendid bridges spanning the world famous Chao Phraya River. The sky train speeds past beautiful ancient temples, world class restaurants and five star hotels. But that is only half the picture. To complete the tapestry that is Bangkok you have to sew it all together with the polluted air and waterways. Smelly sewers and drains that overflow in the rainy season. Slums and tin shack shanty towns sit between motorways and flyovers. The beggars, homeless, conmen and thieves walk the same streets as the rich and famous. Monks and whores sit at the same roadside food stalls. In Bangkok the saints and sinners walk hand in hand and it is hard to tell them apart.
