by J C Ryan
It sounded like the truth, even to him, and then he had a sudden flash of insight.
Could it be that Sunstra asked that question because she’s thinking of a more serious relationship? One where we are living in Pattaya?
He mulled the idea for a few brief seconds. That’s what you want, Dalton. Isn’t it? You’re the one who felt attracted to her at first sight. You made the first move and bent the rules so you could be with her. Why the sudden ambivalence?
He became aware of her gaze on him, studying his face as he’d stopped walking and was staring into the middle distance.
Then it hit him between the eyes like a sledgehammer. I’m not ready for it. I can’t make a long-term commitment, not to her and not to any woman, for that matter. I’m the one who’s unable to settle down, not yet.
He was shaken out of his reverie by her voice, “What is it Ruan? What are you staring at?”
Rex almost sighed in relief, grateful that his face didn’t betray what just went through his mind. There was no way he could reveal that to her. So, he had to spin something, “Sorry, your question just got me thinking how much I have been enjoying the freedom of my sabbatical, and in a few months it’ll be over.” He smiled at her and added, “This is the kind of lifestyle I can get used to.”
She laughed and said, “I guess anyone can get used to it. But, let’s not dwell in the future, nor in the past, let’s enjoy the here and now.”
Rex smiled at her, “You’re very wise, Sunstra. Let’s do that.”
Rex took her hand, and she let him, as they started walking again in silence. A minute or so later, Rex looked around and saw Digger walking on Sunstra’s side and then realized Digger didn’t try to separate them as he always did.
Buddy, one day I hope I’ll be able to figure out your psyche.
But Rex knew that it was his duty to cease and desist from pressing for a more physical relationship with Sunstra unless he was prepared to allow himself to love her. The problem with that was what he’d just discovered, with a shock—he was not in the emotional space to do so. Yet, he had a longing to be with her, touch her, and hold her. What was that? Hormones?
Jeez, this relationship thing is complicated.
And if the situation with Sunstra was not enough to do his head in, the image of a certain Israeli woman he’d met in Italy popped into his mind’s eye. While he owed Catia nothing, least of all fidelity, he did owe Sunstra an unencumbered heart if he pursued anything more with her than platonic friendship.
“What’s there in Pattaya that’s of historic importance?” he asked. Rex hadn’t forgotten his mission to explore the idea of changing his appearance. He’d just put it on the back burner after meeting Sunstra, intending to take it up again when he left Bangkok for good. As it happened, Pattaya offered some of the best options in cosmetic surgery, but he also needed to keep his cover—his interest in Thai history—intact for Sunstra.
“Well, it was conquered by an invading Burmese army in 1757, I think,” she offered.
Rex snatched at the straw. “Then I’ll certainly go and see what it has to offer,” he answered. “It’s only a couple of hours by car, right?”
“About that.”
“I’ll go next week. Meanwhile, where would you like to have dinner tonight?”
They moved past the awkwardness of the earlier conversation and went back to shopping. She’d opted to invite him to her apartment for a home-cooked Thai meal. Inwardly, Rex groaned. She was going to make it difficult for him to remain a gentleman. But who would turn down a home-cooked meal? He hadn’t had anything like that in weeks, except for his own indifferent cooking skills. He remembered delicious home-cooked meals in India, with dishes he’d never have tried in restaurants. What Thai delicacies would he discover in Sunstra’s cooking?
***
THE FOLLOWING WEEK, Rex invited Sunstra to go with him to Pattaya, though her presence might cramp his investigations of cosmetic surgery options. He could always go again, since it was so close. But she’d described the beaches and tourist attractions with such gusto he thought she’d like the outing. Unfortunately, she couldn’t arrange a substitute teacher for her classes, so in the end she had to decline.
Rex planned to spend just one night there, along with the days on either side, and return to Bangkok on a Friday evening. He left early on Thursday, Digger at his side in the rented car’s front passenger seat. The dog had begun asserting his right to the spot any time Sunstra wasn’t with them, which made Rex think part of his behavior was territorialism, too. But then again, Digger had stopped separating them whenever they got close since they’d cleared the air about where their relationship was going, or rather, where it wasn’t.
***
DESPITE THE CROWDED highway and the slow-down at the toll booths, Rex made it to Pattaya while morning was still fresh. He had made appointments at two cosmetic surgery clinics and one hospital to look over his options, and he just had time for a snack and to walk Digger before attending the first one.
He wasn’t impressed with the offices, or with the doctor, who seemed to want to completely reconstruct him as if he was a dilapidated car in need of an extreme makeover. As he hurried out of that office, thinking he’d barely escaped with his gender intact, he hoped the next two would offer more reasonable and considered opinions.
He liked the next doctor, a woman.
Her first reaction upon hearing his question was to ask, “Why would you want to change those looks? You are a very handsome man.”
Rex almost never blushed. On the few occasions he did, his tan complexion usually hid it very well, but in this instance he was sure the woman could see it. “Uh, thank you? To answer your question, well, why does anyone want to change their looks? So as not to be recognized, right?”
She smiled and shook her head. “No. Actually, why most people want to change their looks is to correct a flaw. In other words, to look better, more attractive, to feel better about themselves. Younger people like yourself usually want to fix too-large or crooked noses, or an under-developed chin, wingnut ears, crooked teeth and stuff like that. As people mature, getting older, some want to take a few years off their looks.
“Those are the usual motivations to undergo the procedure, but in your case, I’m intrigued. Why don’t you want to be recognized?”
Rex realized he hadn’t thought it through. He hadn’t expected such a probing questioning session.
Is medical information privileged here? If I answer honestly, does she have to keep it confidential? Nah, not going to run the risk.
But Rex was a quick thinker, and over the last few months he’d been in many tight situations where that skill was tested. He still wanted to play the doctor-patient privacy card, so, he asked her if what he was about to tell her will remain private.
She told him it was the same in Thailand as in the US and other countries, what he told her was safe with her and protected by law.
So, Rex launched into a story that he made up on the fly and that had him almost smiling about all the BS coming out of his own mouth as he told the doctor he’d been trying to get away from a vengeful, stalking ex-wife. Apparently this ex-wife had a very rich and influential ‘family’, he made air quotes around the word ‘family’ trying to create the impression he was referring to the mob, who kept on tracking him down wherever he tried to hide. He’d had enough of her and her damn ‘family’, and the only way he could think of getting away from them was to ‘disappear’ in this manner.
He was half out of breath after explaining all of that and sat back to wait for the doctor’s reaction, thinking he sounded so convincing, even to himself, she would’ve bought it.
But she shook her head.
“That’s not a very good reason, Mr. Winterbottom,” she said.
Rex almost started laughing, How the hell did I come up with an alias like Winterbottom? But somehow he maintained his composure and kept on listening.
“You’ll regret it, I’m sure. I’m
in the business of fixing what’s broken so to speak, and you know the old saying, don’t try to fix what ain’t broken.
“There isn’t much I could do for you that wouldn’t change your looks for the worse, and I’ll not be able to live with my conscience if I’m the one who’d damaged a pretty face like yours. When I treat people, they look better and feel better about themselves afterward. In your case, you’ll want to kill me every morning when you look in the mirror.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not the answer to your wife problems.”
Rex didn’t have a ready answer for that, so he shrugged. “Do you have any other suggestions? I mean of the non-surgical, temporary kind.”
She said, “You could dye your hair, or in your case, bleach it and then dye it. Another option is to shave it all off and dye your eyebrows. Believe me, your own mother wouldn’t recognize you, not to mention your ex-wife or her ‘family”,” she also made air quotes around the word ‘family’.
“Combine any of those with a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and you’d look distinguished as well as being totally unrecognizable.
“None of those changes are permanent and it’s fairly easy to maintain for as long as you want, or until your ex-wife finds another man and leaves you alone,” she concluded with a smile.
Rex thanked her for her honest opinion and left, considering what she’d said.
“Digger, I’m not sure what you think, but I think that was sound advice. Much better than cutting up such a pretty face as mine,” he said and chuckled as he looked down at Digger’s smiling face.
“Thanks buddy, I knew you would agree.”
With that, Rex set aside the whole question of cosmetic surgery.
***
THAT NIGHT, REX decided to take in the nightlife, though he’d had enough of doing that on his own in Bangkok. He and Sunstra had fun, though, and he had to admit he missed her. In the end, he felt it would be better to go out than sitting in a hotel room with only Digger for a companion and moping about Sunstra’s absence. Digger had been quite patient with him as he made the rounds of his doctor appointments, though, so he planned to take his buddy with him, and only go into establishments that didn’t mind the dog being with him.
They had dinner at a restaurant with sidewalk tables, where Digger stayed underneath. Other dogs were less discreet, begging at their owner’s tables with no manners at all. Rex was grateful for Digger’s good manners, not begging, patiently waiting for the tidbits Rex occasionally slipped him. It was a rare treat for Digger, and one that Rex knew he wouldn’t take advantage of later.
After a few hours of having his eardrums assailed by awful bands, whose singers had no idea how bad they were when they tried to sing in English, Rex decided he was risking deafness or insanity or both if he stayed any longer. Neither appealed to him, so he and Digger left, and the eagerness with which Digger got up and out from under the table gave him the impression that the dog was relieved to be getting away from the cat stranglers.
As usual, Rex and Digger were both aware of their surroundings, taking in everyone and everything around them without looking as if they were paranoid. They were about a two minutes walk away from the restaurant with the horrible band when Rex saw and heard a commotion a couple of blocks ahead, a young girl being pulled into an alley by three men. Rex expected people who were closer than him and Digger to rush to the aid of the young girl.
Yet no one even appeared to notice. No one moved toward the alley, not even at a leisurely pace. Everyone just went on about their business, as if they couldn’t hear the girl’s screams or see her struggling with three full-grown men.
Damn, what’s wrong with these people? They don’t want to see or hear, they’re just going to let that girl fend for herself. Almost like the three monkeys; I didn’t see anything, I didn’t hear anything, and therefore I won’t say or do anything.
Rex glanced at Digger and saw he was just waiting for the command. “Let’s do it,” he said and broke into a sprint. Digger was more than five yards ahead of him in less than a second.
“Get out of my way, sheeple!” Rex shouted to the people coming toward him on the sidewalk. They parted like the Red Sea before Moses’ staff to keep from being bowled over by Rex and Digger. Rex kept his eyes on the alley entrance where the girl had disappeared from his view. He just hoped the men wouldn’t drag the girl into a building or down another alley before he got there. But then he saw it was clear Digger understood where they were going—he’d get there long before Rex could and would show him where they went if necessary.
He was several yards away from the corner around which Digger had disappeared when a ferocious barking and snarling issued from the darkness ahead. Rex skidded around the corner and had to stop quickly not to run full-tilt into the tangle of snapping dog, dodging ruffians, and the screaming girl. He hesitated for a split second to assess the situation before wading in and slugging the guy who had hold of the girl’s arms. She was so much shorter than the hood who had her. Rex’s right fist landed unencumbered front and center in the thug’s face. His arms around the girl flew to the sides as the full force of the blow lifted him off his feet and landed him on his ass. His hands were clutching at his broken nose.
With his left hand, Rex snatched the girl out of the tangle and thrust her toward the closest wall, while using the other arm for balance as he placed a high kick into the face of a second thug. The guy dropped, out of commission with a broken jaw, and the copious bleeding from his nose indicated it was also broken. Rex had let go of the girl, so he used both arms to flip the second thug on his face, so he wouldn’t drown in his own blood.
The third man was fully engaged with Digger. He had a knife and was slashing at the dog wildly. Seeing the knife instantly brought his blood to boiling point. In that moment, Rex knew what it would feel like to be a father whose child was being threatened by a thug with a knife. He took only a moment to look toward the girl, and saw she hadn’t run as he expected, before he moved in to keep Digger from being sliced by the knife-wielding asshole. He couldn’t kick at the guy without potentially catching Digger with the kick, and he couldn’t grab him without getting cut himself.
“Digger, down! Sound off!”
Digger dropped to his belly at the command and emitted the hair-raising howl the second command ordered. The man with the knife jerked in surprise and gave Rex the opening he needed. Rex grabbed the thug’s knife arm at the wrist with his right hand and with the open palm of his left hand he hit the man’s elbow from below while forcing his wrist down, it snapped like a dried twig. The knife fell to the ground followed almost simultaneously by an ear-splitting shriek of pain.
Rex kicked the knife away and saw the girl go after it before he swiped the hooligan’s legs from under him which landed him flat on his back next to his mates.
“Digger, sound off.”
Digger started howling and barking.
Rex didn’t want to just walk away from the scene with the girl, he wanted these guys permanently out of business. He hoped that Digger’s barking and howling would eventually draw the attention of the cops, though he didn’t hold out much hope that any of the locals or tourists in the area would get involved. He could see the girl was a very young teen, or possibly a pre-teen. It didn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out what would have happened to her if he hadn’t intervened. Digger seemed to understand, though, as he ran to the end of the alley where it connected with the main street and kept on making noise.
Rex kept a wary eye on the thugs as he addressed the girl. “What are you doing out here at this time of night? Where are your parents?”
She lifted her chin. “I went to meet my boyfriend. I was just going home.”
“How old are you, anyway?” Rex demanded, while thinking about what he’d say to the ‘boyfriend’, if he were here.
“I’ll be fourteen soon.”
“How soon?”
She dropped her eyes. “In ten months.”
Rex cou
ldn’t believe it. “Do your parents know you went to see your boyfriend? Where is he?”
She didn’t answer, and Rex drew his own conclusions. From the way she was dressed, she’d sneaked out of the house and met her boyfriend, or possibly an older man, for a purpose her parents would no doubt be appalled to discover. The fact that the boyfriend hadn’t seen her safely home told him that it was probably not a relationship her parents would have approved of at all.
Rex couldn’t decide whether he was sad for the girl or angry at her recklessness. Maybe a bit of both. He’d already made up his mind that he would insist on seeing her home, with or without the police, and informing her parents of what had happened.
Almost as if on cue, Digger came running toward him, with a couple of cops in hot pursuit. Rex mentally thanked Sunstra for his fluency in Thai as he explained why he was in an alley with an underage girl and three young men, two of them unconscious and bleeding from the nose and a third with a broken elbow.
The two policemen looked at the thugs, then at Rex, and then at each other.
Oh, oh here it comes.
It took a considerable amount of time to persuade the cops that Rex did so much damage on his own. The cops asked the girl, and she told them it was only Rex. They didn’t want to believe it, neither did they want to believe that Rex came to her rescue nor had any nefarious intentions. It was only after the cops did a bit of screaming and shouting at the one with the broken arm that he told them it was Rex, and Rex only, who kicked their asses. However, he tried to explain that they did nothing wrong and that Rex assaulted them without cause.
Rex and Digger stood off to the side and watched the disagreements. He’d given his explanation, and if the cops didn’t want to believe him then it was better to not say anything further. The arguments were still going on when another cop turned up on the scene, had one good look at the thugs, and told his colleagues that he knew these hooligans and that he was extremely pleased with their condition. He knew them to be trouble makers that had for months been terrorising people on the streets in Pattaya but had so far been lucky enough to escape arrest.
