Slight desserts

Annually, on October 15, Min has to pay the mortgage on their house. This year 10000 short. She worried about it never having asked me for money. Surely, it would poison our friendship but the need for a roof won out.

About Christmas time, She, her young sister Ben and 2 year old niece Lu came back from a trip up country, dutiful attendees at their mother’s putative wake, which in fact turned out to be joyously premature. Ben and Lu live in Hong Kong. The three of them came by my house about 6 o’clock purposively.

‘Lets go to Somkids suki place? where 71 meets Sukumvit’, said Min, the glint in her eye. I knew Ben had money, her husband is a jeweler in the ex-colonial ex protectorate, felt my scruples wobble.

Lu scooted around our condo, a sprite devil, blithely. Kit, my son, did his best as ‘big brother’ but by now he is absolutely separated from her age. She emptied each bin of his toys, tore off paper to make strips of paper, generally trashed his artifacts.  Kit withdrew and Ben was just sweet. Though I could not but remember the harsh tinkle of her laugh when she was a still a teenager, with its definite energy, defying her fate.

Catherine was too tired from her day at the office and Kit was to bed early that night. We diners left, strolling my Soi, through choking, pepper tainted, evening smoke, to cut along the alley which crosses the market. There was a light sense of a ceremony. We crossed the relentless thoroughfare somehow and queued, bantering calm. Lu’s antics attracted spectators and I was a stranger to someone else’s child garnering adulation.

Tonight, I understood as one of the straight long unyielding lines of Thai gratitude, their stab at forever. How they can wait to thank you and money is still love for many.

Ben’s handbag looked so expensive when she placed it on our coarse table. She is really no longer pure Thai and this place was all working class fun, 79 baht for what you could eat. Crockery, cutlery,and food set out  for the gastronomic mass. Min kindly helped me negotiate the rituals as she does less nonchalantly visiting more formal places of worship.

If Ben’s English is excellent it was to Min throughout I talked, of urgent things. Her young sister staying quiet, intuitive, employing Lu’s antics as easy alibi.

Then without warning they were tired, withdrawing, hurrying to the roadside, to take a taxi to the Rex and Ben’s early flight further east the next morning.

Thanks had been done and would not be referred to again.

I walked home

Life is art here

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