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Jack was surprised to see Ritchie sitting at the bar when he walked in as the young American guy normally came in about nine; the type of work he did often involved having a late meal or a drink with a customer to go over the day's work and discuss the progress of the design of the guy’s website.

He sat at the stool next to him and ordered a Heineken Lek, a small beer, with a glass. He was contemptuous of "colonials" like Bill and Ritchie who swigged the beer from the neck of the bottle, believing that being in Asia was a reason to raise ones standards, not lower them. He smiled at himself self depreciatingly…  a grammar school boy from South London putting on airs and graces. He remembered the public and private school boys on the train each morning, envying them their easy grace and tailored uniforms and their Sloane Ranger accents as they discussed the weekend’s rugby and where they were going on the "hols".
Then he had got lucky, sure he had worked hard for it as well but the job as a trainee reporter coming unexpectedly through his aunt's husband who worked in the accounting office at the Daily Mirror. Then a few years learning the trade followed by a couple of amazing stories. Pure luck fully taken advantage of; he had been held hostage with a dozen others when terrorists stopped a train on the underground late at night. He had personally helped with the negotiations; convincing the gunmen, only stooges from a local Islamic school, that their demands would be met and they would be flown to Iran if they surrendered. He then witnessed them gunned down by a Special forces squad as they tried to give themselves up, afterwards writing the story of the year. On top of that the embittered ex-wife of a football champion had come to him with a scandal that had rocked the very foundations of the Football Association. Glory days indeed.

But he had stopped working, thinking everything else would come as easily; too many late nights, too many drinks, too many women, too many last warnings from the editor. Finally he had been offered a poorly paid roving assignment in Thailand, it being made very clear that this was his last chance and no other news service would touch him with a barge pole if he stuffed up again.

"You're in early tonight Ritch", he said, more as a conversation starter than any thing else.

"I've got a job interview in the morning with some people connected to the PAT, the Thai petroleum and gas company. No idea what it involves, Bill set it up for me and said something about PR work. I'll fake it the best I can, I suppose it's only another form of writing bullshit to fool the customer… not that much difference to web design."

Jack looked at him with unfeigned interest, anything to do with gas and petroleum in South East Asia was always a possible story.

"I've heard your looking for a cheaper place to live", he said, changing the subject , "bear me in mind if you come across anything with two bedrooms, I wouldn't mind saving a few baht in rent myself."

"That fucking Bill's got it made," he continued, "his business virtually runs itself, he just sits back and rakes in the dough. He's talking about learning Thai so he can impress the girls; wants to find a real showpiece, one he can marry and show off tohis mates…. Someone young and beautiful and a third his age."

"Ha, once a hooker always a hooker", Ritchie sneered, his cynicism showing, "she'll have prostitute written all over her the minute anyone sees her."

"I don't know, there are a few guys around who married bargirls and you'd never know. The Thais know of course, but they don't say anything unless she gets around in painted on jeans and a see-through top. It just gives them another reason to laugh at Farangs," said Jack.

"He's got his eye on  that Malee, she's a little cutie and straight out of the sticks. She'll be reconsidering her career options after what that Jap did to her the other night. Plus there's another new girl here, Kim, I glimpsed her the other day, she'd stop traffic as well. Do you ever wonder what makes them come down here to the bars Richie? What they must think when they see this after a life of rice growing and shoveling buffalo shit?"

"No," said Ritchie, "All I'm interested in is what they've got between their hot little legs and how much they want for it. And it's too much for me now unless this job comes good tomorrow."

Jack waved to Malee who was polishing glasses behind the bar, "Feel like a Coke darling?" he said, hoping to get out of paying for a lady drink but still get her attention.
She filled a glass with ice and got a can out of the fridge while the barmaid wrote the slip out and put it in his check bin. He resisted the temptation to look at it to see if he'd got lucky and only been charged for a coke but smiled at Malee who smiled uncertainly back.

“How are you liking it here?" he asked, realizing immediately that she possibly wasn't liking it at all after the assault episode.

But she continued to smile, "I like many thing here, all girl my friend now, help me so much."

"What about the room you share with the girls? Is it as nice as you had at home?"

He'd have given serious money to see their room but the Mama San glared at him every time he went  near the door leading to the staircase. The thought quite titillated him actually, a couple of dozen sweating, practically naked girls sharing a dozen single beds , or even pallets on the floor. What would the smell be like he wondered? He knew Thai girls were spotlessly clean… but all that closely packed perfumed female flesh...

Ritchie nudge him, "you've got steam coming out of your ears pal, you must be thinking about pussy. Why don't we give the Isaan princess here a miss and go down to Asok Road, there's a place round the corner that claims to do massages with all the trimmings that will release a little pressure for 500 baht."

Jack laughed and shook his head, "I'm waiting to see Bill", he said. "I've got a proposition for him; a trip to the heart of Isaan to see where all these lovely little darlings come from. I want to get that Katoey into a corner as well, he'd know plenty about what makes these girls tick and how they think. He'd have to, to act like he does…. It wouldn't come naturally would it, poncing around the bar prancing and squealing every time some one looks at him. No, he'd have to learn it, no one would be like that naturally."

Ritchie, who had no doubt at all that it came naturally, turned and said, "speak of the devil, here's the old Aussie feller now," as Bill walked into the bar.

Malee was glad the attention had turned from her. She found it totally baffling that her back ground should be of any interest to Jack at all. It was nothing to her; the childhood spent playing in the dusty Isaan streets  and the basic education. Her early teenage years spent as a child minder to her younger siblings while her mother worked as a farm laborer or helped her father on the boat. The sexual advances of her uncles and even an older brother still confused her but she had managed to avoid them. Then other girls in her village had come home wealthy and wearing gold jewelry; money for new family houses was available and they had whispered in her ear about Krung Tep, Fat City.

So she had come down on the bus with an introduction to the Mama San, a distant cousin, as her only contact and she remembered how the older woman’s eyes had narrowed with greed when she saw her.

“Yes, I think you’ll do very well here, a few old fashioned ideas to get rid of… and never forget who helped you start and who stands between you and the Farang boss and the customers.”

So much for standing between her and the customers she thought, then realised Kim had arrived and was waving to her to come and listen to her.

“Jack wants Bill to go up to Isaan with him and wants to take some girls with them. We can be in this if we play it right,” she enthused, “just think, a week’s barfines and tips plus a holiday at home! Bill and Jack are good guys; I don’t care which one I go with, Bill for the money of course… it just means you’ll have to put up with Jack asking stuff like what colour your first doll was and whether your father had a motorbike or not.”

Malee rolled her eyes, “why is he interested in that stuff? Someone said it’s about a book he wants to write, who would read such rubbish” she cried in exasperation.

“It doesn’t matter Malee,” said Kim, “you should be able to get his mind off it anyway, you’ve had a bit of experience with Farangs now.”

Malee thought about what her parents would say if she turned up at home in a car with Farangs, would she have to dress in her Bangkok clothes she wondered? All she’d ever worn in the village were comfortable loose trousers and a tee shirt. She recalled one day seeing three Hmong girls get off the bus in the village wearing tight jeans and lacy tops. Before the truck arrived to take them into the mountains they had opened their cases and taken out their colourful traditional dresses and pulled them over their heads before removing their jeans. Once more transformed into tribeswomen they had climbed into the back of the truck , their Bangkok bargirl identities left behind them so easily.

Kim tugged at her arm, “come on, lets go and sit with them, if Daeng gets wind of what they’re planning she’ll cut us out and talk them into taking her and one of her friends. Don’t come on too strong with Jack, just lean on him with your head on his shoulder, they like that. Leave Bill to me, I think he’s got his eye on me any way. If  I play the good girl I might be able to get more than just a business arrangement out of him.”

Smiling shyly the two small girls walked over to the men who stopped talking and looked at them with interest.

Ritchie stood up, “well that’s me, I’m off. I’ve big day tomorrow so I’ll leave you guys to the tender mercies of these two young ladies,” and left without further ceremony.

(To be continued.)

 

 

© Julian. All rights reserved by the author.