My Thai Toy - Part 3

I managed to perform well on Monday 18th December, and I knew that all eyes would be at least glancing in my direction occasionally if not directly looking, and as the new member of the team I would be regarded as an unknown performer for the first week or so. Still, I couldn’t stop the thoughts of Toy clicking into my consciousness whenever a spare moment presented itself. The day seemed interminable.

7 PM came and I was at the Blue Sky bar, sitting with a beer and awaiting Toy’s arrival. At 7:30, she presented and I asked her what had happened to her the previous night. She explained that one of the girls who worked there had been taken ill suddenly, and she had needed to accompany this girl to the local hospital. She then leaned close to me and said, sotto voce, “girl cut herself here”, and pointed to her wrist. “Girl clazy for customer”, she added. Further discussion followed and Toy “had to stay until closing time” whether I paid the bar-fine or not. This was starting to sound like a broken record. I asked her whether she could come to the hotel when she finished work, and she said that she would check with her neighbour to see whether her daughter was OK, and make a decision when she knew how her daughter was.

Based on the fact that Toy had known that I wanted to see her on the Sunday night, but had not gone to the hotel, I presumed that she really did not want to see me and would not go to the hotel when she had finished work. I told her that I would see her when she arrived at the hotel, and went for another cruise amongst the bars.

.-o0o-.

I ended up at a go-go bar called Rififi, close to the car park on Patpong 2, and I was engaged in conversation with another customer, an Englishman, when I caught a glimpse of a girl coming from the room in the rear to take her turn at dancing on the catwalk. She would have been 155 cm tall, and might have massed 40 kilos. I gaped at her for a few seconds, she turned to me, and she smiled at me. I returned to the conversation with the Briton, and about 10 minutes later the little dancing girl attached herself to my arm, and when I turned to see what was happening, she flashed her smile at me again. I immediately thawed. She had the sweetest smile that I could recall seeing, and I think that she knew it. The Brit commented to me that it looked like I had won a friend and suggested that I not pass up this opportunity. Again, I was subjected to the bargirl spiel; “Hello, what you name, where you come fom, when you come Thailand, how long you stay, what hotel you stay, you like me, you hansum man, you have family?”

Her name was Ahn, her English was very good, and she was able to tell me a lot about herself. Ahn was Lao, coming from Vientiane. She had completed a degree at Dong Dok university, which is where she learned her English. Her employment prospects in Laos had been OK, but the pay was to be in Gip, the Lao unit of currency. The Gip devalues daily, and Ahn decided to try for work in Thailand where the Baht was fairly stable. She had crossed the Mekong river using the Friendship Bridge which took her to Nong Kai in Thailand, and had travelled from there to Bangkok by bus.

Then she discovered that she was in trouble on two counts. She needed a work permit to get legal employment, and her Lao university qualification was not recognised in Thailand. In Thailand, a woman in that situation and with no money to pay for her return journey has but one avenue, and that is to work in a bar for cash in hand. She had such imploring eyes, such a brilliant smile that when she asked me “Will you help me to get home soon?” I simply could not say no. I paid the bar-fine and we headed off to the hotel, all thoughts of Toy having evaporated for the time being. She insisted that she perform services as contracted, and she made certain that she fully satisfied the contract, too. We fell asleep in each other’s arms at about 11 PM.

.-o0o-.

What was that noise? I was aroused by a noise that I soon identified as the telephone, and picked up the handset. It was the front desk, asking if it was OK to allow Toy to come up to my room.

Ahn was awake and dressing, she must have had some idea of what was happening. I told the front desk that Toy could come up and hung up. I gave Ahn the agreed amount of money plus a little more, and she slipped out of the room as quietly as a shadow. Toy arrived less than two minutes later, and I begged that I was tired, had been asleep, and wanted to go back to sleep. She looked at me suspiciously, but didn’t make any comment. We went to bed and I returned to sleep, this time with Toy in my arms.

Tuesday 19th December, I awoke with Toy still asleep in my arms. Recalling the events earlier that morning, I came to a worrying realisation; there was plenty of evidence that another woman had been with me sitting in the rubbish bin under the desk at the foot of the bed. I managed to ease my right arm from under Toy’s neck without awakening her, then I slid out of the bed slowly, and went over to the bin. It was empty!

I made ready for work, woke Toy, and told her that I would be moving to an apartment that day, would she like to see it. She said that she would, but she had to return home to take care of her daughter, and as I did not know where the apartment was, there was a problem. She suggested that I could meet her at the Blue Sky bar when she finished work and take her there, but I had to work days, and too many late nights could affect my work performance. I was also mindful of the fact that where I worked, non-performers get sent home early.

I was not interested in staying awake until 2:30 in the morning when I had to commence work at 7 AM the next morning, and I told her so. Eventually, she decided that if I could not stay awake until 2:30, she would have to use one of the days off allowed her each month, but she could not use it that night. She had to give advance warning of her absence so that her opposite number would know and be at work. We agreed that this was the best solution for both of us. She would work that night, and I would meet her at the Blue Sky bar the following night and take her to the new apartment. We parted happily, she for her room, and me for work.

A little later that morning, I was driven from work to the hotel where I checked out, and on to the apartment complex. My apartment was impressive for a single man, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a separate maid’s room with its own bathroom, generous living and dining areas, a large kitchen, and heaps of cupboard space in all rooms. This should impress Toy, I thought.

That night, I judged it wise to not even visit the Blue Sky bar, but I wanted to look around and find out as much as I could about the workings of the place and people so I stuck to Patpong 2. I kicked off in Cleopatra’s, and talked to Nok for about an hour. She had an interesting background. She was originally from Nakhon Ratchasima, commonly called Khorat. She had been married to a Thai man, but because she had a medical condition which prevented her from ever having children, he kicked her out and installed another woman who would give him the children that he wanted. Nok, uneducated and regarded as “used goods” by Thai men, had little choice in what employment she could choose. She simply chose the venue that would pay her the best. I moved on.

In some of the bars that I went to, the girls demanded a bar-drink before they would even talk to me, and when they took that attitude, I didn’t want to talk to them, and would move on, seeking another talker. I finally arrived back at Rififi where I had met Ahn the previous evening, and when she saw me, she welcomed me with open arms. We talked about the happenings in the hotel early that morning, and she told me that when the phone rang, she knew that she had to get out quickly. Nobody phones at that time unless they want to go to the room, and she did not want to be there when another visitor arrived. Further, she had emptied the contents of the waste bin into a tissue and put it into her shoulder-bag. She had been standing at the lifts when Toy got to my floor and had passed her as she got into the lift. We laughed about the close call, and talked more and more.

I was beginning to really enjoy Ahn’s presence and conversation, and was wondering whether it was worth bothering to go to the Blue Sky bar the following evening. Eventually, Ahn persuaded me to take her with me that evening, just to help her to get home to Vientiane. She asked me where we were going when we didn’t take the normal route to the hotel, so I told her that I had moved to an apartment.
I had early duties the next morning, and when Ahn said that she would like to leave early, I was pleased that I would not have to evict her before she wanted to go. She was a little treasure and worth every Baht of her tip.

Wednesday 20th December, I mentally wrestled with myself all day over whether I should take Toy to the apartment and make a commitment to her, or simply forget about Toy and go to see Ahn and make her a proposition. There was a lot to be done in the apartment, so I did not get to the point where I had to decide until about 8 PM. I went to see Ahn.

I entered the bar, looked around, but there was no Ahn. That’s OK, she is probably in the room at the back where the girls change. Just to be sure, I checked with the Mama-san. She told me that Ahn had arrived at 7 PM, taken all of her odds and ends from her locker, and resigned. She had made enough money to pay for her fare to Nong Khai, and on across to Vientiane.

And I had given it to her! I had to laugh at myself.

The Mama-san also told me that she knew Ahn fairly well because they both had a room in the same building. Ahn would go to work at 6:30 each evening, walking and arriving a little before 7:00, just in time to get changed into her dancing attire and start on time. If she was bar-fined, she would return to her room sometimes as late as 5 PM the next afternoon. If she was not bar-fined, she would walk home, eat only a little during the day and go to work that evening. She was always happy to stay with a customer who would buy her food during the day, it was food that she did not have to buy herself. She only ever spent money when she had to, she was saving hard to get herself back home to Laos. And now she was gone.

The Mama-san philosophised that there were thousands of girls out there ready to take Ahn’s place. And I guessed that she was right. I walked across to Patpong 1 and the Blue Sky bar.

(To be continued.)

Santa