Tuesday 29 July 2008

Master negotiator (2, final)



We took the girls back to their spot on the sidewalk.

They asked for B200 for wasting their time. Farang C ignored their request.

'I don't think you really want to do this,' I told farang C. 'Some of the girls are not pretty. Others look too young. You could lose you wallet.'

He agreed, and we abandoned the idea.

Kew was unhappy that he could not help farang C. 'You farang, you just want pup, pup pup!' he shouted. He brought the palms of his hands together in a pumping action, referring to sex, of course.

Farang C did not understand what was going on, which was just as well.

'Kew, please be good,' I said firmly from the front seat.

He fell silent.

I took Kew home. Earlier in the evening, as we drank at Mum's shop in Thon Buri, Kew told me that he had been diagnosed with a lung disease.

He had been to the doctor, who tested his blood. He was going back for a fuller diagnosis this week.

Kew, who is 24, has smoked since he was 15, and smoked again as we sat at Mum's shop.

'Will you miss me if I am no longer here?' he asked.

I stroked the back of his head. 'Of course.'

Kew wanted me to call the next day, so he could take me to his place of work. He now works for a firm close to my home, where he interviews workers for factory jobs.

Previously, he worked as a security guard, and before that as a bar boy in Pattaya.

He also wanted me to accompany him to hospital later in the week, to see his doctor.

When I called the next day, he did not answer. When I called the next day, his cellphone had been disconnected. Maybe he forgot to pay his bill.

I don't know what to think about Kew any more.

'If you wanted him to be your boyfriend, he would probably let you,' farang C told me later. 'He does the little-boy-lost act very well.'

It is interesting to get a foreign friend's perspective on Thai friends I have known for years. Thais who meet Kew are unimpressed. They think he looks rough and unscrupulous.

Where money is concerned, he does have a ruthless streak. However, where friends are concerned, he also has a soft side.

He calls me every few weeks, and often it is not about money. 'Don't worry, my doctor's visits are covered by health insurance,' he told me at Mum's shop.

Maybe he just wanted a free night out. I paid for his drinks and food, as I normally do.

If I ran out of money, and pulled the plug, would he still keep calling?

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