New slum friend aka R the carer

R's stand sat just beyond this alleyway, which points towards the 7-11 

Walking home through the slum section opposite our place, I came across two men drinking.

I had seen one of them before, so sat down for a chat.

I was to spend the next three hours in their company, as a small chat turned into a marathon session.

‘R’ sells Thai liquor made with herbs and spices.

It tasted like honey, and rivalled in strength the store-bought whisky I pulled out of my bag.

The third man present, apart from R and me, was Uncle, a man in his 50s who sells fish.

R and Uncle sell their goods at the end of a quiet street which doubles as a small fresh market during the day. The market sits on the edge of a vacant piece of land which I cross to get home.

From soi Armorn looking backwards towards the alley

Uncle was drunk, and couldn’t stop kissing, hugging, and massaging me. A former muay Thai boxer, he wanted me to reciprocate his interest by admiring his arm muscles.

He flexed his arms, and asked me to take a free feel.

‘Uncle used to box, but had a motorcycle accident, so was forced to give it up,’ said R.

‘Look...my leg!’ said Uncle, pulling up his shorts leg. Half his calf muscle was missing.

Uncle, who was wearing a trader’s apron over his clothes, tried to give me money. R stuffed it back in his pouch.

‘Don’t give it to the farang...he only deals with large currency. He doesn’t know how to use 20 baht notes,’ he joked.

'Actually, I am not paid that much,' I said.

About midnight, as our session wound down, R walked Uncle back home. He lives nearby but needed an escort, as he could barely walk straight.

R was born in the North, is aged 22, and has a slight physique, similar to my boyfriend. I reckon R looks Thai-Chinese, but he denies it.

'My grandmother was Chinese, but I am all Thai,' he said.

'I live down there,' he said, pointing down one end of the street.

'...And my mother-in-law lives here,' he said, pointing to a place opposite us, 50m from the other place.

Two children, aged under 10, emerged from the mother-in-law's place to help R pack up shop.

'I have seen you down there. You look so intent on the task at hand,' he said to me, referring to my visits to the 7-11. 'When you go about your business, you rarely stop just to look around,' he said.

The end of the street where we drank, pointing towards the junction with soi Amorn

How true. I have probably passed R many times, but not seen him.

We had chatted here a few days before, when I was taken by his friendly manner and his smile.

My new friend R is a thinker, and a carer.

‘I know you like me, but I am married,’ said R, who likes to tease. ‘Destiny brought us together...but as friends.’

R’s wife turned up just before I left, to help him pack up his stall. A big girl, she sells goods in a department store.

‘Do you and R want a family?’ I asked her.

‘At the moment, we are saving. But if destiny wills it, then we will have kids.’

There was that destiny word again.

As I cut across the vacant plot, I turned to wave goodnight to my new friends. They live just five minutes away; if I want, we can meet every day.

Destiny may have brought us together, just as he says.