Mind control music, farang fixture at Ball's place

My condo now plays soothing mind-control music, when tenants leave the building for the day, and when they come home from work.

Handymen from the office put up speakers outside the buildings in this complex last week. They switch the piped music on in the morning, and again at night.

No doubt it is designed to put tenants in a good mood before their re-entry to the working world, or if they are coming home in the evening, to give them the strength they need to face the wife and kids.

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I am becoming a fixture at Ball's home, like the food tray with legs which sits in one corner of the family sitting room.

I take my place on the floor next to it. While I am bigger than other fixtures in the place, I still manage to fit in.

When I visited yesterday, Mum was darning clothes, and sorting washing. The two babies were playing.

Tum, the mild-mannered boyfriend of Ball’s elder sister, Kae, was playing with his son. Ball was playing with the adopted child of the family, toddler Fresh.

Ball’s younger brother, Beer, was playing on the computer.

Ball’s girlfriend Jay was also there, on a lunch break from work. Even Mum's partner, taxi driver Lort, dropped in.

‘My office is not accepting women workers, only men,’ I told him.

Ther previous nght he had asked me to find work for some female relative of his.

Mum asked if I would make one last inquiry at work.

‘If Ball, Beer and Tum were to go together, could they get work there as a group? And how much would they be paid?’

Ball doesn’t want to work at my company unless he can go with friends. Actually, I doubt he would be interested anyway, as the work (in his view) looks repetitive and dull. But for Mum’s sake, I agreed to ask.

I persuaded Ball to try on the jeans I bought him recently, for his first day at work at my company which never came about.

They are too long in the leg, but Mum says she can take them up.

In baby news, Nong Fresh, who has the cutest little Japanese-style face, is finally getting used to this farang. I can now pick her up in my arms and give her cuddles. She no longer complains.

I spent a couple of hours that night with Ball and carer R, but grew bored of male company.

Down by the 7-11, I ordered a pad thai dish for Ball, as I was worried he would not have any food to eat at home, other than Mama (dried noodles in a cup).

I found his Mum there. She had taken out Nong Fresh for a walk.

‘Ball likes fried oysters. Why not order some for him, and I will keep the pad thai?’ she suggested.

Mum, Fresh and I repaired to a rival ya dong stand, run by a relative of carer R’s.

Carer R and this woman are estranged, and the fact that she runs a rival ya dong stand does not help.

Her ya dong is sweeter, and easier to drink. However, I was there only 30min before carer R called, wondering where I had gone.

Mum asked to speak to Ball. R handed over the phone. ‘Don’t forget to pick up your girlfriend,’ she said.

I walked back to carer R’s stand. By the time I arrived, Ball had left on his errand.

Twenty minutes later, he walked up the street, wheeling Nong Fresh in a pram.

After picking up his girlfriend, he had dropped in to see his Mum at the rival ya dong stand, and picked up his baby sister while he was there.

I love watching Ball with Fresh, as the two are close. He can’t stop kissing the poor girl, who is aged 1. She is used to his face-crunching kisses, and does not cry.

Her nose was running, as she has a cold. 'Erk...you have just given me a mouthful!' said Ball.

Half an hour later, I left. I know Mr Ball wanted to keep drinking, but I was bored.

‘The women are down there talking women's talk, while we are over here talking men’s talk,’ he told carer R.

Yes...but the women’s talk happens to be more interesting than the men’s, I thought.

They talked about babies, food, sleep...simple things.

Men talk about their past lives (while seldom asking me about mine, unfortunately), and bore everyone to death.