Forgotten birthday, 7-11 turn-off, piggybank offer

It’s Maiyuu’s 33rd birthday.

I forgot it, even though I had put a note in my calendar. 'I bet you remember the birthdays in the slum, no problem...but you forgot mine,’ he said.

When Maiyuu wants to announce bad news, he sings. He put these words in a tune as well. He was teasing, rather than being too serious. I denied the remark about the slum, of course.
-

He has asked for a loan of B1,000 to help him get through to next pay day.

My pay day, of course, not his.

I have already given him B2000 – half of it came from the fees which a doctor in this condo pays me to teach him English. The other B1000 came from my savings.

Sensibly, he asked for the latest B1000 as a loan, which I expect him to pay back next week.
-

‘Can you tell me the answers in English if I read you my homework?’

I was standing at the counter of the 7-11, waiting to pay for a purchase.

The girl serving me, a pretty young thing, had noticed I was a farang.

We had spoken briefly before, but never about much. I was lost in the fog of my own thoughts when I realised she was talking to me about English.

‘Yes..,' I said.

‘’My teacher has given me as assignment. I have to hand it in tomorrow. If I read you the questions, can you tell me the answers?’ she asked.

‘’What...now?’ I asked.

Two or three people were waiting behind me.

‘Yes.’

‘Can’t we sit down somewhere...out the back?’I asked reluctantly.

I don't want to give the girl ideas.

‘No...it has to be here.’

‘I am busy. Let’s try tomorrow, shall we?’

Suddenly, the deadline for her assignment was magically extended by a day.

'Can you come in tomorrow about 5pm?’she asked.

I avoided the place, and returned for the first time only yesterday.

It was a week since that conversation, and the girl, thankfully, was away.

I do not want to help with someone’s English, at one of the busiest times of the day at the local 7-11.

If she can’t find the answers herself, she’s probably not interested. And if she’s not interested, why should I bother?

-

‘How about some new drinking rules?’ said Mum.

She was perched on the couch, talking about the cost of life in the slum.

Mum’s household runs two motorbikes, which is not enough to meet its needs. Hardly a day goes by without some problem befalling the motorbikes.

Here, a burst tire. There, one of her children caught driving the things without a licence.

Previously, the family owned three bikes, but one was stolen.

Boy, the second child, owned his own bike, but a few days after he started military service, it was stolen. That was more than a year ago.

Boy is now back home, his service as a conscripted soldier having ended. He is out of work, though Mum says he will soon take up a job an in-house bank electrician.

‘How about you buy Ball just a bottle of beer a day...and put the rest in a piggy bank, to help me pay for a motorbike?’ she asked.

‘Ball and his girlfriend can use it to get to work every day.’

The deposit required is minimal. But the monthly payments for a new bike would come to B3000 a month over two years.

I spend more than B1000 a week at Ball's place, most of it on alcohol. I could help his mother.

Ball, needless to say, was unimpressed.

We were sharing a drink in our usual position, cross-legged on the floor. Mum was sitting on the couch next to us, the first time I had seen her at home in days.

‘These are our financial problems, not his,’ said Ball, referring to me. 'Don't bother farang Mali with them.'

Ball is worried that if my money is diverted to helping Mum pay for a motorbike, he will have less to drink, which is true.

I like the idea, though it might mean that I have to visit them less as a result.

I want Mr Ball to do something more constructive with his life than sitting with me, thinking about what might have been.

Drinkers are always talking nostalgically about the past. How many contemplate the future?

Booze saps their will to make something of their lives. I am almost tempted to say yes to his mother - though it all seems to too easy for her, so I probably won't.