Sumalee

“Is my nose dirty?”

“One second,” Sumalee said and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped me carefully. I couldn’t stop staring at her while she was doing it. “Done.” Her gesture gave me a shiver.

There were also many stalls with dry fish, frogs, eels. All a Western could expect from an oriental market.

She was right. It was a relaxing walk with a mixture of sweet aromas that took you back to the countryside. As time passed it was filling up with people, very few of them westerners, and the noises and smells changed, losing all the original charm.

“So, what else can be done around here?”

“Depends what you like. To the south is what they call the red-light district of Singapore, like the one in Amsterdam.”

“No. Thanks. With a woman like you by my side I don’t think I could find anything even remotely similar in the red-light district or even in Singapore. Certainly not in entire Asia.”

For a moment she stood staring at me without saying anything. I felt as if she was peering into my mind through my eyes. I feared for a moment that I had offended her but said nothing.

“There are also many temples and Villa Cultural Malaya. A museum where you can see crafts, hear traditional music and taste local cuisine.”

“Since we are in a Malay area we could go to listen to some traditional music and eat something typical, right? I'm a book tourist. In fact, I read one on the way here.”

“Deal! Let's go there.”

With her right hand she took my left and yanked me to follow her. For a moment I squeezed her hand tightly to make sure she was there.

Shortly, we arrived at the museum. It was a complex of several low buildings with corrugated roofs, very oriental style. Inside there were typical objects and Malay waggons drawn by oxen as samples of crafts and all kinds of information about the culture and the cuisine. There was also a house you could visit, set in the traditional style. You could tell she liked to travel and experience new things besides working in the travel industry, because she looked at everything with the curiosity typical of a child, marvelling and getting excited about everything. I liked the visit, but really, I did not enjoy it as much as she did because I was focused only on the touch of my hand with hers and the fascinated expression on her face. She had an angelic face. I wanted to kiss her so badly!

When we finished, she said she was going to take me to eat something typical Singaporean and I let her without saying a word. Instead of going to the front door she took me in the back alley and knocked at the kitchen door. She had me intrigued. A big belly man with a dirty apron opened the door screaming angry, but when he saw Sumalee he stopped and went back inside, closing the door with a strong blow. A minute later the door reopened, and a very small girl appeared, who also looked Thai, who jumped into the arms of Sumalee and hugged her. They started talking Thai and then Sumalee motioned me to come over.

“This is David. David, this is my friend Kai-Mook of which I told you last night. She is also Thai and works in this restaurant. She will prepare something for us.”

“Nice to meet you. No need to worry, Sumalee didn’t say anything bad about you”, I said smiling.

“Nice to meet you too. Come in to choose for Swikee.” Her English was not too good.

“Choose for what?” I looked at Sumalee.

“Go in and you will see.”

I followed her into the kitchen and to a place where there was a giant bowl with a lid. Kai-Mook lifted the lid and inside were a dozen frogs leaping, trying to escape the plastic prison.

“Frogs?” I exclaimed looking at Sumalee.

“Yes, they are considered a typical delicacy here. They prepare a delicious frog soup, the Swikee.”

“If you say so... The truth is I have never had it.”

I was a little hesitant, but I did not want to seem too picky, so I chose the frogs I wanted, the ones that seemed nicer if there is such a thing, and I sat at the table assigned to us, waiting for the food and talking to Sumalee about what we would do next. Shortly, Kai-Mook appeared with a tureen in hand. When she opened it to served us the frog soup, I have to admit that it looked appetizing. With strips of red peppers, something that looked like cilantro, chili and other things that I was not able to identify.

I started to eat it with a little apprehension, but once I took the first spoon all my fears vanished. It was so tasty. I devoured the rest of the frog greedily. I raised my head and saw that Sumalee was watching me amused.

“It’s delicious, right?”

“I must admit, this is a delicacy. I have to bring my friends here. They will be amazed!”

“I knew you’d like it. The chef of this restaurant prepares the best frog soup in the city. If you come with them ask for Kai-Mook and you will receive special treatment. Now she knows you and she will take care of you as if you were me.”

I looked into her eyes as she took a breath. I didn’t know what madness I was about to do, but I was going to tell her what I was beginning to feel when Kai-Mook interrupted approaching us to ask how the soup was. I said the same thing as Sumalee, that it was delicious, and she happily went back to the kitchen. The rest of the food was also dishes I was not familiar with, very tasty, but none like the soup. We laughed telling funny stories from our travels.

When we finished, Kai-Mook gave her a bag. She would not say what it was. She also did not let me pay insisting that it was her day as a guide, and she would take care of the expenses. I grabbed her face and looking at her intently, gave her a soft kiss on the forehead while my fingers caressed her temples. I noticed she trembled, but I did not know whether it was emotion or rejection. The important thing was that she did not pull away. A shiver of excitement ran through my body as I touched her skin. At that moment, I felt an almost uncontrollable desire to throw myself over her and kiss her, but I managed to restrain myself. I not only loved being with her and felt very comfortable, but it excited me greatly.

We went out into the street. She went straight to a small park on the other side and gave the bag to a woman that looked homeless. The woman took something from inside and I saw it was food. They chatted for a moment as if they had known each other their entire life and then continued on our way.

“She is a struggling woman. I met her when I came to see Kai-Mook. I always give her some hot food to eat well for the day.”

“Not only beautiful, but also a good person. You do not stop surprising me.”

I’ve put my arm around her shoulders, and we took the bus to the East Coast Park in the southeast side of the island. We decided to change completely the air and I wanted to see some water and there were beaches, palm trees and sea. A perfect place to get to know Sumalee a little more.

When we arrived, we went toward the park. Sumalee was deep in thought for a moment and then she asked me.

“Can you rollerblade?”

“No, I never tried it. When I was a child, I tried a bit the skateboard, but my balance wasn’t great, so I gave up.”

“Well, then we’ll leave that for another day. What about riding a bicycle?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, let's rent a bicycle to see the park. Do you want?”

“Perfect!”

Said and done. We headed to the rentals and although they had tandem bicycles and carts with a roof, we decided on two single red ones for the remainder of the day. It seemed to be a popular activity because the park was full of people cycling and rollerblading. There was a two-way lane clearly marked. Sumalee was telling me everything I needed to know while we pedalled quietly.

“The park is divided into different areas. With different activities. In Singapore they are very organized, as you will find out.”

“Yes, I'm starting to see that.”

“Here on the right is the barbecue area. Many families and groups of friends come, especially on weekends. There are also many restaurants and cafes if you prefer not to cook. To use them you have to reserve them. It can be done online.”

“As you said,” I said smiling, “very organized. And this?”

“That's the water sports area. You can rent kayaks, do water skiing, scuba diving and much more. Do you like these kinds of activities?”

“I love them. What about you?”

“I haven’t tried them too much, but we could try together.”

“Of course! I have it in my plans since I knew I was coming.”

“Now we are arriving to the area where you can play in the sand. It is very typical that people build castles. Look!”

We stopped for a moment to watch how a group of young people finished building a huge sand temple. It must have been almost two meters high and four meters wide. Neither one of us recognized the building, but Sumalee told me that the style was very similar to the temples of Angkor in Cambodia. There were quite a few people taking pictures. Sumalee told me that another typical activity in the park was photography. Another thing that abounded were people running. It was like the Retiro Park in Madrid, but almost twice as large, with sea and more variety of activities. Yes, very organized with everything in its designated area. Even too artificial. We got back on the bikes and keep moving. We passed a building with the Burger King logo. That gave me a sarcastic smile. As far as one believes to be from their environment, the supposed "civilization" had arrived earlier.

“Sumalee, and that, what is it? A campsite?”

“Yes, there are a few designated areas for camping. You can also book them online ...” she said laughing.

“I do not doubt it,” I said, thinking of how much I liked the sound of her laughter.

We pedalled for a couple of hours, covering fifteen kilometres of coastline, and stopping occasionally to see something, rest or at a kiosk for drinks. One of them sold oysters for a dollar, so we ate a couple each. To drink, advised by Sumalee, I ordered a couple of Tiger beers, the typical beer there, which had a tiger as a logo and was a pale golden colour. It was smooth and I liked it. We cheered for many days like this.

We saw people fishing on the docks, families, couples in love, friends barbecuing, long sandy beaches with a width ranging from ten meters to just one with palms and other trees, but the beaches were not the greatest, there were plenty of plastic bottles scattered and the sea was always full of large freighters. There was also a skating rink with obstacles, areas with equipment for gymnastics, volleyball courts, covered benches to rest, narrow roads of large flat stones where only one could walk ... and many maps to guide you along the way. The possibilities were amazing, although the maintenance and cleanliness not as expected. Sumalee told me that it used to be better and that in recent times it had declined slightly. I found funny a sign prohibiting laser pointers pointing to airplanes. The planes passed very low because Changi Airport was not far from there. Another complaint about the place was the overcrowding in almost all areas, although I had to keep in mind that it was Sunday, the day with the highest number of people. In theory, the rest of the days would be much quieter.

When we got tired of going around, we stopped at a beach area where there was nobody. It was getting late and people were going home. Tomorrow was Monday and back to work. We took our shoes off and approached the shore of the sea. We stopped right where the water of the waves caressed occasionally our feet.

“Water in this area tends to be dirty, it is not advisable to bathe, although we have seen some do it”, Sumalee said. “In any case, they do not allow swimming too far from the shore.”

“Dirty? Is there something dirty in Singapore? That is news to me. Although these beaches also need cleaning.”

“Yes. It is because of all the ships. Even so, I sometimes come here, I sit, and I lose myself watching the blue of the sea. I know that on the other side is my land, my home, my mother.”

I looked at Sumalee. For a moment she had become melancholic and seemed about to cry. I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her gently toward me.

“It must be hard to be away from her for so long and, above all, knowing that she needs you. You have to think that this is all for her and that once you pay your debt, you will be able to be together forever and you've been the one who saved her.”

“Yes, when I will have paid my debt,” said with a sigh. “Even if it means making decisions that I do not always like.”

“What decisions?”

“Eh! Nothing, nothing. My things.”

We remained cuddled for some time without saying anything. Close by we could see a catamaran and a few yellow kayaks rented from the park. Farther dozens of freighters, all large or very large. I guess their waste and loss of gasoline in the water was enough to make the water dirty regardless of how much cleaning they did.

Sunlight began to decrease. It was beginning to get dark. According to the park schedule it was only illuminated from 7:00 to 19:00. Soon it will be dark, and we had to go back because we didn’t want to ride in the dark.

Sumalee came closer and I felt her head touching my body. I gathered all my courage and looked for her arm with mine. It did not take me long to find it and I squeezed it tightly. She reciprocated. The dirty beach, dirty water or number of ships did not matter. The orange sky, the silence around us broken only by a singing bird and her hand clutching mine, was heaven.

I turned to her nervous and with my other hand I gently grabbed her chin and lifted her head slightly so that we looked into each other’s eyes a few centimetres apart. She looked at me serious, intensely, expectantly. I ducked my head and put my lips on hers. She parted them a little and I took her lower lip between mine. I held it one second savouring it and then pulled away slowly, slowly letting it go. For a moment I thought she was going to throw herself to give me another kiss, but suddenly her face changed.

“We have ... we have to go, she said shakily.”

“I suppose, although it’s not because I feel like moving from here. I want this moment to last forever.”

She didn't answer. She turned and pulled my hand to follow her. We got on the bicycles and rode back to the entrance as fast as we could. Even so, the last few minutes were in almost dark.

We returned the bikes and walked to the bus stop holding hands and without saying a word. We had to take different buses. The first to arrive was hers. When we arrived at the stop, she gave me a soft kiss on the cheek, she caressed my face with a hint of sadness in her eyes and got on. Halfway on the stairs she turned and said:

“Talk soon. Take care of yourself!”

“You too, Sumalee. Is everything alright?”

She turned without answering and looked for a seat. I watched her bus go with a strange feeling. A mixture of euphoria from the kiss and confusion given her attitude afterwards. I was not sure what to expect. She did not reject the kiss, even reciprocated, but something stopped her after, she did not look at me and had seemed lost in thoughts, I would say almost afflicted. Still, she said we will talk. How was I supposed to interpret this? Maybe she did not want to kiss me because she didn’t feel the same as me, but was not able to say no, maybe the kiss reminded her of a past lover ... Maybe in her culture was wrong to kiss so soon. I had no idea.

I had to find out, I needed to know. Now I could only think about how she would be the next time we will see each other: the cheerful and always smiling Sumalee or the dejected one that just said goodbye to me.

I couldn’t wait to know the answer.

Thailand 14

I was sitting on the patio watching the Muay Thai training. I was thinking about how the worst of the prison was boredom. So many hours alone with nothing to do, no one to talk to, not even to share a thought, when I was approached by a large, bald and disturbed face man who sometimes I saw hanging around. He had a long scar, badly healed, all the way from the left eye to the middle of the head. He did not relate much to the rest of the prisoners and no one seemed to want to get too close to him. He looked like being quite sick in the head. He stood in front of me swinging from side to side and stared at me without blinking. I didn’t know what to make of it. Was he going to hit me, or he just enjoyed staring at me? In any case it was scary. After a few seconds of tension, he turned to me with a strong Australian accent.

“What did you do to them?”

“What?”

“Yes, what did you do to those damn yellows that they treat you this way?” he asked again nodding to the group of stalkers chatting to the other end of the yard.

“Nothing, as far as I know … I have not done anything to anyone in jail. As they are not brothers of the bitch that got me in here ...”

“Yeah, it is strange then that they pursue you the way they do, right?”

“Exactly my thoughts. What can I do?”

“Nothing, I guess.”

“It's not that I mind you chatting with me, in fact I really appreciate it, but aren’t you afraid that they will come after you for talking to me? Nobody wants to come anywhere close to me because of that.”

“After me? I don't think so. Since I came here, I played the part of a dangerous madman capable of anything, and since then, nobody messes with me. And this for many years.”

“How did you manage that?” I asked, but really it should have not been difficult to impersonate a dangerous madman. I believed it. I could have used a strategy like that.

“The first day when a fucking yellow skin stood before me thuggish, I screamed like a madman and I pounced on him, hitting, biting, pulling hair ... As if a demon possessed me. I almost killed him. In fact, in that fight I got this scar when his friends came to defend him. But he was worse, I assure you.” He said it with sadistic eyes and half a smile. “I spent a while in isolation, but when I came out between my not very friendly face and the fame generated by the fight no one has dared to cross my path. Occasionally I do something stupid or scare someone so that they don’t forget that I am capable of anything and that's it. If they see me with you, they will think it's an eccentricity over the farang crackpot. By the way, my name is James,” he said, extending his hand.

“David, delighted,” I replied giving my hand in turn. “What's that farang?”

“It's what the stupid locals call us westerners. I don’t know if it means foreigner, white or demon; but I don’t care either. And another thing, don’t get me wrong, just because I’m talking to you it doesn’t mean that I’ll help you when they attack you. It’s one thing that I like to mess with them a little and quite another to risk it with the chinos for you, I don’t give a shit about you.”

It was clear that my new friend did not hold great esteem for the Thai, not to say he seemed pretty racist, but it's not that I had much choice. He was the first person who dared to relate to me since I got in. Under normal circumstances I would have turned around after telling him what I thought of racists, but I wasn’t in a normal situation. In fact, I was right in the opposite of normal. And I didn’t completely disagree that there were some Thai people who deserved to die. At least some.

We talked banalities for a while. He made fun a bit of the prisoners who were training, screaming at them as if it was the final of the world championship fight and he had staked all his money on the result of the combat. Some stopped to see who was screaming like that at them, but when they saw it was him, they minded their own business. I didn’t want any attention, so I put my head between my legs so that they don’t recognize me.

He also spent a few minutes cursing about the number of blacks in the prison. He told me that almost all of them were Nigerians and all were in for drug related issues. There was a lot of drug trafficking with Nigeria. Although, their leader was not Nigerian, that's for sure, though no one seemed to know his origin. He was a man also black, big and strong, with a curious crescent shaped scar on the face and which all seemed to fear. Even James. Apparently, he was an African mercenary, a child of war forced to fight and kill from a very young age and who didn’t mess around. He seemed very quiet, but when needed, he was very violent and did not seem to be afraid of anything or anyone. There were many rumours about him, though no one knew whether they were true or false: that he had was forced to kill his brother when he was forced to enrol in an armed group at eleven. Two years later he killed the boss that ordered him to kill his brother and he was named leader. That he was a hired murderer, that he had been slaving in the Congo war, that he ate the heart of his victims, that he had raped hundreds of men and women, including children, that he enjoyed killing with his bare arms, that once he burned alive a whole town just because they would not tell him where a person who he was searching for was, that he had trafficked with all kinds of illegal products ... So many atrocities ... and looking at him none seemed impossible. He was really scary. Very. Fortunately, he was completely ignoring me.

When James got tired of cursing everyone, he got up and left as he had come, without saying anything. I saw him walk away, feeling partly relieved to have been able to talk to someone after so long.

At this point this was satisfying enough.

Singapore 7

When I got home Josele and Damaso jumped on me with questions about the date. We sat in the living room and told them what we did, where we went and, above all, what happened in the end on the beach. The two stopped to think about it for a moment. Josele was the first to speak.

“Sure, it's a paranoia of yours. She only wanted to take things slower.”

“I don’t know, Josele. You were not there. It was something else. It seemed that we would continue kissing and then something crossed her mind and she pulled back. I'm sure of what she wanted, but I cannot imagine what made her stop. Maybe she has some kind of disease that can infect, I don’t know what to think.”

“Don’t be silly. Sure is something much simpler than that. Things tend to be simpler than we think, it is us who complicate them. Sure, it's what you say about the customs in her country or something like that.”

“I'm with Josele,” said Damaso. “Ask her out this week and you will see how things turn around.”

“I hope you are right. I only know her for two days, but this girl has something special that makes me crazy.”

“Are you falling in love...” Josele said.

“No way! How can I be in love if I just met her yesterday? All I wanted was a girl to have fun with.”

“Well now you tell me,” Josele said. “The first night nothing, yesterday a little kiss and today you are eating coals ... My friend you have a problem.”

“Yes, you do,” whispered Damaso mockingly. “I also noticed it when you introduced her to us yesterday ... He has a point.” He said bursting in laughter.

“What a jerk you are!”

We all laughed hard. I could use a little nonsense. It was true that she was a lovely girl with an amazing body. It was clear that it was the first thing I noticed when I saw her at the bar. But as we talked during the party, Saturday, I began to realize that almost certainly she was even prettier on the inside than on the outside and that she could enrich my life. I heard myself saying those sappy things and I laughed thinking I could have not fallen in love in just two days. Maybe it was due to the low mood I brought with me from Spain with the recent break up. Damaso then surprised me with the story of a girl from Singapore which Josele had been with.