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EXTRACT - It Happens To Guys Too
Pet had failed again to get a
customer. He had been at Diamond Boys since
it opened, but over the last week he had not had a customer, not even a drink,
never mind an off. He called his
girlfriend to check if she had finished work, then jumped on the motorbike,
picked her up at her bar and drove home.
They stopped for noodles just before their room. She was unusually quiet, but they had been
fighting a lot over the past weeks.
First, it had been over money. If she was earning tips from the Farangs, why
wasn’t he? Or was he earning and then
spending it drinking whisky with his friends at the bar? They had had to move room the previous month
to somewhere smaller, cheaper and further out of town. He tried to reason that there were just fewer
Farangs in town, and those who were there, spent less.
“I could earn more, but you don’t let me go
with ladies,” was his standard response. “You tell me that I can only go with men. Many ladies want me.” It was a lie, but did his ego good, and he
had hoped it would disarm her. “And
anyway I don’t tell you that you can only go with ladies, not men.”
This had earned him a hard slap across the
face. “That’s different.” Pet could never understand her logic, but
accepted the slap.
The next fight had been a week ago. Geoff had been in, and at closing time,
suggested Pet joined him and the guys at a disco, ‘no tip, only enjoy’. At four am, they had gone on to a karaoke
bar. Geoff gave up about five and went home.
Pet had eventually been helped home and
carried into his room by his mates at nine the following morning.
When he woke late afternoon, his girlfriend
had slapped him several times, adding to the pain from his hangover. She told him that he was no good and had
better sort himself out or they would be finished. She hadn’t spoken to him for a day.
He tried to be extra careful the next
couple of days. He did love her and they
had a 2-year-old daughter who stayed with her mother. He wished he could earn more money, but all
he read about in the papers was bad news.
All the Farangs claimed they had less money to tip. He did get some tips that he dutifully handed
over when he got home.
Then he was offed by a lady. He thought he had been careful and not been
spotted by his girlfriend, but on arrival at home she demanded he handed over
the tip, slapped him and asked why he went with a lady. As soon as he had left the bar, one of her
mates had called her. He argued that
they needed the money, even though he knew the argument would not be accepted.
She had started talking to him again in the
morning, if shouting instructions was talking.
The next night Simon came in looking for Cap
and Nut. Pet considered Simon a friend,
if you could have a Farang as a friend.
Simon ordered a bottle of whisky and, when Cap and Nut appeared, they
had all sat drinking. It was late by the
time Pet called to pick his girlfriend up.
She smelt the alcohol on his breath.
In the morning, she woke Pet just before
noon with a slap and told him that they were finished, to collect his clothes
and go. He tried to talk to her, but she
told him she had had enough; he was no good and didn’t do enough to support
their daughter. She was better off
without him.
She went to the clothes rail and started
throwing his clothes at him. He found a
bag and quickly pushed them inside, knowing it was time to get out. Once she was sure that he had all his clothes
and no reason to return, she told him to leave.
He reached for his mobile phone.
“No, I bought that, it stays. You can have the SIM card.” She grabbed it from him and removed the
SIM. “And before you even think of it,
the motorbike is mine as well!”
He left with his bag of belongings, got a
motorbike taxi to Art’s room, and asked if he could stay a few days.
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