Don't Follow My Lead

This story was from a few months ago,  I wrote it then,  but couldn’t find the right time to post it.  Since I’m still alive,  now is a good time.   Sorry for the lack of posts.  Here it goes…

On what started as an almost normal day.   It ended in spending the night with a prostitute, couple of massages, and my dreaded tuk-tuks.

On my last full day in Chiang Mai, most of my friends from the Elephant sanctuary were either busy, tired, or just not available.  It worked for me, since I didn’t have any plans, and my morning started with a bathroom run that I wasn’t really planning to make.   That didn’t look like a promising day, but I would need to push forward, even if little steps.

After composing myself, I started the day by going out for breakfast.  I would go away from the Old City in search of a local market I found on one of my earlier trips.  Very few tourists in this area of the city, in fact, on this day I was the only westerner that I saw.  Last time I found it, I just finish eating breakfast, so I didn’t get to taste any of its goodness.  I ended up eating a chicken Kaow Soi soup.  Very good, and just for 35 baht.  I completed that with a coke (20 baht), and afterwards an ice coffe (25 baht).  

Unfortunately, eating this, trigger my stomach one more time.  So I decided to do laundry at the hostel, and not leave home base until I knew my stomach had settle.  Most of the afternoon was just lying down, calling the girlfriend back home, and relaxing.  Food would not be part of my day until dinner time  if at all.

Since it was such an uneventful day, my roommates were also gone for most of the day, by the time night time came around I was antsy to get out of the hostel.  I went for a walk towards the south side of the Old City.  I did some sightseeing, but by then I was hungry, but careful in what to eat, I decided to eat something non-local.   I found home in a restaurant called Rock Burger.  Not the healthiest of food, but I needed to test my stomach, since I knew the next day I would be trapped in a bus for 7 hours.  If things didn’t work out, I didn’t like the idea of being in a bus with a stomach bug.   The burger ended up hitting the right spot in my palette and my stomach didn’t revolt either.  Hey, things are looking up.

Since I knew this would be my last day in Thailand (for now), I went for my very first Thai Massage on a place just next door to my hostel.  I was a little worried, because there’s so many massage places, that you have to wonder if they are all really about massages.   I read somewhere, that if you wanted a legit massage place go for the establishment that the employees are wearing a uniform, this place met that criteria. 

A Thai massage is a little rougher than a regular massage. And this little Thai woman show me why; she had her ways with my legs and back, bending, stepping, twisting, stretching, and hitting me.  Also she called me out by calling me Poi Poi(?) which I take it to means I was fat.  We both had a laugh, about my lack of Thai while she kept on abusing me.   After an hour of stretching and hitting, she released me.  It does feel great, and I can’t recommend it enough if you have the opportunity.

Since it was still early, and I had no concrete plans, I walked down the bars towards a Muay Thai Boxing ring.  I’ve pass by here before, so it’s not surprising to see all the Thai women welcoming you into their bar.  The bars always called my attention, not for the women, but because most of them have a free pool table.  And if you know me, you know how much I love to play pool.  This would be my downfall on this night. 

I know this bars are for ‘falangs’ to get to hang out with the Thai women that are selling their bodies.  They don’t really call my attention, but because one of them looked empty enough, I wanted to play pool.  Not soon after I get in the locale, a young woman approached me, and ask me what to drink.  I said, coke, and she said, what should SHE drink.  It quickly dawned on me that me buying drinks for the girls is the reason why the pool tables are “free”.  I was in a good mood, so I said, what the hell, she can have a beer.  

While talking with her, I learned that her name was Aon, it wasn’t easy understanding each other.   I wasn’t very communicative, since I didn’t want her, my thai sucks, and her english was limited.   She asked me where I’m from, and what do I want.  I said Puerto Rico, and I wanted the pool table that was in use by 2 of the girls.  She went on to find another guy to talk.  All the other girls ignore me for the best part.  When the ongoing pool table ended, I wanted to play, and another one of the girls played with me.  Her name was May, and to my surprise, she beat me at pool, even though the game was pretty even.  Which made me pretty pissed at myself for losing, and wanted to play one more time against May.

Unfortunately, in this bars, or maybe because I was alone, there’s no winner keeps playing.   There’s a little whiteboard that you put your name on.  May put her name again, but we needed to wait for another game to be played by 2 guys.  One of the guys being the owner of the place based on what Aon told me.

I did notice Aon talking to another customer, and when she came back to talk to me, I ask where did the guy went to. He had to leave.  I wondered if I should leave too, but my pool pride was hurt too much.  Aon ask me what else should she drink, and May too.  I’m not going to lie, this is the part of the night where I made my biggest mistake out of the many I would do this night. 

You think to yourself, last night in Chiang Mai, you know you are not going to do anything, you are still hurt about the pool game.  Let me to buy her another beer, May and I would get orange juice.  Bad, bad mistake.   This would put me over the money I carried with me.  Didn’t think about it at the time, but it would make the night more interesting. 

When finally May and I get to play again, this time she makes the 8th ball in a pocket by mistake.  So she loses the game, technically I win, but is a hollow victory, because I want to win by sinking all of my balls, not because the other person made a mistake.  Should I leave or stay?  While deciding this, and because I would need to wait for another game, I sat down once again.   It’s almost 11pm, and I decide to just go, Aon mentions that she is going to a Thai club to listen to music, she’s about to finish her shift, since I guess no fishes were biting tonight. 

This is the part of the story where my social ineptitude meets the stupid side of me, and they conspire to fuck me over.  It’s your last night, a prostitute just invite you to a club, you know you are not going to do anything.  Go, what the hell, at least it’s a story to live through.

Since I didn’t have enough money on my pocket I said I needed to take out money to settle the tab for all the drinks I just paid for Aon and May.  Fearing that I might skip the bill, Aon follows me to the ATM.  She’s a few steps behind me while I do my transaction, so I know I’m safe, until the last screen on my ATM shows my total balance to my account.  In the few times I took out money from an ATM in Thailand I don’t remember seeing this screen.  I try to clear the screen, but without even looking, I know that Aon saw my balance.  I’m not wealthy by any standards, but now she really knew I had more money than my backpacker sweaty appearance suggested.  Another mistake.  I could had just pay for the tab and go home.   But stupid me, says, take it farther, go to the damn club. 

Aon is now, really more than happy to take me to this club.  She says, why don’t we invite May too, but at least I was smart enough to stop the madness at that, and said no, just the 2 of us is fine.   

I’m scared, there’s no other word for it.  We walked to a tuk-tuk, and she tells the driver where to take us, in Thai, so I’m lost as to where are we going.   The tuk-tuk ride is about 10 minute ride.  We arrive at this bar/restaurant.  There’s a live band playing in Thai, can’t tell what they are singing about, but it doesn’t sound bad either.  There’s mostly locals, but I can spot a few westerners there too.  I don’t know what to think or what to do, every fiber in my body is telling me run, run away, but the stupid side of me decided to win every battle this night.  By this point in the night, Aon is tipsy to say the least, she orders another beer for herself, food (some seafood stew) and a coke for me.  I tried the stew, it was very good, but with my stomach acting up earlier in the day, I don’t have more than 2 bites of the food.  She kept asking me why I don’t drink beer, and why do I lie to her.  I don’t even need to guess, who’s going to pay for all this, yours truly.  I’m way over my head at this point. 

Aon knows the band or they play Thai pop songs because she is singing them to me.  She pulls me up to dance and I make my best white-man-no-rhythm impression, she laughs at my lack of coordination, but dancing in a bar where no one else is dancing is just not my cup of tea.  I sit down, while I try to come up with an exit plan.   She makes a phone call to someone, so that only gives me time to drown in my own thoughts.  I’m worried that she might be calling someone to meet with us, is she calling her pimp? Are there pimps in Thailand?  Is she going to steal from me?  Thousand thoughts running in my head.  My legs are frozen in place.  Want to leave but my body is not responding.

She comes back, and pulls me again to dance, this time I dance a little more coordinated and she responds accordingly.  And reader, if I’m going to be truthful in my tales, I’ll be truthful, if there was a moment where I could have gone beyond where I wanted, this was it.  A young woman putting all the moves on the dance corner, she was moving very sensually and her intentions were as clear as when I first met her.  I knew it, and she knew it too.   Song ends, she steps out to make another call, or try to get ahold of the person she was trying to call earlier.  I know I have to go, NOW!

I want to use the bathroom before I go, and if you thought that hanging out with a Thai prostitute after midnight on a Tuesday afternoon was the weirdest thing that would happen to me that night, 99.9% of the times you would be right.   But not this night.  I go to the bathroom, and there’s 3 bathroom attendants.  There’s another customer taking a piss, 2 attendants are massaging his calves while he’s peeing, and the third one can’t quite place him.   I really wanted to use the facilities, and the other customer I can tell is a local, the optimism in me tells me, maybe they only do that to locals and not foreigners, what a horrible timing to be optimist.   So I start to take a piss, when the third attendant puts a hot towel around my shoulders.  Weird for sure, but actually felt good.  I try to finish before the other ones start rubbing my legs, I finish, and go to wash my hands.   The other 2 attendants still servicing the local customer, they stretch him, and massage him, and I can tell that he pays them 20 baht each.  My guy is stretching me, kind of puts me in a cross position and lift me and cracks my back.   Something the Thai girl from the massage didn’t do earlier in the night, so my back feels even better than earlier.  Then he stretches my neck to the right, and then to the left.   The other 2 are done with their customer, and start massaging every limb I have.  I want to swat at them, but thankfully I’m almost out of the door.  I pay them 20 baht each too.   Don’t ask me why, I don’t have good answers for many things that happen this night.

I go to the table where Aon was, and I can tell she orders (after finishing hers) another beer and another coke for me.  FUCK!  This night is into the ridiculously expensive by now.  I make the universal sign for the check to the guy looking over our table.   He brings the check, it was a lot, but not as horrible as I was imagining, silver lightning people.  I tell Aon, I have to go, or maybe let’s go.   She is halfway through her brand new beer, and makes signs to wait to finish her beer.  She says she fucks better when drunk.  Oh god.  I need out of this situation.   I wait maybe a minute, but she’s not done, the playing song is over, so I head for the door.  Aon follows me, very closely.  We get out, and she yells a passing tuk-tuk to stop even before we reach the sidewalk.  She says the driver to start driving, he does, she tells me, to tell the driver to tell him what hotel to go to.  I said I don’t have a hotel, I have a hostel, and I’m not bringing anyone with me to my hostel.  She says to get a room, I know for sure that’s not happening.   I tell the driver to take me to the night bazaar because I know every driver knows where that is, and I know that, that place is only blocks from my hostel.   We drive to the night bazaar, almost deserted and closed by this time of the night.  Aon is almost passed out from all the drinking.  I tell the driver, here’s good for me,, I pay, and sprint from the tuk-tuk.  Leaving Aon in the back of the cab by herself falling asleep after all the alcohol consumption.

I reach the safety of my hostel and then my room.  I think about the events of the night, I know I lost a lot of money this night.  But I also felt like I lost a piece of soul that night too.   It took a while before sleep finally found me.