A Farang
For All Seasons -- Part 8
A Farang For All Seasons -- Part 8
Today was laundry day. When I got out of the shower, Sip's
clothes were spread out all over the living room. For some reason
she had brought one of those over-sized suitcases packed full of stuff,
and it was now empty.
"What's this?"
"Laundry!"
"All of it?"
"No. That" she said, pointing to a little pile.
I couldn't understand why clothes were spread out everywhere in the
room when she only wanted a few things washed, so I tried to get her to
put more in the pile but she wouldn't have it.
Just then the phone rang, and it was Antman.
"Jai, I don't want to go back."
"So what? Neither do I, but our plane boards in less than 24
hours."
"Can't we call and get on a different flight?"
"The flight is the least of our problems. What would we tell
the boss?"
"We could tell him we're having a lot of fun, and we want to stay
here a few more days."
Antman has it bad, and that's not good.
"Dude, he's very generous as it is. I don't think we can
push things much more than we're doing already, and I really don't think
we should be pushing things at the last moment. It's the weekend
back in the real world. Do you really want to call the boss at home
and tell him we're not coming in?"
"Can't we say the hurricane off the coast of Japan caused us to
miss our flight?"
"We could say that, but they can check. Besides if the
airline is flying, it's prolly safe to fly. On the other hand, if
United cancels our flight we can milk it for another week."
The thought did pass through my mind that the hurricane idea was pretty
good, and we might indeed be able to use that as an excuse. But the
truth is that we take more time off from our jobs than we're entitled to,
and the boss is generous in not cutting our pay.
Antman didn't like the thought of having to leave Wifey, but it was the
right thing to do.
Sip and I finished getting ready, and joined MikeM and Lady for
breakfast. We didn't have much planned for that day and we were all
beat, so Sip and I went back to the room for a nap.
The phone rang.
Damn, wasn't it supposed to be off the hook?
I was afraid it might be GoodGirl or Demi, but instead I was greeted by
the voice of an Englishman. It took me a moment or two to get
accustomed to the accent, and I was happy to know that Gooner had arrived.
Gooner had staked out his territory at GBB, and I promised to join him
after a quick shower. I told Sip that Gooner was at GBB and that she
should join us when she was rested.
It was good to see Gooner again and make up for lost time. And I
was surprised to learn that PommieBruv was still in town. As soon as
Gooner mentioned it, PommieBruv rounded the corner and was headed our way.
The moment PommieBruv's butt hit the barstool, the street vendors
zeroed in on him. As the first tout began to show his wares,
PommieBruv said, "Tell all your friends I don't want to buy anything
today. I don't want a lighter. I don't want any
cigarettes. I don't want any food. I don't want any
nuts. I don't want my shoes shined. I don't want any
stickers. I don't want any key chains. I don't want any
Buddhas. I don't want any sunglasses. I don't want any carved
elephants. I don't want anything. I just want to be left alone
to drink my beer."
It didn't take long for the second tout to sidle up to our table, which
prompted PommieBruv to say, "You see? Your friend didn't tell
you what I said. I told him I don't want to buy anything
today. I don't want a lighter. I don't want any
cigarettes. I don't want any food. I don't want any
nuts. I don't want my shoes shined. I don't want any
stickers. I don't want any key chains. I don't want any
Buddhas. I don't want any sunglasses. I don't want any carved
elephants. I don't want anything. I just want to be left alone
to drink my beer."
I was laughing so hard, I was crying.
This was one of the few times I could remember seeing Gooner without
his GFE --- HappyFace. Gooner didn't tell her that he was in town,
and was hoping to sow a little wild oats this trip. I understand
where he's coming from, but HappyFace spends all her time in the Nana
Triangle, and I didn't think that plan would work for long.
Sip came down after a while, and all of us enjoyed a little feast and
each other's company until it was time to visit Big Dog.
We got there just as the parade began. In my opinion, it's the
best show in town at that hour. Unfortunately one of the girls going
to work that day was Demi. When she saw me sitting on the rail with
Sip, she decided to make a beeline to us and punch me in the leg.
Yeow! I'm sure Sip must have seen that, but she didn't let on.
The boys wanted to go drinking, and Sip wanted to go back to
sleep. I told her I would try to be back around midnight or so, and
we went our separate ways.
Tonight's goal was to have a mixed drink in every bar at NEP. The
rule was that each of us would take turns choosing the bar and ordering
for everyone. PommieBruv was partial to Gin, Gooner favored Rum, and
I like Tequila, so it made for a pretty interesting mix.
Some bars had drink menus but it didn't matter what they said; we soon
learned that all the bartenders wanted to make were Singapore Slings.
Lucky Luke's was having a drink special where they would mix three
types of booze together, which was perfect for us. A couple of those
go a long way…
We didn't make it to every bar in Nana Plaza that night, but we did
succeed in getting royally tattered. We tried to make it to GBB for
last call, but they kicked us right out. I guess it's the lobby bar
for us.
As we stepped down the stairs and turned toward the Nana entrance, we
walked right into HappyFace. Gooner had made it just behind her, but
I thought it would be a good idea to say hello to her and draw her
attention the other way. We were all too drunk to think she actually
might have been standing at the end of the bar watching us.
Gooner made it to the Nana entrance, thought better of ditching
HappyFace, and came back to get her. My guess if he hadn't, she
would have been sitting in his lap in the lobby bar about 5 minutes from
now anyway.
We had a round together, and then I excused myself to go up to the
room.
Sip was already fast asleep, and a finer bed warmer was never had…
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