Corpus of a Siam Mosquito | Page 2

sensuality, and beauty, he who was not

particularly handsome from being dark as a shoe's heel should be sexy
from his wanton disposition. Likewise, his thoughts were dark in a land
of frivolous irresponsibility. To Thai's the word "serious" had a
negative connotation and he was that. Unless one was a monk, being
contemplative was a tacit violation of laws in the Land of Smiles. He
had become the rescuer of whores humanizing their sorry plight. Their
only sins were to be born poor and to be loyal enough to not pull out of
the loose fetters of family obligations. They continued to remember
shadowy figments of obscure rural relatives whom they needed to feed.
Still being a hero was burdening him with a singular motif and he
continually shot this thought through his neurological circuitry until the
taxi driver spoke, parting his thoughts like Moses and the Red Sea or
Buddha sabotaging a bit of the recycle factory of the human soul.
"My son flew into Changmai recently. I've been wondering about
airplanes ever since-just thinking about how things get off the ground.
Have you ever wondered that?"
"Ka," meaning yes, the woman in the backseat croaked like a crow.
"I'm trying not to question it. Wondering such things would make me
scared that they don't stay up in the sky," she laughed. Her name was
Jarunee but her nickname was Porn. "This will be my first plane ride
soaring off with the birds."
"Thais don't often fly," he said. His idea was tinged with a bitter
undertone as if poverty turned one's bones to lead and he found that his
idea put him back in the solitude of his thoughts for only silence ensued.
He decided to sound happier. "You sound excited."
"It has been my dream." She leaned her head against Nawin's shoulder.
"Flew off to Changmai. He lost his job during the financial meltdown
of 96. 3000 baht. That's what the family lived on each month for a good
many years. Then she was pregnant and laid off from the restaurant and
they stayed with us for five or six months. Of course they could have
stayed longer. After all, they are family."
"Yes, of course. You sound like a good father. I'm sure it will get better

for everyone soon," responded Porn as she looked up at the old face in
the mirror hoping with softness to make the tenor of the conversation
gayer.
"Krap," he said meaning yes although he wasn't in agreement. "No, he
continually got more depressed and then no matter how many job
interviews he went on, he came up empty handed. Then she took their
children to her parents. He came up there a bit later. The in-laws had
him but didn't want him. He hadn't been trained at anything but
working in the factory. He didn't know how to plant rice or maybe he
was too depressed to learn. It wouldn't seem there would be much to
learn. You just put them into the ground. Anyhow, he was walking
around in a daze all that time. That's what she claimed they said about
him. Soon he returned with us but before we knew it off he went to
Chaingmai. I don't know why. I got a post card from there. It didn't say
much other than he had taken his first flight. Can you imagine just
buying a ticket, leaving, and not saying a word."
"Ka, not really. I can't imagine anybody doing that...unless he just
didn't want to worry you. Maybe he didn't want to worry you about if
the idea was right or wrong financially. I bet he has friends there and
they'll help him to locate work."
"Yes, it is the best thing. I've been going to the temple to give food to
the monks and blessings will follow. I'm sure of that. I've never gone
on a flight. Where are the two of you going?"
"To Montreal."
"Where's that?"
"To Canada. She smiled but the word, favorable as it was, didn't have
the flavor of Paris or cities in America."
"What will you do there?"
Nawin wondered what she would be doing there. She had escorted him
around galleries, parties, and auditoriums where he gave speeches.

Bangkok gossip columnists had sometimes even mentioned her
presence with him. What would she be doing in Montreal while he
attended post-graduate classes? That was a fundamental question he
had no answer for. He had granted unto her a new profession where she
didn't have to spread her legs to anyone but him. He had rescued her
from stripping and whoring in a bar in Patpong but perhaps that would
not be enough. Nobody was content. Like any animal, a human always
yearned for more. They were trying to build up on