I Feel You Linger In The Air
Chapter 5 - Travelled Back in Time to Be Hurt Again
I don't get why we see each other again here. What sin did we commit together that cursed us to reunite in every lifetime? Is the elders' belief that people we meet in each stage of our lives are those we have met in past lifetimes true? Kaimook doesn't spot me. She spins and trails after Mei towards the female servants' houses.
"Ming, do you know her name?" I ask.
"Ai-Som said her name is Fongkaew."
I press my lips together. No matter if it is Kaimook or Fongkaew, I hope not to be near or have anything to do with her.
Today, I train the piglets as planned. I make leashes from cloth and rope to guide the piglets for short distances. They are super naughty and keep dashing off course. I need to gently tap their hips so they learn to follow orders, and don't forget to reward them after they run a little.
A few days later, the piglets' performance has improved. They know I am a person with yummy stuff. I have Oui-Suya hold the piglets at the starting point, and I stand further away. When I clap as a signal and call their names, the piglets scuttle towards me to eat the tasty cake. But if something catches their attention, they will be instantly distracted and go off course.
Sometimes, when they are halfway up, they change their minds and roll around on the muddy ground. They also swerve to the sides to nuzzle something in the grass. The overall situation is hopeful, though. I pour my attention to the piglets, not caring about what happens in the great house. I turn a deaf ear to everything that doesn't concern me, especially the great house owner's love affairs. But it's hard because Mr Robert's new concubine is the main gossip at every meal.
"They said the boss called for Fongkaew to serve in the house. Is it true?" one of the servants asks. The said house is not the great house resided by Mr. Robert and the lady boss Ueang Phueng reside. It refers to another house near the mistresses' accommodation, where some female servants live. It is a small guesthouse built under the shade of trees in the middle of the garden, with full facilities, the kind of place to relax when you want to hang out with a couple of friends or rest, free from the day's stress. It's not hard to guess what type of relaxation happens there.
"No." Another servant waves his hand. "She was ordered to welcome his guest with a tray of oranges. The boss wanted to show off to his friend that he had a beautiful woman in possession."
"Hmm? Was it really just a friend?" Another servant joins in. "Didn't they try to follow in the footsteps of Doctor Cheek and Missa Louis?"
Content hollers sound over the meal circle. I look at them in confusion and can't help asking, "Who are Doctor Cheek and Missa Louis?"
"Don't you really know?" one of them eyes me in disdain. "Where have you been? How come you don't know Doctor Cheek, the infamous foreigner, and Missa Louis, Ma'am Anna's son? They said she used to teach English to the King of Siam's sons and daughters. Both of them were timber merchants decades ago, but never forgotten. They are the legend." He pulls a cheeky face while saying that.
'Missa Louis, Ma'am Anna's son' kind of rings a bell, so I ask, "Is Missa Louis Mr Louis T. Leonowens?"
"Oh, you know him. You keep switching between central and northern dialects." The same servants tsk in annoyance. "Doctor Cheek was filthy rich back then. They said Doctor Chitt built a great house, larger than our boss's and had dozens of women serving him. Both Missa Louis and Doctor Cheek were granted concessions for forestry and became business rivals, then they grew closer. So much closer."
The way he draws out his voice, his pervy smile, and the other guys' manners increase my curiosity. I'm not familiar with the name 'Doctor Cheek', but I unquestionably know about Louis T. Leonowens. His name has been mentioned in multiple historical records. He used to run around the palace as a young boy, the son of the foreign teacher Anna Leonowens, whose life story was later adapted into the well-known film Anna and the King.
Since Louis was a competent man with connections, he was acquainted with numerous high-ranking authorities in Siam, which gave him great business opportunities. Regardless, he was a foreigner who was deeply attached to Thailand.
But doubt these servants are being amused by the foreigners, Doctor Cheek and Louis, getting rich from forestry businesses. Thus, I ask, "What kind of legend did you mean?" And I get the answer right away when one of them sings a northern song. Once he starts, the others chorus along merrily.
Doctor Chitt and Missa Louis
Sleeping with two girls
Two nights for fifteen rupees
Miss Luang is on the bed
Miss On is waiting
Hurry up and finish, Doctor...
Doctor Chitt and Missa Louis
Sleeping with two girls
Two nights for fifteen rupees
Miss Kum asked for silver
Miss Huan asked for cloth
Miss Noja asked for an elephant
Hurry up and finish, Doctor...
Startled by the meaning of the song, I blurt,
"Why does On have to wait? They can call for her the next day."
"What fun would they have if she came another day? It has to be the same day, in the same room. Let us sit and watch. Both tycoons will come to her later at the same time."
Everyone laughs. Ugh...Is this an ancient, perverted story? I don't know how to respond. Basically, this song means that Doctor Chitt (or Doctor Cheek) and Mister Louis pay two women 15 rupees to sleep with them for two nights. One of them will get in bed first while the other waits and tells Doctor Cheek to hurry: I try not to imagine the orgy scene of two best friends generously sharing women on the same bed. It's no surprise that it was deemed scandalous enough to be turned into this mocking song. Having several wives is one thing, but committing sexual activities with more than two people at a time is another.
I can only get myself out of the perverted chat when I leave to go to bed. Ming croons the song in a good mood, probably dreaming of being a Lanna Playboy like those two foreign timber merchants. When I plop on my bed, Ming speaks.
"Oh, Ai-Jom, I returned the paddle to our neighbours yesterday. Luang Thep Nititham's son, the one named Khun-Yai, asked about you."
"Hmm..?" I swiftly turn to Ming.
"I told him you were busy training foreign bosses' racing piglets, so you didn't come."
"Yeah? Did he say something else?"
"No," Ming replies. "He just nodded and went quiet. What else do you expect him to say?"
Oh_Ming is right. What else could he have possibly asked about me? Poh-Jom, did you get sick after falling into the river that day? Something like that..? I am out of my mind. I clear my throat to hide my embarrassment, turn my back to Ming, and pretend to be so sleepy that I am knocked out.
A few days later, Mr Robert requests my presence at the great house to show him the progress of the piglets. I stand on the lawn in front of the great house. Mr Robert and his two foreign friends sit on the guest chairs on the shady balcony under the trees, casting shadows. The lady boss, Ueang Phueng, rests on a stool under the shade farther back. I see Fongkaew sitting on the floor near the stairs, her legs folded to one side, with another female servant, serving Mr Robert.
Obviously, she is becoming his favourite. The servants gossiped that she hadn't lost her virginity because the foreign boss adored her so much that he was willing to wait for a while until she was ready to serve him in bed on her own account.
The afternoon sunlight is fierce, but the cold breeze fanning through the groves of trees feels refreshing and relaxing. I bend down and cross over the temporary stall to talk with the piglets.
"Golden, Hope, Polka-dot, time to show them what you got." I pat their heads one by one, my other hand carrying a plate of cake. "Do your best, my babies."
I wave the cake past their faces to stimulate their appetite, and they sniff it. I jog to the finish line. Many servants working nearby gather by the lawn to watch, but Mr Robert doesn't mind. He sees this as a leisure activity, similar to the real race watched by many spectators. I get on one knee, place the cake before me, and nod to Oui-Suya as a signal.
The whistle goes off. The wooden barrier rises. The piglets scurry out. I clap loudly and call their names. "Golden, Hope, Polka-dot, run!"
Hope charges towards me as if it understands my words. Its small hoofs scuttle across the grass, both cute and hilarious. The other two trot unhurriedly. The servants cheer and clap in enjoyment. Golden begins to hesitate and is about to stop in the middle of the lawn, whereas Polka-dot gets pumped up like a mad piglet by the cheer. It outruns Golden and shortens the distance between him and Hope.
"Polka-dot! Hope! Faster!" I shout. All of a sudden, Polka-dot veers off the lawn and darts to the sweet pea shrubs, where a duck and its ducklings are coincidentally tottering around. Laughter resounds over the lawn when Polka-dot tries to mess with the ducklings and gets attacked by the mother duck. In the end, Hope is the only piglet on course and reaching the finish line,
Mr Robert is satisfied. He stands beside the stencilled wooden railing and points at Hope. "That one will race."
After the piglets' racing show, the servants get back to work. A man, Mr Robert's guest, descends the stairs and walks across the lawn to me.
"What's your name?" he asked, stopping in front of me. The piglets are relishing the cake. I glance up. This man is well-built for a European, with blue eyes, light-brown hair, and a friendly disposition, unlike most foreigners he has met in the parking area during the previous party.
"I'm Jom," I answer.
"Um, you're quite something, very good at training the piglets. Where did you learn that?"
YouTube and Facebook. I don't say it out loud, though, just smiling.
"Why don't you train my piglets next time so I can join the race as well?"
"You. Ah, are you raising piglets, sir?"
He smiles when I stutter. I'm not sure how to address him. I'm James, Mr James, a forestry assistant manager at the Lampang Station. I don't have a single piglet right now."
He squats, strokes Hope's body, and laughs when it gets earnestly interested in his hand and sniffs it nonstop. I guess his hand smells like pastries. Mr James moves his hand to scratch Hope's chin as if it's a cat, not a piglet. "Why don't you find me a piglet next time, Jom? A smart and healthy piglet like these ones. I can join the race next year."
"Next year.." I mumble, my heart pounding at what I'm thinking. I throw a sidelong glance at Mr James. He's still smiling, his blue eyes gentle, not harsh. It encourages me to ask the following question: "What year is next? I mean, A.D. Well. Anno Domini, Christian year."
"Oh, you know Anno Domini?" He looks amazed. "This year is 1927, so next year will be 1928.":
I quickly calculate the year by adding 543, the difference between B.E. and A.D., to the year. It means I am unmistakably in B.E. 2470. My palms get cold with a thrill because I have found out what era in history I have travelled back to. I am in the Early Seventh Reign, the interwar period, nine years after World War I and twelve years before it!!
"Jom, are you okay?" Mr James asks since I have gone rigid. I say nothing, struck by this one fact: the Greater East Asia War that will occur during World War I, will significantly affect the foreigners' forestry businesses, and the prosperity presented at the moment will be lost to the war. The forestry companies will be confiscated while the people will be chased by Japanese soldiers and put in the concentration camp as prisoners of war, living their lives in misery. Countless people won't survive it.
I raise my eyes and look at Mr Robert chatting away with his other friend on the veranda. I have never cared about him before, that's true, but he is my sister's husband at the end of the day...Somjeed, my sister, what will happen to her when that time comes? Will she be captured, or will she go into hiding in time? What about my sister's child? Will it be safe? Will it become an orphan?
"Jom, your face is pale. I think you're going to faint." Mr James holds my upper arm. I flick my eyes back to him, but perceive nothing before me, my head full of the deplorable scenes that will take place during that time.
"I will take you to the rest in the shade." Mr James wraps his other arm around my shoulder. I shake my head rapidly, try to get it together, and withdraw from his arm carefully so as not offend him. "It's all right. I'm fine. Just a bit hot."
Time passes by with anxiety and dispersed concentration. I live day by day, my mind wandering in disorder. I know I can't change history, and I don't know what I should do. Worse, I have no idea why the wormhole sent me here.
Late into one night, after tossing and turning for hours, I get up, walk out of the house, and head to the river. The Ping River in the moonless night looks mysterious. I amble from the dock in the male servants' quarter, skirting the riverbank on the grass, to the centre dock between the female and male servants' row houses. It is where Ming took me to the markets by boat. The night air in December is chilly. I sit on a clump of grass near the dock, hug myself to keep warm, and watch weeds floating aimlessly in the river.
I just want to try again to see if this river will take me back to the era I came from. My hair stands on end from the coldness, as my calves are halfway in. I force myself to step forward until my chest sinks under the water.
Before I hold my breath and immerse my head, I hear something rhythmic breaking the surface of the water in ripples. Splash..splash. I soon realise it is the paddling sound, and it is approaching. I frown. Who paddles here in the middle of the night?
Before any consideration, linch closer to the bank and squeeze myself between the caladiums spreading along the riverside, hiding under the giant leaves without even knowing why. The boat stops by the dock shortly. I catch a shadowy figure up there, a sturdy man in a short loincloth unbothered by the cold air. I peek without sticking out my face since the way he looks around suspiciously suggests he is about to commit something terrible.
.. Is he a thief? With that thought, I slip back into the caladium leaves, worried that he might have a weapon. My teeth clatter from the iciness. That man lights up a lantern that shines dimly in the dark. He lifts and lowers it a few times as though sending a signal, to my surprise. His shoulder and back face me from this angle, his face out of sight.
In a heartbeat, I hear someone's footsteps coming near. I crane my neck and gasp in shock at seeing Fongkaew! Fongkaew strides to the dock, glancing left and right nervously. My heart races. Fongkaew secretly meets up with a man in the middle of the night. If the foreign boss finds out, she will be in real trouble. I have been avoiding anything to do with her. But why is she putting me in a difficult situation? Will she be the bane of all my lifetimes?
Before I further elaborate on her evilness, the man on the boat speaks, "Fongkaew."
I turn my head immediately. I'm not surprised by her name. It's the man's voice, the awfully familiar voice. Now, the man turns his body more in my direction with the lantern still in his grip, and it helps me get a clear look at the brawny figure of a labourer and his face.
.
..Ohm!
My heart plummets, my limbs freezing under the water. They throw themselves into each other, not embracing but stroking each other's arms and shoulders longingly
to convey their feelings. This is obviously a love story of a man and a woman. I feel a sting in my chest when Ohm touches Fongkaew's cheek gently with one of his hands.
"Fongkaew, how have you been? Have you been well?"
Kaimook, or Fongkaew, in this life, shakes her head, her voice soft and weary. "I've been well. Ai-Kamsan, you shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."
"I've missed you." His voice is warm and gentle, and it pierces my heart. No matter what lifetime they are in, they are in love with each other...
Fongkaew dips her chin, trying to stifle a sob, as Ohm grasps her arms tightly. They look pained. More likely, the three of us are in pain. None of us succeeds in love, and each of us grieves and suffers disappointment inevitably.
In the silence and chilliness, I hear Ohm speak. "Fongkaew, run away with me."