How I Found Love in Bangkok

Chapter Forty-six

HE GAVE ME LIFE

Thump. Thump. Thump. My heart pounded in my head as I came to. Slowly the world around me began to take form. There was ground beneath my feet. A rough, hard, grainy surface. I grew accustomed to pacing around the hallways of the hospital barefoot while I stared at My Ja. When I took off running, there was no time to slip on my slippers. I wiggled my toes to remind myself I still existed in a world where the love of my life did not exist. To remind myself I was alive and he was not. 

The warm breeze blew against my still body with a loud whoosh, ruffling my silk shirt when I heard the yelling. Two people were arguing, screaming at each other in Malay. As I turned, I took notice of where I was. It was in a local market. A massive once. I had been running for over thirty minutes and that was where I arrived, with no recollection of how or when. Some traders and passerbys alike yelled at me, while others stood back and watched.

When I finally looked back, there was a little teenage girl–not older than fifteen arguing–yelling on top of her lungs with a man three times her size. His car hood just inches away from my leg. Many other cars lined up behind him. It appeared I had been standing there for a while and caused a traffic situation.

His car was close enough to run me over, and the girl seemed to be upset about it. He revved his engine and she slammed his booth, screaming words in Malay. It was all just beginning to make sense to me, my mind was still in a dark fog. Everything sounded like I was still under water, they all appeared small and far. The teenage girl walked up to me and began speaking in Malay, I could barely hear her but I knew I couldn't understand her.

When she grasped my inability to understand the language, she began to sign to me, thinking I was mute or deaf. Again, I couldn't understand the language.

"Mister, do you speak in English?" she asked.

I stared back at her.

"Mister, are you okay?"

I stared back at her.

"Mister... you are in the middle of the road, you have to move."

I said nothing.

"Ok... I'm going to touch you now to move you out of the way." She raised her hand as if surrendering. "Okay?"

I said nothing.

She sighed and reached for my hand, intertwining our palms before giving me a little nudge and I stepped forward. We took another step, then another, slowly, until she had escorted me out of the way, and the cars were able to start moving again. The drivers screamed and honked in annoyance as they drove off.

She turned back to me with a sigh. My wounded eyes met her innocent eyes and I felt her sympathy, or pity. I was unsure which it was. She said nothing to me, instead continued walking down the street, holding my hand tight as she led me to her little kiosk by the roadside, made of nothing but aged wood and a bunch of trays, stacked with different types of fruits.

"Do you want some?" She pointed at the jack fruit tray.

"I don't have any money."

She laughed, flashing her crooked tooth in the left corner of her lips and deep dimples, her eyes brightening up. "It's free." She reached for them and a knife and began to cut. Come sit and wait."

"For... who?"

"The person who keeps calling."

I looked down into my pocket and realized my phone had been ringing the whole time. "Oh."

She found me a stool and made me sit, before serving me a plate of the fruit. "Eat it, Mister, for strength. Drink this." She handed me a bottle of water.