...
The discarded and unlabeled child was dropped off at an orphanage, slash, detention centre, just days after coming into this world. The place was essentially an institute for the unwanted, the wayward and the homeless, and, all manner of miscreants.
The sorriest child, he was naked and hungry, dirty and sickly. The underweight baby was frightfully small and was left without so much as a newspaper for comfort. The infant was placed directly on the wet concrete stairs.
It was the heart of the rainy season and by the sheer grace of God was he found. The rains had momentarily stopped and could have easily drowned or washed him away. His tiny figure so light it would float as a styrofoam cup.
The young man that found him used his foot to push open the door. The boy sitting at a desk just inside, said: "Another one P'Park? That's two this month. What's going on?"
The baby shivered. Park used the same foot to shut the door behind him.
"Nong, grab one of those towels for me, please." Park pointed to the washroom that was just down the hall. He held the cold infant close to him.
Park thought the odds were not good. The newborn would get medical care but they couldn't work miracles.
He wrapped the little one in the towel and used the corner of it to clean the baby's face. Park was absentmindedly talking to it. "You didn't like that cool air, did you cutie?"
Park held him up and showed him to Nong'Pop. "Doesn't he looks so much better with the dirt gone from his face? Isn't he the sweetest?"
Pop nodded and smiled. "You're such a softie P'. What's his name gonna be? I'll get him registered.
Park asked Pop which name he preferred. "Cool, or Air."
...
Six Years Later
Young Master Air was expected to leave the orphanage every morning with all the other boys and attend school. The academy was a five-minute walk and was reached by cutting diagonally through a meagre park that separated the two buildings. The grassy, shady green and the occasional flower found there, were the only colour in the lad's life.
Considering that the orphanage was in the core of Bangkok, it was a surprisingly quiet enclave. The hum of the city and the rumble of trains, blended with honking horns and leaves rustling in the wind. The compound had its own hospital, workshops, a giant laundry facility, there was a big administration building too. Almost all of it was off-limits to the boys that lived there.
Air knew nothing of love or the meaning of expressions such as 'family ties'. Air thought the people around him were harsh, cold, and frankly, cruel. He guessed it was because running the institute was more of a business than a place of caregiving.
He was brighter than most and had a stubborn, headstrong side. It tended to get him in trouble. Air had a sense of fairness and justice when he was six years old. At that age too, he could hold his own in an argument with lads much older. It would be a trait he would keep until he was wrinkled and grey.
The fact that the oldest boys ran the daily workings of the orphanage, and, the very best and smartest of those same boys were the teachers at the school, meant that this loveless existence would perpetuate itself. Air was too young to understand that he was indeed an abused child.
On Air's seventh birthday, (or more accurately, his registration date), came the first taste of good fortune into his life.
Air was being moved from the only dorm he knew; The one full of babies just weeks old and diaper-wearing toddlers. He would learn years later that he stayed with the babies because there was no room for him. He would bunk now with boys closer to his age.
The first thing Air was to learn of his new lodgings, was that unlike where he'd come from, his new single bed would be shared.
The big crowded room was empty of its inhabitants, save one. (Air would meet him in a moment.)
It seemed huge to Air compared to where he'd left. This room has windows way up by the ceiling and more beds than he could count. It had a dozen ceiling fans and a big empty space in the middle where it looked like the guys played games.
The man that brought Air from the baby room, left, right after delivering him and introducing him to the head boy, Chek.
Chek was standing in the hall with his arms crossed on his chest. He was leaning back and chewing on a toothpick.
Right off the bat, and with a wagging finger, he said it was his job to ensure the younger ones behaved and followed the rules.
"As long as you do that, you and me will get along just fine... got it?"
Air wai'd and bowed multiple times. "Yes, P'". (Chek didn't really sound as menacing as he looked.)
"Air, this is Sky, and here is your bed... Sky, this little guy needs to learn the ropes."
Chek swung his arm over the dingy sheets and a cot that was clearly meant for one small boy. His gesture implied that this was a grand prize. He looked at the only other person in the room, the one who had been standing there so quietly.
Check chuckled and choked on his own joke. He reached out and across the bunk. He punched Sky's upper arm.
"You two are both so pretty, I'm putting you together. Don't fall in love or anything."
Sky's hair was longer than most of the boys Air had seen, but it was neat and tied back.
Sky was a full head taller, he had a bright face and friendly eyes.
Sky would provide the first real kindness that Air had ever known.
"Take care of him and make sure he's not late for lunch."
Sky made a wai for Chek. He ran around the bed and grabbed the stack of things Air had been provided with. He set the toiletries on the sheets.
"Don't pay any attention to P'Chek, he loves to tease me."
Sky seemed rushed. "I'll show you where this stuff goes later. First, we have to shower and then to the dining hall."
"Where is everyone?"
Sky took the towel from Air's things. "When they're not in school, they have to be outside between breakfast and lunch. The headmaster says it's good for them and it blows the stink off."
Sky turned the boy by the shoulders and started pushing him toward the door. He stopped for a second and came side by side.
He smiled so warmly; it was something Air was not accustomed to.
"By the way, happy birthday."
Air attempted his own bashful and unpracticed version of a smile. The sentiment was genuine. "Thank you, P'Sky."
...
By the time Sky was done scrubbing Air in the shower, he'd never been cleaner in his life.
His hair, his face and nose, his ears and behind them, his toes and between them, even under the skin of his pee-pee, Air sparkled.
Sky clipped his toenails and fingernails and made him brush his teeth. He checked Air's belly button for lint.
The new white shirt was a bit big for him. Sky helped him tuck it into the plain black shorts. For the first time in his life, Air had a belt, socks and shoes. After a lifetime of wearing whichever t-shirt that was thrown at him, and any pair of shorts that would fit and was clean, this was indeed a big deal.
Sky combed his hair and stood behind him looking in the mirror. He fiddled one more time with Air's bangs. "You're the cutest boy in the whole school Nong, do you know that?"
Air had no idea how to respond to such a compliment. He stared blankly at Sky's reflection.
Air was promptly towed to a room full of chatter-free eaters, and to the barely edible offering, slopped into his bowl.
...
The days passed easier now. No matter how unkind the other boys might be, Air had Sky, his dearest and most beloved friend. He had someone to hold his hand when they walked through the park. Air had someone who sat up late at night and helped him to read and write.
Sky always gave his bread or the meatball from his soup to Air. He worried that the boy wasn't growing in the six months they'd been in the same bed.
He quickly became Air's whole world. Sky cuddled and held Air at night and cared for him in every possible way. There was never any hanky panky between them, and Sky saw to it that no one else took advantage of Air.
There was plenty of that around them. It resided in practically every corner of an all-boys arrangement such as this. Sky was sure to educate Air on the seedier side of orphanage life. Air didn't know it then, but this instruction would save him, and more than once.
...
Three Years Later
At ten, Air had reached the top of the class. It was not from inherited genius, but rather from plain hard work and good study practices. These again were things he owed to Sky and his perseverance.
At ten, Air was completely in love with Sky. It wasn't a sexual love, and it was far more involved and nuanced than the love of a brother. Air couldn't describe how he felt, but he knew he couldn't live without Sky.
Sky was consistent, even, and undeniably devoted, so, when the orphanage was visited by a fast-moving pneumonia-like illness, his sudden absence was a return to scary times for Air.
The bed was so much colder without Sky, and the other parentless residents were so much more threatening.
At the end of the fifth day, the loneliness became unbearable.
His plan was light-years from anything Sky would have expected from Air. His stomach was churning and he felt the need to pee no matter how many times he went. Air waited until the lightless room was filled with the sounds of sleeping boys. Tossing and turning noises, coughing, snoring, and the ever-present fart prevailed, when Air snuck out of the dorm.
He stayed on the side of the hall furthest from the front door and anyone who might see him. He was so nervous he thought he might be sick.
Air exited through open doors that let in the cooler night.
There were cars with lights and parking lots that were brightly lit, Air would be easily recognizable by anyone as one of the boys housed in the orphanage. He ran to his goal as fast as his little legs would carry him. He reached the far end of the complex, the infirmary, completely breathless and sweaty.
Air wasn't tall enough to peek through the windows, he had no choice but to go inside and check room to room.
The smell of the sickness was everywhere when he reached the top of the stairs. The hallway with patient rooms went in two directions.
Air hid behind a laundry cart when a pair of nurses walked by. They were talking about an inmate. "He won't make it through the night."
As soon as they passed him, Air went the way they'd come from. Each room he visited was jammed with sick boys. Some cried out for water, others just moaned in the misery of their fever.
He was surprised at how many faces he recognized. Air had yearned for the company of only one boy, and never noticed the others were missing.
...
He found Sky unwakeable and with dark circles under his eyes. Sky exhibited a deathly gray pallor to his skin, his lungs bubbled and wheezed. His breath carried on it, the perfume of decay.
Air laid down beside Sky and held his cold hand.
...
Eight Years Later
Sky didn't live to see Air grow taller. He would never see Air become even cuter. Air remained physically immature and still didn't need to shave. Air was still the sweetest boy of them all.
People could see that he was smart, it beamed out from brainy eyes. (Sky would have loved that.)
His skin was imperfection-free and fair. It was so silken soft, that some would call it girly.
He was lean, some would call him skinny. He was introverted and quiet, some of the boys called him, stuck up.
Somewhere in Air's traceless DNA, there were tall and extremely handsome genes.
Sky always said that when Air grew up he was going to be a heartbreaker. Air never understood why Sky was so sure of himself.
He was old enough now to know that Sky passed in the night and that he'd spent the midnight hours in bed with, and wrapped in the arms of, a dead best friend. The pain of Sky's loss never eased. Eight years later and Air missed him with the same intensity as he did at ten.
Because he'd spent his whole life there, he knew everyone. Air found it quite impossible to put his trust in any of the other guys. He had spent the years friendless and alone. In all that time he'd never found another companion. No one smiled at him and patted his head.
At eighteen he was free and had the option to leave the orphanage. With two years working as a teacher, Air believed that this was a skill he could use in the real world. Months before his scheduled retirement from the school, he began filling out applications for employment.
Air may have taken for granted the one thing the institution gave him in spades, his education was top-notch.
He started with private tutoring schools, the ones that teach at night, during holidays and on weekends. He answered ads for private tutoring too.
The months were passing fast and he would soon be out on the street. Air crossed his fingers and hoped that he might have something good happen in his life, for a second time.
He also considered whether that was too much to ask. "Am I selfish?"
...
Four days before he was to walk out the door and potentially be homeless, Air received a call. He was asked to report to a residential home outside the confines of Bangkok. The caller informed that he would be educating a single male child. There was little more than an address and the contact name, 'Fair'.
Air was acquainted with the pay. It was so much more than any of the schools were offering. He would have to tutor twenty students and do it seven days a week, to make half as much per year.
He yearned for Sky every day, but now more than ever. If Sky were there to see Air grown and ready to go out into the world, he might be proud. Nothing would make Air happier.
On the other hand, Sky might have reservations as Air did. He might get that tingle on the back of his neck where the hair stands up. Air was having that feeling.
"Is there anything to be afraid or suspicious of? Is there a reason why they pay so much more than anyone else?" Or, am I just scared to leave here?"
The last four days spent at the orphanage had a peculiar melancholy character. Air didn't want to pine for this place, and yet it was all he knew. What was to come and what was outside would be foreign. There was not a soul he could seek advice from, or a guide to light his way.
...
An express post came for him the morning of his departure. The envelope contained a bankbook showing his first month's pay deposited. It included a bank card for that account.
There was a bus ticket, a train ticket, and cash for taxis. Air held it all to his chest and swallowed loudly. He couldn't believe it was really happening.
The taxi ride to the train station in itself was an adventure. The cab driver smiled, called him handsome, and told him to have a wonderful day.
Air closed the car door and stood on the sidewalk. He waved at the cab, so grateful.
Air's small bag weighed nothing. There were a few t-shirts and 3 pairs of shorts. All of it donated. He had a paperback for the train ride and a sandwich in a plastic box.
...
He didn't intend to stare, but Air found his eyes locked on the lavishly embroidered hem of the ticket-takers uniform. The man was probably thirty years of age and so striking. His teeth were dazzling and lit the dull cabin as he stood in the doorway. "Hello, Mr. Good Looking. Can I have your ticket please?"
Air had to stand in order to get into his pocket. His head hit the open sleeping bunk above. Air awkwardly rubbed his head with one hand and with the other, he held the crumpled paper out at arm's length.
The ticket guy punched a hole and handed it back. "Here, let me help."
He was definitely well-practiced, the guy closed up the sleeper above Air's head and locked it on both ends. "Let's save your noggin from any more bumps."
More smiles and friendly tones, Air just wasn't used to it. "I see you're heading to Wang Nam Khiao."
Air nodded and did his best to smile back.
"Have you ever been there before?" The man's interest in Air was something he was not prepared for... and the man, was equally unprepared for the beautiful boy's honesty.
"Ah, no, no, I've never been anywhere."
The man asked: "Vacation?"
Air fumbled. "No, I will be working there, um, teaching."
"You're going to love it, I'm sure." The uniformed man seemed relaxed and able to spend time talking.
"Wang Nam Khiao is said to be the Switzerland of Thailand."
Air knew the basics about Switzerland. He knew it was mountainous and he could surely point it out on a map. He believed the people had light skin and hair.
"Is that because of all the mountains?"
The man could see Air's curiosity from two meters away. "I suppose so, yes, but there is a lot more."
"Like what?"
"Well, besides the lush green mountains, there are vast fields of flowers, vineyards and waterfalls everywhere."
... Air ...
Air was nodding and keeping his eyes connected with the ticket man. "It sounds really nice."
"It is. I'm sure you'll find it very different than Bangkok, the air there is the cleanest in the country and you'll sleep like a baby at night because of it."
The man noticed Air's sandwich sitting beside him on the seat, but no drink. (The train ride was just over three hours.)
"Do you know where everything is?"
He pointed toward the rear. "You can buy drinks and food there, and if you go this way, (he directed to the front,) you can find the washroom, or, if you need, me."
The good and thankful boy that he was, Air made a polite wai and bowed his head.
...
The cab driver knew the house well and drove straight to the main entrance. He told Air that the staff usually go to the back, but that he was told to bring the new teacher to the front.
"I never said anything, how did you know I'm the teacher?"
The driver peeked at Air in the rear-view mirror. "I guess because you look smart." He winked.
The house was beautiful and in the middle of nowhere. The nearest neighbour was miles back on the road.
Air thanked the driver and then stood under an eave that provided shade. He waited.
...
... to be continued ...
FanFiction and Novel Adaptation by Kramdrof, all rights reserved, January 2021