Rialoves2cook: Thanks to my adventure buddy, Tom, I learned the shocking fact that we share Bangkok with giant monitor lizards. I'm definitely closing my window tonight even though I live on the fifth floor. Despite my unease, they're kind of weirdly awesome. It's amazing the things you discover when you stop letting your stomach guide your sightseeing.
#Runitsmonitorzilla #creaturesofLumphiniPark #pleasedonteatme
Posted: December 14th, 8:00 PM
Tinanator: Those photos are epic, sis! You're bringing one of those beasts home for me, right?
Rialoves2cook: Haha, sure, I'll dress it up and tell customs its name is Tina. The resemblance is uncanny :P
CamillaTomas: What would you do with it, Christina? You've hardly enough ambition to clean your room more than once a month.
Tinanator: It's called creating the ideal camouflaged environment for the inevitable day Ria brings us a dragon, Mom, and I'd obviously train it to guard my door to keep out intruders.
***
The following afternoon, Maria and Tom travelled downtown to Lumphini Park, a surprisingly large, green oasis within the metropolis of ten million. The screeching and honking of city life faded into the twittering of birdsong and the whizzing of bicycles.
"Better than last time?" Tom extended his arms around the urban park full of trees and people running, using outdoor workout machines, or doing Tai-chi in the grass.
It was a pleasant break from the traffic fumes and hustle of the city. The scent of tropical leaves soothed her mind as a couple sped by on their bikes.
"Taking the sky train and exploring the park, we're shedding your expensive habits two at a time." Maria sighed at the sight of young kids playing tag and giggling, and her shoulders relaxed.
Tom's grin spread as he followed her gaze. With each step, they grew closer to a pond with a fountain and pedestrian bridge. "I'm still renting the swan boat. You can watch from the shore if the price tag bothers you that much."
Maria laughed and shook her head. He could change to a cheaper transportation option and setting but insisted on this romantic ideal. "Why are you so determined to ride those boats?"
"Monitor lizards live in the park. Sometimes, they'll come onshore and on the roads, but they're more fun to watch from the water."
Right, he was a science teacher and into animals and other creatures. She had to stop assuming he was hitting on her or else the day would be exhausting. "Are they like geckos or iguanas?"
"More similar in size to a Komodo dragon."
Maria raised her eyebrows and searched the lake's edge for one of the beasts with no success. That sounded pretty epic. "Okay, we'll split the boat." When he chuckled, she asked, "What?"
"It's funny what impresses you. Not beautiful sunsets, Thai movies, or dessert shops, but lizards. Not what I expected."
Was he holding those moments over her head? At the beach, he'd organized a nice evening where a group of them had watched the sun setting over the ocean on the island. It coincided with the day her ex broke up with the woman he kept telling Maria meant nothing to him and offered to fly Maria back to Canada so they could be together without all the stresses that had driven them apart. Even though he was toxic, it had been hard to have everything she wanted for years dangled before her and not be affected.
Tom smiled, so he must be just teasing her. The way her ex had made her feel guilty over everything lingered, poisoning her friendships. She wouldn't let that jerk win. "My ex and my ex-best friend had gotten in my head for that sunset. Otherwise, I would have appreciated it more."
Tom's grin fell as he stared at the lake, quiet for a few awkward moments. He turned to her with wide eyes and a soft gaze. "Why didn't you say anything? Were you mad at me after what I said the night before?"
She had been upset after he'd implied that women who went out dancing and clubbing were less wholesome than others, but dealing with her ex had been the key factor.
"I thought keeping the news to myself would make it easier to ignore. I'm sorry you assumed I was angry with you."
Tom clasped his hands together. "I regret what I said and never meant to imply you, Emma, or anyone wasn't worthwhile with because of how you like to spend your evenings. You showed me how much fun clubbing could be without it turning into a cringy, out-of-control night even after I was a jerk."
"It's all good."
Tom pressed his lips into a thin line. "You're too forgiving."
"Mitch mentioned you'd gotten burned by a hookup when you first visited the island and were getting over your ex and that was why you reacted that way."
Tom shoved his hands in his jean pockets. "He told you that?" His tone left her unsure if he was surprised Mitch shared that or about the statement.
"Yeah, was he lying?" She hadn't caught Mitch in too many lies, but his omission about Becca would have changed how Maria would have acted with him at the beach. He had trashed the woman's character in the city, then ran to the beach to hook up with a stranger the first night, and make out with Maria the next. The thought made Maria nauseous. No wonder Priya and the others had judged her.
Tom sighed. "No, he wasn't. When I moved to Thailand, I was heartbroken and sick of being alone. After drinking, I assumed the woman I met wanted something meaningful like I did." His eyes wandered to the swan boats. "It's weird he shared that."
"How so?"
"How does sharing that story make him look good?"
Why did everyone assume Mitch acted only for personal gain? Sometimes he did, but he supported Maria, even though she turned down the offer to sleep with him. Although Becca's warning and pain still hung in Maria's mind.
"He was trying to cheer me up and to convince me not to take what you said personally."
Mitch was a walking contradiction. He'd stuck by her as she found the winding path to the exit of her abusive relationship and called out all of her ex's abusive actions, insisting that Maria not put up with it. Yet he floated from woman to woman, not giving a damn about their emotions. On another hand, aside from the woman at the club, Maria couldn't recall seeing him with anyone romantically since they'd made out. Although that didn't mean he wasn't doing it when she wasn't around. Then again, he invited her every time they went out. She shook away the dizzying thoughts.
Tom ran his thumbs over the hem of his pockets. "I guess there are moments where he isn't a complete ass. I still can't forgive what he did to Becca."
The humidity weighed down on her. "I can't believe he'd insult her like that."
"Once he's gotten what he wants from someone, they're disposable to him and their feelings mean nothing."
Did Mitch want something from her? They were friends, and she was clear she didn't want a hook-up. He'd also been adamant he didn't want a relationship and shut down even the possibility of him taking relationships seriously. Where did that leave them? Weirdly close friends?
"Should we get that boat and go lizard hunting?" Tom asked.
Maria nodded, grateful to have a break from questioning Mitch's attention and intentions. They ventured down to the dock, where he spoke in Thai with the boat vendor. She and Tom handed him the Thai baht equivalent of a few dollars, so they could have the boat for an hour. The Thai man led them to a white swan paddleboat with a prominent orange beak at the front. She and Tom sat under the sun-cover, and once the man untied the boat, they were off.
The boat chugged along, water sloshing behind them with each pedal turn. It took Maria a few tries to master the foot pedals without losing her flip-flops. Tom grinned at her as if he was holding back a laugh.
"Sorry, I haven't done this since I was a kid," she said.
"Don't worry about it. It's cute. Should we head to the fountain first?"
"Gentleman's choice."
Tom smiled and steered them toward the water shooting up eight feet in the air. He stopped near a floating log with turtles basking in the sun.
"Yellow-Headed Temple Turtles." He pointed at the sides of their heads which had yellow striped markings against the darker skin of their head. One was pretty large, like the diameter of a basketball. "Sadly, these guys are hard to find in their natural habitat. They're big enough to capture easily for food or medicine."
"How did these ones get here?"
"Usually pets that people release."
Tom snapped pictures of the turtles with his fancy camera then asked if he could take one of her. She nodded since she should document more of her trip than her culinary exploits. Plus, his shots would turn out better than hers. His camera shutter clicked a few times, and he smiled when reviewing the screen.
"You're a natural, stunning in them all." He turned the camera so she could see her clear, smiling face against a blurred green and blue background.
Her cheeks were rounder and her face more filled out than in the summer in Canada. He'd captured her smile, one she found more genuine than it'd been in years. It was weird that while she thought she'd felt so loved and happy with Adrian, without him she was freer and happier.
"I'd offer to take your picture, but I'm terrified to drop that in the water." She looked at his camera.
Tom laughed. "That's okay. I own a mirror, so I don't need any more photos of myself."
A splash and a plunk near a drainpipe on shore drew his attention. He tucked the camera in its bag, and they paddled toward it. A creature slithered in the pond until a large reptilian head broke the surface. Tom motioned to stop paddling, and they waited until a beefy lizard the size of a small alligator waddled in the shallow water near the shore. It lifted its feet high and its long, slender tail trailed behind it. Maria shuddered. The thing was at least three feet long.
"This might be a silly question, but they don't eat people, do they?"
Tom chuckled. "No, they'll eat fish, birds, turtles, insects, snakes, snails, and rodents. They can bite, so it's good to keep some distance."
The monitor lizard crawled onshore, shuffling its heavy body onto the grass where its dark bumpy skin and yellow stripes blended in. Unlike an alligator, the lizard had a small round head and a forked tongue that shot out. It settled in a sunny spot like a dog relaxing after playing at the park.
"They're pretty incredible, right?" Tom said.
Maria kept her hands in her lap. "From the safety of this boat, they're cool."
"I want to visit the Komodo islands in Indonesia during our next holidays to see the Komodo dragons."
"They're even bigger?" The one on the grass was big enough to devour a small dog.
Tom grinned like a kid. "Biggest in the world."
"What got you so interested in animals? Or is it just enormous lizards?"
He laughed. "Animals and conservation. Though I have a soft spot for the exotic ones. Any chance they had, my family took us outside, cross-country camping trips, hiking and biking in the mountains, canoeing, fishing, whitewater rafting... you name it, we tried it."
"Sounds intense. You can probably guess my family was big on eating and cooking."
Tom smiled. "Also on making people feel welcome and included."
Maria raised an eyebrow. He'd only ever seen pictures of her family. How could he make fairly accurate assumptions about them? "In some ways, yes."
"You have that effect on others, so I assumed it came from them." He snapped photos of the lizard flicking its tongue with a long zoom lens then set the device down and turned to her. "My family could be competitive and when you're the youngest, it's tricky to keep up and find your place. As much as I didn't want to compete with my brother or sisters, that's how we were. When I'd hang back to study plants or insects as a kid, it'd finally be peaceful. Just me and them and space to breathe."
"So exactly like last night?" Maria teased.
"I am very sorry. It was Becca's idea, as you might have guessed. You can turn down any future offers, and I won't be offended."
Maria laughed. He would take it personally if she did.
"I didn't expect Becca to show up loaded and for Priya to confront you," Tom said. "I know she's been struggling, but I didn't understand how bad it was. She's worried the same thing might happen to you. They were good friends before he used her."
Maria gripped the side of the boat as her feet slipped from the pedals and the rough plastic scratched her calf.
"How long were they friends?"
"A couple of years."
Maria's nausea returned with a vengeance, and she covered her mouth with her hand. She'd known Mitch was a bad idea, but it scared her how he could turn on people who meant something to him so easily. His charm concealed that side of him, and despite how much she enjoyed being with him, their friendship wouldn't be fun and light forever. Knowing what could happen if she let her guard down would keep her from acting on her impulses.
With Tom distracted shooting photos of the lizard, she opened her texts, and there sat the one she still didn't know how to answer after discovering what he'd done.
Mitch: Hey gorgeous, how was last night? We missed you :)
Instead, Maria sent a message to Emma and Prae.
Maria: Girls night tonight, drinks and karaoke at the first pub we find?
Their instant enthusiasm minimized her unease, so she could enjoy Tom's excited whispers about a second monitor lizard joining the other on the grass, one laboured step at a time. He might have been awkward and presumptuous, but she'd found Mitch pompous and annoying initially. First impressions weren't everything. Tom was straightforward and kind, and would never dream of treating her the way Mitch treated women.
***
A little photo tour of Lumphini Park. Photos by the author.