Broken Back - Excuses (Song for Chapter)
Here is the super quick next chapter to make up for the lack of uploads for 2 weeks running!
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Chapter 33: Flat Tyres
Noah's POV
The morning soon came and I was super excited for the day's events, I was going to jump on Keane and Tayte, but saw their beds were made and empty. Tammara too had gone. So much for wanting a lie in, I thought as I glanced at the time which read 7.30am.
As I headed into the kitchen, I found Tammara talking to Dara, no surprises there, she smiled at me. Keane and Tayte were just coming back from gym and a swim,
"Morning" They chirped smiling at me,
"Whoa, what put you two in a good mood?"
"We just had a good sleep and an even better workout" Tayte replied, I looked at them,
"You did not have sex in the gym" Keane laughed,
"No Noah, we did not, leave us alone and let us be happy" I put my hands up in defense,
"I'm not complaining"
"Good,"
"What's happening today?" Tammara asked,
"We're being picked up in a Tuk Tuk, by our tour guide at 8am, so if you're not ready get ready" I said,
"That includes you" Keane said, grinning and running off into the bathroom. I failed to realise that Mum and Dad were nowhere to be see until Keane said,
"Talina said Mum and Dad are going to be unreachable until 2pm this afternoon,"
"Why's that?" I asked,
"No clue, probably some serious private shit" he replied,
"Oh you have such a way with words" Tayte said.
We left the villa just before 8 and headed down to the entrance of the hotel, Tammara was waiting for us, she had walked Dara back to the kitchens.
"All good with you?" Keane asked, she blushed,
"Yes"
"You so want to get in his pants" I laughed,
"I swear it's supposed to be the guy wanting to get in the girls pants" Tayte said,
"Be quiet all of you" Tammara said trying not to laugh.
"Barney Dollaway?" A voice called, we span around,
"Yes that's me," getting used to the whole different name thing,
"You have booked a morning food tour of Siem Reap for 4 people,"
"I sure have," I smiled,
"I'm Steven and I'm going to be your guide today"
"We cannot wait" Keane said, he beamed,
"Well lets go," We climbed into the Tuk Tuk, I saw Tayte take Keane's hand, they looked at each other and grinned, though I have been lately saying how annoying there lovey doveyness is. It's what's keeping me going, knowing I have that love and that I will be with him soon. "We're going to begin in one of the markets first, followed by a trek through rice paddies and temples to reach a small village, home to a breakfast dish part of the Khmer folklore. We will also visit noodle makers and home farmers, before we drive back along one of the most scenic routes in the country back to Siem Reap" Steven said,
"Sounds like an amazing morning" Tammara said,
"Where's Steven from?" I mouthed, Keane and Tayte stifled giggles,
"Scotland" We answered, I nodded smiling,
"Thanks"
When we finally got to the market I leapt off the Tuk Tuk and was ready to go running into the market when Keane grabbed me,
"Act professional" He said quietly, I couldn't help but laugh,
"You can already smell the wonders of the Cambodian delicacies" Steven said,
"Smells good, I'm hungry" I said, Steven laughed,
"I can promise you that by midday you won't be"
It was nice going to different stalls and tasting foods with someone who knew what they were talking about. It also meant that we weren't going to get food poisoning.
"I'd never think to have pork skewers for breakfast" Keane said,
"But now maybe we will" Tayte said,
"It's a breakfast which gives locals a boost for the day" Steven said,
"That thing though, the Balut, no way" Keane said,
"The most stinky and repulsive street food in Cambodia"
"Steven, you're not selling it at all"
"It's an all-time favourite of the locals, it's very nutritious and full of protein"
"Oh what the heck" Tayte said taking one,
"That's it, get stuck in" Steven said, Tayte handed him one,
"I hate you"
"Lies" He hissed.
In the end, we all plucked up the courage and tasted one and to be fair, it wasn't horrible as we all thought it would be, it had a weird taste, but I wouldn't exactly say it was terrible and if we came across one again I wouldn't not put that thing anywhere near my mouth. I would definitely try it again.
We all enjoyed the chive cake, it's a bready type fried thing, full of flavor and we dipped it in this spicy fish sauce.
After we'd dipped our taste buds in the many delights the market had in store for we headed off to the rice paddies,
"So this is where rice comes from?" I asked,
"Yes, paddy fields are flooded parcels of arable land used for the growth of semiaquatic rice" Steven said, I nodded, Keane laughed,
"So..."
"While the rice grows the paddies are repeatedly flooded to around a third of the rice stalk height. This prevents weeds growing and is drained when fertilizer is sprayed. The rice is ready when the grain begins to yellow and starts to drop. The water is drained from the rice paddies during harvest"
"That sounds like hard work" I said,
"It is,"
"Are we going to get to taste some of this hard work?" Keane and Tayte smiled,
"Indeed we are" Steven replied.
...
We had sticky rice with black bean in mango served in bamboo, it was delicious and so moreish. Amok Fish which we had wrapped in banana leaves and in a fresh coconut. We all regretfully tried more insects, chili fried crickets, wasps and silkworms. Then we all tried stir fried ants with beef, yes stir fried flaming ants, of all different shapes and sizes. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad, a bit weird at first because I mean, you're eating ants, but they went well with the beef. Keeping up with the weird creatures we had stuffed frogs legs, I thought you only had frogs in France, I was proved wrong. They actually were really nice and practically tasted like a stuffed chicken thigh, with amazing flavours. One of my favourites was the 'Husband Killers', yes, the name is a bit strange, they are rice flour balls filled with palm sugar and syrup and topped with fresh coconut, trust me, they are so good. We also had prahet which is basically fried fish cakes and Kuy tiev, which is a noodle soup, we had the fresh noodles from the farm and it was yummy. If I was to go on and list what we tried, tasted and ate it would take forever. Steven is a total legend, so knowledgeable and his love of food was a pleasure to see. When we said our goodbye to him at 12pm back at the market after we saw some breathtaking views, he said he was sad to see us go. We gave him many laughs and he had an amazing morning too.
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"Steven was right, I am stuffed" I said, they laughed.
"Well I'm sure your appetite will come back after we've cycled a few miles exploring" Keane said, my eyes lit up,
"So you were listening to me yesterday"
"I always listen to you bud"
"Where are we renting the bikes from?" Tammara asked,
"I'm sure there will be lots of bike hires" Tayte said,
"Yes, but we want to make sure that they aren't going to fall apart when we ride them"
"Now that would be funny" I said. We wondered around the town, scoping out bikes for hire and then ended up sat on a wall by a river sipping some cold ice water.
"I think we should go to the first one. It looked the best" Tayte said,
"I feel like an ice cream would complete this picture" I said,
"Noah you are mad" Keane told me,
"Well I know that"
"Did you ignore Tayte on purpose or..." Tammara began,
"No, I was just...Ice cream" Everyone burst into laughter,
"You can't be hungry already" Keane said,
"I might be. But to reply to your question Tayte, yes, that is a good idea. I agree"
"You do. Thanks Noah" he answered,
"Was that the one where the money goes to better education and clean water" Tammara asked,
"It was, yes. White Bicycles, they were charging two dollars for the whole day" Keane replied.
So we walked back through the market, down a road until we reached the White Bicycles. We were warmly met by a young boy,
"Hello how can I help you?" He said in very good English.
"We'd like to hire 4 bicycles please" I said,
"Do you want helmets too?" he asked, I looked at Keane,
"The responsible adult part of me is saying yes..."
"Yes we do thanks" Tayte answered,
"4 bikes and 4 helmets, I will do that for you" the boy smiled.
"Better to be safe than sorry, if we fall off we're not going to severely injure ourselves with the helmet on. Plus, Rhina and Joey will literally murder us if something happened to one of us because we were carless and didn't wear helmets" Tayte said,
"Okay, we didn't need that spiel, we know" Keane answered.
"Alright, chill babe...chill"
"Don't start a war you know you'll lose" Keane retorted,
"Oh fighting talk" Tayte winked. The young boy came back with our helmets and promised us he'd picked the 4 best bikes for us. Tayte handed over the money,
"You have these bikes for the rest of the day, they need to be back by midnight, or you get charged another day"
"No worries my friend, we'll have them back to you in a few hours," Keane said. He smiled and headed back off into his little hut,
"Any idea's where we are going?" Tammara asked,
"We just ride and see where the bike takes us" Keane replied,
"Lead the way" I said,
"With pleasure, make sure you keep up" He answered winking at us, as he mounted the bike and began to zoom off.
We zoomed.
Zipped.
And sprinted.
Amongst cars and Lorries.
We dodged Tuk Tuks and saw some extraordinary views.
I think we'd been exploring for around 2 hours, when disaster struck.
"Stop at the next..." Keane didn't finish his sentence. There was a pop and then he flew over his handle bars and landed with an almighty thud,
"KEANE" I dashed off my bike, Tayte was just ahead of me,
"Baby," Tayte said, Keane groaned,
"Shit Keane..." Tammara gasped,
"Don't move baby,"
"No...I'm okay. I'm okay" He sat up slowly,
"Those cuts and grazes pouring with blood says otherwise"
"Fucking flat tyre" Keane said, I couldn't help but smile.
"I think we should call it a day. Get you cleaned up, assess the full scale of the damage" Tayte said, Keane stood up and doubled over, clutching his shoulder,
"Keane" I said,
"All good, all good" He said through gritted teeth,
"I call bullshit" Tayte said, Keane ignored his remark.
We headed back into the centre of the city, Tammara and I were wheeling two bikes each as Tayte was Keane's support, not that he was using him, he was adamant he was fine. Despite the nasty cuts on his leg dripping with blood and his torn t-shirt and cut arms.
"Oh no, what happened?" The young boy said as he saw us coming with the bikes,
"My bike got a flat tyre, I flew off it" Keane replied,
"I am so sorry. I...I will refund you" He said,
"Don't be ridiculous, it's fine, honest. These things happen"
"I feel so bad"
"You don't have to feel bad, you didn't give us a bike with a flat tyre, it just occurred"
"Please do not report me"
"No one is reporting anyone, just make sure you change that tyre" Keane told him and we all walked off before he could continue.
"Well he was sweet" I said,
"He speaks English so well" Tammara said, "He's going places"
When we got back to the hotel, we knocked on Talina's door, hoping she was in, it was opened a minute later,
"I've literally just..." She trailed off, "What happened?" She ushered us all in,
"Keane flew over the handle bars of his bike"
"Your lucky you didn't break anything Keane. Sit down"
"That's because I'm supreman" He said winking as he sat down,
"Superman is not invincible," Tayte said,
"My Superman is"
Talina cleaned Keane up and he did look a lot better. The cuts only stung, it was his shoulder that was hurting him and we could all see it.
"You should have that in a sling"
"No way"
"Which is the answer I fully expected" She smiled,
"What are you doing back anyway?"
"We're all back,"
"So if we went to the villa Mum and Dad would have seen me battered up"
"Yes, you're going to go and tell them anyway, because if you don't then I will" Keane groaned,
"Groan all you want, all you have to say is I fell off my bike and got a bit cut up"
"Oh but it's not that simple Talina, Mum will go all overprotective and freak out" He said,
"She won't, because we had that little chat today"
"You did"
"Yes, just let them be parents, she isn't going to smother you"
"If you're lying to me" She laughed,
"Get out of here, think we're heading to the circus sometime soon, sure your parents will tell you"
"Thanks Auntie" Keane said,
"Any time" She smiled,
"See you later" Tayte and I said,
"I'll meet you guys in a bit" Tammara said, we nodded and left her with Talina,
"I love that woman" Keane said,
"Me too" I smiled. Mum and Dad were sat outside by the pool,
"Hey" I said, sitting on Mum's lap, she chuckled,
"Hello, have you had a good day?"
"We have, we tasted some of the most amazing foods ever and a ton of weird freaky insects" I told them,
"Then we went cycling around the Siem Reap and I fell off the bike" Keane said,
"I was about to ask what happened to your leg and arm" Dad answered,
"Well now you know. I'm fine though, a bit sore and no doubt I will be even more in the morning, but that goes with being outdoors and exploring, a scraped knee here and there" Dad smiled,
"That it does, when you were all young, you all had many a cut, scrape and graze. Luckily broken bones was one none of you ever experienced"
"It's because we're invincible" Keane said.
"So what time are we going to the circus?" Tayte asked,
"Well, the boutique shop and café opens at 6pm, we can get into the big top from 7.30pm and the show starts at 8pm. We've booked two taxis for 5.45pm, it takes around 15 minutes to get there. We'll have some food and then enjoy the show" Mum replied,
"Sounds fabulous" I said.
It was 3.45pm now so we had two hours to kill.
"I'm going for a nap" Keane said,
"Me too"
"You too are so boring"
"Excuse me, who flew off a bike less than an hour go"
"Okay, fine,"
"I'm going to ring Angelo"
"What time is it in Malibu?" Keane asked,
"8.45am tomorrow morning. I got this time difference sorted"
"Hopefully for not much longer hey"
"Hopefully," He replied, "Love you both"
"Love you too," He left the room.
Keane's POV
"I thought I was going to have at least one trip without hurting myself" I said,
"At least this time was just bad luck, the elements did it," I laughed,
"That made me feel so much better, thank you"
"Any time" He grinned.
...
We had just been dropped off outside Phare Circus,
"Aw this looks so cute" Noah said, we headed inside the boutique shop. There was jewelry a plenty, elephants that were very colorful. Very beautiful drawings, clothing, bags, it was basically an up market boutique souvenir shop. We browsed, but didn't have a very long look, because Noah was hungry and wanted to eat. "Now this whole layout is adorable"
"I have to agree with you on that" Tammara said,
It was open air seating, with cool lights and we were right next to the red big top tent. There was a warm and welcoming atmosphere too. We were seated at a table large enough to cater for all of us and handed some menus,
"How much food am I allowed to order?" Noah asked,
"As much as you can eat" Dad replied,
"Probably the wrong answer Dad" I said, he smiled,
"Hey it's not my fault the whole menu sounds amazing"
"He's got a point" Tayte said,
"Very English though" Talina said,
"I did think that" Mum replied,
"Can we share some snacks?" Noah asked,
"Anything you want" Mum said, he smiled,
"It's because I'm the favourite right"
"Ha...ha...ha" I said slowly, "Sorry bro, but neither of us are. Arii is"
"You are probably right"
"Boys, we don't have favourites. We love you all equally"
"Sure..." Noah said,
"Talina I'm your favourite right" I said, she smiled, "That smile said it all"
We ordered fried spring rolls and two lots of chicken skewers and potato skins with sour cream and salsa to share and then each chose a main. Tayte and I had a Samlor Chicken curry, Noah had honey soy chicken noodles, Mum and Dad had Teriyaki beef and lime noodles, Talina had Fish Amok and Tammara the mushroom red curry. Dad went and got us all drinks and I went with him,
"Well this is something, you here with me, without Tayte" he teased,
"I'll go sit back down if you want" I said with a smile.
"You doing okay?" He asked,
"Yes Dad,"
"Besides falling off the bike"
"Besides falling off the bike" I smiled,
"Things will be over soon"
"Where have I heard that before?"
"For real this time, I promise"
"Dad, and I'm not trying to sound rude but...don't make promises you can't keep"
"I can keep it. Okay I don't know what the future holds, but I will keep you safe"
...
The food was divine, in the words of Noah. The company was even better. We headed inside the tent and took our seats at the front. We were watching a story called Sokria 'Eclipse'. The story is set in a rural Cambodian village, a disfigured young man is rejected and ridiculed. He wonders why he is cursed and seeks help from the gods. They answer his prayers by transforming him into a beautiful woman with magical powers. Using this new form, he attracts the attention and desire of the village men. But the villagers quickly discover there's something sinister about the newcomer in their midst.
"I bet this is going to amazing" Noah said excitedly,
"100%"
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Noah was spot on. The show was incredible, I have never seen anything like it and I don't think I will ever again. We'd all decided that we wanted to walk back, it was going to take around 45 minutes and it was 10.30pm, but none of us were too bothered and Mum and Dad weren't worried about our safety. Tayte had just walked over after getting us some drinks for the walk back, I say walked back, more like 'swayed',
"Are you okay?" I asked,
"Yes, I think so" He replied, handing me my drink,
"Walk over there for me"
"Keane...seriously" I didn't reply and just gave him a look, he huffed but did as he was told. His straight line was far from straight,
"What's up?" Noah asked coming over,
"Something is up with Tayte" I said as he joined us and nearly stumbled, I steadied him,
"I'm okay...just a bit wobbly. Can we go please" Noah looked at me and I sighed and took his hand as we carried on walking I'd say 10 minutes had passed and I was practically carrying him, "Maybe your right. I don't feel too good" I stopped immediately and took his face in my hands, his pupils were dilated, "Don't look at me with that face. It makes me worry" I kissed him,
"Mum, Dad, Talina" I called once I'd pulled away. I didn't let go of Tayte's hand, I was keeping him up, Noah began to talk to him,
"Yes darling" Mum replied,
"Somethings wrong with Tayte, I think he's been spiked or something"
"Tayte look at me" Talina said, he looked at her,
"I feel funny" she took his face in her hands, "You're going to be alright Tayte" she said softly,
"Auntie" I said worried,
"Your right, Tayte has ingested some type of drug. I don't think it's harmful and in the morning he will be right as rain, perhaps a bit hazy, but he's going to be fine Keane"
"My head feels so heavy and thick"
"We'll call a taxi" Dad said,
"You can carry on walking. I will wait with the boys" Talina said, Noah looked at me,
"See you in a bit" I said,
"Talina we..."
"Joey, Rhina. I have this situation under control okay"
"One is on its way, around 10 minutes traffic depending of course" Dad said,
"Thank you" they all walked off after giving us one last look. I slumped against the wall and Tayte rested his head on my shoulder. Well we're a right pair today.
"Don't leave me" he muttered,
"Never" I replied,
"Are you going to keep the Auntie thing up?" Talina asked,
"Talina, in all honesty. I wish you were Mum"
"Oh Keane, you are my son, maybe not biologically but by my heart you are. You are my boys"
"I love you Auntie"
"I love you too Keane" She smiled.
...
We got back to the hotel 5 minutes after everyone else, we were stuck in traffic. I took Tayte straight to bed, he was out of it and I was in pain,
"No...stay. I'm scared" He whispered,
"I'm going nowhere, I'll always be right here"
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So there you go, two in the space of 15 minutes!
Sorry for mistakes. Unedited!
Next Update: Next Thursday or Friday!
Gx
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