My Ride, I Love You Page 5

  “I already know that. What about it?”

  Not had it easy and wasn’t caught up in this mess. He was elected as the cheerleader of the Faculty of Medicine, so he didn’t need to participate in the freshmen play. He wasn’t obligated to.

  “You see… They chose me as the head of it, to produce the play.”

  And why the crap must such a big responsibility fall into my lap? Let me explain briefly, when I got into the Faculty of Medicine, my score in Thai language was the first place in the country’s ranking for that year. Many of my peers knew this and they automatically assumed I was also skillful in lexicon and literature, maybe? So they put the producing and scriptwriting burdens on my shoulders.

  “And I repeat, what about it, Tawan?”

  Not still didn’t get the point of my problem.

  “I don’t know crap about how to do it.”

  “What? Then how come they chose you as the lead?”

  “How the heck would I know? Oh, no. Dear me! I have to present the idea soon. Plus, OrChem.[19] has a quiz tomorrow, I need to hurry back and revise. What am I to do, Not? What to do? I only came here prepared to study. I’m not prepared for performing a damn play.”

  “Let’s see… What if I help you with it?”

  Not suggested casually. It sounded as casual as telling me to sit and wait while he went to buy me a meal from the cafeteria, like it wasn’t a big deal, like it was nothing at all.

  “Ehhh!? Is that alright?”

  Honestly, I chased after him because I thought he could help me.

  “I used to produce a stage play when I was in high school. Piece of cake.” His smile calmed my nerves a little, however… “But you must take the role of the main character.”

  Oh, dear me! .... I knew it.

  …………

  The flashback from freshman year comes flooding to me after I finish the ward round.

  Back then, we passed with flying colors. No thanks to me, but all thanks to Not. He said the seniors from the fourth, fifth, and sixth years were the more prominent judges. And as far as he knew, so many of them were yaoi fangirls. Therefore, he said, we better produce a play about Hyacinth because they would be all over it and favor us without question.

  Of course, I had to be Hyacinth, while Not was Hades and our other two handsome friends took the roles of Apollo and Zephyrus. As expected, the fourth, fifth, and sixth year seniors screamed at the top of their lungs in the hall. Especially when Apollo and Hyacinth looked lovey-dovey together and when Hyacinth died in Apollo’s arms.

  Oh… Or perhaps I should ask Not to help me again with the hundred days’ party?

  But now the circumstances have changed. Back then, he was Not. Right now, he is Nadia, who is also a house doctor from the Pediatric Department. Whereas I am from the Internal Medicine Department. Simply put, we are competitors in the contest. Why should he go out of his way to help me?

  But I won’t know unless I try… Right?

  At half past noon, I cross my fingers and call Not - oops - Nadia, hoping for him to be free so I can invite him for lunch and beg for help in the middle of the meal.

  The phone rings a few times before Nadia picks up.

  “What’s up, Tawan?”

  “Are you free? Let’s go for lunch.”

  “Oh yea, I just got a break now. See ya in the lift lobby on the first floor.”

  Within fifteen minutes, the cafeteria table we have claimed is now full with food. It is only to be expected, as both of us are madly starving. We don’t normally get any breakfast but a coffee, like I said. By now our stomachs are starting to sing an electronic song. Sometimes the amount of food we order depends on the song’s complexity. Not quite rational, I know. And I wholeheartedly believe that we can’t finish all the dishes we got. But whatever, they’re already here.

  “What’s your department going to show for the hundred days’ party?”

  As it turns out, Nadia broaches the subject without needing any push from me.

  “I don’t know yet… Problem is, I have to produce it.”

  I reach my spoon for the chicken’s butt on the grilled chicken plate and take it because I know Nadia doesn’t eat that part while I love it. Everytime we go for a meal with sticky rice, grilled chicken, and papaya salad, I am the one who gets rid of the chicken’s butt. Nadia used to say we’re destined to be best friends because of the chicken’s butt theory - we don’t fight over it, or any other food.

  “Aha, do you have any idea yet?”

  “No idea at all… Can you help?”

  “Sure, but it’ll have to be in the evening. I’ll brainstorm with you.”

  “Huh… Really? And what about your department?”

  “Yeahhh, there’s an extreme wannabe, you know, the Regina-Mean-Girls type. She wants to be in charge, bossing around so much. And I’m like, I’m too lazy for this shit. So let her be, let her lead. It’s a good thing you asked. I’d rather help the Internal Medicine Department. Let’s win against my department.”

  I spoon pieces of crab from the plate of papaya salad with salted crabs onto Nadia’s plate. Nadia loves these salted, pickled crabs. I like them, too, but since Nadia let me have the chicken’s butt, I should let him have the crabs.

  “How lucky! You don’t have to help your department, and now I can recruit you to my side. What a coincidence!”

  “Not a coincidence. I think the universe had arranged it. Each and everyone of us is well-cared for by the universe. If we’re not meant for one thing, then we’re for another. I don’t need to help my own department with the play because the universe knows you’ll need my help.”

  I smile… “Thank you, Not - oops - Nadia.”

  He snarls at me. “It’s okay to slip, but not too often. I told you the name Not is inauspicious, I won’t get a man. Remember. I. Am. Nadia.”

  I laugh. “Okayyyy, Nadia.”

  It’s just like the chicken’s butts, which he doesn’t eat but I do.

  Like the pickled crabs, which I like but he likes even more.

  And I let him have the crabs, because I already am chewing on the chicken’s butt.

  The two of us, all of us, are being cared for by the universe.

  If not for one thing, then for another. The universe will find a way for us.

  Like how I have become friends with Nadia.

  Oh, right… I forgot.

  This evening, I’ll have to stay and talk with Nadia about the play.

  So I’ll get to meet my darling quite late at night…

  I better call to let him know.

  Chapter 4: Mork

  “Hey, Ar. Can I ask you something?”

  I descend the stairs from the second floor and find Ar preparing breakfast in the kitchen. I assist in setting the table and distributing the soft-boiled rice into three bowls, for him, my Loong, and myself, meanwhile taking the opportunity to ask him something that’s been on my mind all night.

  “What is it? And why the heck are you not at work? Aren’t you running late for work at the station? I thought you already left long ago!”

  He turns and roughly slices some celery leaves to season the boiled rice for Loong and for himself. None for me, because he knows I don’t like it and will surely pick it out to throw away. Not that I dislike vegetables, though. I can eat all vegetables, except the aromatic ones. They feel weird in my mouth.

  “It’s cool, Ar. This morning P'Fueang takes care of my queue because yesterday he made me do his in the evening yesterday.”

  I sit down at the table and start chowing down the soft-boiled rice with minced pork. It has a lot of rice and very little minced pork, but I don’t know why it’s so delicious. Ar is really good at cooking.

  “Oh, I see. And what did you want to ask?”

  He sits down on the opposite side of the table and starts eating too. I hear the loud splashes of water hitting the floor from the bathroom in the back of the house. Which means Loong must be taking a Thai-style wash.[20] Okay, good. It w
ill be a bit awkward and embarrassing to talk about this when both of them are presented. It seems easier to ask Ar when we are alone.

  “Well, uh…”

  Oh, boy. In my head, I already know what I want to ask, but when I’m trying to actually say it through my mouth, I am so lost as to where to start and how to bring it up.

  “Well, uh… I, well…”

  I keep stammering my uh and well and he starts to frown.

  “We already have plenty of water, we don’t need more wells from you. Just spit it out, because I’ll leave once I finish eating.”

  “Okay, okay. Shoot! Uh, about you and Loong. I mean when you guys, uh, well… Back when... Back then, how were things for you?”

  Once I complete my sentences, he abruptly stops putting food in his mouth.

  “Why do you suddenly want to know? Is everything alright, Mork?”

  “Well, um, yesterday I dropped off a passenger at a condo for his date.”

  If I don’t know how to construct my questions, then I’ll simply tell him from the start, so he might understand what I want to know. And maybe telling him the story will make me realize what I want to ask.

  “Yea, and then?” He asks.

  “And when I got to that condo, his date happened to be there waiting for him.”

  “And why did your passenger and his date make you want to ask about your uncle and me?”

  “Because…”

  Drat! Why is it so difficult to just say it out loud?

  “Because what, dummy?”

  This time, the question is not from Ar, but from my Loong, who just finished washing. He enters the room in a pair of shorts and a Thai loincloth thrown over one shoulder.

  “I’ve been hearing you for a while. That’s a lot of uh and wells. What about this passenger? Why are you flustered and stammering?”

  Finishing the sentence, he sits down next to the other uncle and starts digging in while staring at me with a look of determination to get me to talk.

  Good job, Mork, you dummy! When there was just Ar here with me, supposedly an easier setting, I failed to say it. I took too long, so now Loong finished his wash already, making it even more difficult. Oh, poor me! But it will bother me for the whole day if I don’t get an answer.

  “Well, his date was a guy.”

  Finally, the key sentence comes out, the image that has been puzzling me all night.

  “And what the hell about it?”

  Seems like it’s not ringing a bell for my uncle, he doesn’t even look up from his bowl of boiled rice while asking.

  “My passenger was also a guy, you know.”

  “And what’s the matter with that? A guy and a guy, what’s strange about it? That’s called gay. They’re common everywhere now, even TV dramas have some. Who is the old generation now, me or you? Why is your view so outdated?”

  “No, Loong, I mean this passenger looks like any other man. He doesn’t look different, just normal. He doesn’t look effeminate, sissy-like, or delicate. He’s an ordinary guy like all other men, except maybe his young appearance.”

  “And what are you confused about?”

  This time, Ar is the one who questions me.

  “Eh… For a gay couple, one of them is the man and the other one takes the role of woman, isn’t that right? Like, it’s…”

  That’s as far as I can go, I don’t know what to say next. It feels like my curiosity is colliding with the embarrassment of saying it out loud. It’s as if you’re at an intersection without any traffic lights, and the reality is a traffic police who’s blowing a whistle, signaling the oncoming traffic from every side to just halt.

  “Hey, Mork. Do I look feminine to you?”

  Ar puts down his spoon and asks after finishing his meal.

  “Nah. Not at all.”

  I shake my head. Although he is all neat and clean-shaven, nothing in his appearance, face or body, looks feminine. None at all. Perhaps because he works in a motorcycle repair shop, which requires a lot of physical labor, his body is still well-toned regardless of age. My real uncle is the same as well. They’re both muscular. I can’t say Ar looks effeminate.

  “Right… I don’t look feminine, but you know hecking well that I’m your uncle’s wife, crudely speaking.”

  Finishing that, he gets up from his seat and laughs, giving me a gentle but firm flat-handed blow on my head, making it bob lightly. He walks over to the fridge and fetches a bottle of water, before making his way back to the dining table.

  “Right, he’s my hubby, my man. And does any part of me hecking look feminine to you? If not, then what’s the difference with your passenger?”

  “Oh...yah. That’s right…”

  Upon that impact, I come to a realization. He is right. Originally, I intended to ask him because I know he’s my uncle’s spouse and, therefore, should be able to satisfy my curiosity on the subject. I’ve always known they are a gay couple. But I was blind to the obvious evidence that neither of them looks effeminate.

  If Ar, who is not feminine in the slightest, can be my Loong’s honey, then why can’t that super curious passenger be that guy’s honey? I’m not sure whether it’s the answer from Ar or the impact that makes it dawn on me ever so clearly.

  “Did that satisfy your curiosity?” My uncle asks.

  “Yes, Loong… It did.”

  “Then, scoot to work already! Go drive your motorcycle taxi. I and my honey need to start opening the garage for business too. I can’t believe it! Did I raise a person or a buffalo?[21] How freaking dumb!”

  I get up from the table and give him a mischievous look.

  “If your nephew were a buffalo, then, does it mean you’re a buffalo too?”

  “Mork, you little shit! Want me to kick your ass this early in the morning as an offering to the sun?”

  He acts furious and yells at me, but I know he isn’t angry. Yelling and smartmouth bantering are how we show affection in our family, a household of three, Loong, Ar, and me.

  …………

  Right…

  Loong, the uncle, is my mother’s older brother.

  But Ar is not my father’s younger brother.[22]

  This Ar is my Loong’s boyfriend.

  Or...to be specific, he is Loong’s “wife.”

  As far as I know… The two have been together since they were much younger.

  They were once a senior and a junior in the same college. Loong completed his high vocational program, while Ar completed his vocational program. Then, they moved to Bangkok looking for jobs together. They shared a rental room in order to save cost.

  Residing together eventually turned into living together.

  And they’ve been together ever since.

  Loong said he disliked it when they worked at different places and had different work schedules. So, after almost ten years of separately working, they invested a chunk of money in renting a shophouse and opening a motorcycle repair shop. The garage mostly relied on consistent businesses from the motorcycle taxi drivers in the area. (This is another mystery. Loong studied Mechanics and Ar studied Electronics, so none of them had any certificate in Automotive Mechanics. Yet, they could start and maintain a garage.) And that’s how P'Fueang made acquaintance with my uncles.

  After a while, they had a decent amount of savings. So, Loong decided to buy two units of the shophouse they were renting, turning downstairs into a motorcycle repair shop, which also sells motorcycle parts, while the second floor became their residence. Later on, when I moved to Bangkok with Fern, they let me have the third floor, saying they were too lazy to go up the stairs to make any use of it.

  As a matter of fact, the thing between Loong and Ar is not exclusively known to only me. Their garage employees are also aware of it. Everyone knows, including the people in the neighborhood. They all know my two uncles have been living together as spouses for a long time.

  Loong was quite a lady-killer in his younger days... He told me himself.

  He said before he
started going steady with Ar, there were so many women in his life. As he’s a Southern guy, having tanned and well-defined facial features and a well-built body from working for a lumber yard next door, it was natural that women were attracted to him.

  And actually, Ar was not much different.

  As soon as they started dating, Ar quit flirting around. Whereas my Loong took a couple of years, after getting into the relationship, to stop the habit. Loong told me he made Ar cry many times. (Frankly, I can’t picture him crying. I’ve never seen him crying so it’s beyond my imagination.) There were even times when they almost broke up.

  But in the end, they’re still together, through thick and thin. My uncle told me he could see it from the start that this guy was the one for him, the one to be his companion, his life partner, till death do them part. If there was a problem, then they must solve it, not just run from a problem and let everything end.