June 30, 2005, 9:01am

‘Where the hell have you been? Did you find the blue book?’ Mother asked as Ae walked into the reception area of the agency. The floor tiles were so white they looked like a mosaic of mirrors, but the overall sterility of the room was broken by the bright red reception counter to Ae’s left; the walls were decorated with pictures of deserts, synagogues and greenhouses, all of them bearing the recruitment agency’s name.
Mother was seated at one of the seven desks in the middle of the room. To Ae’s right, Father was standing by the window facing the road as if in a trance.

‘Mother, please give her a break,’ Lao said, ‘can’t you see she’s rattled? She just saved someone’s life out there! You are impossible, you know that? Ae was nearly run over by a bus trying to get the blue book to you.’

‘That’s nothing compared to what I’ll do to her if she doesn’t give it to me quickly,’ Mother said, looking through her daughter.

Lao threw his arms in the air, ‘I need a drink. Father, did you see what Ae did out there? It was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in my whole life.’

Father nodded, ‘I saw everything.’

Before Ae could respond, Mother was at it again, ‘Well? Don’t just stand there like a statue. Give me the house registration booklet. What the hell is in the box, by the way? You didn’t go shopping while you’ve kept us all waiting, did you?’ Mother snapped her fingers.

Ae didn’t answer; it felt like the sting in her cheek where she’d been slapped earlier, was returning with every snap of her mother’s fingers, with each syllable rolling off her tongue. She looked down at her foot where 'Sleeping Beauty’s' dried blood encrusted her toenails. Ae walked over to where Lao was standing by the water dispenser, trying to figure out how to remove the cone-shaped paper cups from the silver tube. She shoved the box in his hands, ‘Here, hold my chickens.’

Father’s face went pale when Ae removed the blue book from her front pocket. She held it up for a few seconds as if to say Look, I’ve found it; you have no idea what I have been through this morning because of this document. Holding Father’s gaze, she tossed the booklet in Mother’s general direction, where it slid over the polished glass desk top and knocked over the brass nameplate bearing the regional manager’s name.

‘Everything in order?’ The receptionist stood on her toes, overlooking a computer monitor, only her hair and horn-rimmed glasses visible. ‘Please be patient. Mr Supakeaw will be with you in a moment; all our recruiters start at nine, actually,’ she said in a polite, but irritable voice.

‘Fine, fine, thank you. Just … an accident … knocked over … this … thing.’ Mother held up Mr Supakeaw’s nameplate and put it back into place.

Ae couldn’t help but grin at Mother’s sheepish response. ‘Excuse me, where’s the ladies’ room?’ she asked, ‘I had a little accident myself in the road out there - in case nobody’s noticed - and I would like to freshen up before we meet with Mr Supakeaw.’

‘I have to go, too,’ Lao said and walked over to where Ae was standing by the reception desk.

‘Just down the corridor over there, dear, second door to the right. Please be careful not to hurt yourself; they’re busy renovating Mr Supakeaw’s office, and the builders didn’t clear their materials yesterday as I’ve requested.’ The receptionist leaned over and whispered in Ae’s ear, ‘Burmese laborers; cheap, but very careless.’

Lao put his arm around Ae, ‘My hero.’ Together they strolled down the hallway. ‘Don’t worry about Mother. You know how she is; I bet you she’s beaming inside,’ Lao said.

‘Do you think she saw … the accident?’Ae asked outside the men’s room.

‘No, but Father did. And I did. But, most importantly, you did. You were there.’ He gave her a reassuring look.

‘P’Lao … I—’

‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ Ae bit her lip. Then, changing the subject, ‘Have you gone for your medical yet?’

‘Doctor’s not there yet. The receptionist booked me for eleven o’clock.’

***

Ae had never seen such a beautiful restroom. The tiles were light pink with a splash motif. The mirror above the basins covered the entire length of the wall and made the room look so spacious that she felt like Alice in Wonderland. Each basin was fitted with a golden faucet, matching the toilet cubicle door handles directly behind her. Ae rinsed her face first. She closed her eyes and felt the cool water running down her face.
She opened her eyes and stared at her own reflection for a moment. I look different, she thought, healthy. She tilted her head and smiled, I look … content. I have the same look on my face as Sleeping Beauty had had before I pushed her out of the way of the school bus. What does this mean? The old man with his froglike eyes? The whole morning, for that matter - it has been like a weird dream. Did all of this really happen? Is this really happening? Maybe I should talk to Mo— no, maybe I should talk to Father instead. He said he’d seen everything – there was something in his eyes when he said that. Maybe he was just really surprised that I had found the blue book. I wonder if P’Lao had seen the old man. I could always go to speak to Pra Toy; he’ll have an answer.
Ae’s head was starting to spin. She took a breath and wiped her hands on her jeans. She frowned as her hand brushed her bulging jean pocked, ‘The envelope from Five Star Noodles! I’m supposed to give it to Mr Supakeaw!’ Ae took out the envelope and saw that it was torn, probably as a result of her earlier heroics. She had a quick peek.

Wow. There must be at least ten thousand Baht in here. She put it back in her pocket, rocked back and swung her one leg onto the cool marble top, placing her bloody foot into the basin. The water was soothing and an aroma of real flowers filled the room as the rubbed the pink liquid soap between her toes. She switched legs and washed the other foot as well. Careful not to slip on the bathroom tiles, she walked over to the paper towel dispenser, but found that it was empty. ‘Oh, well.’ Ae slipped on her flip-flops; they squeaked as she walked to open the door.

‘…the urine sample, okay? Say, that phone I gave you, is it worki—’

‘There she is!’ Lao exclaimed as Ae walked out in to the passageway. He slipped a small bottle with yellow liquid into his pocket. ‘Ahem … Mister Supakeaw, I would like to introduce you to my sister, Ae.’ Both men were standing a little further down the hallway, with their backs to the office that was in the process of being refurbished.

There was an uncomfortable silence as both men exchanged looks of surprise, almost like a father and son would look at each other after the father had just walked in on his son masturbating. Ae knew the look on her brother’s face: guilt.

What the hell are they talking about? Urine sample? What phone?
Not wanting to raise any further suspicion that she had overheard part of their conversation, she smiled. Mister Supakeaw returned her smile and ran a hand through a greasy head of hair.
Sly, Ae thought. The man standing next to her brother caused alarm bells to ring in her head. When Mr Supakeaw opened his mouth to speak, his one golden front tooth added a few synonyms to Ae’s feeling of mistrust: cunning, sneaky, crafty, shrewd.

Mr Supakeaw wore a cream-coloured suit, and the powder blue silk shirt under the jacket was unbuttoned halfway down to his stomach, revealing a large Buddhist amulet dangling from a thick gold chain around his neck. Ae recognized the amulet immediately: the popular Jatukham Rammathep, an image of what is believed to be an incarnation of a four-armed bodhisattva (enlightened being), worn for protection and good fortune.

Unwillingly, Ae folded her palms together, thumbs under the tips of her nose, and greeted him politely. He returned the gesture, hands lowered under his chin, as is the custom for greeting younger people.

‘Lao tells me you’re a very brave girl.’ Mr Supakeaw said it as if he and her brother had known each other for years, ‘It’s a shame no one took notice of your heroic act out there. I will most certainly have a word with local police and newspapers. I think a reward is in order.’

‘No, that won’t be necessary, Mister Supakeaw. It was more … more of an accident, really. Besides, the girl I … helped—’

‘Saved!’ Lao interrupted, ‘You saved her life, Ae. Why are you so modest about it?’ Lao sounded agitated; it sounded like he wanted to impress Mr Supakeaw, too. ‘See, Mr Supakeaw, this is exactly what I mean; my sister here is a great example of what is wrong with our people up here in the north east. If an opportunity arises, we should grasp it with both hands, not look the other way. We are being left behind by our own ignorance.’

Mr Supakeaw placed a reassuring hand on Lao’s shoulder, ‘In the end it’s her decision, Lao. There’s nothing wrong with modesty. In fact, it’s a virtue.’ His eyes didn’t leave Ae’s breasts.

Ae folded her arms. ‘Look, I … I just pushed her out of harm’s way. Thank you for the kind words, Mister Supakeaw.’ Ae pressed her palms together in prayer-like fashion, and gave a slight bow.

‘Come on, Ae. Please don’t insult Mister Supakeaw like that,’ Lao said, disappointment pulling down the corners of his mouth.

Ae ignored her brother and reached for the white envelope in her pocket, ‘Oh, I nearly forgot, I’m supposed to give you this. Five Star Noodles. The Germans were late.’ Ae handed Mr Supakeaw the envelope, gave Lao a dirty look, and walked away.

Not taking into account the acoustics of the unfurnished office behind him, Mr Supakeaw’s voice echoed through the hall, ‘I told you to come to me first if you want people to work for me! How do I know I can trust her?’ He ripped open the envelope, ‘Great! See? It’s supposed to be paid in person for a reason, not by some … some little tart with small tits! There’s three thousand baht missing!’

‘It’s all a big misunderstanding, Mister Supakeaw. I have no idea what just happened. Ae—’

‘Who?’ Mr Supakeaw said, counting the money.

‘My sister. Ae … she doesn’t even know I work for you!’ Lao protested.

‘Well, get to the bottom of this. When we’re done here today, I want you to go and have a word with both Five Star Noodles and your sister. Find out what happened and get the rest of my money. Is that clear?’ Leaning over, he slipped Lao a thousand baht bill and two amphetamine tablets. ‘As from tonight … No. More. Five. Star. Noodles,’ Supakeaw whispered.

‘I understand.’ Lao swallowed.

‘Good.’ Mr Supakeaw stood back and tapped Lao on the shoulder, ‘Good. Just sort it out. Go and wait with your parents at reception. All this … business has upset my stomach; I’ll be out in a minute.’ Mr Supakeaw kicked open the men’s room door, and went inside. ‘Motherfucker! Every week the same story; I give her so much business and still she comes up short. Everything’s fucked!’