Bangkok Boy Read Online Free PDF Page B

bottle and headed towards my assailant. The fair attendees gasped as I raced by them in hot pursuit. With a swift blow, I smashed the bottle on his head. Blood poured down his face instantly as he collapsed to the floor. I threw the remainder of the bottle at his prostrate body and marched off in a proud huff.
    Once his family learnt about his public humiliation, they demanded an apology and 10,000 baht in kha tam kwan , compensation to help them come to terms with the situation. I adamantly refused to entertain their requests. They stated that the boy had dignity and I had no right to take that from him or them. I responded that he was the one who provoked me and I also had dignity, which I merely defended. I pointed out that my father was a teacher and my mother a renowned medium and that they were only poor farmers, so I didn’t understand what the boy had to be proud of. I justified my actions because he was beneath me and therefore it was I who had been gravely insulted. His family backed downed and never bothered me again. On reflection, their attempts at recovering face and my defence of my own seems trivial and childish. Sadly, this petty victory emboldened me to believe that I could take on anyone.
    Inevitably, there were plenty of folk who wanted to put me in my place. When I did go to school, I was a drunken nuisance. After hearing the teachers’ complaints, a seasoned, local soldier thought he’d bring me down a peg or two. He took it upon himself to enlighten me as to what tough love meant.
    I was blithely drinking in the schoolyard when he marched over to me and slapped my face indignantly. ‘What utter rubbish you are! Pull yourself together!’ he barked inches from my face. I was shocked but managed to shoot back an angry look before he slapped and punched me repetitively until my nose bled. My face was numb, and my ears rang—I feared I’d become deaf. Some schoolmates looked on in complete disbelief, having moved a safe distance away. These dared not interfere; meanwhile others obviously took pleasure in my utter humiliation. Undoubtedly, they thought it served me right to be attacked in such a manner. As I came to my senses, I turned red with fury, I could feel my indignation rising, ready to explode. As soon as he turned his back on me, I lunged forward, grabbed him in a headlock and began punching at his muscular body. He was almost twice my size and shook me off easily, and wailed into me some more. All I could do was to wriggle out of his grip and run for my life before he inflicted serious damage. It was my first taste of being reined in, but I didn’t learn my lesson. If anything, it fully reinforced my resentment of those in charge.
    On another occasion my cousin and I spent the evening at a busy fair. This was comprised of makeshift shops, amusement rides, games, a boxing ring and an outdoor cinema. I was already flying from one too many drinks, while my cousin was at least sober enough to talk reasonably. Eventually, he wanted to call it a night but I desired to continue carousing and insisted he stay. A fight quickly erupted. We wrestled, yelled obscenities at each other and made a grand disturbance. I chased him around playfully but it must have looked as if I was bullying him.
    Suddenly, I felt a heavy blow to my stomach which sucked the air out of me and caused my legs to collapse. A group of men, led by the village chief, grabbed my arms and dragged me to a deserted field nearby. It was dark except for the ominous circles of light emanating from their handheld lamps. Apparently, it was the fair organisers’ complaints about me that prompted this response. A lamp was held to my face as one of them yelled, ‘Who the hell do you think you are to disturb others’ fun, huh?’ I observed that they’d encircled me and were armed with thick planks. They were more than ready to beat the living daylights out of me; in fact they looked as if they’d relish it. My tough guy persona dissolved