JOHNNY GONE DOWN Read Online Free PDF Page B

find out when they plan to resume normal services,’ said a tall, muscular guy with a German accent.
    ‘I wouldn’t advise it,’ said the shaggy blonde guy. ‘These Khmer Rouge soldiers are illiterate village boys who’ve been taught to hate Americans all their lives. In effect, that means all foreigners, since they can’t tell the difference between a Pakistani and a Texan.’
    ‘How do you know that?’ someone asked.
    ‘I’ve been a PhD student at the University of Cambodia for a year,’ he said. ‘I saw this coming before even the government did, but I didn’t get out in time. Now, it’s over.’
    ‘What’s over?’ asked the German guy. ‘What did you see coming?’
    The girl with the cheek piercings let out a sudden shriek and pointed outside. We followed her glance. The celebrations seemed to have gone silent all of a sudden. Everyone, except the hooting boys atop the tanks, seemed to be staring at something in front of one of the tanks. Although we were a few hundred metres away, we could make out the obviously dazed expressions on their faces.
    ‘He shot him,’ said the girl excitedly. ‘I saw it.’
    ‘Who? What?’ asked the hippies huddled by the window.
    ‘One of those guys in black,’ she said, pointing outside. ‘He just shot a man who bumped intohim, he shot him right between the eyes. There was blood.’
    Everyone stood in silence, staring at each other as the tanks began to roll forward towards the airport. The swirling crowds followed the tanks, though they seemed a bit subdued now.
    ‘This is what I meant,’ said the PhD guy. ‘The Khmer Rouge are animals.’
    A chorus of panicked voices broke out in the airport as the cavalcade approached.
    ‘We need to run.’
    ‘And go where?’
    ‘We should reason with them.’
    ‘And get shot?’
    ‘Why would they shoot us?’
    ‘They shot someone who just bumped into them!’
    ‘Should we put up a white flag for peace? We don’t even know if they are looking for us.’
    ‘No use,’ said the PhD student. Everyone turned to look at him. ‘Do you know the motto of their revolution? To keep you is no benefit; to destroy you is no loss. They will gladly wrap you in your white flags if you give them half a chance,’ he said, sounding quite calm despite the death sentence he was pronouncing for everyone in the room.
    All flights were cancelled, the tanks were fast approaching the airport, and we had nowhere to go.
    A petite woman began to whimper, which triggered a crying fit in the room.
    ‘Can’t we fight them off?’ asked the muscular German. ‘They are just a handful of boys, and the crowd doesn’t seem to like them too much.’
    He looked around the room for support. None of the hippies seemed enthusiastic about this course of action.
    ‘And then what, we take over the city? Perhaps fight off thousands of boy soldiers in the country?’ said a teenager with a French accent.
    ‘Do you have a better idea?’ asked the German.
    ‘Any idea would be better than that,’ said the Frenchman sarcastically.
    The German moving threateningly towards him and caught him by the collar. ‘If you can’t help, don’t speak, you bastard.’
    ‘Okay, James Dean. Let’s go Hollywood on the soldiers instead,’ the Frenchman sneered.
    The German struck him in the face. A babble of panicked voices broke out, although the Frenchman himself didn’t react.
    Thus far, I had been watching in a state of mild disbelief as the events unfolded. This was a vacation, I thought, no one got killed on a vacation, damn it. Everything would take care of itself. But the sudden eruption of violence in front of me brought back memories of a lifetime spent on basketball courts and soccer fields. My father, a colonel in the Indian Army, had ensured that I cut my sporting teeth playing rough ball with the jawaans in the army fields.
    ‘Does anyone here have a map?’ I asked, startling myself a little. I had had a sudden inspiration, quite like the ones I