chase the dragon
vinny bombora
A tapping, slightly forceful, at the crown of my head. Open my eyes, blurry in that moment when you haven’t had the full night’s sleep you need… especially after you’ve been indulging and that I have been doing.
There’s mosquitos buzzing around; I’m on the ground, in the grass; it’s cold and moist, late night/early morn.
I turn back a little towards the tapping and notice a boot connected to a leg that as my sight drifts upwards is connected to a Thai cop.
I pull myself up onto my feet and realise I have a half empty bottle of whisky in my arm. I hand it over to the cop; on the chance reckon it will keep me out of trouble. I stumble off in the direction… which?
Krungtep, Bangkok, the city of angels… I can’t be too far from Khao Sanh Road.
I mean I walked here with those guys I met at the bar in the back alley where we were drinking those buckets of Sang Som, Red Bull and cola. I’d been dropping vals like they were jelly beans and sharing them around to others who didn’t seem to have the sweet tooth I have.
A series of mental snapshots shows moving onto a few other bars, dancing with a lady boy, taking a half empty bottle of beer from one of my companions to finish off (which any novice traveller knows never to do) and then we’re in a park, they’re waving me on as we’re going to one of their apartments, then darkness at the edge of consciousness.
Staggering, more like semi-circling, along the footpath with no real understanding of what is going on I check the clock in my pocket; it’s about half four in the morn. Then I notice her right in front of me, this young, local woman; gaunt but gorgeous, long wispy hair and a snake-like grin writhing across her mouth. She grabs at the crotch of my jeans. She’s laughing, I’m laughing… I’m beginning to stir somewhat below.
She takes me by my arms and pushes me down a side alley. I have next to no resistance left to anything at this moment so I’m guided like a babe. Once we’re half way down the alley she turns and pushes me down another to the side and then up against the wall.
She begins rifling at my belt, my button and my fly. Before I know it my pants are half way down my thighs and she’s bent forward with her mouth over my cock. I’m laughing hysterically, I’m hard but there doesn’t seem to be any sexual thrill to the whole procedure it’s more like I’ve materialized into some b grade porn flick where the actors don’t really get off.
She moves her lips up and down, mainly over the head hardly making anyway down the shaft. Her teeth are dragging across the tip with each movement. The whole ordeal is giving me a juxtaposition of feelings: pain and hilarity.
The carnal travesty lasts for little over a minute before I grab her shoulders and push her back off. I pull up my pants and button up.
She’s still standing there smiling while I’m still laughing hysterically.
She takes hold of me again and pushes me back out of the alleyway and onto the main street. She flags a taxi and all of a sudden we’re both in the back seat. She lets the driver know where we are going which of course I’m completely oblivious to and we cruise the dark, trafficless Bangkok streets.
Occasionally she turns to me, grabs the back of my head, pulls it in close to hers and then sticks her tongue in my mouth. The most bizarre kiss I’ve ever had the displeasure of taking part in. There’s no motion of the lips and absolutely no motion of the tongue, she just pokes it in like an erect member, sticks it there for a while and then pulls back out. In between these passionate embraces I continue cackling.
The taxi pulls up. We’re in some side street near the main river but really hell knows where. There’s a one storey building with about five wooden doors in a row leading into what I assume are small apartments. She begins running up to the doors and bashing upon each one; until finally a teenage boy opens one and walks out.
The two of them chat and motion to each other like they’re well acquainted. After the negotiations I’m led by the lovely young woman and the teenager around the back streets and up a staircase. We enter a small apartment; brown wooden walls, a few chairs on one side and a single bed on the other. There’s not much room for anything else.
The two continue their negotiations until the woman hands across some baht and the teenager hands across a small plastic package with what looks to contain small, pink pills.
She takes a piece of foil from some shelving beside the bed, breaks open one of the pill packets and what looked to be a pill turns to powder and topples into the piece of foil: pink, Thai heroin.
She then grabs a Yakult bottle (those small bottles of cream milk that are meant to improve your health) from the same shelving. This bottle has been doctored though; the bottom has been cut off, the cap still remains attached and a thin plastic tube has been moulded to the side; to be used as the mouth piece of the pipe.
She sticks the mouthpiece in her ever so dainty lips holds the foil beneath the bottomless bottle and puts a flame to the foil. She sucks up the smoke for a while then looks across at me and hands me the bottle; I begin to suck up the smoke as she puts the flame to the foil.
As the smoke twirls into my lungs and makes contact with my blood vessels a feeling of calm and clarity soothes my being taking away the drudgery of the alcohol-soaked, pharmaceutically loaded evening.
She speaks with the teenager again and they both seem to end their dialogue amiably and it seems so lovely to me to see the two share such warmth. He leaves and then my lovely host grants the two of us another chase of the dragon.
After the paraphernalia has been discarded I somehow communicate that I have to take a piss. She leads me down the stairs to a bathroom and I relieve myself. On the way back out the door it suddenly occurs to me that I am quite taken by my tour guide and I motion that we might go back up the staircase for a bit of loving. Once again she lunges in and grabs at my crotch then pushes me against the wall next to the urinal. Suddenly my romantic vision drops away and the two of us leave.
She leads me back round to the main road, motions another taxi, tells the driver I must be going somewhere and then I’m cruising down the road again, this time by myself.
We’ve hardly driven a k or so when it suddenly strikes me to check my bumbag where my passport, all my money and travellers’ cheques are kept. And to my finite surprise most of the traveller’s cheques and money have taken a walk. I motion for the driver to turn back and get out where I was left off.
I walk the dark alleys trying to locate the staircase that I’d previously been led up.
Dawn begins to lighten the streets and families are beginning their days. I see children leaving their houses in school uniforms yet I don’t give up I keep on trying to locate where I’ve just been.
Eventually an older local man who speaks a little English invites me into his front room and gives me a glass of tea. He asks me what I’m doing walking the streets so early. I explain the situation to him.
Then he cries out in laughter, “A woman,” he laughs harder, “of course a woman.”
He turns to the rest of the adults gathered in the room and relates the matter to the rest of them. They all crack up as well.
“Listen son, I think it is best you go back to your guest house and forget about this ‘woman.’”
I thank him for the tea and walk the alleys a little longer. I feel no pain due to the drugs; just a little lost and alone.
I take a seat on the side of the road and pull out my guide book which miraculously is still in the satchel I’ve been carrying around with me. There’s a note hanging out of it. It’s from the boys I’d last seen in the park before I passed out.
It reads:
Mr Viny,
Thank you for night. We never forget you. We meet again, yes.
From Suwat, Anurak, Jira and Tomy.
I put the note back into the guide book and wonder whether they took my bread or if it was my lady boy friend.
I check how much baht I have and it’s about enough to buy five single cigarettes which I desperately need for the journey that lies ahead.
Then I make the two hour walk back through Bangkok to Khao Sahn, painlessly with almost no worries mate.
more by vinny
image by eye-thai