Bar Girl (12 page)

‘No, Mike. It isn’t right. None of this is right.’ She indicated the bar. ‘What happens here is that we open it up. Make it obvious. Girls are for sale in this part of the world just as they are in every other part of the world. We don’t pretend it doesn’t exist though. We don’t hide it away. ‘

‘I suppose we don’t have actual pimps as such.’ He was beginning to think.

‘Only people like you and me, Mike.’ She smiled once more.

‘You’re not a pimp, Siswan. You work harder than any of the girls,’ he told her.

‘Do I , Mike?’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Have you ever seen me go with a farang?’

‘Well, er, no. Not now you come to mention it.’ He turned more towards her.

‘No. And yet I make more money than all the girls put together,’ she told him. ‘I’m the biggest pimp you ever met, Mike.’

‘Yes, you are,’ he smiled. ‘I don’t get it. Why are you doing all this? I thought maybe you were looking for a farang husband. Someone to take care of you.’

‘No, Mike.’ She laughed. ‘I don’t need anyone to take care of me.’

‘Everyone needs someone, Siswan. Everyone,’ he told her.

‘No Mike. I don’t need anyone. Not to take care of me anyway,’ she said. ‘Maybe I just like taking care of you.’

‘It feels that way, you know. It feels like I’m just a doddering old hindrance to you,’ he said.

‘Well, you’re not. I like you. I told you that before.’ She laughed. Held his arm a little tighter. ‘You are like a father to me.’

He looked deep into her eyes. Yes, and you’re the daughter I wish I had, he thought to himself. There was no point in arguing. Fathers never won when it came to arguing with their daughters.

‘Okay. Up to you. Give the girls the extra day if you want.’ He was smiling as he said it. She could twist him around her finger. They both knew it. She kissed him on the cheek. Squeezed his arm.

‘Thank you, Papa,’ she laughed. ‘You’ll see I’m right in the end.’

When the girls found out about the extra day they were over the moon. It meant they could get their laundry done. Do all the mundane things they needed to do and still have a night out to enjoy themselves. The second day meant they would get enough sleep to feel refreshed when they got back to work.

‘It’s a great idea!’ Lon exclaimed.

‘We’ll be able to go to the cinema,’ Tak said.

They were all enthusiastic. Even Jen and Bell, who hadn’t been there long enough to make the same money as the others, were excited by the thought of two days off.

‘We’ll be taking on two more girls to cover the time,’ Siswan told them.

‘You’ll all have to help them fit in.’

‘No problem, Miss Siswan,’ Apple said.

Apple had done a good job with Jen and Bell. Hadn’t rushed them. Taught them how to smile. How to win over the men. How to enjoy a farang conversation. She’d even shown them how to deal with the drunk farangs. Just as Miss Siswan had taught her.

‘Okay. Now, I need to teach you some new things,’ Siswan told them all.

‘It’s how to deal with farang women.’

‘We don’t get many of them in here,’ Apple said.

‘We’re getting more and more turn up. Sometimes with their boyfriends or husbands, sometimes in pairs or groups. This bar is earning respect. People are saying it’s the best bar in town,’ Siswan explained.

She went on to tell them how to entertain farang women.

‘If they are with their boyfriend, speak to them first. Farang women are treated as equals by their men. Not like our men. The women have as much freedom as the men.’

‘What, you mean they can buy boys?’ Tak laughed.

‘Yes. If they want to. It’s up to them. Not many do, but there are some,’ Siswan said.

Tak stopped laughing. They all started to pay attention. Women who could buy boys? It wasn’t something they understood.

‘Give them more respect and a higher wai than you give to their male partners,’ Siswan said. ‘Make sure you speak to them. Smile at them. Make them feel welcome. That way they won’t see you as a threat to their men.’

She went on to explain that farang women often came in pairs or groups. They drank. Sometimes got more drunk than the men. They were loud and enjoyed themselves.

‘But that’s not right,’ Lon said.

‘Why not?’ Siswan asked her.

‘Well, women shouldn’t behave like that.’

‘Who says?’

‘It’s just not done, that’s all.’

‘It’s not done where?’ Siswan pushed against their beliefs.

‘Well. We can’t do that. Not if we’re not working.’

‘So, it’s okay to be drunk and loud when you’re working, is it?’

‘It’s a part of the job., isn’t it?’ Lon was tailing off. She didn’t like being the focus of Miss Siswan’s attention.

‘You don’t know enough,’ Siswan said to all of them. ‘You know your lives. Your upbringing. You aren’t dealing with locals. You’re dealing with people who have been taught that it’s okay to enjoy themselves.’

‘What if they want to buy a girl?’ Tak asked.

‘Fancy going with a farang woman, do you, Tak?’ Siswan smiled.

Tak went red. She hadn’t meant that exactly. She had just wanted to know where she stood when dealing with them. Now everyone was laughing at her.

‘I know why you asked,’ Siswan told her. ‘Again, it’s up to you. I don’t know what your tendencies are, but if a farang woman asks, and you want to try it, why not? It can’t be as bad as going with some of the men. But, and I mean this, I don’t want this bar becoming a gay bar, so use your discretion.’

The first of the customers entered the bar behind her. A group of four men. Two of them had their farang girlfriends with them. The girls looked defensive. As though they weren’t sure about going into a bar with all these sexy local women.

‘See?’ Siswan said to the girls. ‘Off you go, and remember, the women are just as important as the men. Maybe even more so.’

She watched as the girls dispersed. Apple and Tak made straight for the women. They each offered their highest wai. The two farang women looked a little unsure. One of them tried a wai in reply. Almost got it right. Not quite. Apple showed them to a table. Held the arm of one of the women. Smiled beautifully. Talked directly to her. Made her feel more important than the men. Tak took the orders and went off to get the drinks.

Siswan watched as Apple chatted away quite animatedly to the two farang women. Before long they were chatting back. Feeling at ease. Laughing. When Tak returned she gave the drinks to the women before the men. Unheard off in her own culture. Men first. Always the men first.

Siswan wanted farang women to come to the bar. She knew it would attract even more men. Farang men always went where the best looking girls were. It was a fact of life. They would be even more inclined to drink in a bar that catered for Western women as well as locals. More to look at.

The girls were learning. Learning to understand the ways of the farang. They were becoming more like professional entertainers than bar girls. Almost like the Japanese Geisha girls of old. Less clothing though.

Siswan gave Apple and Tak a smile and a nod as she walked past to greet the next customers. The bar was going to be busy that night. Very busy.

It was a little after one in the morning when the fight broke out. Two male farangs sat at the bar started it. Mike had heard their earlier conversation and had been a little concerned but, after they had continued arguing without resorting to violence, he hadn’t been overly worried.

He’d heard the same argument before. It was over one of the girls. It was always over a girl. A few too many to drink. A disagreement. A row. Either it escalated into a scuffle, or it just died down without any trouble. All quite normal in the land of guile.

In all the time Mike had been there, he had only seen one or two really serious fights and those had been dealt with by the police. A quick beating with the nightsticks, a night in the cells, a fine for causing trouble. The police dealt quickly and sternly with troublemakers.

These two seemed to be happy just arguing. He left them to it and concentrated on the customers to his right. A nice couple who wanted to know about life as an expat. He was trying to make it sound interesting. It wasn’t that easy. How did he make sitting in a bar every night interesting? The two men continued their argument in the background.

‘All I’m saying is she’s my girl. That’s all.’

‘How can she be your girl? She’s a hooker.’

‘Yeah, but while I’m here she’s mine.’

‘Half an hour ago you said you wanted another!’

‘Yeah, well I’ve changed my mind.’

‘Okay. I don’t want her, anyway.’

‘So why were you talking to her then?’

‘I was just saying hello.’

‘How do I know that. You were talking their lingo.’

‘Bloody hell, Jim. She said hello to me first. What am I supposed to do, ignore her?’

‘You know she was with me last night,’ Jim argued.

‘Yes, I know. But I didn’t know you wanted her again tonight. You said you didn’t.’

‘What I’m saying is, if she was with me last night, a friend, a proper friend, wouldn’t go with her the following night.’

‘I’m not going to go with her. I just said hello. I’ve already told you I don’t go with the girls.’

‘Don’t tell me you never go with a girl, Phil. What are you, gay?’

Phil was getting exasperated. He’d been in the country for a year working on a book. Jim was someone he knew from back home who had latched onto him as though he were an old friend. To be honest he didn’t like the guy that much. Now he was being accused of trying to take some girl the guy had bought the night before.

When he had first arrived he had indulged once or twice himself. He knew the score. First timers were always amazed by the promiscuity of the bar girls. Couldn’t resist really. But he’d learned. Learned a bit of the language as well. Now he was happy to enjoy a few drinks with them, get to know one or two quite well. In fact, he had a few friends now. People who he liked. Not like this jerk who seemed to fall in love with every girl he bought. He even expected them to love him in return.

‘Jim, I’m trying to explain. I like the girls. I don’t buy them anymore. There’s nothing wrong with being polite,’ he said, sounding more than a little exasperated.

‘Yeah, but why speak the lingo in front of me? I don’t know what you’re saying to her, do I?’ Jim was getting even more animated. His finger was pointing at Phil’s chest.

‘But why would you want to know? What’s it got to do with you?’ Phil was getting fed up with this. The conversation just went around in circles.

‘Because she’s my girl.’

‘Why is she working here tonight, then?

‘That’s her job.’

‘Exactly. So someone could walk in and bar fine her right now.’

‘No. She’s waiting for me. I can see that. So should you.’

‘All she’s waiting for, Jim, is for someone to pay her bar fine. Anyone.’

Jim didn’t understand Phil. He’d come over to see him and now the bastard was trying to take away his girl. He talked to all of them in their own language. When they laughed he was sure they were laughing at him. He’d seen the smile he gave his girl. What did he go and smile at her for, if he didn’t want her? He knew what was going on here. He’d seen guys like Phil before. Always interested in some other man’s woman. Couldn’t pull their own.

‘You’re just jealous,’ he told Phil.

‘Jealous that you bought a hooker, Jim? How on earth do you work that one out?’

‘Because I saw her first and now you wish you had.’

‘No. I don’t wish I’d seen her first, Jim. I saw her last week, before you got here, and the week before, and I didn’t buy her then either. Just said hello, same as tonight.’ Phil was getting truly bored with the conversation.

‘She told me she liked me a lot,’ Jim said, emphatically. As though that were the end of it.

‘So, what are you going to do about it?’ Phil asked, taking another pull from his beer.

‘What do you mean?’ Jim asked in return.

‘Well, if you like her so much, and she likes you, are you going to let her carry on selling her body in a bar?’

‘I can’t do anything about that, can I?’ Jim raised his voice.

‘Yes, you can. You could pay her enough money each month to take care of her, her child, her mother, father and the rest of the family.’

‘I haven’t got that kind of money,’ Jim blurted out.

‘How do you know, you didn’t even ask how much it would cost?’ Phil said.

‘Don’t act bloody superior with me, Phil. I notice you don’t have a bloody girlfriend.’

‘My choice, Jim. But, really, how can you think of her as a girlfriend, someone who you expect to like you, when you leave her working in a bar?’ Phil asked.

‘I haven’t got enough money for a long standing girlfriend, right? But when I buy one I expect to be treated proper. And I treat them proper in return,’ Jim stated.

‘Yeah, right,’ Phil said. ‘And you think buying a girl is a proper way to treat them?’

‘She said she liked me,’ Jim repeated himself. ‘Said she liked me a lot because I’m always smiling.’

‘They all do, Jim. It’s a part of the game,’ Phil told him. He was truly fed up with this conversation. ‘So, do you want to stay here or go elsewhere?’ he asked, trying to change the topic.

‘I’m staying here. I told you.’ Jim was slurring slightly.

‘Okay. Well, in that case, I’m going to nip down and see Dave. The first bar we went to, remember?’

‘Yeah, you do that, Phil. Whilst you’re at it, why don’t you just fuck off?’ Jim was raising his voice.

Phil couldn’t be bothered any more. The idiot would be going home in two days. He was glad. With a shrug he started to slide off the barstool. He called for his bill in the local language. The young girl behind the counter smiled to let him know she had heard.

‘There you go again!’ Jim shouted. ‘Trying to pull the cashier now!’

‘What the hell is the matter with you, Jim?’ Phil asked. ‘Why are you shouting? You’re a bloody embarrassment.’

Jim suddenly picked up his bottle of beer and threw the contents at Phil. Beer splashed over the bar as well as a few other customers. Not much actually landed on Phil.

‘You really are pathetic, Jim,’ Phil laughed and then stopped as Jim swung the bottle towards his head.

All hell broke lose in a matter of seconds. When Jim swung the bottle, Phil moved to one side and bumped into another farang who, in turn, spilt his beer all over his girlfriend. She took a few steps back and barged into Lon who was serving drinks to a table full of customers. The tray Lon held flipped up and spilt glass and contents all over the table. The first farang swung a blow at Jim and caught him on the side of the head, just above his ear.