Cockatoo Pt. 25

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Jamie runs into trouble on the way to Bangkok.
7.2k words
4.65
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Part 25 of the 44 part series

Updated 06/07/2023
Created 03/27/2015
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Shane stuck out an enormous hand and I instinctively shook it, hoping for the first time in my life that my handshake would be a little limp.

'G'day girls. What a coincidence,' he said. 'I thought it was you on the dock but I couldn't be sure. I know you said you were leaving today, but who would have guessed we would be on the same ferry. I didn't know myself until this morning. Had an urgent call to get back to Bangkok. All the flights are full, so I had to scramble to get this ferry and the bus. I'm in the security detail at the Aussie embassy in Bangkok. they've had some kind of crisis, so they called me back from leave. Had to leave me mates behind. They're over from Aus for a break so I came down to see 'em. Did you see that blue up on the pier? The cops jumped on that guy pretty sharpish. I reckon it was drugs, big problem all over here. Druggies are stupid, never learn. Sorry, I know I talk too much. You're Jamie I know, so who's this little Sheila with you? I think I saw you last night too, didn't I?'

Nin was looking wide eyed at Shane.

'My name Nin, I with Jamie, we go to Bangkok.' Shane leaned over me and shook Nin's hand. Her hand looked tiny in Shane's massive paw.

'Nice to meet you, Nin. You on vacation or seeing family or something?'

Nin glanced quickly at me but I had nothing to offer. We hadn't thought of a cover story.

'We go see my family in Bangkok, Jamie my friend, she come with me see real Bangkok. We work in hotel in Samui.'

Nicely done Nin, I thought. She was laying the accent on thick because I knew she spoke nearly perfect English, but I guess she thought all Westerners expect Thai people to speak in pidgin.

'Yeah, look I love Bangkok. Best posting I've had. Was in bloody Kabul last. Bloody iffy place that is, I tell ya. Hey, do you two fancy a tinnie? I've got some in me pack.'

Shane rummaged around in the bag at his feet and pulled out three cans of Leo beer. He offered one to Nin who shook her head and then offered one to me. I desperately wanted one to settle my nerves, but I shook my head.

'Awww, come on girls, you can't leave a man to drink with the flies, can ya?'

Nin looked completely baffled and Shane said, 'Sorry, I meant drink alone.'

Nin laughed and said, 'OK, thank you Mr Shane, I take one please.'

'It's Shane, Nin, none of this Mister stuff please.' He handed the tin to Nin and then said to me, 'C'mon Jamie, will you join us?'

I nodded and leant towards Shane and said, 'Yes please, if it's alright.'

'No worries, Jamie. It's my pleasure. I was dreading this journey, but now I have the company of two lovely ladies.'

I thought he must have had too much sun in Kabul if he thinks I'm a lovely lady, but I took his beer and said cheers as we knocked out cans together.

'So, Jamie, what brought you to Samui?'

The last thing I needed was a bored and chatty Aussie to spend the next four hours with.

'I came out to Thailand for work, fell in love and decided to stay. I found myself in Samui and decide that was where I wanted to stay.'

Not entirely a lie of course. Shane nodded, and a cloud seemed to pass over his face. I noticed for the first time how blue his eyes were; not the vivid blue or the ice blue you see sometimes, but a clear light blue that held my gaze. I remember reading somewhere that people with blue eyes have a higher threshold for pain and alcohol than other people. Bizarrely, I found myself wondering if that had anything to with his choice of security as a job.

'Is something wrong?' I asked.

'No, no. just I broke up with someone before I came to Thailand, took me a while to get over them. I haven't met anyone else yet.'

'I'm sorry,' I said, 'you will, I'm sure.'

He smiled and nodded, then said, 'Look, I'll let you get some rest, it's going to be a long journey.'

I touched his arm lightly, 'Thanks Shane, you're sweet.'

Sweet! Why did I say sweet? Did dressing as a woman make you think like a woman? I turned to Nin who had been watching Shane and I, and she smiled as if she knew something I didn't.

'What?' I said.

'Nothing, Jamie, nothing. I try to get some sleep.' She curled up in her seat and was asleep in a few seconds.

A couple of hours had passed and I read my book, and listened to some music, but I couldn't relax enough to sleep. Nin was fast asleep, probably one of those lucky people who could sleep anywhere. Me, I need a good firm bed to be able to get a proper sleep. Shane had dozed off and had been snoring gently. I realised he had stopped snoring, and I glanced up at him and found him looking at me with a smile on his face.

'Look, Jamie. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?' He was whispering as Nin was still asleep.

Shit, here it comes I thought. I just hope he won't make a huge fuss about it. I lowered my eyes to the floor and shook my head.

'I just wanted to know if you and Nin there are an item?'

I whipped round to look at him, that wasn't the question I was expecting.

'Er, Shane...'

'Sorry, sorry, that's was too personal. I'm sorry, Jamie.'

I smiled and touched his arm with my fingertips, 'Shane, no it was a bit of a shock, that's all. No, we're not together, at least not like that, just friends. We work together as Nin told you. Why did you ask?'

'I just wondered, you seem close with each other, you said you had fallen in love, and what with you being transgender and all...'

'What?'

My brain scrambled and I felt sick. Shit, what was I going to say? I had got this far without a problem and now it was all going to come tumbling down. He must have seen in my eyes how scared I was.

'Don't worry, Jamie, I'm not going to say anything. I wondered last night and then today I was sure. You look great, but I have a friend who started to transition a while back, so I know a thing or two about it all.'

Hell, what should I say? I decided the only option was to play along. 'Shane, you have to understand I'm really new to all this, I just got the courage to start dressing fully, so it's all a little strange to me. I'm scared that people will make fun of me.' Luckily, most of that was true.

'Jamie, I promise I won't say anything, it's fine by me. You look great, honestly.'

He took my hand and squeezed it gently. Oh God, here I was, dressed as a woman with a man holding my hand. I bent my head towards him, 'Thank you Shane, you're so sweet.' He let go of my hand and for some strange reason I missed him holding it. I had to sort what to do after this, so I excused myself and told him I had to go the toilet. I squeezed past him and found the toilets at the back of the ferry. I was heading for the one marked men when I realised I should be using the women's toilet. Luckily, people had settled down to get some sleep, so there wasn't a queue. The toilet was pretty filthy, and it didn't encourage me to linger. I looked at myself in the mirror and decided I didn't look too bad but freshened my lipstick anyway. It was then that I realised that if Shane was going to stick with us, then I wouldn't be able to change before we got on the bus as we planned. Shit, that meant I would have to stay as Jamie until we got to Bangkok. I cursed Alex and Areeya with every swear word I could think of for getting me into this.

I returned to my seat, and as I squeezed past Shane the boat hit a wave and I stumbled, falling into his lap. It took me a few seconds to get up again to find he had a big grin on his face.

'I'm so sorry, Shane.' I said, blushing furiously.

'No worries, Jamie, It's no bother. I've had worse things happen, believe me.'

I sat down again, still blushing about what had happened.

'Shane, I think I'll try to get some sleep.'

He nodded, still with a big grin on his face. 'Me too, Jamie.'

I put my earphones in and began to listen to my beloved John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme', which is always guaranteed to calm me down. I must have dropped off to sleep at some point because I woke up to find my head resting against Shane's shoulder. As my head cleared, I realised he was asleep too, and his hand was resting on my thigh. Oh shit, what is going on? I gently removed his hand from my leg, trying not to wake him and dug Nin in the ribs until she woke. 'Come with me,' I whispered, and we managed to squeeze past Shane and walk to the back of the ferry.

'I went to sleep and when I woke up he had his hand on my leg.' I said.

Nin giggled, 'I think Shane likes you, Jamie. I see how he looks at you.'

'Whaaaaat? He can't.'

'Why not?'

'Because I'm a man for God's sake.'

'Jamie, look in mirror. You don't look like man.'

'Yeah, but he knows about me.'

Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth dropped open. 'What?'

'While you were asleep he asked me if we were together.'

She looked at me, obviously puzzled, 'We are together.'

'Yes, but he meant were we lovers.'

Nin's eyes widened, she covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.

'It's not funny,' I said. She stopped giggling but couldn't get rid of her grin.

'What did you say to him?'

'I told him we were friends from work. But then he said he knew I was transgender.'

'Oh, what did you tell him?'

'I had to say yes. What else could I say? I couldn't tell him the truth, could I? We don't know anything about him.'

'What did he say?'

'That he was OK with trans people. He has a friend in Australia who transitioned.'

She frowned, 'Hmm, maybe he has ladyboy girlfriend?'

'He said that he had broken up with someone before he came to Thailand. Oh God, it must have been his friend who transitioned that he broke up with.'

'Maybe that why he likes you, Jamie.'

I couldn't believe it, but it would explain things, 'No, Nin, I can't cope with that.'

'What choice we have? It will be just for a few hours, Jamie. When we get to Bangkok, you can change and then we can get back to normal.'

Damn it, I knew she was right, but it was the last thing I wanted was a man who wants to get inside my knickers on top of everything else. I cursed Alex, Areeya, Kritsada and Jandaeng in equal measures for getting me into this spot. For a moment I considered telling Shane the truth, but then it struck me, was it purely a coincidence that he was on the ferry? It seemed to be too much of a coincidence that I would run into him last night and then again today. I desperately wanted to get a message to Alex or Areeya but our burner phones wouldn't work out here. I decided I would need to careful about what we said to Shane.

I sighed, turned to Nin and said, 'OK, you're right, let's get back to Shane and pretend it's all OK.' we made our way back out seats and Shane was now awake and we both squeezed past him. This time I made sure I didn't end up on his lap.

'All OK, girls?'

Nin smiled, 'Yes Shane, we went get some air. Not long before we dock.'

Shane brought out another round of beers, and I wondered how many he had in that bag of his. The announcement that we would shortly arrive came a few minutes later and all around us the other travellers began to get themselves ready. We waited a bit to let the others get off first and then we climbed out onto the deck and saw the long pier at Chumphon along which we would have to walk to get to the bus. First of all we had to collect our cases from the ferry and Nin and Shane told me to sit on a bench whilst they tried to find them amongst the piles of cases coming off the ferry.

I saw Shane pick up a big rucksack and swing it onto his shoulder. He stood next to Nin, and she looked a child compared to him. I saw Nin pick up her bright yellow bag, and I expected my case to follow, but there was nothing. Nin seemed to having an argument with the crew unloading the bags, and they were making that arms outstretched and palms turned up gesture that means the same everywhere - there's nothing left. Shit, I thought, my bag has to be there, it has all my male clothes in it. Nin was shouting furiously at the crew who just waved her off. Shane looked over at me and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, it's all a mystery.

I walked over to them and Nin looked distraught.

'I am sorry, Jamie. Your case is not here. The boat is empty, The crew say it must have been stolen.'

Shane said, 'I looked in the hold and there's nothing left inside. Are you sure it got loaded on Samui?'

'We put both our cases on the trolley at the ferry pier with everybody else. If Nin's is here then mine should be too.'

'I asked crew to contact Maenam to see if case left behind. They checking now,' said Nin.

Shane put his hand on my arm and said, 'Look, Jamie don't worry, I'm sure it will be found.' At that moment one of the crew members returned and said something to Nin. She raises her eyes to the skies and I know from her look that my bag is not at Maenam either. Nin turns to me and confirms it.

'Your bag not at Samui, Jamie. It's gone.'

'Shit,' I said in a frankly not very ladylike manner. I was now so frustrated and angry with what was going on I felt like getting back on the ferry to go back to Samui. Shane took me by the hand and said gently, 'Jamie, there's nothing we can do here. It's gone, why don't we go on to Bangkok and you'll have to get some new stuff there. Do you have insurance?'

I shook my head. There wasn't much in the case, as we had planned to come straight back, but the loss of my male clothes was the most pressing problem for me.

'You're right Shane, I'll just have to buy some more clothes in Bangkok. Let's get going.' It was now almost six o'clock, and we had wasted a good half hour trying to find my case. We trudged down the pier but as we approached its end, we saw two buses pull out and speed off up the road trailing clouds of dust. There were no other buses left, and I knew with a terrible sinking certainty in my stomach that we had missed the bus to Bangkok.

Nin ran up to the bus park and was arguing with someone there. We caught up with her and she turned to face us, her face dark with anger.

'These people are stupid, they say the buses cannot wait, they have to go, even if we have ticket.' She said something in Thai, which by the look on her face involved cursing the bus drivers and their entire families too.

'When is the next bus, Nin?' Shane asked.

'Tomorrow morning, no more buses tonight. He say there normally train at one o'clock in morning but cancelled because landslide on track.'

At that moment we heard the ferry's engines roar as it pulled away from the jetty. We were stuck here for the night.

'I don't believe this, how can something go so wrong?' I was tired and angry, and my back was starting to hurt because of the extra weight of the breast forms. I wished I could just take them out and stretch properly. My feet were sore from the rubbing of the sandals against my toes. I was fed up with acting as a woman and I just wanted to go home.

'C'mon Jamie,' said Shane. 'We'll have to find somewhere to stay here and then get the first bus in the morning.' He threw his arm around my shoulder and squeezed me. It felt like I was being hugged by a bear, but just the gesture made me feel better. I was now beyond frustration and anger as I realised there was nothing I could do about the situation. Nin said, 'I need to let my parents know what's happening, I will text them now.'

I nodded, realising she meant she was going to text Alex. Shane said, 'I need to let my people know too.' They both began texting, and it gave me a moment to try to sort out what was going on. It seemed to be almost beyond belief that so much was going wrong. Could it be coincidence or was there something more sinister at play here? That's the trouble with paranoia; once it gets its grip on your mind, it spreads like cancer, infecting every thought and making every event seem like a conspiracy. We have to play it by ear, I thought, take everything as it comes. It's probably just a run of bad luck after all.

Nin touched my arm, 'My mother and father are sorry that we are delayed, but we should press on to Bangkok as soon as we can. They send their love and hope we are well.'

So, Alex and Areeya were at least aware of the situation, even if they could not do anything about it. Shane came over and said, 'I've got some good news, the embassy have said that they will pay for a taxi for me to get to Bangkok, so we can all pile in one and get on our way. We might even get there earlier than the bus.'

I smiled and Nin gave Shane a hug, or as much of a hug as she could, given the difference in their size. 'Thanks Shane, you're wonderful,' I said, and without thinking I gave him a kiss on his cheek. He blushed scarlet and Nin gave me a sideways look as if to say be careful.

Daylight was fading fast, and It was then that it struck me that we were about to set off in a Thai taxi, probably driven by a madman, in the dark for an eight-hour journey to Bangkok. My knuckles tightened at the very thought of it. A Toyota minibus appeared out of the darkness, thankfully with two drivers, which in my view, significantly improved our chances of surviving the journey. We climbed on board and I headed for the back seat, hoping somehow that it would be safer than the front. Shane moved in front of Nin and climbed in after me and sat next to me on the back seat. Nin boarded last, gave me a look and sat down on one of the other seats. I glanced at Shane who grinned back at me, apparently happy that he would be spending the next eight hours sitting next to me. I just prayed that he would keep his hands to himself on the journey.

We pulled out of the ferry area and onto the road. Nin said it would take a little while to reach the main highway towards Bangkok but then we should be able to make good time. It was now pitch black outside and all we could see were the houses next to the road, most of them garishly lit with fluorescent tubes. We passed motorcycle repair shops, bars, fruit stalls and all kinds of businesses by the side of the road; life is often lived in the open in these rural areas of Thailand. There was a hypnotic quality to watching this pass by the window and I could feel my eyelids begin to droop as we drove on. The radio was playing Thai pop music, and I could hear Nin softly singing along, when the driver said something sharply to the other driver in the front.

'Nin, what did he say?' Shane asked.

'He say police road block ahead.'

'Ask him if that's normal.'

Nin spoke to the driver, and as he replied even I could tell he sounded nervous. Nin turned towards us, 'He says it is very unusual here, I think he scared.'

Shane moved incredibly quickly and was at the side passenger door in a flash.

'You two, stay in your seats and don't move.' There was an authority in his voice that made me do as he said without question. The driver slowed down and came to a halt.

'Nin,' Shane spoke quietly, 'tell the driver to lock the doors.' Nin did as Shane asked, and the driver, visibly nervous, nodded. We heard the clunk as the driver activated the door locks. We could see two torches coming towards us and the headlights of a car behind them. 'Jamie, turn round, look out the back and tell me if anyone comes at us from behind.'

'I can't see anyone, Shane.'

'Keep your eyes peeled and tell me quietly if you see something.'

Someone knocked on the driver's window and the driver rolled it down and all we could see was the light from the torch. Whoever was holding the torch said something and Nin began to translate in a quiet voice. 'He ask for driver's papers and where we going. Driver say people missed ferry and going to Bangkok. He ask driver to unlock back door, he want to see bags.'

'Tell the driver to unlock the back door only, Nin.'

She did, and we heard the back door unlock. The second man moved to the back, and we could hear him pulling at the bags. So far, it seemed to be just a routine police stop, and I began to breathe a little more easily. The guy at the back called out something to the one at the driver's door. Nin said, 'He say it not there.' Immediately, a gun was poked through the window against the driver's head. A burst of Thai followed, and the thump of the doors being unlocked. It was obvious now that this was anything but routine.

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