and says, “Oh, right, your addictive personality.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Chanlina asks.
“My control issues,” I tell her.
“What’s that?”
“Well, when I like doing something, I have a hard time stopping. I over-do it. For instance, if I open a box of chocolate, I can’t stop before I finish the entire box.”
“Don’t you get sick?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Then you’re a lucky girl.”
Chanlina looks puzzled, and I can see the wheels of her brain turning through her eyes. She’s thinking about the things she likes to do, and I guess there’s nothing she would do endlessly if she had a chance. Then a mental light bulb switches on.
She gives me a worried look as she asks, “Is that the problem that drug addicts have?”
“I’m not sure about the others. However, I can tell you that’s why I seldom drink, and never smokes at all. I’m afraid of losing control.”
“Then it’s a good thing you never touched drugs.”
She looks so sad when she says this that I wonder if she lost members of her family to drugs.
We’ve walked to the amulet part of the market and I look at medals that remind me of the Saint Christopher my grand-mother used to sew inside my mother’s coat when she went for a trip. There are also miniature stone carvings of all sorts of gods.
I see a very cute Ganesh. I’ve always had a fondness for this god. The obvious reason is that he’s the patron of science, and, like Agatha says, I worship science. I also like that he is the symbol for obstacle removal and wisdom. The miniature bronze sculpture is lovely, so I ask for the price. It’s a whopping ten dollars. For that price, at home, you can’t get art, you only get lunch. I’m about to take money out of my pocket to pay, when Chanlina blocks me, and starts to argue with the seller in Thai.
Two minutes later, she turns around and says, “Five dollars and you’re still overpaying .”
I pay the man, and thank Chanlina. She’s surprised.
“Well, your negotiation skills paid for half of it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a present from you,” I tell her, “So now I know I will think of you every time I look at it.”
I look at her frown, and I ask why this seems to makes her sad.
“Because you talk as if you are going to vanish from my life soon,” she says.
He eyes are shiny and I’m at a loss for words. I was trying to say something nice, and it backfired on me. I should have known better. Now I’m afraid to try to make it better; when I try to explain I usually dig myself in deeper. Oliver comes to my rescue.
“Come on Chanlina, you’re being too gloomy.” He says, “I have things that make me think of you every day, like the first drawing you ever made for me, and you know I’m not about to vanish from your life.”
She cheers up, and apologizes for being so dark.
“Don’t worry about it!” I tell her, “I can’t even begin to understand what you’ve been through in your life, so I won’t blame you for misunderstanding me.”
I wish I could hug her to make it all better, but I can’t. I wonder if Oliver’s mum is a hugger. If so, Chanlina is going to get a serious culture chock!
The afternoon passes quickly, and we return to the hotel exhausted from walking in the damp heat. I’m happy, and I think I could get used to this feeling.
But I should know better.
❦
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
WHEN WE GET BACK TO the hotel, Oliver leaves us to go to a meeting in the adjacent building with some stone dealers with whom we’re to have dinner later at some fancy Chinese restaurant.
Chanlina and I take advantage of the pool, and float on our back looking at the Bangkok skyline. I say to Chanlina that I believe I was a hippo in a prior life, because I so love being in the water up to my nose. She giggles and I know she’s remembering the dancing hippo from Disney’s Fantasia, which I showed
“What are you guys talking about?” Chanlina asks.
“My control issues,” I tell her.
“What’s that?”
“Well, when I like doing something, I have a hard time stopping. I over-do it. For instance, if I open a box of chocolate, I can’t stop before I finish the entire box.”
“Don’t you get sick?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Then you’re a lucky girl.”
Chanlina looks puzzled, and I can see the wheels of her brain turning through her eyes. She’s thinking about the things she likes to do, and I guess there’s nothing she would do endlessly if she had a chance. Then a mental light bulb switches on.
She gives me a worried look as she asks, “Is that the problem that drug addicts have?”
“I’m not sure about the others. However, I can tell you that’s why I seldom drink, and never smokes at all. I’m afraid of losing control.”
“Then it’s a good thing you never touched drugs.”
She looks so sad when she says this that I wonder if she lost members of her family to drugs.
We’ve walked to the amulet part of the market and I look at medals that remind me of the Saint Christopher my grand-mother used to sew inside my mother’s coat when she went for a trip. There are also miniature stone carvings of all sorts of gods.
I see a very cute Ganesh. I’ve always had a fondness for this god. The obvious reason is that he’s the patron of science, and, like Agatha says, I worship science. I also like that he is the symbol for obstacle removal and wisdom. The miniature bronze sculpture is lovely, so I ask for the price. It’s a whopping ten dollars. For that price, at home, you can’t get art, you only get lunch. I’m about to take money out of my pocket to pay, when Chanlina blocks me, and starts to argue with the seller in Thai.
Two minutes later, she turns around and says, “Five dollars and you’re still overpaying .”
I pay the man, and thank Chanlina. She’s surprised.
“Well, your negotiation skills paid for half of it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a present from you,” I tell her, “So now I know I will think of you every time I look at it.”
I look at her frown, and I ask why this seems to makes her sad.
“Because you talk as if you are going to vanish from my life soon,” she says.
He eyes are shiny and I’m at a loss for words. I was trying to say something nice, and it backfired on me. I should have known better. Now I’m afraid to try to make it better; when I try to explain I usually dig myself in deeper. Oliver comes to my rescue.
“Come on Chanlina, you’re being too gloomy.” He says, “I have things that make me think of you every day, like the first drawing you ever made for me, and you know I’m not about to vanish from your life.”
She cheers up, and apologizes for being so dark.
“Don’t worry about it!” I tell her, “I can’t even begin to understand what you’ve been through in your life, so I won’t blame you for misunderstanding me.”
I wish I could hug her to make it all better, but I can’t. I wonder if Oliver’s mum is a hugger. If so, Chanlina is going to get a serious culture chock!
The afternoon passes quickly, and we return to the hotel exhausted from walking in the damp heat. I’m happy, and I think I could get used to this feeling.
But I should know better.
❦
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
WHEN WE GET BACK TO the hotel, Oliver leaves us to go to a meeting in the adjacent building with some stone dealers with whom we’re to have dinner later at some fancy Chinese restaurant.
Chanlina and I take advantage of the pool, and float on our back looking at the Bangkok skyline. I say to Chanlina that I believe I was a hippo in a prior life, because I so love being in the water up to my nose. She giggles and I know she’s remembering the dancing hippo from Disney’s Fantasia, which I showed
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