Noble Lies by Charles Benoit Page A

could hear her sigh over the old man’s snoring. She opened her mouth to speak but said nothing, looking down at the banana leaf mat, pushing a stray grain of rice to the center with her painted fingernail. Out of the corner of his eye, Mark could see the smirk on Robin’s face. He pinched a piece of fish and a scoop of rice between his fingers, sliding it into his mouth, washing it down with the over-sweet tea, coughing once to clear his throat before he spoke, startling the old man from his nap.
    â€œThis was an excellent meal.” He said the words slowly and clearly, his tone matching his broad grin, patting his firm, flat stomach with both hands. “Pim, please tell this gentleman that this was the finest fish I have ever tasted.” He looked up at the man as he gestured to the pile of fish bones on the mat. “And tell him that I hope to repay his kindness someday.”
    Pim sat up, her smile bright against her dark skin and ink-black hair. She looked first at Mark, then turned and spoke to the old man, repeating what she said when he cupped a hand behind his ear. There was a whiney, piercing quality to the language, a high-pitched and nasal tone that was drawn out with every long A and hyper-extended syllable, a shrewish tongue that did not match the angelic face. He knew he wasn’t supposed to think that way, that it made him, as a former Bengali girlfriend had pointed out, a “culturally insensitive jackass.” But he also knew that he preferred it when Pim spoke English.
    â€œI told him the first part, about how much you liked the fish. You made him very happy,” Pim said as the old man grinned his toothless grin.
    â€œWhat about my offer to help him?”
    Pim kept her smile as she shook her head. “There is no need. It’s náam-jai. He knows that you will not forget and one day you may help him, too. This is what people do.”
    â€œWell you better hurry up and do something nice for him soon,” Robin said, wiping her hands off on an extra banana leaf mat. “You said the old man told you Shawn went to the south, and in case you forgot, that’s why we’re here.”
    â€œPim, those boats,” Mark pointed, under the railing and out to the row of long-tails on the beach, “can we rent one, get somebody to take us down to…wherever?”
    As she exchanged bursts of rapid-fire Thai with the old man, two girls, no older than Pim’s nephew, cleared away the remaining food, rolling up the bamboo mat and sweeping the porch with stubby homemade brooms. The girls giggled when Mark winked at them, and they darted in and out of the open door, peeking around the old man’s swaying hammock. Robin snagged one of the quick-moving girls as she sped past, setting the girl on her lap, tickling her sides till they were both breathless from laughter. She could turn it on and turn it off just like that, he thought. Sweet and innocent one minute, a smart-mouthed bitch the next and back again, all in the same breath. She looked good in a tank top and shorts, probably better in less, but all that changed when the claws came out. Then there was Pim.
    â€œUncle says that one of the fishermen will take us to Krabi,” Pim said. “One of the big towns on the mainland, but it is a long way and he will lose two days fishing.”
    â€œWe’ll pay him for his time,” Mark said.
    â€œSure,” Robin said, shaking her down over her face, making the little girl squeal with laughter. “Unless of course he’s got that nama gee thing going.”
    â€œThe fishermen are asleep now, but Uncle says in an hour he will wake his youngest son and we can go. But he wants you to know that we are also welcome to spend the night here, as his guests.”
    â€œNaturally,” Robin said, letting the young girl squirm free, only to pull her back, laughing.
    â€œUncle says that it is a long ride, but that we should be there by