Set in modern-day Laos, this thought-provoking short story takes an unscrupulous look at the breakdown of communication between close friends while also offering us a journey inside the expat experience.
Excerpt
The cab driver helped them in with Claire’s bags, rolling up his trouser legs to avoid dirtying the hems. The flat stones that made a rudimentary path to the house were barely visible now, swallowed up by the garden-swamp. Lisa tipped him generously, ashamed of their sullen journey, then stepped inside the house and closed the door behind her.
Claire was already in the kitchen, boiling water for tea. They always drank tea together, black tea with milk and cake or chocolate chip cookies if they had been able to get their hands on some. It was one of their rituals from when they shared a house: a slice of cake; a slice of home. As soon as one came in, the other would put on the kettle. If they were both in, they would take it in turns. Neither of them ever asked if the other wanted a brew. It was automatic.
Claire missed this punctuation to her day. Noi never drank tea, certainly not with milk. She missed the teatime chats too, when she and Lisa would chew over the events of the day, or week; gossip; lament the state of affairs back home; or laugh about their latest linguistic errors. Claire smiled to herself as she remembered the time Lisa had told the rambunctious fruit seller outside Dong Palan Market that she had lots of pubic hair, “muoi lai”, when she had meant to say that she was “muay lai”, very tired.. Now, every time Lisa went to shop there she had to sneak in the side entrance to avoid being followed into the market by good-natured but rowdy calls of “muoi lai!” followed by raucous laughter. At least they got good discounts on the fruit these days.
As Claire poured hot water into the teapot, she was aware of Lisa watching her through the mesh door that separated the mosquito-ridden kitchen from the rest of the house. The silent, humid air hung between them, infused with uncertainty. Claire took two mugs from the stand by the sink, set everything on a tray and paused. She lingered for a while over the pot, as if she might have forgotten something.
She hadn’t slept during the entire flight from Australia to Bangkok. Then she had endured an agonizing four hours’ wait in Bangkok’s miserably unequipped transit lounge. She knew that Noi probably wouldn’t be at Wattay to meet her, but she couldn’t help feeling disappointed when she had seen Lisa, alone in arrivals. She hoped it hadn’t been obvious. Of course Noi couldn’t have known that she had important news for him, but an irrational part of her believed he might have sensed it somehow, might have been there waiting for her eagerly, anticipating.
She had intended to tell him first. It was his right to know before anyone else. But now, she felt the urge to break the news to Lisa. Okay, it hadn’t exactly been planned, but she was happy, proud even. She wanted Lisa to see that. She was still smarting from Lisa’s accusing questions in the cab. She knew Lisa was skeptical about her relationship with Noi and it angered her that her friend presumed to understand so much about a relationship she had no real part in, a man she hadn’t even bothered to try to get to know.
Claire strode into the living room with the tea and set it down on a low wicker table between them. She sat down on a large, orange cushion, crossed her long legs in front of her and looked squarely across the room at Lisa.
Copyright 2008 Caroline Early. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
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