Proof
Something was off.
May was usually polite but when she saw Kosol, there was panic in her eyes.
I gave in to her request to leave her alone so I stayed downstairs to chat with him.
We haven’t seen each other in years.
The two of us dated but it didn’t work out.
We remained friends and it was better for us.
If May looked unsettled when she saw Kosol, he was the same.
There was fear in his eyes but it quickly faded.
Warning bells were blaring in my head so when he left, I went upstairs.
I knocked on the door and saw that May had packed her stuff and was ready to leave.
“What are you doing?”
“We have to leave now.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not safe here, Ai.”
“I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”
“The man in the living room.”
“Kosol?”
“Yes. I could be wrong but I think he was the same guy who attacked me.”
“How do you know that?”
“His voice. He was screaming at me to get out of the car. I didn’t see his face but I could never forget the sound of his voice and how angry he was. He wanted to kill me.”
May’s voice broke as panic coursed through her body.
I walked over to where she was and gently touched her arm.
“Look at me.”
She glanced up, tears forming at the corner of her eyes, her chest rising in quick succession from breathing too quickly.
I couldn’t believe what she said.
Kosol and I were involved in minor incidents when we were young but we didn’t do anything that would put us in prison.
The trouble we got ourselves into were petty.
But if what May said about him was true or not, I had to put her first.
My doubts about her statement about Kosol could wait.
If she wrong about her suspicion, at least she would be safe somewhere else.
“We are leaving but I have to warn my family, okay?”
She nodded.
“Just wait here. I’ll be back. You can lock the door if it makes you feel safe.”
Another nod.
I turned around but she tugged at my arm.
“Don’t take too long, okay?”
“I won’t.”
Oom and my grandmother were in the living room watching a soap opera.
“We have to talk.”
“What’s going on?” Oom asked.
“May and I are leaving.”
“What? You just got here. Is everything okay?” Grandmother asked, worried.
“It’s about Kosol.”
“What about him?”
“She thinks he was the guy who attacked her.”
They looked at each other in disbelief.
“Does she have proof?” Oom asked.
“She does. Right now, I have to keep her safe. If she was right, we can’t stay here.”
“But where are you going?” Grandmother asked.
“I don’t know but we have to catch the last trip back to the city.”
“Are you not telling us anything because you think we would tell Kosol?” Oom asked.
“I’m not telling you to keep you both safe. If he comes back looking for me, can you make something up?”
“Ai-oon, you’re making me nervous.”
“I’m sorry, Grandma.”
“Flights are done for today. You won’t be able to go back to Bangkok until tomorrow morning.”
“Shit.”
“There’s a hotel in the city. Both of you can stay there until your flight,” Oom walked over to a drawer and pulled out a pen and paper.
She scribbled quickly.
“Here. That’s the name of my contact. I’ll take care of your flight and will call you when everything is arranged.”
“You’ll do that?”
“Yes. Now go. You don’t have enough time.”
“Thank you,” I gave Oom and Grandmother a quick hug.
I ran upstairs and saw that the door was ajar.
Now I remembered telling May to lock it before I left.
I pulled out the gun from behind my back and slowly walked closer.
I pushed the door open and found Kosol with a gun pointed on May’s head.
Damn!
He used to climb to my window when we were sneaking around.
“Put the gun down,” He yelled.
“Okay,” I bent down and placed the gun on the floor.
“Ko, don’t hurt her.”
“Ai-oon, you made my job easier.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you know who you’re trying to protect?”
“I do.”
“Do you really?” He pressed the barrel closer to May’s temple.
She whimpered at the strong pressure.
“People like her need to be punished for what they’ve done.”
“Ko, you don’t have to do this. She was just doing her job.”
“Really? It’s her job to make the victims suffer? Don’t you care for Ben?”
May’s eyes grew wide when he mentioned her name.
Kosol felt the shift in her reaction.
“That’s right. Your bodyguard, the one who’s protecting you is a friend of Ben. The victim who is now disabled for life because of what you did.” He pressed the barrel harder.
May bit her lip hard as she tried to control herself but I could see that she was afraid.
I was scared too.
The thought that I brought her in Nam Jai thinking she would be safe was a big mistake.
My fear worsened when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
“P’Ai, what’s going on?” Oom appeared in the doorway.
“Oh my god. What the hell, Kosol?”
“Shut up,” He pointed the gun at her and then back at May.
My sister hid behind me and held on to my arm tight.
Her hands were cold.
My fear increased because not only do I need to think of May but Oom as well.
“Ko, you don’t have to do this.” I said in a calm tone.
“Don’t I? The world is full of greedy people like her. They don’t care about human life. It’s all about money for them.”
I looked at May and when we locked eyes, I thought of the conversation we had at the beach.
I didn’t take my eyes off her hoping she’d remember what she said about the thing I told her when we met at the planetarium.
“Look at me, Ai-oon.” Kosol commanded but May got the message.
She stomped on his foot, the sharp heel of her shoe digging deep into his toe.
He grunted and lost his balance.
May was freed from his hold but before she could get away, he yanked her hair, pulling her back to him.
She screamed in pain and it was the distraction I needed.
I bent down to retrieve my gun and shot him in the leg.
He stumbled on the floor taking May down with him.
Oom screamed and there were footsteps running up the stairs.
My heart was in my throat as I thought of my grandmother.
But I had a job to do and people to protect.
Kosol had the same idea.
He raised the gun and pulled the trigger.
The bullet grazed my left shoulder.
I clenched my teeth when I felt the sting and the warmth of blood.
Pulling all my strength, I shot him once again this time hitting him in the arm.
The impact was enough to let go of the gun.
With one hand covering my shoulder, I rushed toward May and pulled her out of Kosol’s grip.
He was still alert but weak enough not to move.
I kicked the gun away from him and it stopped in from of Oom who was crouched on the floor, her body shaking from shock.
“Oom, get up.”I screamed to get her attention.
Her face was drenched with tears, confused with everything that happened.
“Take May away from here,” I pushed May towards her.
They stumbled out of the room while I searched for something to tie Kosol’s hands with.
“You’re on the wrong side of justice, Ai.”
“Shut up,” I tightened the belt around his hands causing him to wince in pain.
When grandmother heard the shot, she ran upstairs but changed her mind.
She knew we were in big trouble and she called the police.
I handed Kosol over to them.
May and Oom were huddled in a corner as they watched Kosol being taken away.
He was wheeled out in a stretcher and glared at May when he passed by.
I should have shot him in the head or the heart but I couldn’t.
He was someone I knew.
A friend I grew up with.
We confided in each other and shared secrets and memories.
I had no idea what happened to him.
We were all taken to the hospital.
I was treated for the wound on my shoulder.
Oom and grandmother were in separate rooms.
My sister was prescribed a relaxant to calm her down.
“Ai, are you okay?”
“I’m alright. How are you?”
“Shocked,” She pulled the chair closer to the bed where I was sitting.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I didn’t do a good job of protecting you.”
“Don’t blame yourself.”
“If I had known, I shouldn’t have taken you here.”
“That’s exactly it. You didn’t know.”
“Did you talk to the cops”
“Yes. Captain Decha-anek called when she learned of what happened.”
“What did she say?”
“She confirmed that it was Kosol who attacked me that night.”
“How?”
“She said they got an anonymous call about a group of people who were linked to Ben.”
My bloodied shoulders sank.
May was right after all.
I was suspicious at first hoping she was wrong.
Her instinct saved her life.
“She also said that he was the leader of this vigilante group called Common Ground. They were the ones who followed us that night. Their mission was to avenge those whom they think were unfairly treated by the law. The attack on me was personal to Kosol because of Ben.”
“I didn’t know it was you.”
“Would it make a difference if you did?”
“Probably not.”
“Do you want to know why I took the Batman case?”
“Why?”
“Because of Oom.”
“What?”
“I was protecting her. My father used our relationship as blackmail. He had her followed and threatened to destroy her life if I didn’t agree to represent Marut in court. When Oom learned of what I did, she got mad at me. She knew Ben and what happened to his mother. But she didn’t know about what my father did,” Defeat was all over her face.
Love was the fight she couldn’t win.
“Does she know why you did it?”
“No. Our relationship got worse after that. I didn’t make an effort to fix things between us anymore. There was too much resentment on her part.”
“Why is that?”
“She knew about you and the day we met at planetarium. Oom felt like a third wheel, a stand-in.”
I wondered if that was the reason why Oom didn’t return any of my calls.
She was hurting.
My twin was proud and kept her pain hidden from us.
There were so many things we didn’t know about until it was staring us right in the face.
“I should talk to Oom and tell her everything.”
“She would like that.”
“What’s going to happen to us now?”
“I don’t think you need me. Kosol is in custody. He’s not going to hurt you anymore.”
May took a deep breath.
There was a sadness in her eyes I couldn’t place.
But my mission is done.
It was a short contract.
I could look forward to that retirement except I felt incomplete.
I don’t know why.
When Oom was discharged, she stayed longer in Nam Jai.
She told us about her engagement to Paul, the son of an airline owner.
He flew to Nam Jai to check on her and it was the silver lining out of all this harrowing experience.
May and I returned to Bangkok.
I dropped her off at her place to make sure she was safe.
Her cousin was there, relieved that she was okay.
When I said goodbye, there was a void in my heart that felt foreign.
May was the first and only client I allowed to get close.
She knew things about me that I never shared with anyone else.
I remembered the words of my boss when I was starting in this job.
He warned me about the pitfalls of caring too much for the clients.
The job should always be about business.
Feelings should be under control.
We should not care too much about our clients because we have no personal connection to them.
But May was different.
I know that now.
We met years ago at the planetarium.
That was a core memory for her while I couldn’t remember the details of it.
All I recalled was Oom and I fighting because she was bullied by those I aggravated.
A week after I said goodbye to May, I returned to the office feeling out of my element.
The space in my heart was still there -- heavy and unsettling.
I would wake up at a loss of how to handle my emotions.
After the ambush, I went for counseling.
I thought of doing that again for an entirely different reason.
I was held hostage by feelings I couldn’t understand.
The unknown was terrifying for me.
I didn’t know what to do with them.
My boss looked worried when he saw the sling on my arm but congratulated me because I am officially retired.
When I didn’t respond, he asked if something was wrong.
“I’m fine,” I signed the release form and gave it back to him.
“Why do you look like someone died?”
“No one died. That’s a good thing.”
“Did something else happen during your last assignment?”
I shook my head.
“Insamug?”
I looked up and he had a thoughtful expression on his face.
“You’re my best employee. You know that right.”
“I know. You tell me all the time.”
“Do you also know that I think of you as a daughter?”
“You’re married to your job.”
“Then you’re my work kid and I always have a soft spot for you because you reminded me of me when I was younger -- focused, professional, fearless.”
“Is there a but somewhere?”
“Yes, but do you know why out of all the people who worked for me, you were always requested to be a CPO?”
“Tell me now before I walked out the door.”
“You cared for your clients. They know they’re under professional care but they also said that it’s the little things you do that they appreciate.”
“Like what?”
“You listen to them, you give them tissue when they cry. You hold their hands when they’re scared.”
“How are the little things better than literally shielding their bodies from bullets?”
“Because that is expected of you. It’s the extras that make a bigger impact. The small things that are really good for my business.”
“But didn’t you warn me not to be too close to the clients?”
“I did but you’re not a robot. I could give you all the tips and tricks but you are your own person. You make decisions and I’m hoping you learn from them.”
His dark eyes looked like it was seeing through my soul.
“Like what I said, that extra TLC was good for business.”
“Are you telling me you’re going to miss me when I leave?”
“Maybe?” He grinned, the unlit tobacco dangling from his lips.
“I’d better say goodbye then.”
“Don’t say goodbye, Insamug. Now that you’re retired, you can come over to my house for poker night.”
I smiled at that.
The invitation was a big deal.
There were only a handful of people who were allowed to join.
“I’ll think about it.”
“You don’t want to be a part of the club?”
“Nam Jai is far from here. But you could always come when you need a break.”
He grinned.
I stood up and shook his hand.
“It’s been a pleasure, Insamug. Now, if you ever get bored in that bed and breakfast business of yours, give me a call. I’ll make sure to save a job for you.”
“Thanks, Boss.” I picked up the backpack on the chair and slung it on my shoulder.
“Oh, hey. Before you go, I have something to give you.” He opened the drawer and pulled out an envelope.”
“This came for you the other day.”
I looked at the Manila envelope.
It had no label.
“Where did this come from?”
“Why don’t you open it and see?” There was a gleam in his eyes.
I ripped the flap and took out the contents.
My hand was unsteady when I saw it.
It was a photograph of May standing in front of the planetarium with two of her classmates.
The long-sleeved uniform was white but the ribbon and skirt was maroon.
Big eyeglasses framed her small face.
She was unsmiling in the picture.
May looked like she carried a big weight on her shoulder.
I stared at the photograph and that was when I finally remembered.
“Insamug? Are you okay?”
I looked up at Boss.
He looked worried.
“I’m fine,” I put the photograph back on the envelope.
“Why do you look like you saw a ghost?”
“It’s nothing,” I unzipped the backpack and placed the envelope in a secure spot.
“This is it for me then,” I forced a smile.
“Don’t be a stranger, okay? I’ll save you a seat for when you decide to join poker night.”
“Sure.”
“Don’t die, alright?”
“You too. I’ll save the good beer for when you go visit Nam Jai,” I nodded and walked to the door.
Before I open it, I looked back one more time.
He was wiping the side of his eyes with a tissue.
“Go,” He waved me away.
I stepped out of his office with a brand new mission.