Maya - Illusion

4 THE FRUIT GARDEN

Lek was feeling a lot happier in herself than she had done for months. The extra injection of cash from the sale of Craig’s property had helped, despite the fact that she hadn’t wanted to go down that route. She had wanted to save her cake and eat it and she realised that now. Her philosophy had always been to live in the present and let Karma take care of the future and she could see that she had lost the plot for a few months – taken her eye off the ball called life with its ups and downs sent to try everyone, not only her and her family.

Maybe the trip to Laos had helped too. She definitely thought that it had and she was especially pleased with how they had solved the crisis of their marriage papers and shortage of money together and so smoothly. What could have so easily been a disaster leading to a big row and days of bad feeling had become nothing when they had worked on it together.

The crisis had dissolved before them like smoke before wind.

The sudden death of her life-long friend Joy had also had an effect. Joy was ten years older than herself and was just beginning to discover the contentment of grand-parenthood. A life on Earth, but not a life, snuffed out when all that happiness was just before her.

She also thought about her own actions over the last eight years. In the beginning, she hadn’t contributed one penny to the family kitty and not worked for one hour in paid employment. Not only that, but she had squandered the small fortune left to her by Goong on playing silly games of cards because she was bored and wanted to show the others that she too had money to burn; that she hadn’t worked in Pattaya for nothing; that she was as good as the best of them.

However, she could see now that she had been on a fool’s errand. People had enjoyed taking her money from her and probably laughed at her behind her back. The wolves in sheep’s clothing; the sneers behind the smiles. This was truly the illusion that Goong had warned her about. No, reminded her about, for hadn’t she been taught not to chase illusions all her life? Not only that, but she had learned the lesson long ago and had it thrust down her throat day in and day out in Pattaya.

How had she come to drop her guard in Baan Suay? Maybe it was because she was home again and felt warm and protected with her friends and family about her. The wolves had still got her though, hadn’t they? She had stopped looking out for them, but they hadn’t taken their eyes off her and they had skinned her alive.

And now Craig had to sell their pension.

Lek was good at self-criticism, she had had years of practice in Pattaya, and low self-esteem. She had dreaded Soom finding out what she had been doing down there. How silly that was too. It was odds on that someone would tell her one day, if they hadn’t already. She could only rely on Soom’s common sense on that one.

As she saw it, the only problem that mattered was the one she could solve now. Not the one she should have solved last year or even the one she might have to solve next year – how could she best move forwards right now.

It was late September and she knew that adult learning classes would be starting up very soon, so she took herself off to the mayor’s office to see what she could find out. She saw no shame in going back to school. She had done it before a few years ago and finished after gaining her high school diploma, but at the moment she could not remember for the life of her why she had stopped.

In any case, she was now ready to carry on and as Goong had reminded her, the proverb was: ‘When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear’. The teacher had appeared before and she had faith that he or she would appear again. She took a deep breath, and walked up the mayor’s drive to look for him.

“Hello, Mr. Mayor, I’m looking for someone who can give me some advice about adult learning classes.”

“Hi, Lek. Sure, you need my wife. She’s around here somewhere, just go on through and look for her. Fancy one of the teachers, do you?”

“No, I want your job,” she said as she walked past her old friend.

The mayor was chuckling, he had always liked Lek, even when they were at school.

Lek found Jan in the vegetable patch behind the house collecting bits and pieces for their evening meal.

“Hi, Lek, nice to see you. Is this a social visit? It seems like we haven’t had a nice chat for ages. Come, sit down in the garden.” Jan led the way to a round stone table with a curved bench seat at the edge of each quadrant. She called her daughter to bring them some iced water. “How are things with you and that lovely husband of yours?”

“We are well, thank you, Jan. It’s just me. I think it’s time I took up my education again and Nic said to ask you.”

“Where did you see him?”

“He’s sitting out the front doing some paperwork, I think.”

“Oh, you saw him just now, did you? Ah, I see. I thought you meant round and about. Sorry about that. Um, let me think... We definitely have plans for adult classes starting two weeks Saturday. The same sort of thing you did before. Nine till three with an hour for lunch at twelve. That’s the one you’re talking about, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Last time I got the certificate I should have gotten when I was sixteen, er, twenty-four years ago.” She mumbled the last part in a comic way.

“Yes, time flies, doesn’t it, but it didn’t seem to matter in those sleepy Seventies and Eighties. However, things are very different now aren’t they? Education is everything now. I wish that there were more men and women who missed out the first time round going back to catch up now. The number of people who can’t read properly.... well, that’s another subject for another time.

“What is it that you want to learn? Any preferences?”

“I really don’t know, Jan. I can read as well as anyone; my handwriting is abysmal, but that’s just sloppiness, I think. I can add up, basic maths, that sort of thing. I worked in Beou’s bar in Pattaya as a cashier for years. We had to balance the books, regulate the stock, invoices, and all that... What do kids learn after that?”

“A hell of a lot of them don’t know that much to be honest with you, but they would have a more rounded education like reading literature, cooking – well, there’s no need for you to learn that, I know - er, computers nowadays, of course... I’m not sure to be honest with you.

“They would start specialising in order to go to university. By the way, how is your darling Soom doing in Bangkok?”

“She’s great! She came back two weeks ago for Joy’s funeral, but only for two nights...”

“Wasn’t that awful? The whole village is still in shock about that. It’s the children, I feel sorry for, of course....

“Anyway, where were we? Yes, are you thinking of going to university?”

“What me? In university? No, nothing like that... University! Me? The very idea... No, I just don’t want to feel stupid... and I do. Craig went to university and now Soom is at university and I? I left school at twelve... It has bothered me all my life... Well, since I was twelve anyway and a lot since I was twenty...”

“But it was the way in those days. Parents didn’t realise the value of education and a lot of the ones who did, couldn’t afford to send their kids to school... It was just the way it was and now it’s different.”

“I suppose so... So, can I do a general course to bring me up to the brain power of an eighteen year old, so to speak?”

“I don’t think that there are such courses, Lek. I think that you have to specialise now. You could take two courses, say, computers and Thai literature. Or maths and computers... or … I’ll tell you what, I’ll find you a list, then you can think about it, can’t you?”

“Yes, thanks, Jan. I’ll be off now then and will wait to hear from you. Thanks for your time. See you soon.” She went out the way she had come in and tapped the mayor’s table when he didn’t glance up: “Bye, Nic.”

“Yes, bye, Lek. Did you find Jan? Good. Come back soon. Don’t be a stranger. We are here to serve the people.”

She smiled at him warmly, but he had said it with such practised sincerity that she wasn’t sure whether he was pulling her leg or not.

“Right, thanks, see you..” and she walked back up onto the road to go home, phase one of her plan having been put into action.

∞

Craig was already sitting in Nong’s reading a document on marketing on his laptop, when Lek arrived at five o’clock.

“Hello, telak, do you want another beer? OK. Nong! Aow eek nung quat, ka! - ‘another bottle of beer, please’.” She sat down opposite him and waited for him to close his computer down. “How has your day been, Craig?”

He was quite taken aback by this unusual question from Lek, but tried not to show it.

“I’m fine thanks. The Internet is working well – I can’t expect much more really, can I? There is nothing to change around here and nothing changes. It is generally ‘a very good place to be’. It is the best place I have ever lived and I love it here. How has your day been?” he asked feeling that they were playing some sort of game.

“I have been thinking about taking some courses in school. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a great idea. I thought the same last time too. What do you want to learn?”

“That’s the problem... I don’t know. I went to find out about it today. There are courses starting in a couple of weeks, but I thought that I could just pick up from where I left off. You know, learn from sixteen to eighteen, but the gumnan’s wife said that it doesn’t work like that. I would have to specialise like they do in school at that age before going to university.”

“Is that what you want to do, go to university?”

“No. I don’t think so. There’s no point, is there? Me, in university?! I just want to learn something. Jan suggested computers or Thai literature...”

“If you want to, why not? I could help you with computers, if you ever need it, but I know nothing about Thai literature

“No, nor do I really. I don’t know if I’d like it. I have only read magazines and newspapers since I left school and only text books while I was there. I’ve never read any literature in my life.”

“Yes, I see. That is a tough one. When teenagers get to fourteen, they have – in the UK, in my day at least – they had to choose eight subjects to specialise in for two years. Most kids choose their favourites or what they were best at and some choose subjects so that they could get a special job. Then most kids at eighteen would specialise even more in three of the eight to go to university.

“So it is harder for you, because you don’t have any subjects to pick from. What do you like doing?”

“I like being with young children”

“That’s a start then. Go down to the school one day and ask them what qualifications you would need to be able to join their staff. Job done.”

Lek was quite impressed with how easy Craig made it seem, but she still had twenty-six years of shame telling her that she was too stupid to be a teacher.

‘Thanks, telak, I’ll do that. It sounds like good advice. I would probably need more than a few hours of Saturday morning classes to be a teacher though, but I’ll ask. There is something else too.

“I would like to be a teacher, but that might take years and I want to make some money now. I want to put some money into the family. Help pay for Soom’s education. I know that it is too late to save your house, but it is not too late to do something.”

“No, it is never too late. What do you have in mind?”

“I was talking to Mum this morning. She has a small piece of land over there, not far away... I thought that I could plant some trees, bushes and things on it and sell fruit. If I buy three or four year old fruit trees, they will make fruit in fifteen or eighteen months. Maybe I could do something else there too. She will sell me the land cheap It is nearly two rai, and she wants fifty thousand Baht.”

“I see. Can you pay every month for one year?”

“Yes, I think so, but that will not help. It will not make money in one year. Or maybe a little bit, but not five thousand per month.”

“Do you have the money?”

“Yes, but it is all that I have and I am using that to pay Soom’s living expenses every month.”

“So, you want to use some of the money from the house to buy some land for yourself from your own mother? Is that right? Because I can never own land in Thailand, can I?”

“If you put it like that, it sounds horrible. You make me look bad. I am only thinking of helping pay. I don’t want you to sell your house to buy land for me – that is not my idea.

“OK, you could lend me the money to buy the land.”

“But if I did that it would be the same as paying your mother slowly.”

“No, not the same. I cannot pay my mother slowly. She is old, it is good if she has some money now and I will start pay you every month next year, when I have fruit.”

Craig didn’t like the sound of it, but he would be getting a fair amount of money soon and it was hard to refuse to lend his wife £1,200 for two years. OK. You’ve got it, but the money won’t be here until the end of October, I think. Maybe a little longer.”

Lek jumped up, ran around the table and kissed him in public.

“I am so happy that you waai-jai – uh, believe me.”

“No, trust me.”

“Yes, darling, I do trust you... Thank you. Can I buy you one more beer? I am so happy that I will have one with you and I will pay for that myself too.”

Lek looked at Craig as she sat down again and he could not help but be amazed at the way his wife operated.

∞

The following morning, Lek told her mother what had transpired the evening before.

“But, Lek, do you have enough money to plant the land. It is no good to you unless you can buy trees and bushes for it and from what you have told me, it would be pretty difficult to go back to Craig again for yet more money.”

“No, Mum, I could not do that easily at all, but there is another way. You told me yesterday, that if I waited long enough, I would inherit the land anyway and I said that I would rather have it now – buy it now – and give you a little nest egg. Well, I know that you don’t spend much, so I was thinking that if I gave you twenty thousand now, I could use thirty thousand to plant trees and do some work and then I could pay you back over the following year at two and a half thousand a month.

“Would that be all right with you, Mum?”

“Er, yes... You are right, I don’t have any plans for the money. I probably wouldn’t even spend it. Maybe buy a few things for around the house, get some new clothes and fix the toilet roof... I don’t need twenty thousand for that, so why not? Yes, sure, if you like.”

“You are a really, special Mum. You know that, Mum? This is what I intend to do. Do you have some paper and a pencil?

“Right, thanks. I’m thinking of putting a cheap concrete-block shed here, in the corner for growing mushrooms in and here, I’ll have rows of mapang – they are all the rage now and sell for a hundred Baht a kilo! Bananas only sell for seven Baht! I can get a hundred or more in here, see? Three metres apart, I think, but I have to check and then chilli plants in between the bushes or trees, whatever they are.

“What do you think, Mum?”

“I think that that looks like a very feasible plan. And thirty thousand will cover it?”

“Yes, it should do, but I’ll try for a discount anyway, obviously.” She grinned broadly at her mother and eventually her mother smiled back.

“Or you could become my partner, Mum, and we’ll split the profits fifty-fifty.”

She slapped Lek’s arm gently, “Get away with you. I’m too old for new business ventures. You’re on your own, unless you want to ask someone else, but I wouldn’t. One person can handle this alone quite easily, but two would be falling over each other.”

“Yes, you’re probably right, Mum. I wouldn’t want to share the profits with anyone but you anyway. It is a good idea and it is thanks to you – and Craig – that we can get the project off the ground so quickly, so why should we share that with anyone else?

“I think I’ll go and look at mapang trees and see if Don can start building the shed too. Might as well get on with it, eh? The sooner the plants are in the ground, the sooner the money is in the bank. Thanks again, Mum, I’ll see you later. I should be back by five to meet Craig at Nong’s, so if you see him, will you try to tell him that? I don’t want to go back into the house now. I can’t wait to get started

“I haven’t been so excited for... I don’t know, ages.”

“Oh, Lek, I almost forgot. Jan, the mayor’s wife, came by earlier to see me about something and she asked me if I could give you these papers. They are to do with the courses available at the school. She said to tell you that people who are interested should go for registration at the school on Monday 8^th October and that classes would start the following Saturday or the one after that.”

∞

Lek had had a very productive day and couldn’t wait to tell Craig the news – to show off a little. She really wanted him to see her as a fully contributing partner in their relationship. She was aware that that small piece of land wouldn’t make them rich, but it would be a start and who knew? If Fate dealt the right hand, she might be able to expand. She had to try very hard not to imagine having hundreds of rai in five years time. She turned a corner on to the main road home and a speeding lorry missed her by twelve inches.

She was shaking badly, but she wanted to get to Nong’s as soon as possible. On arrival, she collapsed into a heap on the bench and wept out loud.

“Whatever is the matter, Lek, what has happened?”

“Give me a brandy, please. I have good news, but I have shock, just now. I nearly die same Joy.”

Craig ordered a half bottle of brandy from Nong, who also brought a glass, ice and soda, which was how most locals drank Regency Brandy.

“Whatever has happened, Lek,” asked Nong, virtually pushing Craig aside and taking charge.”

Lek explained, and satisfied with the latest gossip in town, Nong moved off.

“What happened, Lek?”

“I have had a fantastic day. Mum is happy about selling me the land and she likes my plans about what to do with it, so I went out today to look at fruit. I talked to farmers and chang and I was coming back very happy to tell you, when a truck nearly hit me same Joy. Not his fault, I was daydreaming, but I am OK now. I want to tell you about my idea. I want to know what you think.”

They were sitting down at the table opposite each other and clinked glasses. Lek showed him her rough sketch of the plot and the rows of trees and bushes. She showed him where the hut would go and hoped for his approval.

“What you think?”

”I am no farmer, Lek, but I can see that you have thought about it and if your mother thinks that it will work, then your opinion and hers are good enough for me. I wish you all the best, but try harder to stay alive to enjoy it, please.”

Thy clinked glasses again.

“One more thing. There are many kinds of mapang and I want you to come with me tomorrow to the nursery to choose one or two varieties to plant. Will you do that?”

“Sure, I’d love to. Thanks very much. You know, you have had more success today – in one day – than I have had this month. What is the shed for? Tools?”

“No, well, maybe a few, but I want to grow mushrooms in there. You love mushrooms, so I want to grow special mushrooms for your dinner.”

“Magic mushrooms?”

“I don’t understand. I know ‘magic’ and I know ‘mushrooms’, but I do not know magic mushrooms. You cannot grow by magic, just with water and flower food. Maybe ask Buddha for help.”

“No, I’m only joking, dear. Magic mushrooms are the same as ganja. People eat and see colours and everything. Like acid trip. Like hippies. They grow in the grass in Wales and everywhere in Europe.”

“Ah, joking again... I don’t like drugs. Only whisky, beer and brandy... and some more, like tequila...”

“Yes, I know, don’t worry. I was only joking. Forget it. It’s a very good idea. I love mushrooms and toadstools if they’re not poisonous, but if you are running a business, we will buy the mushrooms that we eat from you. When you have big money, we can eat them for free. OK?”

“OK, telak, OK, good idea. Nothing for free when we start.”

∞

The next day they went to the nursery shortly after lunch, despite it being Lek’s least favourite time of the day, but she wore a crash helmet to keep the sun off her face, add-on sleeves and gloves to keep the sun off her arms, and socks. She worked hard to keep her skin as pale as possible, as did most women, so she wasn’t going to ruin a month’s work by going out for two hours in the Thai midday heat.

At the nursery, they were treated like visiting dignitaries, but Lek was going to spend up to twenty thousand Baht, so it was a big sale by any standard in rural Thailand. First they were introduced to all the family, who worked on the farm-nursery and then Craig was asked if he would prefer a beer or tea – he chose beer and Lek had tea. They were seated under a canopy of grapes on vines and served a dozen coin-sized slices of mapang arranged in pairs. Lek explained that these were the varieties grown at the farm.

They chose four of the six and then eight more pieces were brought. Lek wanted it narrowed down to two, which they did after a short debate. Lek took it very seriously and Craig tried to as well, but it reminded him of TV wine critics going on about minor subtleties that most people wouldn’t notice. For his part, he just chose the sweetest varieties, the ones that tasted most like a ripe mango, but Lek found one of the slightly more bitter ones more thirst quenching.

Lek chose the sweetest and the least bitter varieties. The husband of the farm, stood at a respectful distance making noises and answering Lek’s questions like a good sommelier should. When she had made her final choices, a dozen of each was brought on a plate by the owner’s wife to prove that the quality and flavour were consistent.

When Lek had agreed the deal by word of mouth, they were brought a large carrier bag containing six bags of mapang, one of each variety, to eat at home. That bag full alone was worth six hundred Baht in a food market. Lek put all her gear back on, everybody waaied everybody several times and they headed off back to the village.

Craig wanted to stop at Nong’s, Lek sighed inwardly and acquiesced.

“So what was said there exactly? I know there was more going on than I understood. It all seemed a very civilised way of doing business, I must say.”

Lek was as pleased as Punch. “Yesterday, I told the farmer that I had a plot of land that I wanted to put about one hundred mapang on. I showed him my drawing and told him the rough size. Today we chose the varieties. Tomorrow, he will come and look at the land and tell me what I need to do to it and how to set it out and then he will select a hundred trees of two metres and delver them when I am ready.”

“Sounds great, so when will you put them in the ground?”

“It depends, I don’t think that there is a problem with the land, so maybe we can start the day after tomorrow. I will need help to dig the holes... and I have asked chang to build a shed for my mushrooms. I must check when he will start.”

Craig was really pleased to see Lek looking so happy. He wanted to hug her, but he knew that although he could get away with doing that in public once in a blue moon, he could not at the moment, so he just sat there and admired her.

∞

Lek was up early, as usual the following day, but she didn’t stop to do any housework or water her plants. She had other plans for the day. She wore similar protection from the sun as the day before, but she replaced the crash helmet with a T-shirt over her head, leaving just a slit for her eyes by tying the shirt sleeves behind her head in the old Thai-farmer style and she wore a wide-brimmed raffia hat on top. She looked like a Mexican ninja, but very fetching. She had an appointment with the mapang farmer to survey her land. He turned up within the expected bounds of punctuality in Thailand and they walked the field together.

“The soil is good, Lek. Very good. You should do well here...”

“It is... was my mother’s land. She grew bananas here for decades, but nothing for the last five or six years. I suppose all the leaves from the trees have rotted down...”

“Yes... there is a slight fall to over there. What is there?” They walked over. “As I suspected, a bit of a bog, where your water drains to. Is that your land too?”

“No, but they have never complained about it getting water-logged...”

“Well, it will get pretty wet when it rains, I imagine, but the good news is, that your hundred trees will soak up any spare moisture from now on, so that will cease to be a worry...”

Lek never had worried about it and nor had anyone else, but it was comforting to know that it never would be a problem either.

“Er, which way do you suggest I plant the rows of trees?”

“Oh, you want them running across here... the first row between us and the bog and so on behind us. That way, any excess water flows onto the trees and gets sucked up. If you have them running the other way the water may by-pass the trees in the early years before the roots have spread. Once they are three metres high it won’t matter a rat’s arse... hmm, sorry, it won’t matter at all.”

Lek carried on walking, pretending not to have heard his slip of the tongue. “So, you don’t think I need to do anything then?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, no. You don’t need to do anything, but you could dig a foot down in the lines where you are planting and turn the soil over... get this leaf mulch in the soil to help the roots, but you could just put a spadeful of rotted cow muck in there instead. Here’s a tip, when you dig out for the saplings, put the spoil to the side, so as to make walk-ways between the rows.

“That’ll encourage the rainwater to flow around the roots and keep your feet dry when you’re inspecting them in wet weather, although these buggers love rain.. the more the better. Sorry for my bad language, miss, I’m used to mixing in the fields and all...”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve heard worse. Well, thank you very much for your advice. When can I have the saplings?”

“How do you want them? Ten a day starting tomorrow? Just say the word.”

“Right... there will be three of us on spades, do you think five a day each and we can make the walkways as we go?”

“Certainly, Khun Lek, there’s no need to kill yourselves is there? Five a day each is a fair clip, so I’ll deliver 30 every two days, then if you want to do more you can… but don’t leave ‘em standing more than that. I’ll wrap the roots in plastic, but you’ll have to get them in the ground pretty fast and get them well-watered in. If you over-run, phone me and I’ll put off delivery for a day. OK?”

“Sure, thank you very much for all your help and advice. Give your wife my regards and say that my husband asked me to say ‘thank you’ for the hospitality we were shown yesterday.”

“OK, miss, I mean Khun Lek. Thanks for doing business with us too.”

∞

Lek and her employee friends worked every day until five and so did the bricklayer, chang. At five, they would have a perfunctory wash in the field and Lek would take them to Nong’s to join Craig. Lek bought the drink, a bottle of whisky, and a few packets of crisps and they would sit there talking loudly like the crew off a yacht that had just put in after a day at sea.

It often annoyed Craig that they spoiled the peacefulness of his only two hours off a day, especially when he couldn’t understand what they were saying and so felt left out, but he pretended to be having a pleasant time and hoped that he nodded and shook his head at the right times. He didn’t want to appear a miserable sod, which of course he wasn’t.

Not normally, anyway.

Lek looked forward to the hour drinking with her workmates and then the hour bringing Craig up to date with what had happen during the day. They had been scared by snakes, threatened by scorpions, seen beautiful birds that didn’t come into the village and even seen a pangolin in the area by the bog – a big lizard that bore a passing resemblance to a juvenile Komodo Dragon. Don, the bricklayer had wanted to take it home to eat, but Lek had claimed rights over it and scared it away.

On the eighth day, Craig was invited to go and look at their handiwork. He was very impressed that so much could be accomplished in a week, considering how long it had taken the builders to convert their house several years before.

“I’m impressed, Lek. I didn’t see it before, but this is really nice. I hope you do well here. He gave her a big hug and the other people there awkwardly pretended not to notice.

That evening in Nong’s, over a celebratory bottle of beer Chang – it was the only alcoholic drink that Nong served that had bubbles in it – Lek revealed the second item of which she was very proud:

“Telak, you remember I told you that I wanted to go back to school to get the brain of an eighteen year old? Well, I signed up for a Saturday morning course yesterday and today Jan phoned me to say that they had more than the minimum number of students to begin the course.