alone in front of his cart. There they were at the table slurping
their noodles joyfully. Adulthood was the maturity to relinquish the
rebellion against society for relegating one to his petty station in
life bereft of the pleasures he sees around him. Being wise was
realizing that most of such pleasures were neither good nor beneficial.
Although Suthep was an adult, he was a bitter man and he bit his lip
in the thought of all the pleasures that were out there waiting for so
many others and not for him. He resented being such a lowly clod.
After the couple paid for the meal and left he sat at their empty table
and looked out across the cars that veered near a discothèque until at
last he fell asleep. For a moment or two of REM he dreamed of his
youngest brother dangling by some friend from an open window of an
appliance warehouse only to have his shoe slip off in the friend's hand
and the body unwillingly succumbing to gravity with his force tripping
off the alarm. But unlike what really happened two years ago to
Jatupon and a teenager once they extricated themselves and arrived in
the big city on a bus, he, Suthep, was the friend and when the shoe
slipped off he laughed and ran. He woke up, shook off his sleep, and
then began washing his dishes in big plastic bowls. He felt a
loneliness eat up on him. Each evening it seemed to be exacerbated.
The next evening he was struggling in ambivalence on continuing
to work or closing early. Feeling forlorn and lonely, and yet needing
to talk to Kazem about a decision he had made, he chose the latter.
And when he arrived near Kazem's cart with a hairnet still on his head
Kazem's countenance was at first chiding.
"You couldn't have lost your shirt already," he said.
Suthep took off his shirt, wadded it into a ball, and threw it at
Kazem. Kazem wadded it up and threw it back. Soon the three, in
hairnets, were Thai boxing and laughing with each other. The few
customers they had were ignored. It was dereliction of responsibility.