together...the night of the fair...were you sleeping when I was talking
to you?
--No, I heard you earlier. So it came from Kazem's mouth and Jatupon's
conjectures. Those doesn't seem like reliable sources.
--What?
--Those don't seem like reliable sources.
The two mosquitoes stared at each other nihilistically. There was
silence.


Chapter 7

Childlike, Jatupon had assumed that togetherness, firecrackers,
celebration, and the proud moment of that manly initiation of cold beer
(not that it was his first) to be the ending of negative events. The
day had resurrected him the way Kazem had once pulled him out of the
lake on the outskirts of the city, Kanjanaburi. He was wading then in
gradually deepening waters when the sludge beneath his feet suddenly
dipped and he was thrust off the precipice into a watery abyss. He was
just a boy then but one who owed his life to his brother. When he was
older and they had returned to Kanjanaburi on a two-hour train ride,
Kazem refused to allow him in stagnant waters. This was fortunate
since a few days later two people died from a protozoan infection.
Kazem had saved his life in both occasions and delivered his spirit on
this one. He had never deserted him. Unlike Kumpee who despised work,
Kazem could have gotten a slave labor position by signing an employment
contract for construction work where he would have found himself
assigned to one of such places as Taipei or Abu Dhabi. A few years
there would have added a solid savings that he could have used for
vocational training that would have broadened his opportunities.