Eventually I hit on a good idea. I would drag the guy’s body away to the bushes and hide it. Then, when she woke up, she’d just think he’d gone for a walk. After a day or so she’d realize he was missing and might worry about what had happened to him, but at least she wouldn’t know he was dead. By that time he would probably have been eaten by ants and beetles, and no one but me would be any the wiser.
I busied myself with the task at hand, keeping half an eye on my watch. Jed would be awake soon and then it would be time to leave.
♦
‘Jed!’ I said softly.
He stirred and waved a hand over his face, like he was brushing away a fly.
‘Jed! Wake up!’
‘What?’ he mumbled.
‘We should go. It’s getting light.’
He sat up and looked up at the sky. The sun was fully above the horizon. ‘Shit, yeah, we should. Overslept. Sorry. Let’s get cracking.’
When we were halfway between Ko Pha-Ngan and our island I told him what had happened with the corpse and how I’d dealt with it.
‘Jesus fucking Christ, Richard!’ he’d shouted – only because the engine was so loud. ‘What the flying fuck did you do that for?’
‘Well, what should I have done?’
‘You should have left him there, you bloody idiot! What did it have to do with us? Nothing!’
‘I knew you’d say that,’ I said happily. ‘I knew it.’
∨ The Beach ∧
Prisoners of the Sun
∨ The Beach ∧
45
Bible-Bashing
No one was even slightly interested. A few asked ‘How was it?’ out of politeness, but as soon as I began to answer their eyes glazed over or their attention became diverted by something over my shoulder.
At first I found this attitude pretty frustrating – I wanted to talk at length about how fucked up Ko Pha-Ngan was – and the frustration was compounded by the unenthusiastic response I got when I handed out my little presents. Françoise took one taste of the toothpaste and spat it out, saying, ‘Ugh, I did not remember the way it burns,’ and Keaty said I shouldn’t have bought Thai-brand batteries because they run out so fast. The only person who seemed at all grateful was Unhygienix. He went straight off for a shower after I gave him the bars, and later he gave me a glowing report on the thick lather they produced.
But my frustration only lasted while Ko Pha-Ngan was fresh in my mind, which wasn’t long. Just as when I’d first arrived at the beach, my memory began to shut itself down. Steadily, quickly, so that within a week nothing much existed beyond the lagoon and its circle of protective cliffs. Nothing except the World, that is, and that had returned to its previous condition, a name to something faceless and indistinct.
My worries about Zeph and Sammy were the last things to go. As late as the fifth night I was kept awake, fretting about what plans they and the mysterious Germans might be making. But it became hard to maintain that level of worry as the days passed, and still no one had turned up. Having said that, the day after the fretful fifth night I did ask Jed whether he’d also been thinking about the Zeph and Sammy problem, and he made a see-saw motion with his hands. ‘I’ve been thinking about it a little,’ he said. ‘But I think we’re OK.’
‘You do?’ I replied, already sensing the weight of the problem lifting.
‘Yeah. Those two were on the pilgrim’s route. They had guidebook written all over them. If not, like I already said, we’ll deal with it when it happens.’ He pulled a knot of hair out of his beard. ‘You know, Richard, one of these days I’m going to find one of those Lonely Planet writers and I’m going to ask him, what’s so fucking lonely about the Khao San Road?’
I smiled. ‘Just before you punch his lights out, right?’
The smile was not returned.
∨ The Beach ∧
46
Jaws One
A few weeks after the Rice Run I woke up to the noise of rain on the longhouse roof. It had rained only three or four times since I’d arrived at the beach, and those had been no more than showers. This was a tropical storm, even heavier than the one on Ko Samui.
A few of us huddled around the longhouse entrance, looking out across the clearing. The canopy ceiling was channelling the water into thick streams that shone like lasers and cut muddy holes into the earth. Keaty was standing under one of them, his top half obscured by the silver umbrella that exploded off his head. I only recognized him from his black legs and the faint sound of his laughter. Bugs was also standing outside. He had his head tilted so that one cheek was angled upwards, his arms were held slightly away from his body, and his palms were ready to catch the rain.
‘Thinks he’s Christ,’ muttered a voice behind me. I turned around and saw Jesse, a compact New Zealander who worked on the garden detail with Keaty. Jesse was one of the people I’d never had much cause to speak to, but I’d always suspected that he’d been the one to pick up my first John-Boy cue.
I looked back at Bugs and smiled; there was something Christ-like about his pose. Either the pose or the beatific expression on his face, anyway.
‘Know what I mean?’ Jesse said.
I smiled.
‘Maybe the carpentry’s gone to his head,’ said Cassie, who was also standing near, and we all chuckled. I would have added something but Jesse nudged me. Sal had emerged from the far end of the longhouse and was walking towards us. Gregorio was beside her, looking a little hassled.
‘What’s the delay?’ asked Sal, as she approached.
Nobody answered her so I said, ‘Delay about what?’
‘Fishing, gardening, work.’
Jesse shrugged. ‘Not much gardening to be done in the rain, Sal.’
‘The plants can be protected, Jesse. You can rig up a shelter.’
‘Plants need rain.’
‘They don’t need rain like this.’
Jesse shrugged again.
‘And you, Richard? What will we eat with your rice if you don’t go fishing?’
‘I was waiting for Greg.’
‘Greg’s ready now.’
‘Yes,’ said Gregorio, and Étienne and Françoise also appeared. ‘We are ready now.’
♦
We jogged down to the beach, sliding around in the mud. I don’t know why we were jogging because we were soaked within seconds, and in any case, we were going to spend the next three hours in the sea. I suppose there was a general feeling that we wanted to get the fishing done as quickly as possible.
While we jogged, I thought over the brief exchange under the longhouse entrance. I’d never mentioned the way Bugs irritated me, not even to Keaty. It hadn’t seemed like a wise idea, considering his standing in the camp, and my criticisms seemed so petty. But from the way Jesse and Cassie had been talking, I began to wonder if others felt the same way. Although they hadn’t said anything nasty they’d certainly been taking the piss, and until that moment it hadn’t occurred to me that people took the piss out of Bugs.
The thing that most struck me was the way they’d hushed up when Sal came over. If it hadn’t been for that, the joking would have seemed far less telling. As it was, I felt like I’d witnessed some kind of division – however slight – and possibly been included in it. I decided I ought to find out more about Jesse and Cassie, if only to get to know them better. I’d have asked Gregorio, but I knew I’d get a uselessly diplomatic answer. Keaty or Jed were the ones to talk to.
♦
The sea was covered in a thick, low mist of vaporized raindrops. Under the shelter of a palm tree, we leant against our spears and shook our heads.