7 Years Of Madness Part 3

After I'd sent Ting back to Thailand, I quit my job, took the last of my cash, hit the plastic to go and 'out' Ting to her family. I wanted her to lose face and for them to know the truth about their precious daughter.

Arriving in Thailand I took the overnight bus straight to Nongkhai. I went to the house.

Ting was her usual 'my shit don't stink ' self. I spent my one and only night in my beautiful house. I woke at 4 AM to carry out my plan. I quietly push the motorbike to the road and set off for the 140 km ride to the village.
Everyone thought it was a great laugh to see me turn up so early. But I wasn't laughing.

I took Papa into his room and shouted 'Fan mai dee!'

He was shocked.

I pulled out the photos and the e-mails. I took my shoe off and put my bare foot on the photo of Ting and husband no.2 (or 1)? And I spat on the picture too.

'Understand' I yelled.

Papa called for help. One of the sons walked in. I backed away ready to leave, but son No 2 blocked my way. He raised his arm…..put it on my chest and said 'Paul, jai yen yen.'

So by now the whole family is in turmoil.

I need to leave…but how….they are loading the bike onto the pick up.

So, me, Mama and Papa end up going back to Nongkhai to see the shamed Ting.

She wouldn't translate anything I wanted to say to her parents. So, eventually after tears from mama and blank looks from Papa they leave.

I went to the bedroom to calm down and think what to do next…. Leave, I suppose.

Ting came in as I was sat on the edge of the bed. She stood in front of me and pushed me back as if we were going to shag. But no, we definitely weren't going to do that! She put her hand under the pillow and before I realise…..there
is a huge kitchen knife right between my eyes.

'Fuck' I say to myself.

I lie perfectly still with hands by my side. And I'm looking up at Ting…only it's not Ting…..It's a demented woman…..
I see the fury in her eyes…she is mad……insane.

'Are you scared'? she taunted.

I said nothing. I just look at her and see the madness in her eyes.

'Fuck!'

She slowly pulls the knife down my face and stops at my throat…..To lose an eye was bad enough, but now I could die.

The anger in her crazed eyes…..she pushes……my head is going back in the mattress with all my might.

My skin is nicked, blood on my neck.

I'm paralysed by fear……but then she pulls the knife to above my heart.

'NOW, Paul..now' I say to myself…she strikes ready to stab me, I twist slightly and raise my arms to deflect the blow. I grab her wrist and easily take the knife. A small cut to my chest, but nothing serious. What the hell just
happened to me?!

On the bus to Bangkok that night I re-live the events. Things like this don't happen to people like me.

I returned to the UK 2 weeks later. I can't stop shaking, can't hold a spoon to eat, but the shock subsides and I eventually laugh about it with friends.

So, now I'm back in the UK with nothing. Minus nothing, thanks to me hitting the plastic. I'm not the suicidal type, but I'm in a very dark place. NO money, no job, no home. I hate this. I hate Ting.

I go to Manchester to look for work. I end up sleeping on my daughter's, boyfriend's, grandmother's bedroom floor. Rock bottom is now. Situation hopeless.

Do I deserve this? Is this my karma for what I did to my ex, selling the house and taking the money? All that money…..gone. Fuck you, Ting!

Where are all those wonderful days with Apple in my beautiful condo? I might as well be dead. I am dead!

So, I make a plan. I'm going to kill Ting. You read that right, Stick. I'm going to kill Ting!

Once I'd decided to kill her, things started to get better.

A guy I know lined me up with a job. 'It's a bad job', he said 'but the money is good.'

So I took it. I am now the engineer in an abattoir.

Crap job didn't do it justice. It was hell on earth.

I hated it. I hated Ting.

I hated her at 04:45 every morning when my alarm went off.

I made my plan to kill her with hatred in my heart. Hatred made easier by my loathing of my job.

The guys who work here are insane…sub-human. They kill all day and love it. They are merciless. I hate them. I hate Ting even more.

I devise my plan and fine tune the details in my head. Burn the house, kill Ting, 8 minutes to the border, get to Laos and lose myself for a couple of years. Hide in Cambodia.

Nothing's gonna stop me. Justice will be done!

Tam dee die dee, tam chua die chua. <Good things come to those who do good things, evil things com to those who do evil things – Stick>

Yes, I know about this, but maybe Buddha needs a hand here?

My hatred is only softened by my wages that go into my bank every Friday.

I'm on damn good money now and it's not long before I'm back in the black. I'm saving hundreds every week. Soon, I got 5 figures in savings…..breathing easier now.

But my hatred is total. For Ting, my job, my life.

I do nothing. My only relief is chatting to prostitutes online at night. And Japanese porn!!

So, my idea is complete. I'll just save a bit more money. I put myself through 2 years of hell at that factory. So now I can execute my plan (no pun intended). Haha.

I'm ready!

Daughter number 2 calls me and asks 'Dad it's your 50th birthday next year. What are you going to do?' She is obviously thinking, a party, a luxury holiday, a new car or something like that.

I found myself blurting out 'I'm riding a dirt bike around Cambodia'. Actually, that's not such a bad idea, I think to myself.

I planned it, I trained for it and saved for my plan.

I contacted a guy called Lee in PP and arranged to rent a bike from him. Even sent him a deposit.

On 31st December, I walk out the factory gates. And it's down to Heathrow.

I spent a month in Pattaya doing everything I pleased. I went back to the bar where I first met Apple. A couple of
the girls still remembered me. And yes…the mirror is still on the ceiling in room 1.

I go overland to PP and meet Lee and get the bike set up. I do my final preparations in Sharkey bar.

Next day feeling like shit. I set off. I headed north. Basically I did an anti-clockwise loop of Cambodia.

Day 2 sees me in the ditch. I got knocked off by a truck. Damn. I give 2 kids on a step-tru $5 each to help me get the bike out of the ditch.

Damaged shoulder, but I'm continuing. I have a lot to learn here. I need somewhere to hide when the bitch is dead.

I rode everywhere…Moldukiri..Rattankiri…up the highway of death. 2 more falls, but not serious. I loved it. The people were great..really lovely. Siam reap..Angkor Wat…Battambang……Snooky….all around.

I stopped to remove a kilo of red dirt from my nose and mouth 1 day and I found myself outside an orphanage. The kids called me in. I played football for a while, and then those kids….those kids who have NOTHING..gave me lunch. Yep, they
gave me their food. I'm humbled so I leave some money to easy my guilt. After all…I'm on a mission. Someone must die. Or should I just get on with my life? These kids don't hate anyone, and they got nothing. I got lots to I can
do in my life. Shit!!

I'm confused.

I return to PP on the day of my 50th birthday. I hand what's left of the bike back to Lee and arrange to meet for a beer later.

I arrive first at Martinis. Not too busy. I can't get over how dark it is in there. I have a beer and a pizza while I wait for Lee.

A girl catches my eye. Nice figure..nice face…I think, I mean, it is dark in here…..

She speaks no English. I ask a waitress how old she is. They talk. 24 was the answer. I buy her a drink.

Lee arrives. We all get on fine. A nice evening. I ask Lee to confirm the girl's age again.

'24' he says.

'Are you taking her'? asks Lee

I look at her again, at her body, her face, her features, she looks nice but I don't know…it is dark…

'Yes' I hear myself saying, I want to celebrate my birthday after all.

We ride 3-up through PP and Lee drops us off at my hotel. I see her clearly for the first time a young looking 24 year old for sure.

We lie on the bed, she fully clothed. I try to initiate things, I'm ready for my birthday present, but she is motionless.
I poke, prod and tickle. She acts like she's sleeping, but Mr. Stupid is ready, so I put my hand inside
her T shirt and…… what??

I pull out padding from her bra. I go in again, more padding. Oh No. I go in a 3rd time. I realise nothing has developed up top…why?

Fearing the worst I undo her jeans, What do I do if there is meat and two veg down there? (Rumours of me and that ladyboy in soi 6 some years ago were never proven, Stick. I remain an innocent man.)

But what of now….?

Oh bugger. I continue south, no dick, phew. But not much of anything – Mr. Stupid dies quickly. I realise this girl is young, very young.

24? no way..what ? 18? 17? 16? I let her sleep. I however panic. I picture the breaking news on the BBC. 'A 50 year old British man was beaten and jailed for life for having under age sex in Cambodia'

Calm down I tell myself, Lee will back you up, won't he?

A fitful sleep for me. In the morning I wake her, I give her $25 and say…go see mama.

She takes the money. I open my room door and she walks out, she turns, looks at me, then she very deliberately looks up at the room number above the door.

I panic (again). What the hell. Why did she do that? she definitely looked at my room number.

'Is she gonna get the Police? or what'? I ask myself. She goes downstairs.

I pack. I probably broke the world packing record.. I run to a travel agent, then 'airport' I tell the taxi driver. A nervous 3 hour wait, but we finally take off. I'm free. Thanks Buddha.

I arrive in Bangkok, breath a sigh of relief. If only I knew what was about to happen. I call Nay, my still brother-in-law, and arrange to stay the night at Nong Jock.

Word of my arrival quickly spreads to Nongkhai. Ting calls, 'Paul, come to Nongkhai, see what I've done'.

What has she done?

I decide to go. If nothing else I can divorce, then go about the business of finding my future ex! I fly to Udon Thani next day and Ting meets me in a big new 4×4. She tells me she sold the house…my beautiful house.

She drove me around in the 4×4, showed me a plot of land that she'd bought. She's opened a noodle restaurant, 20 rai of rubber trees, and more land near her village.

I stupidly asked 'Any money for me Ting '?

'All gone' she smirked.

We eat at her restaurant. It's nice. It should be. My money paid for it.

We finish eating. '30 baht' she demanded.

I feel myself getting wound up. 'I want to divorce', I tell her.

She agreed that we will, on Thursday, 2 days from now.

I go to see my house by myself…my beautiful house. This is tough and I struggle to keep myself together.

At one stage I was driving the car with Ting and her still dribbling son in the back. I notice I'm the only one wearing
a seat belt…I see a tree ahead, and drive towards it…. Get a grip Paul… I move back to the road.

What's happening to me?

Back at the restaurant I look in her bag. 16,000 baht, I take it. I see an ATM slip showing balance of about 140,000 baht. I also see 4 or 5 chanotes. I take them and leave out the back. I go into town.

I call her. 'Meet me now' I order.

20 minutes later she's waiting for me in the car park of the temple by the river. In the car I demand money. She cries.

I lose it, I mean I totally lose control…smashing the inside of the car up…. I'm out of control, abusing her with words I
didn't know I had. The red mist has descended now. She can see she's in danger….. I'm
a monster…my knuckles are bleeding.
I smash my head on the window then I turn and look at her.

'Ok' she says. 'Ok, calm down'.

I'm breathing heavily, blood on my hands, snot all over my face. She's in tears, shaking with fear. Slowly we compose ourselves.

She starts the car and we go to the bank. She gives me 100,000 baht. So I get 116,000 baht, from what, 3 million? Maybe 4 or 5 if you count my earnings from the UK.

Next day we divorce and I ask for the ring back that I gave her. But she says no. She actually looks a bit upset.

We eat at the restaurant. 'No fucken 30 baht today' I say.

I'm calmer now, maybe in shock, I don't know. I go back to my hotel room then out for a beer where 2 older American guys help me celebrate my divorce.

Forget a relationship they agreed. It's all about sex. Nothing more. Shag while you still can they advise. They'd both had bad Thai experiences. One of them had a 3 year old kid despite him being in his 70's.

'It's all to fuck' I tell myself. I go back to my room. Still quite early.

I lie on the bed, numb.

A knock at the door. It's Ting.

We talk but she never said sorry.

Incredibly, we end up in bed. Madness!!

I'm giving her a hard fuck then I look down at her and I suddenly smash my fist into the side of her face breaking her jaw. I strike again breaking some teeth, one more blow and her eye explodes…….

But it's not her face…it's the pillow…… I roll over and just lie there.

She dressed and left and I've not seen or spoken to her for over a year now.

My life is a better place without her.

I now work in Scotland. My job is ok. The people ok. I have enough money to do what I want, even stay in Thailand for a few years if I want. I had a month in Thailand at Xmas and New Year. I had enough money to do Pattaya properly…like
an ass-hole.

I met up with a very popular girl, Da, from a popular music bar on 2nd road. I had a great time. I told her my story, 'Colour of life Paul.'

She says 'colour of life'.

We talk everyday.

She has even quit the bar for me…..to go freelance, well she said it was for me…haha.

So I'll be back next week, 23 April.

Da calls 'Paul, I think I love you'

'I love you too baby'……….