What greeted them when they exited the tunnel looked and sounded like an old U.S. Vietnam war movie.
They shielded their eyes from the bright sunlight and saw military helicopters taking off, landing, and unloading personnel and equipment for the clean-up operation.
Kim rushed over to the amphibious vehicle and hugged Pon. She noticed Captain Ca nursing his broken arm and Ca holding a field dressing to his ear with blood soaking through as Vietnamese army field medics helped the pair.
Kim never thought for a moment that it had been Pon who had inflicted the Tho’s injuries, as they held each other, kissed, smiled, and looked relieved.
Spock and Stu got unsteadily out of the vehicle and after sitting down, medics attended to their cuts, bruises, and splinters.
The pair saw the bodies of the dead mercenaries and technicians, bagged, tagged, and put into a helicopter.
Grimes, Akhim, and the surviving mercenaries were ushered onto another chopper, along with army guards, which then took off.
The injured commandos from Ca’s team were put onto stretchers and loaded into a helicopter. Captain Ca gave search parties the locations of his murdered commando and Tuong within the jungle. He then told Ca that he would contact his older brother, Phaol, and see what they could do to help him.
An armed soldier took Fisherman Ca to a helicopter and put him in with the captured Vietnamese technicians.
He looked back at Kim and Pon as he boarded the chopper and smiled. He waved goodbye to his brother as the aircraft took off. Captain Ca, his arm now in a sling, got into the chopper with his men.
A soldier standing near Spock and Stu had a two-way radio that sprang to life. The Vietnamese soldier then gave an order to the amphibious vehicle, which sped back down the tunnel.
After a while, the commotion died down as helicopters had either taken off or stopped their engines and were waiting for the ground force to finish the clean-up.
The team of Vietnamese army investigators brought in were processing, searching, and examining the scene.
Spock, Stu, Pon, and Kim waited for their transport. They all had relief etched over their faces. Kim told Spock and Stu that they would stay at her parent’s house after physicians at Hanoi checked them all.
Spock nudged Stu and whispered. “Physicians, does that mean women matey?”
“No mate, it means Doctors,” said disappointed Stu with spots of yellow iodine on his face.
“Escape plan?” Spock asked as he’d now almost sobered up.
Stu nodded and concurred. “Yep, escape plan.”
A White Jet Ranger helicopter landed 50 yards in front of them and an army officer came over, saluted Kim, and escorted them all into the helicopter.
The helicopter was about to leave when the amphibious vehicle returned.
Mophi stumbled out and hobbled over to the medics at gunpoint holding his groin and looking in discomfort. (Just as you would expect to look with your knackers chopped off and stuck in a wet, humid, dank, black muddy tunnel.)
Mophi watched the helicopter taking off and frowned when he saw two English, and one Thai face, at the windows, pointing, laughing, and sticking up clenched fists with middle fingers extended. Spock blew him a kiss as the helicopter rose into the sky and headed north toward Hanoi.
They touched down ninety minutes later on the landing pad at Bach Mai hospital. Thran and Nga ran over, hugged Pon and Kim, and said hello to Spock and Stu. Doctors and nurses came out and led them all inside to a private wing.
****
Grimes, Akhim and the mercenaries, were flown to the hospital wing at Trai Giam Chi Hoa prison in Ho Chi Minh City. Shackled together and under constant guard, they were put in the hot, humid, clammy detention facility with stained walls and infested with insects.
The mercenaries looked forlorn as they stared at the dirty concrete floor with flies buzzing around them and landing on their wounds.
A beaten and bloodied Grimes and Akhim looked at one another. “What do we do Julian?” asked Akhim.
A guard glared at them and snapped. “Be quiet.”
Grimes stared down at the floor as Akhim said to the guard. “I am a Muslim. I have to kneel and pray.”
The English speaking guard came over, bent down, and with his face inches from Akhim’s, sneered at him and said. “You killed Vietnamese people and are now prisoners of Vietnam, coi ai chang ra gi… nobodies.”
The guard smirked when a team of scruffy orderlies came carrying bowls of dirty water and scrubbing brushes.
They all looked terrified and squealed when the orderlies washed and scrubbed their cuts and bruises.
When Mophi arrived, they took him under guard to the prisons operating theatre to have his wound tended. The Vietnamese nurses chuckled and with none of the medical staff speaking English, Mophi lay strapped to the theatre table wincing as a Doctor put a rubber mask over his mouth and sent him into a pain free sleep.
Ca and the Vietnamese technicians were flown to Ho Chi Minh airport and driven under armed escort to the main police station.
A Vietnamese Doctor examined Ca’s ear wound and knowing there was nothing he could do without the ear, cleaned and sutured around the remaining skin flap under local anaesthetic.
Ca lay on his side while the doctor stitched his wound and looked at the stern faces of his police escorts glaring at him. The side of his head pounded as the Doctor tugged and pulled.
With a large gauze pad applied, he could hear little and given antibiotics before being taken and put into a small dank holding cell along with the technicians.
****
Spock and Stu felt exhausted as they lay on beds in the quiet two-bed hospital room. Although only suffering minor cuts and bruises, the Doctors gave them a thorough check-up.
They dozed, with their plans to escape to a bar long since vanished.
The medical staff told them that they would be monitored before going to Thran’s house.
Pon walked into the lad’s room with dabs of iodine on his face. He and Kim had only minor cuts and splinters from flying debris.
Spock and Stu stirred and sat up.
Pon brought in his folded monk’s cassock draped with his red sash, and sat on the edge of Spock’s bed and asked him if he could have the Holy Relic.
The lads noticed how nonchalant Pon seemed about the Holy Relic, unlike before.
Spock took the Holy Relic from his pocket and handed it to Pon, who removed his sash from his bundle and placed the jewelled box in the centre of his cassock and secured the sash, making a parcel.
Spock and Stu’s curiosity got the better of them.
“That was nice of the King to trust you with the Holy Relic,” said Spock smiling.
Pon smiled, thought for a moment, and in a soft voice said. “My brothers, what I am about to tell you must remain a secret.” He looked at Spock and Stu who nodded, so he told them. “The box was a fake.”
“Really!” gasped Stu as both he and Spock tried to look surprised as Pon explained. “About a year ago, the Royal Family decided that because the Holy Relic had already been stolen twice, they had no intention of letting it happen again.
They had a replica made by master jewellers, goldsmiths, and specialist technicians. The copy went on display at the Temple of the Sacred Light for the first time last year. Nobody noticed the difference, not even the Tinju guards, and they viewed the spectacle every day. Only a handful of people know this my brothers, so it must remain secret.”
The lads grinned and felt a large weight lifted off their shoulders.
“Don’t worry,” said Stu. “It will be our secret. We won’t say a word... will we Spock?”
Spock smiled and shook his head. “No matey, we’ll keep it to ourselves,” he said and thought, ‘We kept the other one secret long enough.’
“So where’s the real Holy Relic?” asked Stu. “And what was the stuff inside. It looked convincing.”
‘Well a damn site more convincing than sand and ceramic dentures.’ he thought, as Pon divulged more details.
“The Holy Relic is at Salaburi guarded by the Tinju. Because nobody knows it’s there, it remains protected and secure. The Holy Relic must never be opened because the contents are not only sacrosanct, but their age and exposure to air after all this time would cause great damage.”
‘Flushing them down the sink didn’t do them much good either,’ thought both Stu and Spock, relieved that their guilty secret would now be concealed forever... Hopefully.
Pon continued with the story. “Taksin suspected that these people would open it and test the contents. The box itself would pass any inspection, but he knew that they would carbon date the contents. Taksin had the replica filled with charcoal ash and fine brown talc. When opened, wisps of the mixture would escape, and look like the box had been unopened for generations. The experts crushed in some pig's teeth and the scientists at the palace sprinkled on *Ryo... something, which they told me would make carbon dating impossible.”
Pon finished his explanation as the relieved lads complimented him and Taksin on their ingenuity and wisdom.
Pon then chatted about Kim, feeling unsure what to think about her and Ca. He looked concerned as he told Spock and Stu that Kim promised to tell him everything, but only after they’d rested and things had quietened down.
As Pon spoke, Stu thought about Dao and something played on his mind. Spock glanced over and saw Stu looking miserable.
“Oh well, you don’t want to worry about it too much now matey,” said Spock. “I am sure there will be a simple explanation, and Kim wouldn’t do anything to hurt you… what do you say matey.”
“What?” said Stu snapping out of his thoughts. “Oh, yeah, Spock’s right, Kim wouldn’t hurt you, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much now.”
Spock looked at Stu and smirked. Stu nodded at him and then smiled.
Kim then came into the room, smiled, kissed and hugged Pon and said. “We have all been given a clean bill of health and are being discharged, so we can go home for a good night’s sleep.”
They arrived at Thran’s large house, and while staff showed Spock and Stu to their guest rooms, Thran, Nga, Pon, and Kim chatted.
The next morning the lads woke early and went downstairs to join the Tangh’s and Pon in the dining room discussing the day’s activities.
Thran wanted to make sure harsh justice was carried out for the people responsible for kidnapping his daughter and putting the lives of his Son-in-law and friends at risk. He would use all his power and influence to make them pay for the terrorist attack on the neighbourhood that had killed two army snipers and fatally wounded four others. “These people will pay dearly,” he said sounding angry.
Pon called Taksin who sounded relieved. He told Pon that now was not yet the time to return to Thailand until they were cleared of their fugitive status. He said that he would call the Bangkok post and arrange it.
Pon and Kim then called Banti and spoke to her and Samnan.
With the family engrossed in their lives and thoughts, after breakfast, Spock and Stu went outside into the large grounds at Thran’s. They listened to the banging and crashing of men and machines demolishing and clearing debris from unsafe buildings which had been rocked and damaged by the explosions.
The pair spent a chillaxing morning by the pool and amusing the staff, except for the gardener who looked shifty and miserable. Kim had told the lads he had answered the phone and released her father. However, Spock and Stu couldn’t understand why he had the phone in the first place, but never mentioned it.
Pon and Kim, having spoken to Banti and Samnan, decided they should talk and went to their room.
The couple sat on the bed holding hands. Kim told Pon that he and Samnan were the most cherished and important people in her life. She then told him the story about her, Ca, and Colonel Tighe. She spoke for an hour with Pon listening, with different thoughts and emotions running through his mind.
Kim then told him of the abduction and what Grimes had told her about him not coming, and the feeling of hopelessness and despair she’d felt.
Pon looked at Kim with tears in her eyes.
His mouth felt dry and with his voice trembling, he said. “I saw you and Ca kissing on the video and getting into bed together naked, and other raunchy scenes.”
Kim looked at Pon, gasped, and shook her head. “No,” she said with a quake in her voice, “It’s true we kissed, but nothing else… I swear. What you saw was faked.”
Pon felt his heart beating faster as confused thoughts swum around his head. He thought he could trust Kim implicitly, but had trouble believing the film was fake. Pon knowing nothing about Ca or her past, felt hurt and uncertain; this was a completely new set of emotional guidelines.
Pon then asked the question he never wanted to ask but felt he had to and, with his voice quaking, looked into Kim’s eyes. “Did you and Ca ever make love?”
Kim squeezed him tight, kissed his head, and said, “The past should stay in the past. Please Pon, let’s move forward. I apologise for deceiving you with all my heart and soul, but what happened was an unhappy lifetime ago, before I met and fell in love with you.”
After an awkward silence, Pon gazed at his wife, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, “I love you.”
The couple smiled at one another and hugged. They stayed in a silent embrace for several minutes, before Kim sat back, furrowed her brow, and said. “Do you know why this happened? The Englishman said that you, Spock, and Stu, stole the Holy Relic and killed someone.”
Pon, knowing it was the time he explained about his past and the secret he had kept from Kim, shook his head and said. “No, they were wrong.” He sighed and said. “I have never lied to you when you’ve asked me about my past life; I told you I was a monk.”
He then explained about the Tinju, their demise, and subsequent resurgence, along with his first duty and his brother, Dam. Without going into detail, he told her what he sometimes needed to do in order to conclude his duties. He then gave her a copy of ‘Siam Storm’ and told her to read that, as it explained everything.
Vehicles arrived at the Tangh’s during the morning with officials from the military and law enforcement, who gathered to deal with one subject.
Thran issued commands and then gave orders to reconvene that evening. The house went quiet around lunchtime while Spock and Stu still lounged poolside.
As Pon and Kim sat in tearful silence in their room, a familiar voice shouted for them to come downstairs.
They went downstairs and greeted Lee and Captain Ca, whose arm, now in a surgical sling, wore his military dress uniform.
Lee explained that he had flown in from Cambodia the previous night to see his wounded soldiers. He told them he had arranged for the surviving commandos and the dead soldier’s body to be flown back to Cambodia.
Captain Ca had debriefed Lee on the mission, although never mentioned how he had broken his arm.
“And now,” said Lee. “I’ve come to visit my favourite niece.” He smiled at Kim.
Spock and Stu came inside and said hello to Lee and Captain Ca. With Thran and Nga already in the dining room, they all sat around the dining table chatting and eating a buffet of Vietnamese food.
Lee told them the story of how he’d first met, trained, educated, and mentored Captain Ca after discovering Sereypheap village many years earlier. Lee sounded like a proud father as he told the tale.
They listened intently and when he’d finished his story, they all gazed at the embarrassed Captain, who quietly said. “Thank you sir. You taught me everything and took care of me more than I can ever repay.” He looked at the others and said, “During this mission, I also found some answers about my past.”
He looked at Pon who smiled at the Captain before he told them about meeting his brother, Ca, who unbeknownst to him, was the man Thran hated and loathed, more so now after the recent events.
Lee detected tension from his brother Thran as the Captain told his story and said he wanted to help his brother.
Thran glared at Captain Ca before he got up and went outside.
A silent tension lingered in the room as the others looked at one another.
Captain Ca looked embarrassed and confused. “Did I say something to upset Minister Tangh sir?” he asked Lee.
Lee looked puzzled and wanting to find out what had made Thran angry, went outside, and joined him.
“What is it brother?” asked Lee looking concerned.
While the brothers spoke outside, the bewildered Captain and the others wondered what had just occurred and sat in silence.
Spock and Stu finished the bowls of Pho Bo beef noodles and fish soup, which they found tasty, considering that it wasn’t lathered in grease and wrapped in a bread roll.
Pon then received a phone call from Taksin, which broke the tension.
After several minutes, the conversation ended and Pon smiled and said. “Taksin set things in motion to clear our names, so we can return to Thailand tomorrow.”
He looked at Kim trying to judge her reaction. Kim took his hand, smiled, and said, “Let’s go home darling and see our family.”
Pon smiled and kissed her on her forehead. ‘Everything will be fine,’ he thought as he recalled the teaching of Buddha. ‘Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone. You are the one getting burnt.’
Spock then imparted his wisdom as he nudged Stu and whispered. “We’d better go out and get a shag tonight, matey.”
****
Grimes, Akhim, and their band of collaborators thoughts were a long way from getting a shag.
They were transferred to holding cells within the prison, which came as quite a shock to their system. They were well beyond their imagination of the horror that a Vietnamese prison would be like. They thought it would be modern with facilities similar to Dulles prison in Vegas.
The mercenaries, Grimes, and Akhim, were shackled together in a small cell with a hole in the floor for a toilet and a stone container with filthy water to wash their hands after wiping their sphincters. There were no beds, just a hot wooden floor to sit or lie on while shackled to each other.
They all had cuts and bruises, but apart from their initial treatment, they'd received no follow up care. The heat inside the cell was unbearable, with no fans or any form of relief from the high temperature. Drinking water came from a large drum in the corner, but the liquid smelled soiled, so none of them drank. The flies were relentless and swarmed around the new inmates, laying eggs in their open wounds.
Most of the guards only spoke Vietnamese, so any requests went ignored. Grimes and Akhim tried to plot a way out. They thought they could get money, bribe the guards, escape from Vietnam, and start again. An English speaking guard told them that Mophi would be joining them after recovering from the anaesthetic, with their respective Embassies visiting shortly. They would then be moved into the main prison to await a trial date.
Ca was now in custody in the police station cells in Ho Chi Minh. The police released the technicians after realising they didn’t have anything to do with the caper. They were only hired workers.
Ca sat along in the small cell and pondered his situation. He knew that he would receive the harshest of punishments, especially after a policeman told him about the carnage he and his colleagues had caused in Hanoi. Ca, although denying any knowledge of that, knew no Vietnamese would believe him, and knew he would be in for a rough time. His head pounded as he stared through his cell bars into space, thinking about his family and his young brother, Captain Ca.
****
Lee and Thran returned to the dining room after thirty minutes. They both appeared a little more relaxed as the conversation shifted to the food, which Spock and Stu had finished off.
Pon and Kim went back upstairs to phone Banti and tell her they would be coming home soon. Pon then called Taksin to finalise the arrangements and asked him to arrange for Vitchae and Cenat to visit him and help him with some spiritual matters.
Spock and Stu went back to the pool. They wanted to phone Dao and Moo but did not have Vietnamese phone cards, and didn’t want to disturb the group engrossed in conversation inside. They decided to wait until they got back to Thailand.
Lee, Thran, Nga, and Captain Ca sat around the now cleared table, and Thran explained about his outburst and relayed the story of Ca, Kim, Phan Yar and the feelings of betrayal and deceit he now felt toward Ca.
Kim had told her father the previous evening about Ca’s involvement and said that if he had not been there she would not have survived.
She had told Thran how Ca had also been an unwitting participant of Grimes’s con.
Lee reminded his brother how he once considered Ca as a son in Phan Yar, before he broke his trust.
Captain Ca felt uncomfortable and stayed silent. The conversation went on for an hour with sporadic discussion and then silence, giving Thran time to consider the information.
He wanted the full force of the law brought to bear on Ca at the start of the conversation. However, the longer he thought about what his brother Lee had said, and with Kim now happily married to Pon, he realised that he did not handle the Ca situation well and had let anger cloud his judgement.
Thran composed himself as his thoughts drifted back to the happy quiet times, and Ca’s fresh fish.
Pon came downstairs and stood in the doorway, listening to the last few minutes of discussion. Captain Ca noticed him first and stood as Pon came into the room and went over to sit by Thran.
Lee noticed a look in Ca’s eyes that he’d seen in his prodigy before, but only shown to him... respect and a little fear.
Thran looked at Pon and asked. “What are your thoughts on this, Pon?”
Pon thought for a moment. “I didn’t catch the whole story, but Kim and I will be fine. We just need time to heal further,” said Pon and sighed. “I felt angry, but that anger will never disappear so long as the thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as the thoughts of resentment are forgotten, and it seems Thran, your resentful thoughts are rapidly diminishing.”
There was another silence as they tried to decipher the load of old bollocks that Pon had just come out with.
Thran then said to Captain Ca, “Your brother will need to be punished. But I will show leniency, after all, you two are brothers, and I don’t know what I would do without mine.” He smiled at Lee, with the tender family moment abruptly broken by the arrival of several police cars screeching to a halt outside Thran’s door.
There came a knock on the door, Thran opened it, and the Hanoi Police Chief apologised for the disturbance as two armed police arrested the gardener.
****
Grimes sat in a dingy interview room along with a fierce looking Vietnamese Police interrogator and a British Embassy official. Grimes had sung like a canary about the plot and execution of the kidnap. He implicated everyone and tried to make them believe that he was a victim in this terrible episode.
Grimes then offered the police officer a few thousand dollars so that this mess could be sorted out. The interrogator took notes and, after Grimes implicated the gardener, he left the room leaving Grimes alone with the Embassy official.
“Okay,” said Grimes looking smug, “so how much will it cost to get out of here and flown back to the UK.”
The small, wiry, Embassy official said nothing and scribbled down notes as Grimes became frustrated with him not talking to him. Grimes glared at the man. “I am a British citizen and I know my rights and I demand you get me released and repatriated.”
Throughout the time that the Embassy official had been in the interrogation room with Grimes, he had said very little, but when he did, it was carefully considered.
He leant forward, looked at Grimes, and said. “Mr Julian Grimes, John Crawford, Duke Phillip, or whatever name you go by nowadays; you do not appear to understand the seriousness of your situation. The UK Embassy can do nothing, and no Vietnamese defence lawyers will touch this case. Minister Tangh is too powerful and apart from kidnapping his daughter, your actions killed Vietnamese soldiers and police.”
Grimes glared at the man and sounding arrogant said. “I have money; just bribe somebody and get me out of here.”
“Have you any family you want me to contact in the UK?” the Embassy official asked, ignoring Grimes’s statement.
“You’re not listening to me!” yelled Grimes. “There’s money in it for you too.”
The man stared at Grimes and sounding calm but in control, said. “No sir, you are not listening to me. We can’t do anything for you. This is Vietnam and we have no authority here, especially against the Minister you targeted, plus the terrorist attack on his neighbourhood and the murders you and your accomplice’s com…”
“Money will sort it out,” said Grimes interrupting the official and then grinned, “but if you won’t accept it, someone will.”
“Mr Grimes,” said the man sounding annoyed, “money will not help your case and you can’t buy off the Vietnamese. Here, you are not innocent until proven guilty… you are already guilty. There can be only one sentence in Vietnam for your crime,” said the official and told Grimes what his sentence and punishment would be.
Pale, shocked, and numb, Grimes shuffled unsteadily away in his shackles and escorted back to the cell trembling, his brash arrogance gone.
As Grimes was the first one to have his Embassy visit, the others were keen to find out what he had been told.
After the guards shackled Grimes to Akhim, he noticed his vacant expression and frowned. “What happened Julian?”
Julian Grimes gazed at his foul and filthy surrounds and knew the main prison would be just as bad, if not worse. Trying to come to terms with what he was told, and with his voice quivering, said. “It seems that it has already been decided gentlemen.” He gulped, not wanting to hear the words come out, and with a quake in his voice, said. “We will all receive the death penalty.”
****
Early that evening, Thran, Pon, Lee, Captain Ca, and Brigadier Nhat, sat in Thran’s living room discussing the recent events with an army General, a senior police chief, and two top judges. Thran wanted to find a quick, but fitting court date to hand out the verdicts, sentences, and punishments for the insurrectionary prisoners now in custody.
There would be no slick lawyers to get them out. In Vietnam, the power, authority, and influence lay with the men within this room, the power between life and death, and they all agreed on the latter.
Spock and Stu sat in comfortable armchairs watching Vietnamese TV in the conservatory. Thran noticed them looking bored. Although he now considered them part of the family, they could play no part in this conversation. He phoned his driver and spoke to Pon, who shouted over to them. “Thran has put his car and driver at your disposal if you want to go out.”
“You’ll need money, but if yo...” said Thran, unable to finish his sentence as the pair were already out of the door.
Lee, Pon, and Captain Ca laughed as the two lads did their disappearing act and they saw Spock and Stu hurrying over to the parked car as the driver started it up. The lads got in and smiled at the shocked driver.
Thran looked taken aback and Pon told him he would get used to that. Thran called his driver again and told him to give them some money, a few million Dong, equivalent to $200 each and told him to give them more if they needed it.
The car pulled out and drove along route 3. The driver spoke Pidgin English and asked them where they wanted to go.
“I think first on the agenda ... a soapy,” said Spock and Stu nodded.
“Take us to a soapy massage, driver,” said Spock with a smile a mile wide.
They sat back and enjoyed the sights, sounds, hustle and bustle as they entered the heart of Hanoi. The driver drove around the city and the lads took in the sights and succulent aromas from the open-air restaurants. The driver pulled into the rear of a large hotel and Spock and Stu saw a large sign written in Vietnamese with small English writing underneath and pictures of young Vietnamese women in various massage positions. Spock and Stu smiled at one another, got out of the car, and asked the driver to wait.
Several Vietnamese women greeted them at the door. Because they only spoke Vietnamese, Spock and Stu couldn’t understand them, but they smiled when the women looked at their injuries and started rubbing their backs and chests.
A smartly dressed man came over and, speaking English, asked which masseuses they wanted.
They didn’t hang about and chose two women, who took clean towels and oils from shelves and led them upstairs. Spock and Stu went into a large wooden panelled room divided into sections where a small white massage mattress lay on the floor of each section.
After given baggy shorts and a robe, the women led them to shower cubicles and gave them a bottle of liquid soap. Speaking no English, the women made signals and instructed them to wash themselves.
One hour later, Spock and Stu met up in the foyer both wincing in pain and went outside. “There’s the git.” said Stu pointing to the driver who got out of the car when he saw the lads leave the massage parlour and stood at the car door smiling.
Spock and Stu, after having their already aching bodies, kneaded, twisted, and pummelled as the masseuses gave them a full body massage with no happy ending, went over to give the driver a severe clipping.
The driver opened the door for them, but felt scared as the two strode towards him looking angry.
“Good massage sir?” he asked the oncoming lads.
“No stupid. It wasn’t a bloody soapy, it was a bloody agony,” said Spock, spitting on his clipping hand to prime it, ready to meet the drivers head.
The driver furrowed his brow, looked confused, and nodded. “Yes, that’s here,” he said and pointed to the large sign.
Spock and Stu had ignored the small English writing underneath because they wanted to hurry inside. When they looked at the sign again, they read the English writing. So-Pee’s Body Massage and Spa.
“Huh,” said Spock and glowered at the driver.
Stu sighed and although sore, said. “Well, I don’t suppose we can blame him, after all, it was a so-pee, but unfortunately not the soapy we know and loved.” Spock mumbled as they got back in the car.
Their ardour had worn off due to them being in more pain, so when the driver told them they would feel the benefits the next day, he got his clip around his ear because Spock didn’t want to waste his primed hand.
They decided to go to the bars and told the driver to take them to the beer bar area.
With his ear stinging, the driver took them to the old quarter of the city and dropped them off at the Spotted Cow bar.
“I will wait close by,” said the now cautious driver rubbing his clipped ear.
The narrow streets bustled with Vietnamese and foreigners in a party mood with Mopeds buzzing around like wasps.
Spock and Stu went into the Spotted Cow, sat at the bar, and ordered two Bia hoi’s to lubricate their stiff joints. The beer tasted great, so they ordered two more.
Two Vietnamese women joined them and chinked the lad’s glasses, “Zho Zho,” they said. The lads, remembering from Maureen that it meant cheers, repeated the toast. They bought the girls a drink and spoke to the Australian bar owner who asked them about their cuts and bruises, but he lost interest when they explained what happened.
The bar owner thought it sounded like just another load of old bollocks, which he usually got from the Yanks that came in talking about their heroism during the war. He smiled and went to serve another customer.
While Spock and Stu had been speaking to the owner, their female companions went to speak with other men in the bar.
“The people in here don’t seem that friendly matey,” said Spock frowning.
Stu creaked his neck from side to side until he felt it click, and said. “Nah, you’re right, let’s move on.”
Aching, they got off their barstools. It had been a hard few days, and they felt worn out, besides, they knew that they would see their wives the next day. Stu, still concerned and confused about Dao, hoped everything would be okay when he got home.
They went into a small bar called the Polite Pub, which wasn’t busy and the people didn’t seem that polite.
The fatigued lads drank a beer, walked outside, and looked around. They smelt delicious odours wafting through the street and saw squid sizzling on oil-drum barbeques. They watched old Vietnamese women wearing Non-la’s walking along balancing thick wooden poles over their shoulders that looked like weighing scales, with baskets of food on each side.
Stu yawned, and stretching his face, said, “I’m knackered. Shall we grab a bite to eat and call it a night?”
Spock smiled. “Yeah, good idea.”
They sat on small plastic stools at a small outdoor restaurant in front of a market and studied the menu written in Vietnamese.
Stu shrugged and Spock looked at what the foreigners on the next table were eating.
Spock grinned, and flashing his shiny gums at the German couple, said. “That looks nice, and it smells good.” He held up the menu and asked. “Where is it on here?”
“At the top in big letters,” said the German man and pointed his fork at the menu. “It is this restaurants speciality, and it’s delicious.”
“It isn’t spicy is it?” asked Stu as he and Spock struggled to eat spicy Thai food. In fact, they both struggled to eat anything spicier than Yorkshire puddings.
The German couple shook their heads as the waitress dressed in pyjamas came over and took their order. Spock pointed to the top of the menu and ordered two cold bottles of Tiger beer as they heard the patter of rain on the corrugated tin roof.
Spock and Stu watched the rain as the sudden downpour sent people outside scurrying for shelter.
Spock moved his stool as rain dripped on his head from a hole in the roof.
“I don’t think much of Vietnam,” said Stu frowning.
“Me neither,” said Spock wiping his head with a tissue.
Ten minutes later, the woman came with two steaming hot bowls of chunky meat broth with rice and a hot sticky roll of sweet coconut.
They tucked into the soup which tasted delicious and they ordered two more bottles of beer.
“This beef stew tastes great,” said Stu savouring the flavour.
“mm… mmm,” Spock mumbled, trying to gum down on the tender meat.
Vietnamese and foreigners chatted and Stu looked around the noisy market, furrowed his brow, and pointed for Spock to look.
“That’s different, they have a pet shop inside a food market,” said Stu chewing on a lump of meat as Spock turned around to look.
“They have a lot of dogs and they look mangey,” said Spock with chunks of kneaded meat in his gob.
“Look, they’ve sold one,” said Stu smiling as a Vietnamese woman lifted a dog out of a cage and took it around the back.
The German couple on the next table smiled and pointed to their empty bowls. They then pointed at the dogs and the man said. “We have just ordered another bowl.”
Stu looked horrified as he thought of old Chunky and what he’d just eaten. He spat out the lump he was chewing, took a swig of beer, and carried on spitting.
Spock smirked and carried on gumming the meat also thinking about Chunky, or rather, fricasseed Chunky.
After a boring evening and with Stu feeling disgusted, the drenched lads went back to Thran’s house early.
Stu couldn’t wait to leave Vietnam and wondered what they had been eating while at Thrans.
Although another shag-less night, they knew they would make up for it the following day when they got back to the land of smiles.