You See Me

Chapter 7: Max

I’m officially Lilith’s babysitter which so far means that I have to put up with her mood that changes like the weather. Munya has established himself as the golden boy of the camp being able to do anything except combine hydrogen and oxygen to make water. I guess I wouldn’t mind being Lilith’s caretaker as much if it didn’t come with Karen following us around everywhere like a lovestruck sea urchin. Maybe it was a mistake to sleep with her and she does expect more from me.

Since we’re building a garden we spend most of our time in the fields lately. Lilith has become pretty adapt at doing the garden work. I work close to her so that I can check if there any dangerous things close to her. Fortunately there are no more snakes around her that can hurt her. Dr. Nadine says that in general the snakes don’t come out until the night except after winter when it initially gets warm and they want to the get the sun or after it’s rained.

Munya has pretty much done twenty beds all by himself while everyone else is on their second bed. I cannot keep up with his supermanliness and I’m getting grateful that I’m looking after Lilith because that gives me an excuse to not be able to keep up with him even if it comes with Karen constantly around. She’s a nice enough girl in small doses but she can get seriously irritating with her constant chatter. Whatever stereotype that I had about Germans has been broken by her. The stoic and strong silent type that we all grew up thinking of is a lie.She is just too energetic and way too talkative. Not bad, but definitely not my type even though she’s nice enough. Not Lilith’s type either because I can tell that she’s getting irritated by her as well and she’s not as discreet about it. I can tell that Lilith’s sharp rebukes hurt Karen. But Karen just lets her stabbing words run off her like water off a duck’s back

Doing all of this makes me forget why I’m here in the first place. My parents have not yet contact me…not even to check if I arrived safely and I’m currently not allowed to be in contact with anyone except them and Patrick. At night when I (Sort of) have time alone and I can hide under the blanket that I share with Munya I can messae Patrick. He’s just arrived back in England and settled into his apartment. He doesn’t have to stay in student accommodation anymore. I wish sometimes that I didn’t have a room mate so that I could call Patrick and have really honest conversations with him.

That night after Lilith ‘accidentally’ hits me with her cane and ‘accidentally’ trips me because I tried to help her shell the peanuts I receive a call from my mother.

“I have bad news,” she tells me in Thai.

“Hi to you too mother,” I respond to her in Thai. “I’ve settled in quite well thank you,”

“The little boy died this morning,” she tells me. I freeze and get out of the blankets. Munya looks up from the opposite end of the bed.

“Is everything alright?” He asks.

“I have to take this call outside,” I tell him.

“I thought that you would have a private room once Patrick had left,” my mom says in English. Probably hoping that whoever is there with me hears.

“Mom, the boy died,” I hiss to her in Thai. “I don’t even remember what happened and whether I did it or not. Mom you have to believe me,” I hear my mom sigh as I begin to panic. I have a sudden urge to throw up and begin to hurl in the nearby bushes.

“Get yourself together Max,” my mother tells me. “There’s nothing that has come out in the papers yet and the police have been sworn to silence while investigations are going on,”

“People will think I’m like the Red Bull heir because I left the country,” I hiss to her in Thai. I feel tears sting my eyes. When I had been in the hospital soon after the incident I had snuck out of my room one night to see the little boy. He had been in his hospital bed with bandages covering his entire body and on life support. I had sat on his bedside for two hours and realised that he wasn’t being given the same care that I was. Even though I was nowhere near the bad shape that he was in, nurses came into my room every five minutes but I sat there for two hours and no one came to check on him. His parents wouldn’t even be allowed into the ward until the morning. Nurses eventually did come…but they were for me. They had been frantically looking for me all over the place. I had wanted to give the boy a…something…money, a scholarship, a trip to Disneyland…anything…anything to make up for the lack of attention that his life was being given.

“You know that our rivals will try to reach you to try and incriminate you. You…” My mom begins.

“…trust anyone,” I say finishing the sentence for her. Her mantra that she has drilled into my head since I was an infant. Life in the cut-throat business world where all relationships are fake and beneficial including marriage…actually especially marriages. My mom cuts off the call to take a business call because that’s obviously more important than the fact that I might be going to jail for something that I don’t even remember doing. I rub my forehead and sigh.

“Bad night?” I hear Lilith ask me. I jump and turn to find her seated against a tree. I scowl.I’m glad the she can’t see me.

“It’s really none of your business,” I tell her. She shrugs. “And let me take you back to your hut, you know that its dangerous under trees and at night there are way more snakes,” I pick her up by the arm and she doesn’t complain. I take her back to her hut.

“Good night,” I tell her.

“Trust no one,” she responds. I pause and look at the door for a long time after she enters. Then I realise that there’s no way that she speaks Thai and I walk back to my hut.

“Serious call?’ Munya asks me as I enter. He’s got a candle on and is reading a comic on his phone. I shake my head.

“Just my mom checking up on me,”

Ha, I wish.

* * *