The Price of Pleasure: A Journey to Sumatra
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Tsing, their daughter, was born in Manila a few months later. Alex got mother and daughter settled in an apartment in a small city north of Manila. He hired a nanny to help Po care for Tsing. Then he went back to Hawaii to be with Leah.
Po was not happy. She complained about the nanny. She complained about the medical care. She complained about the apartment. She demanded that Alex come back to the Philippines to help her care for Tsing. Alex told her that he could not do that; his wife would divorce him if he returned to the Philippines just then. But he would get a friend to help her and Tsing move back to Manila.
The new apartment in Manila was conveniently located next to a shopping mall, but it was tiny. Po hired another nanny, but she had to live with Po and Tsing in the small apartment. This arrangement lasted for few months, and then Po went back to Sumatra with Tsing. On their arrival, Po’s parents told her that she and Tsing could not live with them. What would the neighbors think? She had to get married before they would even consider her request!
Po wanted Alex come to Sumatra to marry her in a Buddhist ceremony. He repeated that he was already married and that he would not divorce Leah. One of his friends suggested that a Buddhist wedding ceremony might not be a valid marriage. After Alex determined that it would not be a legal marriage, he told Po that he would do what she had asked him to do. Then Po told Alex that they needed to have a wedding reception.
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The Price of Pleasure - J. William Sanford
Hawaii]
Preface
This story is based on a trip which a friend and I took to Sumatra a few years ago. Shortly after I returned home from the journey, I described it to Duke Dickerson, a close friend. Duke thought it was a fascinating story about the price of pussy.
Duke also thought that it would make a great book, and that I should write it. A few weeks later I started writing and soon I had a draft done. I showed it to a few people, including a high school friend, Kathleen Hamilton, who once taught high school English.
Kathleen liked the story, but she said that my writing needed some editing and that she would do it for me. She made many excellent suggestions, which I incorporated into the next drafts. Kathleen has a webpage on which she offers her editorial services under the name One Sparrow Technical Writing and Editing Services: http://onesparrow.info.
This book would not have been written, but for my travel companion, whom I call Alex in the book, Duke and Kathleen. I thank them.
J. William Sanford
Itasca County, Minnesota
July, 2013
Who has not known a journey to be over and dead before the traveler returns? The reverse is also true; many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased. —John Steinbeck Travels with Charley in Search of America
I. Home Again! [Late June, 2011. Hawaii]
The first thing I did when I got back to Honolulu was to buy a new Blackberry. Now I understand why they have been called Crackberries.
In my youth I had spent months traveling overland the length of Africa, south to north; during that trip, I had not been in contact with anyone by telephone or mail. This had not bothered me then. It would bother me now! Times have changed; I have changed.
Alex had asked me not to call Leah for a week or so after I got back to Hawaii. He even had tried to coach me on the answers that I should give her. I told him that I would tell her the truth, but I would not volunteer information. I had already told her that I was planning to return home to Hawaii earlier than I had first expected, because I had decided to go to my high school class reunion in Minnesota. It seems that Alex had told Leah that I would be getting back later than I had planned. I did not call her.
About a week later, I ran into a mutual friend at a local grocery store. There is only one proper shopping center in the town where Alex and I live, plus a few big-box retail stores including K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Costco. It is not unusual to run in to people you know.
The next day I got a call from Leah. She asked me how long I had been back. I told her for a few days, but I had been resting up from the trip. She asked me when Alex was coming home. I did not know. Leah told me that their family had a trip to New York planned for September. I told her that Alex had mentioned the trip to New York and I was sure that he would be back in time for that. I also told her that Alex had liked Sumatra and it was very cheap to stay there. And that he had some friends who were looking after him. This was all true. I like Leah and I did not want to lie to her. But now Leah had more questions. Lots more.
Where did you stay in Sumatra?
We stayed in a cheap hotel. Alex and I shared double rooms. The first room was only $25.00 a night, but it had no windows. We later moved into a double room with windows for which we paid $35.00 a night. The rooms were very modest, but clean and there was a good restaurant across the street from the hotel.
Where did you stay in Manila?
We stayed near the airport in something like a condo hotel. It was near a shopping center, but I don’t remember the name.
Did someone pick you up at the airport when you arrived?
Yes, Sammy.
She knows Sammy.
Does Alex have a wife in Manila?
I was quite sure that he did not.
Did you stay in Singapore?
she asked.
No. We did have a 7-hour layover between flights, but we did not go into the city.
Does Alex have a wife in Singapore? I know that he did have a girlfriend there.
I don’t think so. No one met us there and he did not make any calls while we were in the Singapore Airport.
I had called my son Mike from the airport and talked with him for a while. This was all true.
Alex hasn’t called me once while he’s been on that trip. I only got one email that he sent on your Blackberry.
I explained that it was very difficult to find internet cafes on Sumatra and our hotel did not have internet service for guests. I was using my Blackberry on a wireless network at the restaurant where we usually ate dinner. Then my Blackberry had died, so I was out of contact too.
Should I divorce Alex?
I didn’t know. I’ve been divorced twice and I had had a lot of difficulty deciding these questions for myself. Leah said that she couldn’t live that way, wondering where Alex is, wondering what he is doing, wondering if he is okay, and knowing that he has girlfriends.
We said our goodbyes and hung up. I was relieved. I had not lied to Leah; she had not asked me the right questions.
Leah called me again several days later and asked me if I had heard from Alex since my return. No, I hadn’t. This too was the truth.
II. Alex Returns [Early September, 2011. Hawaii]
I finally heard from Alex. He called me from the Honolulu Airport. He was home. Have you talked to Leah since you got back home? What was said?
Yes, I had talked with her a few times. No, I had not told her about Wati, the baby or the wedding.
III. The Best Laid Plans…[August 2010. Hawaii]
I had long wanted to go to Romania. My ex-wife, Linda, and I once flew into the Frankfurt Airport in Germany with reservations to rent a car and drive there. The lady at the car rental agency told me that whatever Auto Europe had told us, I was not allowed to take the car to Romania. Verboten,
she had said.
A few years ago I spent weeks browsing travel guidebooks and websites to plan a trip to Romania and Bulgaria. In May of 2010, I bought a ticket for a British Airway flight to London’s Heathrow Airport, to continue to Bucharest. Then I started seeing ugly news reports about labor strife at British Airways. Then there was a strike at London’s Heathrow Airport, where I was to land, of the airport service personnel. Then a volcano erupted in Iceland, spewing volcanic ash throughout Europe, causing airports everywhere in Western Europe to close. My sister Linda, who lives on the Mainland, told me my trip to Romania was jinxed. With cooperation from British Airway and a tour company in Sofia, I postponed the trip to the following September.
In August, about a month before my re-scheduled departure, I was sitting on the sofa in my living room on a Saturday afternoon, trying to make a reservation at a local restaurant from my cell phone. Suddenly vision on the entire right side blacked out. Dr. Floral, my primary care doctor, is normally a mild-mannered man, but he quickly became agitated and got me an appointment with my ophthalmologist. The ophthalmologist and I agreed that the problem was not with my eyesight per se, as the right side of the spectrum was affected regardless of which eye was open or closed. He too got agitated and he passed me on to a neurologist. The neurologist also got excited; he told me that I had had a stroke. He sent me straight to the emergency room.
It was a stroke
of luck that my friend, Dr. Monty, was on duty that day. After many tests, he concluded that yes, I had had a stroke, but not much beyond my vision had been affected. He thought I might be