Amor Fati

Waiting for my luggage at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok.  The man next to me is an unusual sight in these parts.  He is pure East LA Cholo; decked out in Dickies shorts, wife beater, knee-high white socks, and a Dodgers hat.  As I scan him, he gives me the "What's up homie?" nod.

-Long fuckn flight huh? The Vato asks.
-Yeah man.  Really fuckn long.
-You from LA?
-Yeah, Redondo Beach. 
-Cool man.
-How bout you?  I ask him.
-You know Monterey Park?
-Yeah man.  Been out there before.
-No.  For Reals?
-Yeah, dated a Mexican girl out there before.
-Cool
-First time in Bangkok?  I ask him.
-Nah man, this is my fourth trip this year.
-No shit?
-How bout you?  He asks.
-My third trip.  I got a lady out here.
-Don't we all, huh?  I fuckn hate American women.  He says
-I feel you man.  (I'm trying my best to channel my best Homie/Vato lingo, but I come across whiter than ever.  He is somewhat trying to channel West Side white boy.  We meet in the middle somewhere.)

-Seriously bro.  My girl is so fuckn good to me.  She's hot as fuck, and treats me like a king and shit. She's waitn for me outside.
-Me too.  I tell him

Having established our mutual disdain for American women, we wait in silence for our luggage.  I scan the Vato again, taking in his gang tattoos.  He did time in prison.  I can just tell.  Years of training Muay Thai to both cops and crooks I guess.

His teeth are clenched and he seems nervous as his bags arrive.  He waits for a few minutes, as though he's waiting for me, and then when mine arrive we begin walking together.  Vato seems wound up.  I start to deliberately lag behind and give him a wide berth as we approach the police x-ray machine.  He takes a deep breath and approaches the police.  The cops simply wave him on, and then wave me on too.  Relief seems to pass over him.  I ask the cops where the restroom is, and go to where they point.  Inside, Vato is running cold water over his shaved head.
We resume our talk on our way to the exit.

-Where you stayin?  He asks
-Bang Kapi, then Sisaket.
-Where's that?
-It's out in Butt Fuck Egypt.  I tell him
-Nothn wrong with the BFE man.  My lady's from way the fuck out there too.

The Vato's eyes light up.
-There's my girl.  He points

I look ahead at the faces in the arrival section.  It is a microcosm of Thailand itself:  Ordinary folks, business people, bar girls awaiting their time share boyfriends, and the ubiquitous ladyboy.  One girl looks like she got hit in the face with a shovel and tried to cover the wreckage with blue eye shadow.  She's the one who Vato is elated to see.
Vato gives Shovel Face a big hug.  She tenderly holds his face in her hands and gives him a "hom joop", or sniff kiss.  Vato introduces me to her, and I give her a wai.  It's hard to look at her face, lest a micro-expression of disgust crosses my face and fuck up my greeting.  I can't tell if she is deformed or was in some sort of accident.  Vato is a fairly handsome homie, and the two of them don't seem a likely pair.  Then again, I'm a fat fuck, and I still don't know what my girl sees in me.
The Vato and Shovel Face hold hands and walk with me until I see my lady. 
-There's my chick.  I say proudly, then feel like an asshole for my one-upmanship.

My girl is waiting for me in tight jeans, high heels, and a T-shirt depicting a monkey with his middle finger up.  Classy...
She opens her mouth before I can say anything.

-Oi!  I wait for so long.  You say plane come at ten o' cok.  Now it two o' cok in morning!  Why you make me come early if plane going to be late?
-I'm sorry baby.  I tell her.

She continues her greeting. 
-It very hot.  Now I tired and want to sleep already.  Hurry up.  We go now.  I don't eat dinner because I wait for you.
-I didn't eat dinner either.  I say.
-You fat.  You don't need dinner.
I move towards my girl for a hug, but she wiggles away from me.
-You stink.  She tells me.

I turn towards vato.  He has his arm around the waist of Shovel Face.  Their faces appear to be glowing.
-I'll leave you two alone.  Have a good trip bro.  He says.

We shake hands and then Vato leads Shovel Face out of the airport.
I turn back to my girl.
-Thanks.  I was going to inroduce you to a friend of mine from LA but you just start yelling at me and complaining as soon as I see you.
-That your friend?  My girl asks
-Yeah
-What he name?
-Ummm....his nickname is Vato
-He Mexico?
-Yeah, he Mexico.  I say.
-That he girlfriend?
-Yeah.  She very nice to him.  When she see him, she give him big hug and nice to him.  You just yell at me that you wait so long.

My girl shrugs.
-Ok.  You want to trade girlfriend with he?  Or you want to shut up and maybe I nice to you tomorrow?

I lower my head.  After a 17 hour flight, I know I can't win this.

-I guess I'll shut up and wait for you to be nicer to me tomorrow.  I say.
-OK.  Then let's get taxi and go hotel.  Maybe you lucky, and I don't make you sleep on floor tonight.

With that, we walk out of the airport and into the familiar heat of Thailand.  My girl begins telling a cab driver where to go in the Issan dialect.  I can see her skin has become darker since last time I saw her, from working on the farm.  I catch a glimpse of the flawless brown skin on her belly as her T-shirt with the fuck you monkey on it rises slightly.  I study her cheek bones, and her silky black hair.  The Screamin Jay Hawkins song "I put a spell on you"  pops into my head.

Inside the Taxi, my girl puts her legs across mine and falls asleep.  My sense of self is renewed.  I am a foot stool for all of the beauties that have come and gone in my life.  I think about Vato and shovel face, and the affection they had.  Then I watch my angry angel sleeping soundly.  Knowing full well that I have a good thing even when it's bad.