Kit:Coming Thursday, Kit, Ben and Earth decided to meet up at a fancy café instead of their usual roadside PaThey were certain that whoever was spying on them would be there as well, not wanting to pass up the opportunity to observe them “unaware”.
P’Kim and P’First had already oriented them on what to do, with P’Kim fretting more than the latter. “Do not“Yes, P’Kim, you said that more than five times already,” Kit had said, his patience wearing thin. He knew P’Kim just wanted to ensure their safety, but, hell, he didn’t have to keep reminding Kit to run away at the first sign of danger!
What’s worse was that he and Ben had to mug up the entire layout of the restaurant from the blueprint that the mafia dons had somehow managed to secure. How? Neither of the boys had any idea and they didn’t want to ask either.
“It never hurt anyone to be careful,” P’Kim had said with a shrug.
“What kind of behavior…exactly…should we be looking out for?” Ben had asked. “It would help if we knew which behaviors were shady.”
“Right” P’First had nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Shady, huh? Well, try to look for the obvious indicators. Anyone who might be trying too hard to look nondescript or conceal their face. Maybe anyone who’s wearing sunglasses on the inside and insists on keeping them. Or someone who is wearing clothing that is meant to hide their identity. Especially hoodies. Thailand heat shouldn’t be a good place for hoodies.”
“What else?” Ben had insisted. “I mean… if those are the obvious trades and we’re dealing with someone experienced, then shouldn’t they be aware not to make the obvious mistakes?”
P’First had made a thoughtful noise. “Sometimes, they would be confident that you won’t recognize them the next time they spy on you, so they let you see their face in order to shake off your suspicion. Honestly, I don’t think this person will be someone known to you, so they would try to sit as close to you as possible so they could eavesdrop on your conversation. The best thing to do would be sitting at a corner where you’d have one less side to worry about. As for the other three sides, divide and conquer. Each of you can keep an eye on the nearby tables to see if someone is sitting a bit too close for comfort. ”
“Alright. Got it. Thank you, that was helpful.”
“Don’t forget to keep this a secret,” P’Kim had warned. “Do not tell Earth or Prem.”
“Don’t worry about Prem; he won’t be there,” Kit had said. “We’re trying to keep him out of everything entirely.”
“Ah. That’s good news. It’s better to keep as many people out of the loop as possible.”
*
But when Kit and Ben strolled up to the restaurant they were surprised to see Prem sitting by the table with Earth, waiting to greet them.
“Prem. You’re here.” Kit couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice, though he forced what he hoped was a genuine-looking smile.
“I met him by accident today,” Earth admitted. “And it’s been a while since we all got together, so I decided to invite him over for lunch as well. Sorry if it’s a little short notice.”
“No, no. It’s fine. We don’t mind at all; why should we? Right, Kit?” Ben chimed in, to which Kit nodded.
“Yeah?” Prem muttered to himself. He seemed quite upset about being left out of their plans, and if he was trying to hide it, he was failing miserably.
Kit felt bad. They weren’t trying to intentionally leave him out of their plans. In fact, they were only trying to protect him since out of all of them; he’s the one who’s got everything to lose once he gets involved. But Kit tried to see it from his perspective anyway, and understood why he was upset.
“Prem, you’re misunderstanding us.” Kit tried to salvage the situation. “It’s just that you seemed to be busy with the inauguration of your dad’s new hospital recently, so we never know when you would be available. Just like how you weren’t able to join us for the dinner the other night. So we didn’t want to impose on your responsibilities.”
“And since your birthday’s coming up, we were planning for a surprise party,” Earth piped up, then his eyes widened. “...which I guess is no longer a surprise. Dammit.”
“Earth!” Ben scolded jokingly. “You ruined it!”
“Oops, sorry,” Earth said sheepishly. “Oh, well. Uh…” He looked around and waved his hand when his eyes met with a waiter’s. “Sir, we’re ready to order.”
Kit laughed as the waiter approached. “Really smooth, Earth. The waiter isn’t going to save you from an ass-whooping late.”
“Sleep with two eyes open, Earth,” Ben growled. But then he flipped the menu open and asked calmly, “Anyway, what do you guys want to order?”
Prem laughed, his earlier irritation forgotten.
Once their food had arrived, Prem shifted his attention to Ben. “What happened that night?” he asked. “I never got around to asking. Did you get hurt badly?”
“Nah,” Ben said, shaking his hand dismissively. “It just looks worse than how it actually is. It’s just as the others told you; a bottle of beer fell to the floor and I accidentally got some shards embedded on me. Up until now, I’m still unsure if I’m the careless one, or if Earth is just stupid.”
“Hey! Why me?”
Prem bought the explanation with a nod, and Kit almost let out an audible sigh of relief. He silently thanked that Prem wasn’t the inquisitive type; he could get quite curious, but he also knew when to drop things.
As they further enjoyed their meal, the expected finally happened: Prem’s phone rang. They all exchanged knowing glances and Prem sighed in exasperation as he answered the call.
“Yes, father?” He tried to mask the annoyance in his tone. He paused to listen. “Alright. I’ll be there.”
“What is it this time?” Kit asked as he shoved a forkful of potato in his mouth.
“He’s opening another branch of the hospital in Sathon district, and he wants me in his office to discuss some of the details.” Prem sighed again. “Well, I guess, you were right not to invite me the first time. I’ll just handle the bill to make up for it. It’s been nice to catch up with you guys even for just a while; let’s do this again next time when I’m not so busy, yeah?”
Ben nodded and offered him a smile. “Oh, don’t worry about it. You should listen to your father now, so we can enjoy the Chiang Mai trip to the fullest. How’s that sound?”
The dejected-looking Prem broke out into a grin. “You’re right. That’s one way of looking at it.” He waved a waiter over and asked for the bill, which was presented to him in a foldable clipboard, where he slid his card in without even looking at the receipt. “Let them finish their meal, but I’ll be going first, so just hand my card to either of them when I’m gone.”
When the waiter walked away, they all exchanged their goodbyes and “see you later’s”, and off Prem went.
“Nai“It’s nothing,” Earth said, waving a hand. “I’m always happy to help; you know I’d do anything for you guys.” Then his smiling exterior faded. “But… you know, after Ben mentioned it, I’m kinda worried about the Chiang Mai trip. I mean, should we really be doing it? Despite everything going on? Is it still safe? We don’t know what will happen.”
Kit didn’t know what to say to that, because he hadn’t really been prepared for the question. But thankfully, Ben came to his rescue.
“Actually, P’Kim and P’First were the ones who told us that getting out of town will be a good thing,” he said. “We’ll be out of harm’s way, and that gives the two of them ample time to catch the culprit without having to worry about any innocent people getting hurt.”
Earth nodded slowly. “Ah. I see… I guess that makes sense.”
At that, Kit and Ben shared a subtle look, glad that they were able to convince Earth that easily. They had expected this to be a lot more difficult, but they were glad everything was finally falling into place.
However, what both Ben and Kit had failed to notice, while they were trying to cover up the shock of Prem’s unexpected appearance, that the table next to them was indeed occupied by a man wearing a black hoodie, and as Prem left, he subtly left the area as well, without any of the boys noticing what was happening around them…