"You aren't an addict. If your body really wanted it, you wouldn't
have been able to resist it for over 24 hours. Still, even though this
is noble and good, you don't want to walk away from your friends."
"I know."
"What did you do this afternoon?"
"I went to fly a kite near Wat Phra Kaeo."
"Do you mean you masturbated in the temple housing the Emerald
Buddha? I mean that's fine if it is true. Surely another person or
two over the past two or three centuries has done that also. All the
same, please refrain from using Thai slang. You don't want to sound
like a dummy when you talk to me."
"No, I mean it literally, Ajarn," said Jatupon. Ajarn meant
"respected teacher." "I went to the area outside of the Grand Palace
in Sanam Luang. In front of the golden and pointed domes of the
entrance there is an oval football field of dirt. The radio mentioned
that hundreds of boys and girls were flying kites there. I was
planning to buy a kite and fly mine with the hundreds that were soaring
next to each other but there was no one my age doing that."
"Neither a boy nor a man: what an awkward state to be in. Anyhow,
so you wanted to fly a kite near the golden pagodas and cupolas of the
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo but you didn't do so. I assume it was
more for lack of money. Is that right? Is that all? I can't imagine
why you would think that you could use money for such extravagances
considering your present predicament."
"I had some. I always get some."
"How?"
"I go through Kazem's pockets when he is asleep."
"Do you mean you steal it?"
"Not really. He knows I do it. It is kind of like a little
game...sort of."