فصل 10

Chapter ten

Strange but True

I feel I should provide an account of how we all got back home. But it’s going to be brief because the story’s finished.

We talked a lot. That’s what I remember most, the talking. The first part of the journey - the night-time journey to the raft - was silent. But it was only because we were afraid of being heard by the guards. As soon as we’d left the island and were on our way, we opened our mouths and never shut them. The funny thing is, I can’t really remember what we talked about. Maybe because we talked about everything, maybe because we talked about nothing.

Because of my condition, I wasn’t much help, but the others managed the raft in pairs. A few hours after dawn broke, a fishing boat came to check who we were. After a bit of chat, they took us back to Ko Samui. It was extraordinary. They didn’t seem curious about what we were doing on a raft in the Gulf of Thailand. We were just another group of weird travellers to them.

On Ko Samui we needed money, so Keaty and I sold our watches. Then Etienne stole a wallet. The cash was enough to get us all back to Bangkok, talking all the way.

In Bangkok, the only thing left to do was to phone home. We took turns in a phone box on the Khao San Road. We were all crying by the time we’d finished.

Seventy-two hours later, we had air tickets and replacement passports from our embassies. The cuts on my body still felt bad as I was buying cigarettes at the airport. As soon as we boarded the plane, I felt OK.

At this exact moment, I’m sitting in front of a computer. At this exact moment, I’m typing this sentence. At this exact moment, it’s a year and a month since I flew out of Thailand.

I never saw Etienne and Francoise again. One day I will. It’s going to be by chance, but I know it’s going to happen because the world is a small place and Europe is even smaller.

I see Keaty and Jed all the time, and they see each other even more. This is strange but true: they both work at the same place. Different companies, same building.

What else?

About three months ago, maybe four, I read in a newspaper: Briton Caught Smuggling in Malaysia. A few nights later, I saw Cassie, one of the girls in the camp, on the news. She’d been arrested at Kuala Lumpur airport carrying drugs. So she must have got off the island. And some of the others must have escaped too. I’m curious to know which ones. I’m sure that Bugs stayed, and Sal. I just can’t stand the idea that they might turn up on my doorstep one day.

And me…?

I’m fine. I play video games. I smoke a little dope. I have bad dreams. I carry a lot of scars.

I like the way that sounds.

I carry a lot of scars.