The Girl Hunter – part 3

The Girl Hunter
a short fiction by Khmerbird

Part 3

Phal, an old friend of mine, who saved me on the other day, has called me for a drink at FFC. It was 7 pm in the lovely late evening in Phnom Penh city. I prefer leaving the office late due to the traffic jam. I hope one day we could do something about the traffic jam.

I was riding my bicycle passed the independent monument. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The Independent Monument was completely changed the visage. It was delighted all levels, with the water blowing in different colors. I was not the only one who was being surprised, a lot of people slow down at the round point, some people even has stopped and sat there, to watch the new look of Independent Monument.

The 54^th Independence Day was nearly coming …

I met Phal at the courtyard on the top of FFC. I like watching the river, especially this Mekong River. I don’t know why. From the exploitation notes of Henri MOUHOT to the River of Time of Jon Swain, I totally felt the same way that “Sometime a man can lose his heart to a place.”

- Hey! The beer is coming! (Phal shacked my shoulder and cut off my thinking)

- Oh thanks,

- You look not so good, work problem or boy-girl problem?

- How can you know? (I surprised)

- Wow you know what I am doing. I can read your face and know what you are thinking… oh no just kidding, ha ha ha … let’s drink first, Cheer!

Phal, he didn’t change a thing in him. He was always happy whatever happened. I remember he still could smile even the teacher caught him cheating in exams and asked him to stand up at the board for hours. Nothing doesn’t really matter to this man.

- What do you think about my proposal?

- I can’t, I don’t like working with them.

- What you mean you don’t like them? You work with me.

- I can’t forget the figure…

- Which figure?

- 2,756,941

- What is that numbers? 2,756,941 of what?

- 2,756,941 tons of bombs,

- You mean during the Lon Nol regime?

- Yeah, and I don’t like none of Breakfast, Lunch, Supper, Dinner, Dessert, and Snack operations.

- No, but your job is just a reporter. It’s just a night job, few pages to type and send that’s it!

- No, you should better find someone new. I don’t want to do it.

- OK … if you said so. I know you were so stubborn in class and now I still can see how stubborn you are, ha ha ha

- Ok, so forget it then,

- Ok, you need another beer?

- Yeah

- Two more beer please! (Phal ask the woman). So how about you? Are you married yet?

- No, not yet…

- Any girlfriend?

- I am not quite sure…

- Oh you are not quite sure coz you have many girls? You don’t know which one?

- No, I am quite sure if I could call her my girlfriend. We are not very close to each other. I tried to get close but she didn’t allow. Even so, she asked me to marry her.

- So why you are so sad, it’s a good news, isn’t it?

- No, coz I don’t even know her yet, how can I marry her?

- Oh come on! People get married, everybody gets married, and they don’t even know each other. I get married, you see, I didn’t know my wife either before the marriage. But it works like that you will see…

- No, I will not get married just to get married…

- Oh what you expect more? Whatever it will be the same…people get married, have children have grand children … and then die.

- How many children you have now?

- 2, two daughters, I will follow to have a son. They said I will not have a son, coz I was a girl hunter. But I am learning now, I will have a son,

- Ok, let’s drink for a son…

When I back home, I opened the messages from Collie and read them again and again. I really don’t know how to reply. She wrote I was the girl hunter, why not go to ask her parents to marry her, or at least get engaged. She believed I contacted with her was because I wanted to sleep with her. I asked if we could continue a bit until we know each other more and then we will see if the marriage is a good thing for both of us. But no, she asked me to choose whether get engaged or we stop seeing each other. She couldn’t have any relationship with a man without acknowledgment from her family. She did the right thing. There was nothing else to say, really.

To be continued…