Kinnporsche, Volume 4, page 21
“Young Master, I’ll take you to the bathroom. Let’s go,” Pete said, about to reach Khun. The closer he got, the harder Khun trembled.
“He must not know he’s dead.” Kim turned to Kinn, who’d finally succeeded in peeling my arms and legs off of him.
“Wait here,” Kinn told me. “I’ll go help Khun first.”
I stayed slumped on the floor, my limbs limp and my mind a muddle. The scene in front of me was so terrifying that I thought I might pass out. I’d never thought I’d see a ghost with my own two eyes. I couldn’t believe this shit was happening to me!
“Kinn, don’t go!” I tried to reach out to Kinn, but he had already run off to help Khun, whose chanting had progressed into loud wails.
“Mr. Kinn, I’m back,” Pete said, moving toward Kinn.
Everyone inside started yelling.
“Khun, come on!” Kinn tugged at his brother’s wrist to pull him along. Just as Kinn was about to yank his wobbly-legged older brother off the ground, Pete stared at them like he was upset by what he saw.
“Mr. Kinn, Young Master? I’m back now,” he said.
“Pete…we’ll make merit for you.” Kinn was pale as he pulled Khun into his arms. Khun looked like he’d gone completely nuts; he had his hands clasped together, and he was mumbling complete nonsense.
Pete looked confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Tell him, Kinn! He doesn’t know!” Kim yelled. I glared at him.
“Why don’t you tell him?!” I yelled back. Why the hell are you telling Kinn to do it? If he gets haunted to death, I’m going to kill you, Kim! And don’t think I don’t see how you’ve been hugging my little brother and hiding behind Nont!
“Kinn’s luck is better than mine! Tell him, Kinn!”
“Pete,” Kinn said, hauling Khun backward toward the house. “You’re dead. Be at peace.”
“Really? I’m dead?” Pete touched his own face and began to inspect himself.
“Pete, we love you, but you don’t have to appear so clearly before us!” Arm shouted, giving Pete a wai.
“Wait! When did I die?” Pete furrowed his brow, muttering something to himself. “Vegas wouldn’t have killed me… Or was I already dead, and Vegas wouldn’t let me out…? What do I do?” He seemed to be lost in thought.
I saw Kinn pause before he grabbed Khun and ran inside, throwing Khun to a waiting Kim. The bodyguards stuffed a statue of Buddha into Khun’s hands as he mumbled incoherent chants.
Kinn walked back outside, and I called after him, “Kinn, where are you going? Kinn!”
“Mr. Kinn, I’m not dead yet… I just escaped…from the Minor Clan,” Pete sighed. With every step Kinn took, the men inside the house yelled out.
“Argh! Kinn! I told you to get inside!” I shouted. No matter how much I wanted to get up and run over to grab my lover’s hand, I couldn’t do it; it was like my body refused to respond.
“Pete! We just cremated you today, and you’re saying—” Kinn left a bit of distance between himself and Pete. He put on a brave face, but he was clearly afraid as he cautiously stared at the man in front of him.
“Cremated me? Today?” Pete pointed at himself. Kinn slowly nodded. He still looked like he had questions, but his fearful expression began to calm.
“Really? But I woke up normally today. I wouldn’t really call it waking up because I barely slept, but I ate rice soup in the morning and Vegas said he was going out… Am I dead? Then who was Vegas talking to?” Pete still sounded lost. I could barely make sense of what he was saying.
Kinn looked Pete up and down incredulously. “Pete…you’re really here?”
“Pretty sure I’m not dead… I just escaped from the Minor Clan’s house, Mr. Kinn. Here, you can touch me to see if I’m solid,” he said, offering his arm to Kinn.
“Don’t do it, Kinn!” Kim shouted. “You’re gonna get haunted! The ghost is trying to trick you!”
“Ithipiso… Namo tassa… Namo,” Khun’s glassy-eyed chanting cut in.
“Pete… Shit!” Before I could yell out a warning to Kinn, he reached out to grab Pete’s arm. His expression immediately changed into one of relief.
“Kinn!” I cried out in alarm.
“Are you all right? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Kinn babbled. He grabbed Pete’s wrist and dabbed at the blood there with his own shirt.
Pete showed a relieved smile. “Mr. Kinn… I’m fine.”
“I thought I would carry that guilt for the rest of my life… Shit! Thank you for coming back.” Kinn looked like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Kinn, you’re getting haunted,” Kim insisted.
Kinn turned around to happily shout, “Everyone! Pete’s not dead!”
“Pete!”
Pol, Arm, Nont, and the rest swarmed around Pete, overjoyed.
“Dead, dead, we’re dead!” Kim groaned. “Everyone’s getting haunted.”
“Stop trying to stir up trouble, Kim,” said Chay. “Are you asking for a kick? You can see that Pete’s not a ghost.” He broke away from Kim and ran over to Pete.
I finally came to my senses. If Pete really was a ghost, he probably wouldn’t be smiling and talking with us and letting us hug him. Even if he does look like a ghost. He’s covered in blood!
Chay led Pete inside with Kinn following behind them. I couldn’t really explain how I felt—I’d gone from being so scared I couldn’t lift a finger to being utterly relieved. My heart was finally put at ease, and so was Kinn’s.
“Porsche?” Pete said.
I pushed myself upright and threw my arms around him.
“Fuck! Where were you?!” I hugged Pete tightly, my heart racing in excitement. The flicker of hope that had gone out suddenly shone brightly again.
“I missed you so fucking much,” Pete said, hugging me back.
“I was so scared, you bastard! Are you okay?” I pulled away to inspect him.
“I…”
“Namo tassa…” Khun chanted.
“Before everyone gets all sappy, come take a look at this guy. His spirit’s probably left for the next world already. ‘Namo’… what? Is it ‘tassa’?” Kim laughed and sat down next to Khun, pretending to pray with him.
“Go to him. Go,” I told Pete, patting him on the shoulder. He walked over to Tankhun and carefully squatted down in front of him.
Tears spilled down Khun’s cheeks. “Namo…”
“Young Master…I’m not dead.” Pete took the Buddha statue from Khun’s lap and placed it next to him. Khun froze, then looked up at Pete with watery eyes.
“Pete! Pete!” Khun bawled, throwing himself at him.
“I’m here now, Young Master,” Pete said.
Khun kept holding on as Pete let out a long sigh. Pete looked quite relieved to be hugging Khun.
“I was so afraid… I thought I’d never see you again,” Khun managed to say through his sobs and sniffles.
“I’m here now,” Pete said, stroking Khun’s back in soothing motions. Khun’s whole body shuddered with the force of his sobs.
“You’re really back, right?” Khun wailed. “Don’t leave me again… I won’t let you!”
“Who’s making all this noise?!” Mr. Korn demanded as he strode out of his office. He was momentarily taken aback at the sight of the newcomer, but in the end, he just let out a sigh. “Pete! When did you get here? You almost gave me a heart attack,” he said, smiling.
Pete pulled away from Tankhun to greet Mr. Korn with a wai. “Still alive, sir.”
“Come, let’s have a seat and talk properly. And will someone hurry up and get rid of this burnt smell?” Mr. Korn chased everyone else away. The smoke had cleared up a fair bit, but the odor still lingered in the house.
We all gathered in the foyer—Kinn and me, Khun, Kim, Chay, Mr. Korn, P’Chan, Pol, and Arm. Everyone else split up to do their jobs, some procuring fans and air fresheners, others putting out the fires in the metal cans.
“Here… Your ashes are still warm. We cremated you earlier this evening.” Khun smiled and handed the urn to Pete, who received it with a confused expression. “And this is your picture. I picked it out myself…” Khun handed him the memorial photo, complete with Pete’s date of death.
Pete set both down on the coffee table. “So, who did you cremate?”
Khun stared at the urn curiously. “You’re right… Who is this? We put on such a big funeral; I spared no expense—a hundred grand per day—we sure fed the guests well!”
“Ahh… Don’t tell me the funeral you held was for me and not Uncle Pong?” Pete asked. His question left everyone confused. He gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath, “Vegas, you tricked me…”
“You knew about the funeral?” Kinn asked from his seat opposite Pete.
Pete was silent for a moment before he answered, “Yes.”
Kinn eyed him in surprise.
“Who’s Uncle Pong?” Khun asked.
“It’s nothing…”
“Can you believe it?” Kim said, smiling. “We had fish maw soup, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall,23 imported Japanese scallops… The guests were really impressed.”
Pete’s eyes went wide in surprise. “You did all of that?”
“Yeah, and that’s not all,” Khun said with a nervous laugh. He scratched his chin awkwardly before his expression turned serious. “We just saw your grandparents off on their flight back.”
“Grandpa and Grandma know about this? No, no, no, no! What do we do? Won’t they be shocked?” Pete was freaking out like this was the end of the world.
Mr. Korn sighed. “Kinn, deal with his grandparents,” he ordered.
Kinn nodded. “I’ll sort it out myself, Pete. Though I don’t think you should call them right away. I’ll slowly broach the subject to them tomorrow morning. If you call them now with no warning, they might not be able to handle it.”
Everyone agreed. If Pete called them now, his grandparents might drop dead from the shock!
“Grandpa and Grandma… By now, they’ll…”
“I’ll take responsibility for everything that has happened,” Kinn said quickly, trying to put Pete at ease. “Don’t worry.”
If I were Pete’s grandparents, I’d hop on the next flight to Bangkok, grab the biggest stick I could find, and beat the ever-loving shit out of these Major Clan fuckwits. They literally just finished cremating their grandson, and now you want to call and say, ‘Oops, just kidding! Pete’s not actually dead!’ Hell, I want to beat their stupid asses myself!
“I’ll have to leave that to you, Mr. Kinn,” Pete said. “So why did everyone think I was dead?” he asked as Pol and Arm helped tend to his injuries. They wiped away all the blood and patched up the wound on his wrist, which looked kind of suspicious. Kinn must have felt the same way because he stared straight at it with wide eyes.
“It’s all because of P’Chan… It’s P’Chan’s fault,” Khun said.
P’Chan pointed at himself. “Me?”
“Yes. P’Chan said they found a corpse on the outskirts of the Minor Clan’s territory,” Khun said, vexed. “The body had the Major Clan’s crest in his wallet, a business card with your name on it, and he wore a stainless-steel ring on his middle finger, like you.”
“Huh? Really…? Hmm…” Pete glanced at his left hand, currently devoid of any ring. “Was it Thom?”
Pete’s statement intrigued us all: “Huh?”
“Thom. He quit last month…said he was going to work for another company. When he quit, I gave him my card so he could call if he had any problems…”
“Thom…Thom… Oh! Thom, who used to be your lackey for a while?” Khun recalled. Pete nodded.
“That’s right!” said Arm, seeming to slowly remember. “Thom used to say, ‘Pete is so cool, Pete is so handsome.’ Pete was his idol, remember? He wore a ring like you.”
“Uh-huh,” said Pete. “I bought a ring while we were out one day, and he bought one to copy me. I already stopped wearing mine because it was so itchy.”
“What…? Why didn’t you tell me?! Arm!” Khun pointed an accusing finger at Arm.
“I really didn’t think of it until now,” Arm said.
“So this is all a big misunderstanding?” Mr. Korn asked, eyebrows raised.
Pete looked down at the urn sadly. “Oh… So this is really Thom?”
“Enough, enough. Don’t jump to conclusions yet,” Mr. Korn said. “We’ll have Chan investigate first to make sure it’s not someone else. That way, there won’t be any further issues.”
“I’ll personally check if there’s any hidden agenda behind his death,” P’Chan said. “If it really is Thom, we need to be certain this was not a targeted attack on the clan.”
“I nearly cried myself to death,” Khun muttered darkly.
“He was probably taken out by a rival of his new company,” Kim suggested. “Don’t think about it too much, Pete. It’s a good thing that nothing happened to you.”
“Think of it this way—you’ve suffered for your karma, and now you’re done with it, P’Pete,” Chay said, helping Pol dress Pete’s wounds with cotton gauze.
“And the Minor Clan…what did they do to you?” Kinn asked, staring searchingly at Pete. He looked like he still had a multitude of questions—and there seemed to be something he was too afraid to ask. When Pete noticed how intently Kinn was looking at him, he tugged the collar of his shirt shut and avoided his gaze.
I could tell that something was off. Pete had no other marks or signs of a beating except for the wound on his left wrist and the faint marks on his neck and chest. I didn’t want to say for certain that they were…
“Vegas,” Khun said. “It was Vegas, right? What did he do to you—tell me! I’ll take care of him personally.” He clenched his fists and banged them on the table, his eyes determined and flashing with rage.
“Just let him be,” Pete mumbled meekly. “I’m fine.”
“What did he do?! Lock you up? Did he starve you?” Tankhun asked. “Actually…you look like you’ve gotten fatter. You’re looking kinda chubby.”
I agreed with Tankhun there. On the outside, Pete looked pretty healthy, if neater and cleaner than normal. He didn’t even have his typical stubble.
“It’s… I…” Pete stammered, looking pretty damn awkward about it all.
“Hmph! I’ll kidnap Macau! Or Vegas, too, and torture them like he tortured you, how’s that? Those monsters!” Khun spat, anger laced in every word, ready to act as Pete’s vengeful shadow.
“All right, it’s getting late,” Mr Korn cut in. “Let Pete get some rest. We can discuss what steps we’ll take tomorrow.” I had to agree with Mr. Korn. Pete looked miserable; his eyes were gloomy, and he clearly had a lot on his mind.
“Pete, do you want to go to the hospital?” Kinn asked. “I’ll take you.”
“No, Mr. Kinn. I’m fine, really,” Pete insisted.
Khun squeezed himself between Pete and Arm and clung to them both. “Come sleep in my room tonight, yeah? I’m scared I’ll wake up and you’ll have disappeared again, Pete!”
Pete gently patted Khun’s hand. “But I’m back now.”
“I don’t know why, but I want you with me. Pol and Arm too,” Tankhun whined, showing his spoiled side. Everyone else shook their heads at his bratty behavior.
It was Mr. Korn who pulled Khun away from Pete and urged him up to his bedroom. “Khun! Let Pete rest! Stop making trouble,” he said. “Go. You’re all dismissed.”
“As for this urn…I’ll have to ask you to deal with this, Arm,” Kinn said. “For now, we can put it in the Buddha room.”24
Kinn grabbed my hand, tugging me away from the foyer. I felt lighter than I’d ever felt before; the painful images that had overlapped with the day I lost my parents now slowly faded. In my heart, a hope that I’d never dared to hope for made itself known. Although I knew there would be no miracles for my parents like there had been with Pete, it was like I’d finally unlocked something in my heart. Things were coming to light that I’d kept hidden in the dark for so long.
I slowly sat down on the bed and carefully dragged my fingers through my hair. After going through so much misery, I needed answers about one more tragedy…the death of my parents.
I pulled out a photo from my wallet. It was the one Uncle Thee had stuffed into my hand this afternoon after all those ambiguous words…
[EARLIER]
“Oh… How’s it going, nephew?”
“Uncle Thee…” I froze at the sight of a man I hadn’t seen for a long, long time: Uncle Thee, my only remaining relative besides my little brother.
Uncle Thee was skin and bones, dirty and ragged; there was no trace of the clean-cut businessman he once was.
“Why did you break into my house, Uncle?” I demanded, lowering the stick in my hand.
“You changed the locks. I was hoping to find a place to rest, but I couldn’t get in, so I had to break open the door,” he said, not at all apologetically.
“And why are you here, Uncle?” Chay asked, eyeing Uncle Thee warily.
“Aww…Chay, can’t I miss the two of you…? By the way, are you two not staying here anymore? Did you move out or sell it? There’s nothing left.”
“What else do you want, Uncle? There’s been nothing left here for ages,” I said, staring at him in disgust.
“Heh… Of course. You already packed everything up to go live with the Major Clan. Both brothers—your lives must be quite comfortable. Mr. Korn treats you well, huh? Or, no, I should say Kinn and Kim treat you well… But, that’s to be expected, since you’ve already sold your bodies to them…”
I scowled at Uncle Thee. He must’ve been keeping tabs on us the entire time he’d been gone—otherwise, how would he know all this?
“Uncle! What are you saying?!” Chay tried to lunge at Uncle Thee, but I held him back.
“Oh, did that hit a nerve? Your father and mother would be so proud. Both brothers know what’s good for them, and they’ll do whatever it takes to survive another day. You’re doing all right for yourselves, huh? If you’re gonna bag one, you might as well bag a rich one,” Uncle Thee sneered.
