“I’m all in.” With those words Nok proclaimed both her faith in her hand and her faith in her good fortune. She pushed all the chips she had left into the middle of the table. Then she sat back and fingered the good fortune amulet hanging around her neck. Rubbing for it’s magic.

Jack, squinted at her across the table and then slowly, confidently pushed across a stack of chips to match her bet.

“Well, it took all night but it seems the girl’s developed a set of balls.”

The other players –only two others left of the group of eight starting twelve hours ago –sat back to see how the night would end. The curtains to Jack’s Pool Bar were closed but the morning sun was peeking around the edges highlighting the dirty floor and drab walls never meant to see the light of day.

“Not yet, but I’ll be able to buy a set of balls after this hand if I want. Have a look.”

Nok laid down her two hole cards, two kings, matching up nicely with the king and two eights displayed on the table.

“Huh, you don’t need to buy a set of balls darling, just buy yourself some bigger tits. They’ll pay for themselves in a month.”

Jack threw down his hole cards, “But not today young thing. Take a look at my red colors, all hearts darling and in order six through ten. Time to go home.”

“Aiiyah, the gods have deserted me. Shit!” Nok was white faced with shock. This couldn’t be happening. She’d been promised. The Mor Doo, the most famous fortune teller in Bangkok, a former monk famed for being in touch with the powers of the supernatural, had read her fortune. She had the sacred amulet. It was guaranteed. Good fortune was hers.

She clutched at the amulet hanging from her neck. He had blessed this. Why had it failed?

Nok was in trouble, big trouble. She had borrowed the money to get into the game. She had a loan due back yesterday. She was so sure she would win. She had been promised.

“Next time, kid. The cards will treat you better.”

“Jack, this cleans me out. Could I borrow some taxi money?”

“Sure, kid. Here’s five hundred baht. Pay me back next time.”

She stumbled away from the table towards the door, the world reeling around her.

“Thanks, Jack. I’ll be back.”

***

Earlier that evening, Matt Chance walked down the narrow soi towards the entrance to Jack’s Pool Bar. Towards the end of the soi,  on one side just a few feet in front of the bar entrance, stood the spirit house on a stand five feet high. Nearly all buildings in Thailand, no matter how modest a home or grand an office building, have a spirit house erected on a front corner of the property. Most often these are miniature stick homes holding miniature figurines accompanied by a small statue of the Buddah or a Hindu god. It is believed that good fortune follows erecting such a shrine and placing daily offerings of food and flowers to the gods. The buildings on either side of the soi blocked the setting sun and the walkway was wreathed in shadows. Matt saw movement in the shadow over the spirit house but could not make out what it was. As he walked closer he saw that a large rat had climbed to the spirit house and was feeding on the fruit offering. Matt slowed his pace not wanting to get within leaping distance of the rat as it sensed his presence. The rat turned and darted off the stand to the ground and disappeared into a drainpipe running alongside the building.

Matt could only shake his head. It was a sign of the state of things in his life. He was strung tight. It had been six months since he had left the army.  His physical wounds from combat in Afghanistan were healed. However his psyche was still very much on the mend. The army doctors talked about the need for treatment for post-traumatic stress. For Matt and his battle buddies it boiled down to dealing with the anger and sure knowledge of being betrayed by a political military system that had used them.  He wasn’t there yet in coming to terms with his anger. Since he had left the states to return to his mother’s home city of Bangkok his self prescribed therapy sessions consisted of a few hours of play on the pool table on an almost daily basis. He found the need to focus on the green felt and the click and run of the ivory balls eased his mind better then anything. Well, better then anything except booze and he was determined to cut back on that.

As he approached the glass doors to the pool bar they swung open and Da, one of  Matt’s usual pool partners, was there to greet him.

“Hey Matt. Good to see you.”

“Hey Da. Got time for a few games?”

Da was ten per cent owner of the bar and as such was on the scene pretty much of the time.  She was one of the best women players and Matt could usually count on her to give him a good game. She was what the Thai called a ‘tom’, a woman who toke the male role in a lesbian relationship. It confused some western visitors as Da was a Jodie Foster look-alike, an attractive face with a bit of an angular chin, narrow lips and penetrating eyes. She was five foot eight inches tall, slim not skinny. She wore her hair short and spiked up as was the current gay fashion and had four small diamonds in the lobe of her left ear. The only other telltale was that she had a bit of an attitude. Matt only found that more attractive. He liked women with attitude, lesbian or not. Da was in her early thirties and thus functioned as an older sister to many of the young Thai girls that came into the bar.

“I’m sorry, not today Matt.”

Then she caught Matt by the arm as he walked through the door and pulled him to the side for a quiet word amidst the rock music background throbbing through the bar.

“Actually it would help me if you could play some games with Nok.” She pointed to an attractive girl dressed in black slacks and a loose white blouse sitting in one of the booths on the side intent on slurping up some noodles. She had long legs  and long black hair which flowed down her  back in the country girl style. “You know her, she shoots a pretty good game. She’s got some problems right now and if you could play with her it would help relax her before the card game tonight.”

“Okay. I’m not sure how good a game I’m shooting right now anyway. Anything special going on?”

“No just the usual. She’s borrowed too much money and is counting to make it back big in the game tonight.  You know that’s the worst way to go into a game.”

“Actually I don’t know. I’ve got no interest in betting on the cards.”

Da paused a moment and then continued, the big sister in her coming out.

“ All these girls start out at sixteen or seventeen in the sex trade and have a hard time pulling themselves out. Nok did the route, drugs, mostly speed, drinking, going twenty-four hours a day to burn herself out. Then her dad died, her mom got sick and this last year she has really fought back trying to get hold of herself. No more drugs, no more booze, trying to save enough to take care of her mom who has cancer.  She gambles too much and loses too much but she has nowhere else to turn. I can’t stop her from the game. I’ve nothing else to offer her.

“She’s a good kid Matt. She never makes trouble. She looks out for the other girls. She’s doing the best that she can. Just play a few sets with her and help her to relax and get her mind off of things. Maybe that will help her later.”

“No problem Da.” Matt laughed, “Maybe playing with her will help me get my mind off of things.”

***

Head down Nok half ran through the doorway and into the narrow soi leading to the main road. She hadn’t taken more than a few steps when an arm reached out from the side, grabbed her by the waist and threw her against the wall, the man pinning her against it with his body.

“Time to pay, bitch. You promised me the money today. Let’s see it.”

It was Choi, the strong arm man for the money lender. Although he was never up before two in the afternoon,  he had known she was in the game at Jack’s; one of the players had tipped him off.

“I don’t have it now. I had a bad night. Please give me one more day.”

The answer was a hard slap to the face.

“Don’t fuck with me. The money was due yesterday and we gave you one more day already.”

He slapped her again, harder and her head bounced off the wall behind her.

“Please, I’ll get it, I’ll …”

Then the pressure was gone and Choi seemed to be running backwards until he hit the opposite wall of the soi. There was a man hitting him, twice in the stomach bending him over and then once in the face lifting him up against the wall. Choi gave a moan and just slid down the wall into a sitting position in a puddle of water on the pavement.

Matt stood and looked at the body of Choi slumped down in the gutter, thinking ‘Man that felt good.’ Then Matt turned to Nok still leaning against the wall, slightly dazed.

“Nok, it’s me, Matt. Are you alright?”

Matt was known to be quick with his fists. Today Nok was glad of that.

“I’m okay, Khun Matt. Thank you, but I’ve got to go.”

Nok turned and ran towards the street before Choi could get on his feet.

Nok knew where she was going. She was going to demand an accounting from the mor doo before the loan shark found her.

***

You don’t gamble with the gods or with the devil and expect to win. Nok should have known this but then she was a gambler and that’s what gamblers do, they gamble. Of course you always look for an inside edge, a bit of knowledge that the ordinary person is not smart enough to look for or to have access to. Nok had come to see gambling as her way up in life. She knew she was smarter than the others. In essence she always felt she was betting on herself. She was special. The cards would turn up right for her. That was her belief. The belief was reinforced when she won, which was often enough to keep her coming back. And when she didn’t win, when she had to beg or plead for a break or a loan to tide her over or find a customer and rent her body out to raise the necessary cash, she just knew it was the next turn of the cards or the next game that would bring her back to her true path – winning.

This time though she had been running in the red for just a bit too long and thought she had best go to a professional and check her fortune to see what her future held. What she really wanted to be told was  her run of bad luck would break soon,  a big payday was imminent.

She had gone to Leung Sombat, a former monk who was said to be in touch with the spirits. His readings were famous for their accuracy and his ability to cast spells –usually for good but not always –were feared by all.

The meeting with Leung Sombat had gone well for the most part. It had taken time to arrange. His was one of many small stalls adjacent to Watt Mahabut a famous two hundred and fifty year old temple in the Prakanong district of Bangkok. He didn’t just sit at a stand and wait for people to come to him. Those seeking  their fortune or wanting to receive a blessing had to leave a note with the woman running the stand next to his and, if he accepted the meeting, the woman would let you know when to be there. She was a mor doo herself but of lesser powers than Leung Sombat. His fee -  five hundred baht a session - was ten times hers but she got many customers just from having the stand next to Leung Sombat’s.

Nok had to wait a week for the session and almost left town twice because of the pressure from the loan shark. She had to borrow from friends twice and go out and find sex customers four times just to get the money to keep the loan shark at bay.

At the meeting, Leung Sombat, a diminutive and wrinkled man in his sixties, had taken his time with her. First he had prayed to the Buddah shrine in the corner of his stand and she had joined in the prayer. Then he had taken her hand and looked over the palm carefully while doing so he questioned her as to her past and present. He hadn’t asked if she was a gambler or a sex worker though it might be assumed he had deduced both from her age and dress though she had been careful to dress modestly for the meeting.

He had not collected his money up front which was the normal practice. It was a good portion of  the money she had left but if it was necessary to procure good fortune, it was worth it. She had to get back on the right side of the cards.

Of course he had questions. The answer to the most important one she had supplied to the woman mor doo who had arranged the appointment. Nok had given the mor doo her birth date and time of birth. That was the key information.

Birth date and time is crucial information for any advanced reading. It’s information every Asian would know as this date and time was a key indicator of one’s astrological fortune. Those from the street or an uncertain background carried a great burden not having this knowledge.

“Tell me of your family.”

“We are farmers from the north east, Esan. We are not fortunate. My father died two years ago of lung cancer. My mother is in the hospital now with cancer. I’m afraid she won’t recover. My older bother is in jail for selling drugs to try and take care of my mom. He’s been in for two years now and has three more years to go.”

Leung Sombat just nodded as if he knew all this already. He might have as it was a common, almost universal story among those young women who came to him.

He had nodded and looked into her eyes for a moment.

“Your fortune has not been good of course. That’s why you are here.”

She had just nodded, not wanting to go into further detail, afraid he might ask about her gambling.

He showed her a metal amulet crafted in the image of a famous monk who had died some years before and was said to have achieved enlightenment. It was on a neck chain and was two inches long and two inches wide.

“This has been blessed. If you wear it, it will help your fortune, but it’s expensive. Its price is ten thousand baht.”

Nok just gulped. This was twice the money she had on her and she needed that money to ante up for tonight’s card game.

“Can I touch it, please?”

He handed it to her. She held it reverently, rubbing it as she held it, hoping the good fortune it held would come to her immediately.

Then she laid it down on the table between them.

“I don’t have that much money.”

Then it happened. A scream came from the nearby row of kutis, the small wooden huts on stilts where the monks of the temple lived.

“Fire. Fire.”

One of the temple boys was outside yelling and a few yards away one of the kutis was emitting smoke.  A lick of flame showed itself in the doorway.

The mor doo stood up, moved towards the entrance of his stall and started walking towards the kuti on fire without looking back at Nok.

Nok looked down. The amulet lay there. In her mind it was screaming good fortune at her. She couldn’t miss this chance.

She scooped up the amulet and ran out of the stall and down the small soi towards the street. She would be back and make full payment after the game tonight.

***

Now, in the harsh light of the following morning, she was determined she was going to expose the mor doo as a fraud. She had no money to pay him for their session but she would return the amulet as it had proven to be meaningless piece of metal. She was glad she hadn’t bought it and was going to let the old mor doo and his customers know he was a fake when she found him.

As she walked up to the temple grounds, Nok could smell the scent of smoke left over from the previous afternoon’s fire. The kuti had burned to the ground but only the one. The nearby kutis had escaped the flames.

To Nok’s surprise, the door to the mor doo’s stall was open. As she approached she saw him sitting inside by himself.

He was sitting quietly looking towards the door and as she walked in she had the feeling he had been waiting for her.

“Welcome back. I’ve been expecting you.”

She tried to control her anger but couldn’t help but throw the amulet down on the table in front of him.

“I shouldn’t have taken it. I needed to change my fortune, but this thing turns out to be useless. You’re a fraud.”

He said nothing. He only tilted his head as if to better examine her. His eyes, encased in pouches of wrinkles, showed no anger.  They seemed to hold a light of amusement as he stared her down.

He waved towards the chair opposite him.

“Please calm yourself. Sit down.”

“I have no money left to give you, old man. That’s the way it is. You promised good fortune. Well, you failed and I failed. Only I have to face the loan shark, not you.”

“You’ve had bad fortune?’’

“Yes, I’ve had bad fortune. I’ve lost everything because I believed in you and your sacred amulet. I’m finished.”

“Did you lose your phone?”

“No, I have my phone. So what? Do you want that in payment?”

“Can you make a phone call for me?”

Nok was caught off guard. What game was this old man playing?

“Do you need to call somebody?”

“No. You need to call somebody.”

“Who?”

“Call your mother.”

Nok hesitated, but then pushed the speed dial number she had for her mom.

At the other end, her mom didn’t answer, rather a man answered the phone.

Nok was afraid. Had her mother died while she was playing cards? Was that the mor doo’s punishment for her theft?

“Hello. Who is this? Is my Mom there?”

“Nok, it’s me, your brother Somchai. Don’t you recognize my voice?”

“Somchai, I wasn’t expecting you. What are you doing at the hospital? Has Mom died?”

“No, Nok, I’m at home with Mom. The prison granted a pardon to a large number of prisoners under a royal decree. The warden knew our mom was dying of cancer so he included me. I just got to the hospital last night.”

“What is Mom doing home? I told the hospital I would pay the bills. Did they kick her out?”

“No. Mom’s feeling much better. The doc said she could go home. The doc said she’s in remission. When I got there they said it was okay for a family member to take her home. We’re both fine but Mom wants you to come home and celebrate with us. Leave Bangkok behind for a while.”

Nok was stunned. She started crying.

“Okay, Somchai. I’ll call you later.” She disconnected the call.

The old man watched her for a moment then reached over and picked up the amulet.

“Have you had bad news?”

“No, I…. I’ve had good news.”

Now the amused look was gone from his eyes to be replaced by a look of sadness.

“Good fortune can take many shapes. Go home, daughter. Go home today.”