Shadows of Shelly

In Good Hands Part 25b

TWENTY-FIVE-b

In Good Hands

Doris is two hundred pounds of terror. She is hard muscled. Her looks are homely, but not ugly. The Gin Meows let her live because she knocked out four of their men. It took eight to restrain her. They respected her power and ability. They were planning on selling her to a Chinese promotor for illegal boxing tournaments.

Doris grabbed Anna by the arm and tugged her to where Steven was working and said, "Steven, this girl loves you because you are her hero. Anna, this boy loves you because you are the prettiest girl in the co-op. I want you two to hug and quit acting silly." They were dumbstruck yet stared into the other's eyes. She plucked Steven off the floor and shoved the two together chest to chest.

"Put your arms around each other and hold on tight." They responded as ordered. "Kiss or I'll knock both of you senseless." They exhibited a little peck on the check.

Doris peered at Steven with a look that could kill. "I always thought that the U.S. Air Force had the smartest officers in the world, but you must have been born stupid. If that is the best you can kiss, we will lose this blasted war. Be a man and show her you mean it, or I will pulverize you. He kissed Anna with all the passion he could pull from inside. She returned his kiss with equal delight. Fifty spectators began shouting, "Atta Girl!"

Anna and Steven maintained their hugs and kisses for another ten minutes, smooching like it was the best thing since Hershey Chocolate Bars. Anna began blubbering, "I am not a pure little girl. My innocence was stolen."

"To me you are as spotless as a new grown precious rose."

Four weeks later Steven approached me. "What do I need to do to ask Anna's Thai parents to marry their daughter?"

"Go buy a tame water buffalo and two goats. Start walking about a half mile before you get to their home. Have the three animals in tow, plus a dozen white roses. By the time you reach their home at least a dozen elderly women will have told them you are on the way to ask for permission to marry their daughter.

There will be a half-dozen men in front of the house. They will inspect your animals and say, 'Sjaik Wang,' (ใจกว้าง – Generous.) They will huddle around your potential father-in-law and shake their heads and say. 'Kon Dee (good man!)' He will say, 'Welcome to the family (ยินดีต้อนรับสู่ครอบครัว.')"

Anna's Daddy sold the water buffalo and made a down payment on a small tractor. Steven ask me if he should pay-off the tractor.

"If you do, he will brag that you are the best son-in-law in the world. If you help with his vegetable and fruit garden, he will elevate you as his heir."

"I do not know anything about farming or gardening."

"That is no problem. Work with Rufus Olander for a few days. He will give you a crash course in Thai gardening and how to use a tractor. Tell him I sent you."

"I knew a Rufus Olander when I was a boy. He was a distant relative that had a large farm outside Urbana, Illinois. My momma was an Olander. Every two years we would go to a family reunion. It was held on the Olander farm. It could not be the same person!"