Between Master and Slave (Manxman, Mature)

Chew Jetty

"I can't believe such places existed. This feels so out of the world." I tell master as we stare at the altar of the temple at the end of the Jetty village. In the penumbra oil lamps give a yellow glow to the deities on the altar facing the entrance of the temple, while tools used by the dragon boat race team decorate both sides of the walls along with flags of the clans of the jetty. The brightly colored tools, flags and drums must be a spectacle to see when they are taken outside for the races, do they still race? I wonder.
"Dragon races must be important to them to build a temple." I continue.
"It is more than races to them. Winning would bring honor to the clan."
We walk outside, the sun is blinding when compared to the penumbra inside.  We begin walking toward the mainland.
"Did you say this is a UNESCO World Heritage site? Like Alberobello or Matera back home in Puglia?"
"Yes it is. It is a protected site. But it is much younger then Alberobello."
"How so?"
"Alberobello was built in the 1600's, this in the early 1900's. Originally it was just pontoons placed here so that boats could dock. With time wood planks were placed from one pontoon to the next so the boat passengers could go to the mainland without getting wet."
"What about the dwellings we see and the temple?"
"That was the fishermen. They started building dwellings on piles along the pontoons making it a full Jetty. Except for the arrival of electricity and fresh water nothing has changed since."
"So it's like a fishermen's village then"
"I guess a good part works in town on the mainland now, but yes."
"And in shops." I add pointing to the few shops selling souvenirs, food and drinks to tourists.
"Yes that too." He replies with a smile. "You cannot become a world heritage site and not have some of these basic services popping up. Think of Alberobello back home."
"That is way more then basic. In Alberobello it seems every single store will sell you the same exact souvenir and same meal."
"Yes it may seem like that." Master replies amused.
As we walk on the planks of wood, I notice that everything is supported on piles that disappear in water, the piles are made of concrete. But what I find funny is how the piles are made. In fact they seem to have stacked plastic buckets on top of each other and filled them with concrete. Some of the buckets are split exposing the concrete or even skewed at odd angles with concrete cracked, which make me wonder how they are still able to keep the structure standing. Contrary to the floating market that was on a canal with slow moving water, here the tide keeps things cleaner. You smell the sea and algae but not refuse. Through the gaps between planks, you see fishes moving in the maze of piles.
"I would still not bathe in it." I add pensively to myself.
"Nor would I." Adds master a big goofy grin visible.
The narrow passage is flanked by dwellings and shops. There are even small courtyards in front with low gates. Everything is made of colorful planks of wood, which, even weathered down, retain brilliant colors. Colorful shear cloth hangs overhead from roofs on one side of the passage to the ones across to provide shade. The filtered light thus takes different hues as it passes through the colored fabric creating a subdued light where we walk.
In silence we reach the mainland of Penang and start walking along the coast. We pass what seems a covered market. The smell of spices and cooking catches my attention and the attention of my stomach which growls. Master laughs as he adds,
"Maybe we should stop for lunch?"
Sheepishly I look at him just adding, "Maybe."
We enter the penumbra of what feels like a low ceiling hangar. The chatter of the mass a clear contrast to the relative silence of the Jetty. Tables, chairs and even benches haphazardly take most of the space in the centre. The many layers of different color paints visible on the sturdy furniture a statement that they have been here awhile. String of colored lights overhead illuminate the area. But, what has my attention is the smell. The smoky scent of roasted meats mixed with the tangy of spices and of course the ever-present frying. My mouth water.
"Let's get some satay chicken and grilled vegetables." Master says excited.
"Oh yeah," I approve, "I love the little marinated chicken skewers."
"And peanut sauce that comes with it." Master continues the phrase for me.
"Of course," I reply with a goofy smile, "Can I have some Chandol Ice Kachang after?"
"You really like the dessert don't you?"
"Who would not like ice shaved dessert in this heat?" I reply innocently.
"Maybe, but the added syrup, beans, sweet corn, condensed milk, wormy green Chandol and jelly grass agar all topping the shaved ice." He raises his shoulders, "I guess is an acquired taste." Adds doubtful.
"Maybe, I guess you can say that." I reply, "but it is pretty."
"Yes, very colorful." A smile from one ear to the other master starts walking toward the satay chicken stall. I enjoy seeing him like this. Today he seems to have forgotten the impeding danger facing us. He stop turns around and looks at me with sparkling brown eyes that seem to reflect his smile. I notice deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that were not there before, a reminder that maybe he did not completely forget after all. A sadness overtakes me. It is me they want, he is risking his life for me. Maybe I should just run away and remove my t-shirt. They would get me, maybe even terminate me, but he could live his life in peace.
Noticing my mood swing, master doubles back. As he approaches, he says.
"Sometime, I  am just kidding you. Of course I am going to get you a Ice Kachang." Seeing I do not reply, he adds. "Or is it something else?" The worry that was gone a moment ago comes back with a vengeance. I feel even worst.
"I was just thinking," I answer hesitantly, "that if I was not there you could be home by now. It's me they want, you are risking your life because of me..."
"No Francesco." He stops me in mid sentence, "Stop right there. We are in this together. Make it or break it. Are we clear?"
He pauses for the information to sink. I wish I could rebuke, my mouth open but no word comes out.
"Besides," he carries, "they probably realized that the police is involved, so they know that it is I that did that. Therefore, they want me more then they want you by now."
"Then we'll both die!" The minute I say the words I regret them. "I'm sorry," I add immediately, "I didn't mean that. I was...It's just the stress talking." I am afraid to make it worst, so I just stare at the floor ashamed.
I notice master taking a deep breath. Then he gently pulls my chin up so that I face him. My eyes must be shining like water pools with the imminent tears that are ready to fall any moment now.
"Relax Francesco." I can't believe how master's voice can be so soothing to me. I hear his gentle voice and my nerves seem to melt to the sound. "All we have to do is reach Italy, or any other Western European Countries and Inspector DeLauretis will be able to protect us. They can not track you and they can never guess we are in Penang. To be on the safe side, I have not even used any credit cards that are easier to track down. So, We are good for now and you can stop worrying unnecessarily, OK?"
I just acquiesce with my head.
"Good enough, now let's get some food and if you be a good boy and eat your meal, I will get you that Ice Kachang." He adds with a smile which doesn't quite reach his eyes this time.
He moves beside me and gently pushes me toward the satay chicken stand.
We take 10 of the small skewers and a plate of green vegetables and rice, with two local beers. We sit by a table and eat in silence. The smell of the peanut sauce wakes my appetite and my worries slip further at the back of my mind.
As I eat I see Master moving his lips a few times as if he is about to speak but then changes his mind and no words come out. Finally he starts talking.
"Francesco, when we run away, you mentioned something about the time you were being trained. I would like to know more about it, if you think you can share about it with me."
I look at him, as I register what he said, a bunch of memories assault me, all unpleasant, all harsh. I remember how we were treated, I wish I could erase that part of my life away and yet master just brought it all back with a simple phrase. I must have paled at the thought as master, with a worried expression on his face adds quickly.
"I'm sorry Francesco, it was not my intention to cause you pain or make you uncomfortable. It's just that I care about you and I wished to know more about you. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. But if you ever want to talk about it, I am there to listen."
I think about it, maybe talking about that part may help me heal.
"It was hard," I state simply, "everything we did was designed to erase who we were s0 that by the end we were nothing. At the beginning we tried to fight back in whatever way we could. But the more we thought the worst things would get so that by the end our own will to fight was removed and with that our own identity. The number of times I thought of just grabbing teacher and strangle  him. If it wasn't for that monster by his side, Albert. I might have actually done it. Sometimes I had the feeling he actually had pity on us, but even if with a single strike he could have trampled teacher, he never had the guts to do anything about it, I hate him for it, he is so spineless." I stare down at my food and keep quiet. Finally master carries on seeing that I am not continuing.
"I am not going to excuse Albert for not doing the right thing, for not protecting you or the other slaves. But before you judge him too harsh, think that he too is a slave. One of the first slaves created by the organization if my understanding is correct. So like you, I don't think he has any choice but to do what he is told."
"What?" I cannot believe my ears, "are you sure? How do you know? I'm not suggesting you are lying." I add right away, I may have a good master but I am better never forget what my place is. "What I mean is how do you know that Albert is a slave?"
"When I went to the auction where I ..." he just looks at me with a pause while he takes a deep breath, which by now I come to associate when he is thinking of the right word to use, "bought you. I cannot find any better words to describe it. Before they actually started the auction process they showed us a video. In this video we saw Albert in chains. When he was released he tried to attack them, but before he could reach anyone, he was on the floor as if taken by seizures. Then, they proceeded to show us the box attached to his back to give us a brief explanation of how the system works."
"What do you mean by you saw the box attached to his back? When I look at my back using mirrors, I cannot see the box, just the scars. Which are much more visible now that they operated me in Florence to have a look at the device. Before I could hardly see them and I knew where to look."
"He actually has the black box attached to his back. That is why I know he must have been one of the first ones, they must have been still at the experimental stage when they operated him." Then as if he just realized something, he carries on "By the way, I am so sorry about what happened in Florence, I had no idea of what they were going to do to you."
"It's ok master, it was not your fault." I am actually ashamed of what I thought all this time, hating a slave that like me, was stripped of his humanity and treated like a thing, an object. I misjudged him and wished him evil, that was bad of me. I keep eating in silence. Master looks at me and keeps eating as well.
As I relax, I think back to what master said and I can't help blurt out.
"Master, just out of curiosity, why didn't we contact Inspector DeLaurentis?"
"Using Email is out of the question. They hacked my account. I could buy a new phone and local sim, but in the hurry of getting away I didn't think to get the inspector's number from my contacts written down so I could call him from somewhere else. We will just go to Florence. I know where the office is, so that should be easy."
"How are we going to get back to Italy?" I am not worried, but I am curious as to know what is master's plan.
"We are simply going to take our original flight."
"Go back to Bangkok?" I ask surprised, even if master thinks that they will stop looking for us, I am not sure going back is such a good idea.
"No. From Singapore."
"Hum." I add uncomprehending.
"When I booked the tickets to go to Bangkok, I actually took three complete separate tickets all return flights: Bari to Paris, Paris to Singapore, Singapore to Bangkok. So we can grab or skip any portion. All we do is go directly to Singapore and check in for our next leg."
"Smart! That is way we had so many flights coming in. Did you plan this in advance?"
"Partly yes. I thought it would be easier if we needed to adjust our itinerary for any reason. My plan now is to get to Paris and maybe buy a ticket directly to Firenze instead of going back to Bari."
"How are we going to Singapore?"
"Tomorrow we take a train to Kuala Lumpur and then a bus to Singapore. We should get there the day before our departure flight to Paris. We will spend the night in a hotel there."
"Whoa." Is all I can manage to say. Is it possible that we have made it? We have outsmarted an international slave ring that has means to track us down. Even if I don't want to be too optimistic I can't help the smile that forms on my lips and the pride I feel in us, master really. We are going to make it after all.

&&&&&&
A/N:
Hope you enjoyed the little break our two heroes have. Please comment if you liked any particular part, or even if you didn't like any particular part. Also thanks for all the votes, I love to see the number of little stars going up ;).
Where would you like to story to go, should our duo outsmart the evil organization? Or succumb to it?