Neua Koo
(Soulmates)
(Soulmates)
Cast
Margie Rasri- a look kreung who goes to Thailand to search for her mother
Boy Pakorn- an anthropologist who is the son of a wealthy couple with two children. Boy is the oldest child.
James McFadden- Margie’s boyfriend whom she met while living in the United States.
Yaya Urassaya- Margie’s best friend who lives in Thailand and is married to Barry Nadech, Boy’s younger brother.
Toey Jarinporn- a forensic scientist who later ends up working with Ken
Ken Phupoom- Boy and Nadech’s best friend who is a police
Boy Pakorn- an anthropologist who is the son of a wealthy couple with two children. Boy is the oldest child.
James McFadden- Margie’s boyfriend whom she met while living in the United States.
Yaya Urassaya- Margie’s best friend who lives in Thailand and is married to Barry Nadech, Boy’s younger brother.
Toey Jarinporn- a forensic scientist who later ends up working with Ken
Ken Phupoom- Boy and Nadech’s best friend who is a police
Synopsis
After the death of her father and the break up with her boyfriend, Margie decides to go to Thailand to search for and live with her mother. However, her boyfriend James follows her to Thailand and pretends to make up with her. He devises a plan and tricks Margie to get on a cruise ship, which is owned by a wealthy Thai businessman. James sells Margie to the wealthy Thai businessman to square his gambling debt in America. Just as the wealthy businessman is about to rape her, Boy saves her and helps her escape the cruise ship. They both end up on an uninhabited island and their journey begins.
Chapter One
Boy opened his eyes and pushed himself up. He looked around and noticed a woman with beautiful brown hair lying face first on the sand. He rushed up to her without pausing to think and picked her up. Then, he turned her over and shook her a few times.
“Khun! Khun!”
She didn’t open her eyes. Boy carefully laid her back on the ground. He hesitated to do mouth to mouth CPR but the situation now called for it. When his lips pressed against her lips, she coughed water all over his face and yelled. Boy fell back on the sand and covered his ears.
“What are you yelling for?” he asked when she quit yelling.
“WHY DID YOU KISS ME?!” she roared.
“I didn’t kiss you,” said Boy. “I just…
“LIAR!”
Her voice was even louder this time. The woman stepped forward and starting swinging her arms at Boy.
“Stop! STOP IT!” he screamed. “LOOK! I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE!”
The woman now stepped back.
“You look familiar,” she said with a calmer voice.
“Well of course!” Boy exclaimed. “I saved you from that pervert last night on the cruise ship!”
“It was you?” she asked pointing at him.
“Gaw chai si!” yelled Boy. “If I knew you would hit me like this, I wouldn’t have saved you.”
“I’m sorry,” said the woman. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Humph, if you really meant to, I’d probably be dead by now,” said Boy.
“Okay, okay, I accept that it’s my fault,” said the woman.
Boy nodded.
“Well what’s your name?” he asked. “My name is Pakorn or you can call me Boy.”
“My name is Margie Balenciaga or you can call me Rasri,” replied the woman.
“Hah? What? Lady Gaga?” asked Boy. “You’re not Thai?”
“Are you crazy? Balenciaga is my last name,” said the woman. “I’m a look kreung and my mother is Thai.”
“Okay, then I’ll call you Rasri,” said Boy.
“Ka, Khun Boy,” said Rasri in a sweet voice. “Now can you tell me where we are at the moment?”
“Nee khun, are you blind?” asked Boy. “This is an island.”
“I know it’s an island but what island is it?” asked Rasri with her hands on her hips.
“I don’t know,” replied Boy. “Let’s take a walk around. Maybe we can find someone to help us.”
Rasri looked ahead at what seemed to be a jungle ahead of them.
“You…you want me to go into that jungle?” she asked hesitantly.
Boy turned around.
“Chai,” he replied. “Let’s go. Maybe there are some people here who can help us.”
Rasri thought for a moment and nodded.
“Okay,” she said.
They both walked into the jungle together.
Boy’s disappearance began to worry his younger brother, Nadech.
“Why isn’t he picking up the phone?” asked Nadech impatiently.
He was talking to himself. A door opened behind him and his wife, Yaya came in.
“What are you doing tee rak?” she asked him.
“I’m trying to contact P’Boy,” Nadech replied.
“He still didn’t return your call from last night?” asked Yaya.
“No, I don’t know what he’s up to but he never turns off his cell phone,” said Nadech pacing up and down.
“Why don’t you try again later?” Yaya suggested. “He’s on a cruise ship so maybe he might not be able to hear his phone.”
“Krub,” replied Nadech with a worried look. “What are you doing in here? I thought you went downstairs.”
“Khun Mae asked me to come and ask you if you want to eat breakfast in the bedroom or eat downstairs at the table,” Yaya explained. “She saw that you slept in this morning so she wanted me to ask you that.”
“I’ll be downstairs in a minute,” said Nadech. “I’m going to shower first.”
“Ka, I’ll wait for you downstairs,” said Yaya smiling. “Don’t worry too much.”
Nadech got in the shower but could not help thinking about Boy. Boy was out of town doing field work so maybe he turned off his phone while working, thought Nadech.
“Maybe I’m just thinking too much,” he said to himself.
Rasri and Boy must’ve walked around the whole island a dozen times.
Rasri came to a halt and rubbed her legs.
“I…I think we…we already passed this spot,” she said panting.
“I think so too,” said Boy. “Actually, I think we passed it many times already.”
“What? Why are you making me walk in a circle?” asked Rasri.
“I’m not doing it on purpose,” said Boy. “This is an uninhabited island.”
“HAH?!” shouted Rasri. “AN UNINHABITED ISLAND?!”
“Chai,” replied Boy.
“Well how do you know?” asked Rasri.
She wanted to make sure he wasn’t playing a prank on her.
“Well, we passed this exact spot at least a ten times,” said Boy. “Plus, there are many of our footprints in the sand. In addition to that…
“Stop, stop,” said Rasri putting her right hand out. “I want to get out of here. YOU HAVE TO GET ME OUT OF HERE!”
“Will you please stop shouting?” asked Boy. “I’m trying to think. When you keep shouting, I lose my concentration.”
“Well hurry up, I’m about to lose my mind,” said Rasri.
Boy thought for a moment and smiled. What he was about to say was really going to piss her off.
“I have an idea,” he began.
“What?” asked Rasri in an anxious tone.
“We stay on this island overnight,” said Boy.
“WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!” she roared. “THERE’S NO WAY I’M GOING TO STAY ON THIS ISLAND WITH ONLY YOU.”
“Calm down,” said Boy. “You don’t have a choice.”
Rasri threw her hands around Boy’s neck and with her thumbs, she pressed on his Adam’s apple as hard as she could. Boy began to choke.
“ARRGH, L-L-EGGO OF ME!” he yelled.
Boy used all his strength to push Rasri away. She fell on the ground and began to fake cry.
“I DON’T WANT TO STAY HERE!” she screamed.
“Shut up,” said Boy. “I SAID SHUT UP! IF YOU DON’T STOP SCREAMING, I’M GOING TO THROW YOU IN THE OCEAN!”
Rasri stopped shouting at once and got up on her feet.
“Are you done pouting?” asked Boy. “If you’re done pouting, let’s go find a place to rest because I’m tired.”
Boy turned around and took a step forward.
“I’m hungry,” said Rasri.
Boy turned back around to face her with his hands on his hips.
“Hah?” he asked as if he was unsure of what she just said.
“I said I’m hungry,” said Rasri. “Go find something for me to eat.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to go but I don’t like people commanding me,” said Boy. “Can’t you ask me nicely?”
Rasri took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
“Will you please find something for me to eat?” she asked.
She said that all very slowly. Boy could tell Rasri was running out of patience.
He felt his right pocket and pulled out his pocket knife. Rasri stepped back.
“Wh..what are you going to do?” she asked.
“Didn’t you say you were hungry?” asked Boy as flicked the knife opened and held it up towards her. “I’m going to go find something for you to eat.”
Rasri let out a sigh of relief. For one split second, she thought she was going to be murdered by a lunatic guy that saved her life just the night before.
Chapter Two
When nightfall came, Rasri and Boy climbed the highest peak of the mountain and together, they built a bed out of banana leaves. By the evening that day, Rasri seemed to calm down a bit and didn’t shout as much. However, it seemed she found a new hobby…complain.
“Why isn’t my bed as comfortable looking as yours?” she asked.
Boy rolled his eyes. He didn’t answer.
“Nee khun,” said Rasri waving her hand at him. “Do you hear me asking you?”
“I heard you,” replied Boy. “I just didn’t want to answer.”
“Mai pen rai,” said Rasri shrugging her shoulders. “Trade beds with me then.”
“Hah?”
Boy, who was lying comfortably on his “bed”, sat up immediately.
“Don’t ‘hah’ with me,” said Rasri. “Just trade beds with me. I’m telling you.”
“And why should I do that?” asked Boy lying back down.
“Because mine isn’t comfortable,” replied Rasri. “Just look at it; it doesn’t have that many leaves like yours.”
“That’s your problem,” said Boy. “I told you to carry as many as you can but you kept complaining that it was too much.”
“Fine then, I’m not going to beg you,” said Rasri.
She finally lied down on her “bed”. Seconds later, Rasri sat up as if she was electrified.
“What now?” asked Boy.
“I forgot,” said Rasri.
She got up and walked over towards him.
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?” asked Boy.
Rasri reached over Boy and picked up a large branch. She walked away from him and placed the branch right in between the two beds.
“What are you doing?” Boy repeated.
“I forgot that we’re the only ones on the island,” said Rasri. “I don’t trust you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” asked Boy. “Do you think I’m going to rape you or something?”
“Well yeah,” replied Rasri.
Boy forced a laugh.
“Stupid thinking,” he said. “If I were to really rape you, that little branch can’t stop me.”
“Nee, does that mean…
“Just shut up and go to sleep,” said Boy. “I would never be interested in a woman like you.”
“Gaw dee,” said Rasri lying back down on her bed. “If you dare touch me, you’ll DIE!”
Boy forced another laugh. He didn’t even want to quarrel with her. He just knew he had never before felt so tired his whole life. Later, both of them fell into a deep sleep.
The following morning, Nadech decided to give Boy one last call. If he didn’t pick up this time, Nadech would go to the police station and file a missing person report. Again, no one answered the phone.
At the table, Nadech at his breakfast quickly and excused himself from the table.
“Nadech,” said his mother. “Where are you in a hurry to? You didn’t even eat all of your breakfast.”
Nadech didn’t want his parents to know that he suspected his brother was missing. He quickly made up a lie.
“I have some urgent business at work to tend to,” he replied. “Please excuse me.”
Nadech walked away from the table and went out the door. He could hear his father calling his name from the table but Nadech got in the car and sped out from the driveway. Nadech picked up his phone and called his wife, Yaya.
“Hello, Yaya krub,” he began. “I’m going to be at work a little late this morning. I’ll leave the farm in your hands okay?”
“Ka,” replied Yaya. “Where are you going?”
“I have a presage,” replied Nadech. “I fear something will happen to P’Boy. Right now, I’m on my way to the police station.”
“Do what you have to do ka,” said Yaya. “Just leave the farm to me.”
“Krub,” said Nadech. “Thank you.”
Nadech hung up and made another phone call. This time, he scrolled down to his best friend’s name, Ken, who answered the phone immediately.
“What’s up Nadech?” asked Ken.
“Ken, I need a favor,” said Nadech.
“What happened?” asked Ken. “Your voice sounds strange.”
“I need you to help me find P’Boy,” said Nadech. “But, don’t let anyone know especially my parents. I don’t want them to worry.”
“What happened to Boy?” asked Ken. “Isn’t he doing field work?”
“Chai,” replied Nadech. “He’s been gone a week now but for the past two days, he haven’t been answering his phone. P’Boy never turns off his cell phone. This is beginning to worry me.”
“Okay, calm down,” said Ken. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks buddy,” said Nadech.
“Mai pen rai,” said Ken. “I’ll call you back.”
When Rasri woke up, Boy was nowhere in sight. Where did that lunatic go? she thought to herself. A crunching sound in the distance made her jump.
“Who’s that?” asked Rasri.
“It’s me,” replied Boy.
He was holding some bananas in one hand and a funnel shaped container made out of leaves in the other hand.
“Where did you go?” asked Rasri.
Boy bent down and handed her the items in his hand.
“Before you ask me a dumb question, look at the things in my hands,” said Boy. “I thought you might be hungry when you wake up so I brought you some bananas and water.”
“I thought you left me,” said Rasri. “Bananas again?”
She had a disgusted look on her face.
“There’s nothing on this island other than bananas,” said Boy. “And don’t tell me you want me to cook them.”
Rasri peeled a banana and forced herself to eat it. Boy smiled.
“What are you smiling at?” she asked with a mouthful of bananas.
“Because you’re a good girl,” replied Boy. “It’s good to see you not throwing a fit this morning.”
Rasri finished the banana and took a gulp of water. Before the whole thing went down her throat, she spit it all out.
“What water is this?” she asked holding up the leafy funnel of water.
“Sea water,” replied Boy. “Did you think it was sparkling water or what?”
“Why did you bring me sea water?” asked Rasri wiping her mouth.
“Aow khun, we’re on an island which is surrounded by ocean,” began Boy. “Where else can I find water? If I didn’t bring you any water at all, you would scold me for not bringing you water.”
Rasri wiped her mouth again and got up.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“Think of a way to get out of here as soon as possible,” replied Boy.
“Do you have a plan yet?” asked Rasri.
“No,” replied Boy. “I’ll think of it as we walk down to the shoreline.”
Rasri let out a sigh.
“You’re so useless,” she said.
“So you think you’re productive huh?” asked Boy. “All you do is eat, sleep, shout and complain.”
Rasri opened her mouth to talk but instead formed a smile.
“I’d rather not argue with you,” she said. “Normal people don’t argue with lunatics.”
Boy shook his head and began walking. They finally reached the shoreline without quarreling along the way. Rasri grabbed a stick and drew a picture in the sand while Boy sat down and looked out onto the ocean.
“So boring,” said Rasri. “You said you would find a way to get us out of here but you’ve been staring at the ocean for a long time now. So, do you have a plan yet?”
“No,” replied Boy.
He walked over and looked down at Rasri’s picture. She illustrated a sun, the ocean with the surrounding island and…a boat! Boy finally had an idea. They could build a little boat to cross the ocean.
Nadech sat in his office with his feet on his desk and pondered about his older brother, Boy. When his cell phone rang, he answered it immediately. The call was from Ken.
“What’s up, Ken?” asked Nadech. “Any news on P’Boy?”
“Yeah,” replied Ken. “I checked with the cruise ship and he’s not on there. The captain said that two days ago, a fight broke out and two people ended up jumping off the ship. One was aye Boy and the other was a foreign woman.”
“What?!” exclaimed Nadech standing up at once. “Who is the foreign woman?”
“I don’t know,” replied Ken. “No one knows her name.”
Nadech wanted to throw his phone hard on the ground. He tried to calm down and held it back to his ear.
“Does anyone know where they are now?” he asked.
“No,” replied Ken. “I have a secret team of police working on it right now. If we find something, I’ll let you know immediately.”
“Khob jai,” said Nadech.
It was now late in the afternoon. The hot sun was blazing on their backs and necks but they still kept working. Rasri didn’t dare complain because as much as Boy, she too, wanted to go home. She wanted to go find her mother whom she departed from twenty years ago. At that time, Rasri’s parents had just divorced and Rasri was only three years old. Since then, she lived with her father in America and never again came into contact with her mother. Rasri sat down near the unfinished boat and began to cry silently.
“Nee khun, there’s no time to rest,” said Boy.
Rasri did not reply. More tears trickled down her natural face.
“Khun,” said Boy.
He noticed her crying and walked over to her.
“Are you crying?” asked Boy. “Please don’t cry, women’s tears are my weakness.”
Rasri turned her head.
“You don’t know what I’ve been through,” she said.
“I do know,” said Boy. “I’ve been through it with you. I want to go home as much as you do. Stop crying.”
She didn’t stop. Boy bent down and looked at her. He raised his left hand to her face but she pushed him backwards.
“What are you doing?” she sobbed.
“I was going to wipe your tears,” he replied.
“Sorry,” said Rasri. “Come on, let’s hurry up and finish this boat. I don’t want to stay here another night.”
Boy looked confused. How can she sit there and cry one minute and the next second, she’s okay?
“Come on,” said Rasri. “Come and help me.”
“Okay.”
Together, they worked on their little boat.