The senator did
find out that Kumpee had fathered a child. He had a baby girl. Kumpee
took out the photograph from his wallet and then he passed it around.
The senator affected a smile when he saw the picture but he conjectured
that "this boy" was living from this arrangement with the girlfriend
and the baby he had fathered. Jatupon, surprised like his other
siblings, found pleasure in the thought that he was now an uncle. For
a moment he felt love for this unseen entity and a desire to ensure
that her life turned out better than his but then he realized that he
would never see her, and being the child of a rich Chinese Thai, she
would have a better life than he had.
The senator asked Jatupon why he was wearing sunglasses. He gave
the rehearsed answer and then had to remove the sunglasses at the
senator's insistence. "The Songkran festival ended over a month ago,"
said the avuncular stranger. "Why do you still have black eyes now?"
"Yes, but my face was really hurt badly" Jatupon responded. The
senator looked at him sternly. He didn't want to waste his night
hearing their lies, and if they were all like Suthep, he didn't want to
hear the truths either.
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