Unlike Suge Knight, We Saved a Life Today: Day 24

Unlike Suge Knight, We Saved a Life Today: Day 24

2.3.15

Day 24

Krabi, Thailand – it’s Florida meets the 80s meets your uncle that you never talk about, the one with the long, slicked-back locks held in tight with Vidal Sassoon.

The Japanese owe us one today. One more man will be coming home this week thanks to the crew on our boat.

Started around 10am, local time. A man picked us up in a truck and drove us down a dirt road through a narrow row of trees and up to the water’s edge. There we saw Boatman. He was dark as the night and skinny as a twig. But his feet were solid – wide and flat, which made him trustworthy in our eyes.

Our boat was wooden, built in a time when life was simple, at least that’s what I imagine. It was more likely built a couple weeks ago in a town where life is very simple because the people are too poor to know otherwise. Greg, Mijon, Boatman, and I cruised out on our long tail powered by a refurbished V6 engine and a 20 foot stick with a small propeller on the end.

We hit waves like warriors and spent a good amount of time bouncing around the wooden benches laughing ourselves into stomach pains. And when we turned the corner to the first island we were greeted by at least 100 other disgraceful humans that caused me physical pain during visual acknowledgments.

We put on our masks, hoping there would be some coral or fish, and got ready to dive in. Before we could make it over the side of the boat we heard a woman yelling.

“What did she say?” Greg asked me.

“I don’t know, can’t understand.”

“Help! Please help!”

“Did she say help?” He asked?

“Maybe,” I said.

We studied her body language and noticed that there was a man floating next to her face up. He wasn’t unconscious but he looked like he could have been immobilized. Still, there were 100 other people around and 30 from their boat at least. We went back to suiting up.

“Shark! Help me please!”

“Did she just fucking yell shark?” I asked.

“I think so.”

First of all, the water was crystal clear, and 4 feet deep at most. There wasn’t a sign of life other than leftovers from Orlando and a few small fish. No blood around his body either.

Still, she persisted. “Shark! Shark!”

Jesus lady.

Boatman grabbed a life vest and jumped over the side of the boat. We couldn’t just stand there looking like pansies so we did the same. And out we swam to grab the poor Japanese fella that was capsized in his own body. Hooking him under our arms, we swam him back to our boat and lifted him on board. Mijon was standing there, not really sure what to do, so she gave him a Lily-like acknowledgment as if to say, “There there, everything’s going to be ok.” We checked his body for markings but found none. He laid on his back and grabbed his neck and winced in pain.

“Are you ok? What happened?” I asked.

“Did you get stung?” Greg asked.

“No. No,” he said.

We turned to each other and shrugged our shoulders.

“Cramp,” he finally murmured.

Are you kidding me bro? A neck cramp? And your girl is yelling shark. I outta punch you both in the crotch.

I wanted to throw him back in the water but we decided to leave him there on our boat and go for a swim. He was gone by the time we got back. Must have made a full recovery.

So yeah, you’re welcome Japan. You get your warrior back.

Also, there was a cave filled with penis statues.

Penis Cave
I did some drawing today. Has been a while. Too long. I forgot that drawing helps me remember things better. I’ve been staying in this hotel room a couple days but couldn’t tell you what it looked like. So I draw it. And I memorized what it looked like by paying attention and testing myself. That carried into the day. I memorized the boat, islands, rock formations, and patterns on the horizon. I paid attention to the sidewalk, the face of the tailor that made my shirt, and the buildings that indicated when our street was approaching.

If I don’t actively force myself into the moment I will live and entire life inside my head, and I won’t remember a goddamn thing because it’s a time vortex up there and it doesn’t feel like anything.

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