TO FORGIVE AND FORGET (standard:romance, 257 words)
Author: Anonymous	Added: Apr 17 2004	Views/Reads: 4166/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The best stories are the truth which only get told when there is nothing left to say.

After my youngest brother died of AIDS, I traveled to the holiest
shrines in Asia. The ancient temples salved little of my grief. I 
decided to worship the dancing girls of Pattaya, Thailand. Vee danced 
at the Baby A Go-Go. She had one eye. Some might call her a whore. We 
had an affair. The word ‘love' was traded between us many times. My 
money ran out before Christmas and a 747 took me back to the States. My 
vow to return was a lie. Friends phoned to say she was seeing an 
Englishman. It seemed better that way. A year later I took a plane to 
Thailand. The taxi ride to Pattaya lasted two hours. I stayed at the 
same hotel. A knock sounded on the door. It wasn't room service. Vee 
hadn't changed much physically, but told me she had AIDS. I said I 
would help her. We went up country to see her baby. She said it could 
have been mine. The math didn't work out, but I was glad that the child 
was healthy. The farm had prospered. Vee and I slept together. I felt 
sorry for her. The next morning I looked for water. No medicine graced 
the refrigerator. Vee put the child on my lap. She had told her lovers 
the story. It had been a test. I was the only one who passed. The 
memory of my brother stopped my killing her. I caught the next bus to 
Pattaya. Forgetting her lie was much easier there as was everything 
else. 


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