14. The Devil Incarnated in a Human Body

The Devil Incarnated in a Human Body

No matter how much you twisted the hand accelerator, the motor cycle still seemed to move like a turtle. You just felt that way when you were in a hurry to get to the post office as fast as you could to beat the clock. That’s what happened to Grandpa. He sped up with his heart beating heavily for fear of being late and his eyes looking left and right to avoid collision with other incoming vehicles. And, finally, he veered left toward the post office.

After less than five minutes at the post office, a man in his 30’s rushed to greet him.

“Hello Grandpa, are you doing OK? Can you remember me? My name is Tuck.”

The old man, who was dressed like a countryman, looked at his greeter with curiosity. He was surprised and tried to brush up his memory. He was pretty sure he has never seen this young guy before. After a short pause, he said,

"I don’t remember you."

"Why not? I am a friend of your son Eo who lives in the US."

“Is that so?"

“Yes!" He kept on saying, “Recently, your son sent you 200 US dollars, didn’t he?"

These last few words made the old man even more confused. He tried hard to remember all the people that might have been his son's close friends. The more he thought about it, the more he got confused. He cannot put a name to this middle age man’s face.

"Grandpa, let me take you home.  Did you get your boxes?"

"No, not yet."

"Then, let me help you."

This type of offer to help was totally unexpected, but the old man didn’t quite know how to turn it down and tried to control himself.

After he got the check from postal employee, the old man was not sure about to do next with the middle man.  

"Grandpa! Cash in the check and I will take you home.

Grandpa rushed to the cashier and wondered how the other guy could take him home since he was riding a motor cycle. Soon after he received the cash, the post office was closed. The old man stood still by the door with a bag containing about three million kips in his hands. He couldn’t stop worrying about his money. If he rode home on the motor cycle with such a big bag of money, would that not be too much of a risk?

As he was still debating what to do, a voice from behind him said.

"Let’s go! I will take you home."

Those words invited many thoughts in the old man’s head. Even if he did not regularly listen to the radio, watch TV or read the newspapers, he had heard from other folks about this type of scam that people use to cheat each other. The prospect of such a scam happening here crossed his mind. A similar scenario, where an old person carrying a bag of money from the bank was offered a ride home by a third person, has been used many times as a warning.

“There is my car," the man said pointing his finger to a four-wheel drive pick-up. "Wait for me in the car.  I need to do some quick shopping and will be right back."

He then disappeared for about twenty minutes and came back somewhat hesitant.

"When are we going to leave?” asked the old man.

"I need to wait just a little bit.”

After a few seconds of silence, he told the old man,

“I bought some furniture, but I’m one million kips short. May I borrow some money from you? On our way back, I will stop by at my house and reimburse you for it.”

            The old man agreed with the loan request and gave the middle age man a one million kips cash advance. The middle age man then disappeared in the neighborhood.

The old man waited in the car with increasing worries as time elapsed. The younger guy should have been back an hour ago. He kept on waiting and waiting. After mid-day, a couple came by the car and asked;

"Grandpa! Why are you sitting in this car?"

“I sit here waiting for him to take me home."

"Grandpa! This is our car."

'Eh! The young man told me this was his car. He asked me to wait here for him when he left to buy some furniture. He did not have enough money, so he came back to borrow one million kips from me”.

The couple looked at each other with surprise.  They understood the problem and said,

"Grandpa! You have been cheated by a bad guy. This is our car and here is our shop."

"Oh! What do you want me to do? He took one million kips from me. How can I go home?" the old man said in tears.

"Do you want us to help you in any way?"

"I don't know what to do. It’s now past noon and I haven’t had lunch yet. And now I don’t even have a dime in my pocket, that evil guy took everything from me."

The old man talked with tears and a low voice because he was ashamed of what happened to him. The couple looked at each other and said,

“How about this, Grandpa?  I don’t know what to do to help you. I will serve you lunch and give you some money to buy a bus ticket for a ride home.

The event was like a typhoon blowing fast and furious at a late stage of the old man’s life.  He had to keep all the pain for himself.

A similar event that rang a bad bell in the mind of people who live from hand to mouth occurred a month ago. A garbage mover was then looking for tin cans to make spades that he could sell to people off the streets. By mid-day, he was only able to sell three spades for 12,000 kips. A four-door pick-up stopped in front of him and asked,

“Your spades, how much do they cost?"

"4,000 kips each. I only have 5 of them left."

“I will buy those five spades, but I do not have enough money. Come and ride with me to my house. Once I pick up some money, I will take you back.”

The spade seller jumped into the pick-up. After sitting in the car for about one minute, he felt dizzy and fainted. 

After passing the old Nongdouang red light for some distance, the pick-up driver stopped and pointed his finger to a near-by house and said;"

"Come in and get your money. Bring the spades with you.”

The garbage mover carried the spades past the front door, delivered them to the house’s owner and said;" He told me to bring you the spades but he has not yet paid me for them."

The spades seller returned empty-handed because the home’s owner wouldn’t buy his spades. When he reached the street curb, he was flabbergasted to find that the 2-ounce gold ring he spent all his savings to buy had also disappeared from his fingers

Many things crossed his mind, all of which were confusing. Things he thought could never occur did occur. It was really frightening. He doesn’t know where all the good deeds he made in the past have ended. All he saw was the picture of a human possessed by the devil.

"Grandpa, let’s go! We will take you home."

The old man was interrupted in his thoughts. Looking back, he saw that middle age man’s face growing bigger and bigger, with his eyes bubbling and his lips reaching the ground. A ghostly picture prevailed all around him. The old man used his hand to rub his face a couple of time before turning toward the couple and said,

“That’s all right. I can go home by myself. If you have time, come and visit with me sometimes. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to remember you!"