24. With the cops 3
- The embassy? said Bjorn. What are you talking about? The cops are offering you a chance to get off lightly. Now we are simply negotiating the price. Ten thousand is too much.
- How do you know that?
- You are not the first farang to be caught with your pants down in Bangkok, said Bjorn. The unofficial tariff is five thousand.
- I don’t want to support corruption, said Larson. They are a bunch of crooks. I haven’t done anything illegal. This is a setup. Extortion. I want no part in this scheme. Call the embassy and let them sort it out.
- You broke the law, said Bjorn calmly.
- I did not.
- What were you doing with the Thai boy in the men’s room?
- Having a little fun, said Larson. That’s all. He was not underage. I am sure of that.
- If he had been underage they would have asked for a lot more money, said Bjorn. But you had sex in a public place. That’s illegal too.
- It wasn’t in public. Nobody could see us. We made no funny sounds. We didn’t upset anyone. In Sweden they would not arrest someone for a little nooky unless you disturbed the public and someone complained.
- This is not Sweden, said Bjorn. How long have you been in Thailand, my dear?
- Three days, said Larson.
- Right, said Bjorn. In Thailand this is illegal. It doesn’t matter what you did or didn’t do. You were two guys in a stall. That means you had sex, which means you are guilty. Which means you have to pay.
- The cops arrived too quickly. They were waiting for me. It was a setup.
- The cops have these crackdowns every now and then. It is random who gets caught. This time it was you.
- In that case, why didn’t you warn me? said Larson accusingly.
- I told you to take him to a hotel, said Bjorn. The Suriwong hotel. It was nearby.
Larson was not finished yet.
- You didn’t specifically say it was dangerous to do it in the men’s room.
Bjorn’s face changed colour.
- Since when did I become your nanny? I trusted you to use your head. I didn’t expect you to jump the boy right there and then like some horny old goat. This is your own mess. If you want to do time in a Thai jail then fine. See if I care!
Larson backed down seeing how angry Bjorn was getting.
- All right. But I still resent having to pay bribes.
- Get over it, said Bjorn. Don’t be an uptight Scandinavian. You want to save the world and eradicate corruption? Sorry but that doesn’t work here.
- Well, said Larson. If you insist. I got five thousand from the ATM this morning. Should be around four thousand left.
- I have some money too, said Bjorn. Give me your wallet.
Larson obeyed. Bjorn took four thousand baht bills and added them to his own money. Bjorn was ready with the cash when the officer came back.
- Sorry sorry so much, said the policeman. Boss say no good. Him angry. But him like Se-weden. Have beautiful lady. Ha ha ha. Him say eight thousand is ok. Because you people Se-weden. You good people. You have sun in midnight? I like lady have blue eye. I wan go Se-weden holiday.
- This is all we have, said Bjorn and put six thousand baht in front of the officer on the table.
The officer smiled at the sight of the cash.
- Ok ok, the officer said. You can go. Have good luck. Next time you bring lady Se-weden for me. Ok?
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