Spice. Robert A. Webster

Confused, Ravuth slipped on his trousers and followed them downstairs, where a drunken Sok and a sullen-looking Anni stood.

      “That’s him!” Sok screamed, pointed a finger at Ravuth as he came into the reception. “That’s who beat Anni!” he slurred.

      Anni's face was bruised and she looked embarrassed. She held her swollen jaw as the policeman asked her, “Was this the man who beat you?”

      Anni nodded.

      Ravuth felt shocked and clasped his hands to his mouth.

      The policeman growled, “You beat this lady, you must pay!”

      “But I never touched her,” pleaded Ravuth.

      “You beat this lady, you pay or go to the ‘monkey house’ (prison),” the policeman snapped, producing a set of handcuffs.

      Sok glared at Ravuth, grinned, and slurred,

      “Pay $5,000 or get locked up for a long time. It’s up to you,”

      Ravuth looked at Anni staring at the ground.

      “Please… tell them the truth Anni,” he beseeched her.

      Anni remained silent while the police officer moved toward Ravuth to handcuff him.

      Ravuth realised he could not win against this setup,

      “Wait,” he said. “Okay, I will give you the money, but I will have to go to the bank to withdraw it in the morning.”

      The policeman looked at Sok for direction. Sok stared at Ravuth’s crucifix hanging around his neck. “Give me that as a guarantee,” he snapped, pointing at the gold cross and chain.

      “No! this was a gift from my dead father.”

      Sok nodded at the policeman, who moved closer to the frightened Ravuth with the cuffs.

      “You will get it back once you pay the money,” said Sok, grinning

      Ravuth, knowing his position was hopeless, removed his crucifix, and handed it to Sok.

      “I want it back when I give you the money,” said Ravuth glaring at Sok.

      “Of course,” Sok replied, smirking as he looked at the gold crucifix and hung his new prize around his neck along with his other jewellery.

      “I will be here to take you to the bank at 9:00 am,” he slurred.

      He then grabbed Anni’s arm, and along with the smirking policeman, left the guesthouse; leaving the irate owner and Ravuth standing by the reception.

      “Pay your bill in the morning and leave,” said the owner sounding abrupt, who then went to his room.

      Ravuth went into his room shaking and sat on the bed. He cupped his head in his hands. He knew this would be a long sleepless night and he was correct. He sat on his bed staring out of the window all night, dozing off for a few minutes at a time.

      Around 6:30 am, he heard a motorbike pull up at the front of the guesthouse. Anni appeared at the window, startling Ravuth. She looked worried and motioned for Ravuth to open the window, which he did and she climbed into the room. Ravuth felt angry, but he could see Anni looked in pain as she explained.

      “I am sorry about what happened Ravuth. Yesterday Sok came into the karaoke late afternoon, He was furious about something and I heard him tell mamasan it was your fault. He drank several shots of whisky in quick succession and groped me. As the night wore on, he became more intoxicated and abusive. He told me that he wanted to get more money from you before he would allow you to leave Koh Kong and I must help or he would go to my village and hurt my family.” She sighed and continued, “I tried to calm him down and took him to the back rooms to relieve him, but he was too drunk to do anything so became angrier. He punched me in the face and kept punching me until I fell, and then kicked me. I screamed for help and when mamasan came he stopped kicking me.” Anni grimaced as she told Ravuth what had happened. He could see she had been through a hellacious beating as she said, “Mamasan called one of their police friends and between them concocted the story about you beating me.” Anni coughed and winced, holding her ribs. She trembled and looked terrified. Ravuth understood why she had to lie. She had no choice.

      “I am sorry and wish I could help, but what can I do? I cannot leave without paying them money and I must get back my crucifix. It’s important,” he said.

      “Sok will never return it to you and they will keep you here paying them more money,” Anni told him.

      Ravuth considered that would be the case, but couldn’t figure a way out of this nightmare.

      Anni then took the crucifix from her pocket and handed it to Ravuth.

      Ravuth looked dumbfounded and gasped. “How did you get that?” he asked and put the gold chain over his head.

      “When we left here, we went back to the karaoke bar where Sok and his policeman friend celebrated. They drank more and played with the other girls. Mamasan went to bed around 2:00 am and ordered me to clean and wait until she woke up. Sok and the policeman fell into drunken stupors in the bar around 4:00 am. I put ice on my face to ease the pain and stared at the bastard while he snored on the sofa.” Anni scowled as she continued. “Knowing I could not work and pay mamasan because of him, it made me angry. I took your crucifix from around Sok’s neck and mamasan’s motorbike keys from behind the bar. I came here to help you escape.”