SoulParking

Monsoon (Mumbai, India)

When I arrived in the Mumbai office early Monday morning, my friends Manish and Vikas said I was very lucky.

“You know its monsoon season but with global warming – everything is off,” Manish explained.

“Yes, usually on the first of July it’s raining buckets.” Vikas added. And with that we started work.

When I left for my hotel late that night, we had scheduled to meet at the customer site around 9:30 in the morning. We had about 15 KM to go but with Mumbai traffic it would take about 2 hours if not more. So I had my driver picking me up around 7 AM to allow for me to miss the traffic.

The next morning when I heard the wake up call – and the sweet ladies Indian voice being very polite but reminding me I had told her to call and wake me. I always play this game – even if I just woke up – I act like with my voice that I wasn’t asleep.

I taught myself this trick when I used to get the call from the radio station manager at my apartment when I was in college. I was working two jobs and going to college and I was usually late once every two weeks. Fred Webb, the nearly centurion year old station manager, would call me irate because it would be 5:30 AM and I was supposed to already be at the station warming up the transmitters. And I would hear the phone ringing and scream out of my dream with burning eyes and a fiery brain. Everything inside me yelling, “What? Who? Where?”

I would race in my underwear down the hall of my apartment under Professor Foley’s house and collect myself in 2 seconds and pick up the phone, “Hello?” I would say calmly.

“Its 7 am, sir. Would you want any coffee or tea brought to your room?” the lady on the phone asked.

“No. Thank you ma’m.” I said collected. “But thanks for asking,” to reaffirm in my game that I was not asleep.

“Well have a good morning,” and with that we said cordial goodbyes and I failed to put the phone back its in cradle – so it rattled and I slid it around and finally hung up. Damn, I lost.

That’s when I saw the rain painting the balcony windows and the rattle of wind spraying it in blobs across - making a louder racket. I got up without thinking and went to do my morning ritual.

I wasn’t worried until I got to the lobby and asked for my driver.

They called out on the loud speaker for “Jackson’s Driver” and the rain was falling like liquid from a glass. No one answered. I figured I was early. So I told them not to worry. And I sat out on one of the comfy couches. I waited for nearly 30 minutes. And finally the guy who had asked for my driver over the loud speaker came over.

“Sir, I think you need to seriously reconsider going out today.”

I was surprised. “Why?”

“The monsoon has started today. And it’s horrible out there. The water is rising and traffic is horrendous. Where are you going?”

“Near the airport.”

“Sir, you need to make a reservation with one of the hotels near the airport then. You will not make it back tonight.”

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Amends (Manila, Philippines)

So by orchestrated accident, I met Lala in Ice Bar in Greenbelt 3 while still in Manila. We had parted ways nearly six months ago under infuriating circumstances. Her friends had invited me out – knowing it might be a risky move.

I acted quickly to bury the hatchet with a round of tequilas for her and her friends. She came up looking radiant as ever – as always the case if you are a woman who knows she is going to meet her ex-boyfriend. And perfectly timed, when I walked in the bar, she was in the arms of a drunk, foreign guy who was groping her and touching her inappropriately. And to rub salt in the wound, she was smiling as if she was enjoying it.

This amends plan was thought up by Vanessa my part time love counselor, full time divorced mother of a little boy and little girl, and night time bar maid at Ice Bar. I spent many an evening after work sitting at the bar and Vanessa spilling out Red Bull mixed with Vodka and advice that she wasn’t even following herself.

So it was fitting when Vanessa personally dropped the tray of 8 tequila shots on the bar. I took the salted shot glass of tequila and moved in Lala’s direction. She met me halfway on the dance floor. She was already halfway drunk. And I saw her hand but I chose not to react. She slapped me hard – three times.

My cheek stung but I smiled through it. And strangely, I was aroused.

Knowing my hands were occupied with tequila shots, she grabbed my crotch and squeezed and leaned in and told me, “I don’t know whether to tear your penis off or suck it.”

I gulped.

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The Rose and the Rabbit – Part 2 (Amanpulo / Manila, Philippines)

I was walking through Greenbelt trying to find something to eat when I saw them again. It had been two days since our return with zero contact. The girls were at the table with new guys – loud, drunk obnoxious foreigners who were in their mid-forties.

But there was the third girl that Rabbit and Rose had told me about. Her name was Dee. She had this withdrawn look on her face. I mean she was smiling and laughing with the jokes and being charming – her hands and fingers rubbing the shoulders and arms of the Argentinean guy who I also knew about – but there was this absent look about her. The guy’s name was Jacques. I had seen his picture multiple times on Rabbit’s Nokia.

They had not seen me yet. So I turned back to the security guard who had just waved his magic bomb wand across my bag to see if there were any explosives. I stood beside the metal detector.

“Yes boss,” the security guard asked with his eyes watching those entering and leaving.

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you. See that table of people over there?” And I pointed.

The security guard looked confused but nodded. “Yes boss.”

“See that bald guy with the white shirt with the buttons open all the way down his chest?”

“Yes.”

“That guy beats his girlfriend. Her name is Dee.”

The guard then looked me in the eyes and was very quiet.

“I just wanted to let you know. I am going to go up to him and punch him in the face just three times and walki away. I am not trying to cause a problem. But I wanted to give you a heads up.” I said and that’s when my body started shaking from anger.

The security guard squinted trying to register what I had said. “Excuse me?”

But I didn’t answer. I turned and walked a straight line to the table.

Rose saw me approach and was startled. Rabbit saw me and broke into a smile. A very broad smile. But then she saw my face and it was like she read my mind and saw my trajectory.

The men who had sexy women surrounding them at every angle and the wine bottle in its bucket chilling were laughing loudly at something that ended with the words, “Fucking wanker,” and they exploded with laugher.

I was up on the forty year old bald guy. “You Jacques?” I asked while I balled up my fist.

His smile changed. “Yeah…”

And before he could say a smart ass comment I had thrown two punches. I felt the smack against the bone of his cheek and I felt the give when I crunched his nose. The table sprung into screams. And his buddies started lunging to stop my arms. But not before I had swung underneath and caught him on the chin to hear the smack.

His friends had grabbed me and pulled me back. Rabbit yelled, “Jackson!”

“Hey, I am cool!” I yelled. “I am done.”

Jacques had a trickle of blood coming out his nose.

“You never, ever hit a woman fucker,” I reached into my pocket and threw a business card on the table. “If you want to fucking hit someone, don’t be a little pussy, hit a guy you little prick. I am always ready. Call me.”

And like that, I tore out of the hold of his buddies who were completely shocked and walked away. The security guard I had talked to was there. Surprised. He was wanting to draw a gun and he reached his hand out to stop me but just paused and scratched his head.

As I pushed out of the commotion, I caught a fleeting glance of Dee. I saw her eyes had tears but a slight smile.

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The Rose and the Rabbit - Part 1 (Amanpulo Resort, Philippines)

“What happens tomorrow? Huh? When we all go back to our normal lives? Are we all going to be friends? Am I going to watch you two get pregnant? Or get AIDS and die? How are you going to help your families then?” I yelled on the beach.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Rabbit said and she jumped up from her beach chair in her string bikini – almost popping out.

“I cannot do this. I cannot act like this is a wonderful little vacation. When this might be the last time I see you – happy. Hell, alive.”

“You don’t know us.” Rose said. Also picking herself from her beach chair and adjusting her bikini top over her breasts.

“Right! Exactly! I don’t know you. Hell you haven’t even given me your real names. Rose? And Rabbit? What the fuck names are those?!” And I took my bottle water and threw it at the palm tree. “Most guys are going to just see you as meat. And how are you going to find a good guy doing what you are doing? Good guys don’t go and pay for sex.”

“Fuck you! You hear me!” Rabbit screamed at me. “Fuck you!”

“No. That’s exactly the point! I don’t want to. I think you two women are amazing. Why do you disrespect yourselves like this… Uhhh…” And I was so mad that I couldn’t vocalize any words. Finally it came out, “Stay away from me! Get away from me! I don’t want to see either of you anymore. Okay?! Fuck you both!” And I stormed back to my Casita 19.

A million thoughts were raging through my brain. Again, I was angry with God. Why do circumstances warrant that two of the oldest daughters be forced to quit high school and become ‘bar girls’ to provide for their families? And why the hell didn’t their fathers keep their dicks out of their mothers or learn to control his cum – so he wouldn’t have six kids and force the oldest daughter to be high class prostitutes? He couldn’t afford one child especially six. And hell why was I stuck on this remote island in the Philippines alone? What was wrong with me?

I was walking in circles in my bedroom with the doors open letting the ocean breeze blow through. I could feel the cool wind on my pink sunburn. Suddenly, when I turned around I saw them standing on my deck. Rabbit had her arms crossed and she was angry still – I could see it in her pretty face. But then I saw Rose, she smiled meekly.

“You have a good heart.” And she reached out and touched it.

“You don’t know my heart. It isn’t good.”

“Yes, it is good.” Rose said.

I shook my head. “Look, I told you to leave me alone. Get away from me!”

Rose came closer to me. And she said, “We are not going to leave you alone.”

“Why not? Leave me alone!”

That’s when Rabbit spoke and uncrossed her arms, “If we leave you, you will be alone. You will be all alone on this island by yourself. We don’t want you to be alone. No one deserves to be alone.”

That’s when I cracked. I went down on the bed crying. And the women climbed all over me hugging me and wiping away my tears.

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Duck, Duck 鴨, Goose (Hong Kong)

I got the call that she wanted to meet me for a business dinner to discuss possible future opportunities for investment and production. I was ecstatic! I was trying to build some real traction for LOL Entertainment Group film and media production for some time. And let’s call her, Mrs. Wong, was a very, very rich woman mostly because of her husband.

We had met briefly at my Woman Versus Man Charity event. And I already knew a little about her. She can’t handle two bottles or red wine plus tequila shots. For her pushing nearly 40, she was a fantastic dancer and incredibly sexy. She was also the mother of a little boy who was the center of her life.

We met in Causeway Bay just outside Sogo department store. We had agreed to meet up and walk together to the Excelsior Hotel. I was instantly confused coming out the wrong MTR exit. And she led me with voice directions via our mobile phones.

“Okay, how will I see you?” I asked her. “There are a million people.”

“I am the only one wearing dragon red.”

And just then, I turned and saw her. And she took my breath away. Its like that scene in the movie when the lead guy sees the woman who is about to change the destiny of his life.

And little did I know that, the destiny of my life would indeed forever change.

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4AM (Hong Kong)

So I woke up unexpectedly at 4 AM. The Lan Kwai Fong Beer Fest had made me incredibly sleepy earlier. But its like that last drink of Red Bull and Vodka had suddenly kicked in. And now I was staring at the darkness of my ceiling and hearing inebriated people talking loudly and glass bottles crashing on the sidewalk and on the street and the far away sirens of an ambulance in neighboring Lan Kwai Fong.

I felt completely alone on the 14th floor.

I got up and turned on my light and grabbed my jeans and my customary black Calvin Klein t-shirt, stuffed my wallet into my pants and jingled my door keys on my finger. And I was out the door.

I tried to be as quiet as possible to not wake up my Pakistani security guard who was asleep on the cot beside the downstairs desk. And I was ginger about closing the front gate so it wouldn’t make its usual loud CLANK when it came together to lock.

And outside, instantly I was transported to another side of Hong Kong.

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A Woman Desired - A Mother's Day Tribute (Manila, Philippines)

My dad said he remembered the first time he saw my mother. He had just returned from Vietnam and was at the Dairy Dee with his friends one Saturday Night in Roanoke, Alabama. And my dad said he saw my mom walk through the front door.

He elbowed one of his buddies, “Who is that?”

They didn’t know. My mom was a woman desired.

On the other side of the room, the fat lady who was friends with my mother looked at my dad and elbowed her, “Who is that?”

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Woman Versus Man (Hong Kong)

And it was much later after the charity battle and DJ Forest from Tasmania had taken first prize and Suga came in as runner-up that she and I were sitting in her hotel room discussing the night. Tracey, her best friend, was sound asleep on her bed. Sugs and I were discussing the subtle differences between men and women DJs.

Her eyes turned sad and she said “You know I watched DJ Forest’s girlfriend during his performance. And she sat very straight and incredibly attentive. She was also cheering the loudest.” She became quiet. “You know I have never had a boyfriend like that. Ever. I had one boyfriend come one time and he watched just a single performance. Just one.”

“You are not serious?”

“Yes I am. Men get jealous. They hate it when all the men in the club are fixated on the girl they are dating. Burns them up inside – I think.”

“I believe it’s a huge turn on. Means I got to focus on always keeping her satisfied because competition is so strong. Also makes me hot that every guy and some of the women want the woman I am taking home.”

“You are unique.” she said in her beautiful South African accent. That’s when I caught her yawning.

“Its getting late you need to get some sleep so you and Tracey can go shopping tomorrow.” I said. I was beginning to feel like a legitimate event coordinator.

Suga then leaned forward and said, “Kiss me.”

And I leaned forward on the couch and I took her face in my hands and I kissed her softly.

SHIT! I WISH! IN MY DREAMS!

In reality, Suga smiled sleepily and thanked me for the twentieth time. We hugged goodbye.

But in the elevator, I did wonder who kissed women deejays? And the song that came to mind was that old New Jack Swing track, “I Want Somebody for Me” by Heavy D. Then I caught myself yawning in the mirror of the elevator of the LKF Hotel.

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Humbled (Hong Kong)

When I touched down and was approaching passport control pulling out my Hong Kong ID, I got an SMS from Carmen that said she had just arrived from Los Angeles. I thought what a coincidence. But then I knew it wasn’t – she is always on time in my life. The angel strikes again.

Via multiple SMS’s, we decided to meet at the Airport Express.

And the train doors were about to close when I got her on the mobile.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“I am right here beside you,” she said and I turned and there she was running beside me as we leaped to a seat.

She had changed out of her uniform and was wearing a black blouse and jeans. She looked incredibly fresh for being on a flight for 19 hours with a one hour delay.

And in the seat we caught our breath. I asked how her trip was. And she asked me how Singapore had been. Both had been fine. She was rushing to go a Chinese wedding reception. And I was rushing to meet some old friends that happened to be in Hong Kong on business. It was good to be close even if it was for 10 minutes – to someone out of the crowds that knew who I was. I mean someone who knew me better than I knew myself.

I felt humbled.

She had seen me through good times and bad times. I had been horrible and I had been excellent. She knew my darkest corners and said nothing. She knew the things I didn’t discuss, knew the things I kept secret, the things that were in the open, and completely understood all the things I did. She accepted me.

She cared about me regardless of my plurality.

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The Pass Around Guy (Hong Kong)

When I got the email from Victoria that she wanted to see me, I was taken aback. It had been awhile since we had seen each other. I instantly emailed her asking her if I had done something wrong or I was in trouble. Or worse, was she mad at me?

She emailed back in a very jovial tone saying nothing like that. But she was quite adamant that she wanted to talk as soon as I could. So I told her that night.

Victoria and I were friends. Close friends. When I had first arrived in Hong Kong, we were intimate friends with no preconditions to a sexual relationship. We enjoyed each other’s company and bodies. And we enjoyed both quite thoroughly but we both admitted we would not be good for each other from a relationship perspective.
Heck, I had even written a column or two using her as the muse for my old Jackson Gordon column in the now defunct Taxi magazine.

When we got to dinner, she looked as beautiful as ever. We hugged and I kissed her cheeks and she laughed at seeing me.

“What is that for?” I asked.

“What me laughing? You just make me laugh sometimes.” And she added to it with another chuckle.

We caught up with each other’s lives quickly. She had just broken up with her boyfriend because there was no communication. She commented on how she missed our conversations. That what we talked about seemed to be so real. But she was careful not to cross the line as if she was suggesting that we might try to build something together.

The conversation was fun. The food tasted great. And I was getting more and more curious. So finally I couldn’t take it anymore.

“So why did you want to meet me?”

She looked at me hard. And she laughed again.

“Stop that,” I said.

“Sorry,” And she became serious but with a beaming smile. “I don’t know how to say this, so I am just going to say it.”

My curiosity was on fire. “Okay, say it.”

“You remember Brandy, right?”

And I smiled and laughed. Yes, of course, I remembered Brandy. She was gorgeous. I always called her the Hong Kong Janet Jackson – curvy body for being local Hong Kong and also a very good dancer if she was drunk enough. If not drunk, she became a wall flower. On the night I met her, I was told by everybody that she was very shy. But Brandy and I had talked until the wee hours on a couch during a house party. We talked about everything – including how she handled the death of her father from cancer when she was 10. Which Victoria told me she never talked about to anyone especially strangers. “Yeah, how is she? Still sexy?”

Victoria smiled this secret smile. “Yes, very.” She cleared her throat. “Okay, damn it, I will just say it.”

“Oh god, say it already.” I said shifting in my seat.

“I want you to fuck her.”

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