The only thing worse than waking up with a force ten hangover was waking up with a force ten hangover on a beach you've never seen before and having no idea how you got there. That was the conclusion Josh came to as he rolled over in the sand and clamped his eyelids down hard to shut out the morning sun.
He could hear children laughing and the gentle roar of the surf and he knew he'd have to face the day sooner, rather than later. Gathering his will, he pulled himself up to his knees and let the wave of nausea pass before he attempted to make it upright.
Standing with his back to the surf he was faced with a line of coconut palms and shrubs not unfamiliar in the general sense. Good, at least i'm still in Thailand, he thought. Probably. Hopefully. What in the hell had he gotten up to last night? Nothing out of the ordinary probably. He reached into his pockets and assessed his material situation. All good. He still had everything he needed.
He wandered along the beach front, staggered would be a bit more accurate actually, and soon came to a Spirit House, one of the ubiquitous Buddhist/Animist shrines favored by the locals. Brushing his long, unkempt hair back from his face he shuffled over to the shrine and contemplated it for a moment. The attendant who had had his back to him a moment ago turned and came over. Bowing with his palms pressed together, fingers pointing upwards in the Thai manner he smiled. "Sir wishes to ask a blessing of the spirits?", he inquired. "A small offering only, if you please", he said, indicating a bowl at the base of the shrine.
Josh grinned and dug in his pocket for some notes. He tossed a few into the bowl and tried to concentrate. A blessing. Yeah, he could definitely use one of those. Big time. In spades even. He had gotten so tired of looking over his shoulder everywhere he went. Or more accurately, ran to. But that's what you had to do when you'd gone and offed one of the biggest drug dealers in the City of Angels. Not that the money he'd taken wasn't all he'd ever wanted, but still, he was a marked man now, and that meant running. Forever. Ah well. He closed his eyes and made his wish.
The sun was getting to be a bit much, so he headed into the trees to walk off the remnants of the hangover. As he shuffled along he suddenly felt something hard hit him in the side of the head. Stopping in his tracks, he looked down at the coconut that had just bounced off his noggin. The sound of a high piercing laugh drew his attention to a tree a short distance away where a monkey sat on a low branch pointing at him and bouncing up and down. Why you little bastard, Josh thought to himself. He walked towards the tree and shouted at the offending beast. The monkey regarded him wryly out of one eye and then went serious. "What, you have no sense of humor?", it asked. Josh stopped short and his eyes sprang wide open. "You...did you just...holy shit", he said.
The monkey cocked it's head and regarded him for a moment. "Yes I did. I asked you a question. I can understand your bewilderment, allow me to introduce myself. I am Prueksa Thevada." The monkey bowed deeply and made the hand gesture Josh had come to expect in such instances. Stepping back a couple of paces and steadying himself to keep from falling he stared hard at the creature in front of him. "You're who?", he sputtered. This was insane. He must have done more than some heavy drinking last night. "I am a Saksit", the monkey said. "You asked a blessing at the spirit house. I have decided to grant it." The monkey gazed at him serenely, but Josh could have sworn there was a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Great", he said. "Um, thanks, I guess...". This was beyond anything he could handle just now, turning on his heel he ran through the trees and back out onto the beach towards his hotel. The monkey watched him depart and then vanished into thin air.
Arriving back at the hotel Josh threw off his clothes and jumped into the shower, not even waiting for water to warm up. He shook his head and turned his face up into the cold blast. He had to get ahold of himself. At least he hadn't actually left the island as he'd feared when he first woke up. He toweled off and sat down heavily on the bed to think things through. What a mess. In a moment of madness a few days ago he had pulled a gun on major drug dealer, shot him in the head and taken a suitcase full of money. Straight to the airport and onto the first plane out. To Thailand of all places. It was only a matter of time before they caught up with him. He needed to run. Again.
But what was this bizarre thing that had happened in the trees? A talking monkey claiming to be a spirit that could grant wishes? What the hell had he taken last night? He vaguely remembered a seedy bar, and that hooker who had lured him into the alley. Had she slipped something into his hand as she left?
He thought about the shrine and the wish he had made. To have his appearance change so they wouldn't be able to find Josh Broggan ever again. Then he wouldn't have to run, would he? So the monkey was going to grant his wish. Yeah, good luck with that he thought as he lay back on the bed. As his head hit the pillow he started planning his next move, but before he could work anything out sleep overtook him once more.
Josh awoke just as the sun started to go down. He lay there and admired the sunset for awhile and then remembered everything that had happened. Damn. He couldn't stay here. It had been three days. He needed to keep moving. He opened up the laptop and Googled Jesus Ramirez. Wow. The papers were reporting that Jesus was missing, and no one knew where he had disappeared to. The biggest coke dealer in L.A., and to make matters even stranger, they were reporting that the police were looking everywhere for him and had put his picture out to Interpol, believing he'd probably left the country. He closed the laptop and stared off into the distance. How strange. Not one word about him being killed. For some reason the cops were keeping a lid on it. But he had killed him, hadn't he? Oh well, he'd have a nice dinner and then plan his next move.
Moving toward the bathroom to get ready he reached up and touched his face to see if he needed a shave. He stopped dead. What the fuck. He felt the full thick beard and his head began to feel light. How in the hell...he walked slowly to the bathroom mirror and as he looked into it a scream rose in his chest but froze in his throat. Staring back at him was the unmistakable countenance of the most famous coke dealer in all of Southern California.
