Chasing the Sun

087

"I didn't know Santa Claus uses a bike to deliver his gifts"

"Asshole."

I met with AJ on the cafe near the school so I could pay him for the cake, the big bag of lanterns beside me as we talked.

"What's inside?"

"Bodies."

"Let me see", AJ said as he motioned to reach for the bag.

"They're lanterns, silly."

"For what? Loy Krathong? That's like two weeks away. Why would you even need a lot of that? Are you planning on lighting up the whole Chiang Mai?"

"You're quite nosy for a guy, do you know that? And yes, I'm lighting up Chiang Mai. So if you're done, I'll get going now."

I stood up and grabbed the bags, then stepped out of the coffee shop. Then, AJ followed and stopped me midway my tracks.

"Let me help."

"I don't need it."

"Well, I got a car that could fit all of that. You're really going to ride a bike with a big ass bag of lanterns behind you?"

As much as I wanted to reject his offer as it didn't sound right to me, I figured it would be a lot less of a hassle if I had a car in the first place.

"Don't think of it as something I owe you, you're the one who insisted."

"Of course, and I don't have anything to do either. If I did, I'd be more than happy letting you ride your bike.", He said in an annoying manner as he smirked.

We got into his car and drove off, passing through countless of stores under the sun.

"So, what's the story behind the lanterns?", New said as the car turned to another street.

"It's a surprise for New."

AJ's attention was caught for a moment and he spared a glance at me, then back to the road.

"He liked watching the lantern festival, but he won't get to see it this year. Not when his situation's getting worse by the minute."

It was obvious that AJ felt like he regretted asking me the question as he did not expect a reply as serious as I just said, but he asked for it.

"Well, what do you plan on doing now?"

"I plan on giving it away to people and asking them to light it later at night."

"Are you serious?", He looked at me with an "are you serious?" face.

"I can't think of any other options. It's not like I can light it all by myself."

AJ remained quiet for a moment, as if thinking deeply and then turned the wheel around.

"What the hell are you doing? trying to get me killed?"

"No, I'm trying to save your poorly structured plan.", He said as he drove back and changed the route we were going to.

It took us thirty minutes before we arrived at an abandoned building, right on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. It was a tall building that failed to complete, so it turned into a desolate place.

"What are we doing here?"

"Getting my crew to help."

AJ honked three times in front of the building, and its gates opened. The then abandoned building was suddenly a place full of men, mostly my age, playing cards and drinking. There were at least 50 of them inside, some still wearing uniforms as they placed their bets on an online cockfighting tournament. 

We got out of the car and walked towards the building, and there I saw some familiar faces that I had once fought with in high school. The boys who I fought with that helped AJ when we were at the retreat were also there, appalled by my appearance.

"Hey guys, gather around I'm gonna need you to do something."

Almost instantly, the men gathered around and stood in front of him.

"Are you their boss or something?"

"Yeah"

"How come?"

"Getting kicked out of school has its pros too, you know? Now I have my own gang that can help me do bigger things. But they can also be counted on in the small things, such as lighting up lanterns."

AJ talked to his men and told them what was going to happen, and in a matter of minutes, we were already prepared for the surprise.

"15 of my men will be at the other end of the river to light the lanterns, while the rest stays here. That okay?", AJ asked.

"Yeah, that'll work."

By the time we got finished orienting the people, the sun was already setting and we were getting close to our target time of commencement. I thanked AJ for helping me and told him I'd pay him for the help, then pedaled back home. Bringing with me a piece of lantern, I imagined the beautiful sight that was soon going to happen.

When I got home, the house was unusually quiet. The living room was dark, and nothing but the light from the kitchen illuminated the house. It felt heavy, because the house remained lit up even without anyone using the living room. It was only 30 minutes left before my plan starts, so I walked to New's room.

When I opened the door, I saw New's mom sitting right beside him, and New was reclining againt the wall looking at the view from outside the window. He was extremely pale, his eyes red and almost closing.

"Baby, what's wrong?", I immediately walked to him and asked.

Although his face showed that he was completely fatigued, he still smiled at me.

"Where have you been? I thought you left me alone again."

"No, honey, I won't. I just went out to arrange something. I'm here now."

"Good, I can finally rest.", He said in a weak voice.

Something about his words sounded wrong, and I didn't like how he said he could finally rest after seeing me. 

"I don't think he'll last another day, Tawan.", New's mom said, weeping.

"No, no. I still have a surprise for you. Don't you wanna see it?"

"You do? Where?"

"Right outside, in the garden. Shall we go there?"

"I wanna see it, Mom."

Even though he was completely frail and couldn't move a muscle anymore, we tried our best to sit him on his wheelchair. Only ten minutes remain before the festival starts, and I didn't know if he would still be able to endure that amount of time before he leaves. My knees were shaking, hands trembling as I held on to his wheelchair, then escorted him out of the room and into the garden.