Order and cleanliness in the temple (living in the temple, nr 4)

I meet a friend; Decha, that means powerful. He is younger and from the same province as me. Is handsome and has an effeminate manner. 'Phi' he says, because I'm older, 'where do you live?'

'In that temple over there. And you?' 'I lived in a house with friends but we got noisy and now I'm looking for a place to live. Can you help me, Phi?' "I'll ask for you at that guesthouse over there."

That's where it ends. But this morning I see him in the temple. Impeccably dressed, shoes shining and his hair neatly combed. “I want to live with you in the temple. Is that possible?'  

'Really, Decha? No, you can't stay here.' I think he doesn't mean it seriously. He comes from a wealthy family and has enough money to rent a house or room. 

'Yes, I want to see how you live. I want to live here too.' “But living in the temple has its drawbacks. No radio. Things can disappear spontaneously; your clothes and other expensive things.' This is how I try to dissuade him from the plan. 'No, I have a wardrobe and lots of books.'

'We iron clothes here on charcoal. Are you sure you want to live here very simply? Why don't you rent something; is it to save money?' 'No, not for the money. For the simple existence.' I'll just leave it that way; my room is big enough and it will be more inconvenient for him than for me.

The monk may… 

Monk Chah agrees and I'm going to get my room ready. Decha has a bed with iron springs and a mattress for a good night's sleep. White sheets. A pickup truck pulls up with his stuff and the entire temple watches. Table, chair, wardrobe and a very large suitcase.

His clothes are nice and chic. Quite different from my clothes hanging behind plastic on a nail. My bed consists of two planks and a rattan sleeping mat that I roll up in the morning. My mosquito net, which was white, stands out yellow against Decha's mosquito net. The room resembles that of a boss and his servant. But I'm not jealous of him.

Now that I realize that he gets three times as much money from home as I do, I'm glad he's here. When we are still learning late, he has sweets and sometimes boiled rice. I can't afford that. He has a laundry wash his clothes; he has the money for it.

Decha is obsessed with cleanliness. Bathes and scrubs for an hour; nails on hands and feet, every corner of his body is scrubbed. Other boys avoid him because he stays at the tap for far too long.

A package! For me?

My mother regularly sends something to eat. If someone comes this way, they take something like pla khem, sun-dried salted fish, and durian paste, a snack with the smell of a sewer pipe. That is cheaper in the south than in Bangkok. Well, that day I come into my room and see a package hanging on a rope in the corner. I take it; it feels soft like durian paste.

'Mmm! Tasty! Mother sent durian pasta for me' I think happily and open the package. But I'm not even ready for the last sheet and a sharp smell hits my nose. No, that's not durian, that's poop! I quickly pack it back up and slide it into a corner of the room. Who did that?

Decha comes home and I ask him. 'Whose is that?' "Mine," he says without looking at me. "How can you do such a nasty thing?" "I didn't mean to make you angry, phi, but I forgot this morning when I went to school.' "Why don't you go to the bathroom?" 

'No, phi, the toilets are filthy and smelly. I'm not going there.' "So you shit in our room and wrap it in paper?" 'Khrap“I told you in the beginning that someone like you doesn't belong here! Don't do this again!' 'Khrap. Sorry phi. '

From that day on Dechai keeps his word but never goes to the toilet… 'I'll keep it until school' he says but doesn't tell what he does when the school is closed. He gives me a headache. I've really had enough!

Then I catch him putting on his make-up. See him sitting early at his table with the textbooks and how he sharpens a pencil with a knife. But he also grinds the graphite piece and wipes it with his finger on his eyebrows. Then he powders his face and goes to admire his handiwork in front of the mirror. And that every morning! He won't anyway kathoei are? Other teens in the temple are asking me that too.

That night I feel like someone is lying next to me and is touching my balls with his hand. I sit up in shock and see Decha lying next to me. If I understand what's going on I'll give him a big beating. He can only howl in response. I ask him to leave. He really went too far. He might just harass another boy, or a monk, or a novice. He leaves but does not go far.

Decha now lives in a guesthouse near the temple. His behavior has not changed as I see him buying sweets for the boys in the boarding house. I often see him standing at the bus stop with his school bag and a package…. No, there is certainly no lunch in it….

Living in the Temple; adaptation of stories from the last century. In addition to monks and novices, studying teenage boys from poor families live in the temple. They have their own room but depend on money from home or a snack for their food. On holidays and when schools are closed, they eat with monks and novices. The "I" person is a teenager who lives in the temple.