“Well, it has to be the same name as your parents.”
“Now you understand why my last name is a nickname. It would be rather dumb to have two nicknames.”
“I can’t see that I understand at all. And no, I’m not Laotian; and my Thai grammar is impeccable. I’m not stupid. I am a self-taught individual.”
“Good for you,” she said. “They are the best kind.”
He slapped the park bench with his hand and moved to a corner so that she could sit down. She sat there. “So explain your reason for the last name as the nickname.”
“I thought I did. Well, I’ve chosen to make the last name a nickname because it is my decision to do so; and foremost, I want to be divorced from my parents.”
“Children can’t get divorced from their parents, can they?”
“Watch me. “
He chortled. “You are so honest. Most Thais aren’t that way. Sometimes they act like servants and sycophants and then talk behind those people’s backs. Sometimes they are scared to say anything at all like about the kings or anyone higher. You say everything openly even though you don’t even know me. I’m beginning to think you are the one who is not Thai. I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“I’m one of a kind,” she said. “I’ve never met a poor boy with an educated head sitting on a park bench before.”