* The call came and he did not return it; that one he had dared to love so much and forgave so much; for no other reason perhaps than that he too once roamed the streets and put up with the mauling of men two or three times of his age; I can do, I can do, he would say bravely; this time by a boy who didn't smoke, drink or take drugs and who, instead of being entirely nocturnal, as the other boys he had known had been, but just as no Thai ever comes alone; nor did this one.