A spy in my room...

Phnom Penh, 7th April 2010

My room in Okay Guesthouse was rather small, not much larger than the size of a double bed with a little bathroom. It had a window facing the corridor. The window wouldn’t lock from the inside so it could be open from the outside, but had a strong metal jail-like frame (no human could penetrate through) and a curtain.

Since the room was at the back of a 3^rd floor following a complex system of corridors, busy with backpackers and also because in Asia so far I had been feeling generally safe, I did not fear for the safeness of my stuff in the room.

I noticed, on the first day, the curtain had a little perfect round hole, but didn't pay much attention : it was an old building with old features and that was just a hole made by moths or any other insect.

On the second night at the guesthouse I had arranged to meet up with Paolo and Domenico for dinner later and at about 8pm was lying in bed having a rest, listening to music on the netbook, my eyes half shut.

At some point I felt the curtain moving and from the corner of my eye I could notice someone's head very still behind the curtain, for a few seconds. No one said a word nor made a move and I though straight away it would be the Italian boys who came up to call me for dinner and they were trying to scare me, so I didn’t look at them, I just kept still. Eventually the head's shape vanished, the curtain moved back to its original position and I was now expecting for a knock on the door. But the minutes went by and no one really knocked...

It was weird, perhaps I didn’t see it right, I thought... so I kept laying and chilling on my bed...

About 10 minutes later... the same... the corner of the curtain moves again and this head is standing behind the metal frame. This time I obviously decided to look fully convinced to see either Paolo's or Domenico's dirty faces! But it was neither! It was someone else's...

I instinctively jumped off my bed when I saw the face of this Cambodian kid who does security in the building at night time. I shouted at the same time my body was shaking! And he too jumped at the same time to my sudden scream! I think he got as much scared as me. I was furious!! ‘What tha fuck, dude??’ Opened the door and talked firmly at him. Ask him why he was doing that. ‘You can’t open the window and look into people’s rooms, my friend!!!’ He was shaking and apologising trying to find an excuse on his poor english.

I had met him the days before in the corridors of the guesthouse and we had occasional chats and jokes, he seemed a humble guy. A young boy and his handbook always sitting on his chair and writing english and learning from the tourists and teaching cambodian language in exchange. Always smiling and teasing the tourists. A very nice guy indeed!

But then... he does this...

I staid in the room for a little longer and when I went down for dinner, I walked pass him as usual. There he was, sitting on his chair on his own, writing and learning english grammar. He looked at me and apologised again. I smiled at him, showing I was no longer upset, I tapped him on the shoulder showing him everything was fine now, ‘but please!! DO NOT do it again! I am serious!!’ He said ‘ok, ok, 'im sory’ on his funny accent and smiling.

And that was it. As far as I was concern, the issue was over! ...

so I thought...

...

It was now my last night at the Guesthouse, two nights after this event with the boy took place. I was in bed ready to sleep. It would be about 11pm and everything was silent. Again, I was chilling in the dark on my bed to the sound from the netbook.

I felt something moving in the curtain and when I gently moved my head I could see the shadow of a hand through the metal frame behind the curtain. It was definitely a hand adjusting the curtain and then a face . An eye watching through the little hole on it. The same hole I didn't pay much attention in the first place.

An eye... ‘Shit!’ I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing... I didn’t move to see how long it would stay there, but whoever this was, left about one minute later. Again no one knocked at my door. ‘The kid again’ I was mesmerized. I just could not believe it...

After all had happened...

The adrenaline was pumping, my stomach turned, I was feeling a little agitated but trying to be calm and if it was him again he would surely going to return so this time I was going to wait for him.

I was not going to leave myself in the vulnerable position again. But why was he doing this?? Specially after what happened before!

I opened the door and no one was there on either end of the corredor. I noticed the window was opened. I would always certify the window was closed before I leave the room and never opened it, but this time the window was opened. So I waited. I stood on the corner where one corridor meets the other so I could see the ends of both corridors at the same time and simply waited...

Everything was quite, it was dark and everyone was asleep, and it was not long till this kid turn up on one end of the corridor. His face was horrified of seeing me there waiting for him... It was not expecting it at all... I pointed my finger at him straight away: ‘HEY!!! You spying on people again???’ What are you doing??’ I shout at him very madly this time. As soon as he saw me he jumped back, he got scared and his face dropped. As I shout at him he moved forward towards me trying to say something but I kept shooting mad words at him.

‘Why is my window opened?? Why where you spying on me again?? I told you not to do it again!! What are you doing???’ He didn’t know what to say nor how to say it, he was shaking, more then me. He said he was not him and was trying to show he was worried about the opened window, at the same time he was pointing out and sticking his finger through the curtain's hole, when I didn’t ever mention the hole.

‘Did you make this hole yourself?? Did you make this hole??’ I asked them loudly several times. He said he wasn’t him, but one can put things together to understand the hole was too perfect to be done by just a moth...

This time I was going to denunciate him, I was decided. I am friendly with everybody but I could not sympathize with this situation. I told him I was going downstairs and tell everything. I am sure this was not the first time he was doing this and was convinced it wouldn’t be the last.

I felt I had to stop this so I shut the door behind me and as I was walking down the corridor he must have felt my conviction because the tone of his voice changed and I felt his hand very hard on my harm.

He grabbed and pulled it back walking along and trying to stop me as he was apologising again on his cambodian accent: ‘Im sawree, I’m sawree’ (I am sorry). ‘Please dont say, please dont say!’

‘I am not sorry dude, I warned you once! You scared the shit out of me again. I have no choice!’ He squeezed through the corridor literally jumping in front of me now pushing and holding me back and he quickly got on his knees before me with his head down, his hands holding each other as if he was praying and start bouncing backs and forth and begging for me not to go.... not to do it... He was begging... and crying...

No one has ever begged anything. He was sweating and I saw his desperate face...

All his life seemed to depend on that. It was a weird moment. I felt bad... Confused...

Cambodia is a very poor country and there are people begging for money and food on every corner. Most people are unemployed and having a position in a guesthouse like he has one I guess it’s a privilege. He would most surely loose his job and reality struck me the same way it struck him.

He was desperate ‘Please, please, please, please, please, please! No no, please please please!’ I lost the number of times he begged 'please' whilst on his knees.

And that softened me down. Had we been in a different country, different reality, perhaps I would have gone all the way down to complain. But he had also been a nice bubbly character before. Despite what he had done, I was feeling sorry for him... I didn’t know what to do any more and eventually I quit the idea. He was deadly scared and I thought perhaps he would have learned something that night. So I told him on a calm voice: ‘Go... Just don’t do it again, ok?’

Thank you, thank you, thank you, not do again, not do again!’ And he went away still shaking...

Don’t know whether was the right or wrong thing to do. I walked away with the feeling he lad learned his lesson, but later I felt that sooner or later, when time erases the intensity of the moment, he will come back and do it again to someone else...

I just hope he is not that silly...