Nuon had been married since he was 18. He recommended The Laughing Fatman’s pizza place, which was very western, by his approximation, even though they served fermented fish on their deepdish. It was his dream to see the great pyramids. He also had two daughters who needed husbands; one was very pretty, an exceptional cook and had a particular fondness for tall men.
Then Lucia caught up to them. He was doubly grateful. The cabby seemed grateful for her attempt at local jargon. He waved them both towards the back of the vehicle, the climbed inside himself and coaxed the engine to life. It was more of an ordeal than it ought to have been, but the turnover wheezed and breathed a gasp after the third attempt. “Ok, ok!” Nuon smiled into a cloudy rearview mirror.
Nik waited for Lu to take a seat, then followed, wiggling the door closed behind them until the latch took. “Getting there in style,” he agreed. “Coffee is very good here,” Nuon informed them from the driver’s seat as the cab merged with city bound traffic. “We just came from Italy,” Nik replied, biting back a smirk. Nuon considered himself worldly, so he waited a moment for the comparison to register. The cabby tapped an open palm against the steering wheel, chuckling. “Yes, yes. Tea is very good here,” he amended proudly. “Crickets, too. Fish Amok is better.”
The cab pulled out of the thoroughfare just inside the first market street. Nik reached through the partition, handing him a fold of cash and a large tip. “Thanks for taking care of us.” He added a well meant farewell in Khmer, then climbed out into the throb of the crowd. Managing to hold the door open behind him was a bit of a feat; a merchant with a massive basket fixed to his back tried to cut between Nik and the cab, shoeing the door closed. Nik held fast, making a wall of the door, his eyes narrowed at the man. “Alright, so morning’s a little unforgiving,” The door shut behind Lu, he waved Nuon off then turned to look down the bazaar. It was a writhing mess of humanity, color, endless smells and too many voices. It was almost overwhelming, but wonderfully so. “Pick your cart, whatever catches your eye.”