On my way back from posting the previous entry at Meno's lone internet place, I was hailed by a guy I recognised from our Bungalows - a local guy with a ridiculous laugh and a voice that sounded like he had a sore throat caused by too much Helium inhalation. His name is Anton, and he and his friend Adi invited me to join them for a drink - they were sitting in a Beruga drinking local grape & ginseng wine and eating fried octopus and peanuts. I sat down, had a chat, and before long I was asked if they seemed like bad guys. I replied no, they seemed just fine, which didn't seem to please them. Before too long Anton told me they had been smoking crystal meth all afternoon (using a bong crafted from a Kahlua miniature that was lying on the beach), and drinking all day as well. Soon afterwards, when they started talking only in Indonesian, I tried to make my exxcuses and leave - I had been on the way home for a nap anyway, as I'm feeling a bit crap - but I was told that the rule is that once invited, you have to stay until all the food and drink is finished. I agreed, and figured there was only half a bottle of the wine left, which was a little awful and tasted like Buckfast. After a long time, the end was in sight, but Anton swiftly got up and get another bottle, and two large beers were brought over by Gus, the guy who works at the bar. I was regaled with stories about the drug situation on the island, and how Anton is usually a dealer but it's too dangerous now (a load of Jakarta Police came to Trawangan with guns and dogs, arrested sixteen people and shot (non-fatally) two others a month or so ago - did I mention that before?) so he's just doing snorkelling trips now. He also told me how various people had helped him out when he had no money, and how everyone on the island was like a family, and (just when the conversation seemed a little lighter) how he had been to jail seven times. When asked what for, he just shook his head and said "bad things, man". At some point during all this Marcus walked by and joined us, which sped up the drinking a touch, although it was still ages before I could leave. As I did so the guys made us promise to come back in an hour or so, and settled down on some cushions for a brief sleep before the evening's festivities.
I returned to our bungalow, packed, and collapsed in the hammock for a bit - this turned out to be a nap of about four hours, as Marcus returned at about 11, pretty drunk, to get some more money. This turned out to be unwise, as he and Filip gave Anton RP 50,000 to get them some Brum (horrible rice-based sangria-esque lethal local booze), and when they took about 15 minutes to return Anton told them they had been too long, so he and his friend had drunk the Brum already. Marcus asked for his money back, to which Anton replied with a straightforward "no" and that was the end of that.
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