Non - Serendipity

       
        We had been in Cambodia for about a couple of weeks. We were walking down a grassy road in search of the distant beach far from where we were staying. The beach we lived near was called Serendipity, but it was littered with trash and high octane tourists. A breakdown was on its way. She hated walking, always hated walking. I hated spending money on tuk-tuks. Predictably, we started fighting along the road. She had been giving me shit all across Vietnam. I lost it. I told her I was breaking up with her. I told her I could no longer stand her. She cried. She begged me to tell her why. She knew why, or at least I had hoped she did. She started to walk off into the fields, while I warned her of landmines. The day was hot. It was always hot in Cambodia. We had walked about three miles when we came to a small fishing village. Past it we crossed a bridge over a low drought into the ocean and climbed a hill into the jungle. On top of the hill was a lonely hotel that had barricaded the road in order to net some business. There were a few huts with no one in sight. After descending the hill we came upon this beach.We walked for a while into it; I swam while she sulked on the seashore. Eventually we past by a more populated area where some other people in on the secret were drinking tropical libations and getting rubbed down by the locals. At the end of this area we found a bar on the shore with a pool table that sold joints for a dollar fifty. We sat there for hours getting high and sharing the silence. As the sun was getting low we began to walk back. Back along the beach, back up the hill, across the bridge, and through a murky marsh. Once we were back in our five dollar a night boarding house we resumed arguing. It went on as it always did, but I think she hyper-ventilated this time. Pleading through sobs to stay together. Always asking why? As if she didn't know. At the end of the night we resolved to stay together. Many of these nights I would sit outside the room in the perpetual rain smoking Cohiba cigarettes while drinking Mekong whiskey asking myself why?...