Upon arriving at Club Mexicanas, I was made to wait in the lobby for as few minutes and I took the time to take in my surroundings. The first thing that struck me was that place was very dark even in the reception, so much so that I could hardly make out the features of people walking in front of me.
Music was pumping out from the main part of the club, which was through a thick set of double doors from where I was sitting and even where I was there was an over riding smell of cheap beer and perfume.
I was quite nervous at the prospect of meeting Pak Neil and this wasn’t helped by the fact that I was left waiting for almost half an hour before this really massive guy came through the double doors, introduced himself as Yusuf and told me to follow him.
We went back through the double doors into the club proper and into almost pitch-blackness. I was petrified I would lose Yusuf in the darkness and Heri and my parents would never see me again, but somehow we made it over to the other side of the club with me more or less keeping up with him and we entered a small corridor. Here at least the lighting was almost normal and I was able to see again.
Yusuf stopped outside a door on the left, knocked once and was called in. I was left waiting in the corridor for another couple of minutes and then the door opened and I was beckoned inside.
Yusuf stepped out and I was left facing Pak Neil. He was not anything like I had expected. I had anticipated coming face to face with a much bigger man (I don’t know why I thought that, except maybe because successful bule businessmen often are big and fat) and I thought he would be perhaps in his fifties or sixties.
Instead I found myself in front of a small, frail-looking guy in his early to mid-thirties. He was red-eyed, as if he’d been up all night, or had been crying, and the first thing that struck me was how vulnerable he looked. He didn’t look like anything I imagined a ‘big boss’ would look like, but if I had suspected any weakness about him I was soon to be put right on that score.
He looked up at me with if not exactly kindness in his eyes, then at least amiability. He sort of grinned at me and motioned for me to sit down in the rickety chair opposite him.
That was another slightly confusing thing about him: his office. It was rather small, was sparsely furnished with an old practical-looking desk, a threadbare sofa, and a couple of what appeared to be prints of paintings lifted from a cheap motel room.
For all that, I immediately felt calm and relaxed in this old man’s presence.
‘Jack,’ he said. ‘What can I do for you and, more importantly, what can you do for me?’ He spoke to me in passably good Indonesian with just a hint of an accent and only slight grammatical errors.
‘I dunno, sir,’ I stammered. ‘I have just recently arrived in the city and I am looking for work. I am a hard worker, smart and am ready to learn.’
‘Hmmmm … you are smart?’ he mused. ‘Not too smart, I hope. I don’t trust smart people too much; they are almost as dangerous as stupid people.’ This was said with a twinkle in the eye and another slightly mischievous grin.
‘Let me tell you what we do in these here parts and then you can decide if you want to work with us,’ he started. ‘We are here basically to give people what they want and to make a good profit at the same time. Many people want to relax, have some fun and forget about their troubles. You know, Jack, Jakarta is hard. Life is hard. We must be hard too, but we must always remember that we will finally answer to a higher power. Do you believe that, Jack?’
I nodded, but to tell the truth this old coot was losing me. I didn’t know what he was on about, but he continued nevertheless.
‘Jack, I need people I can depend on; people who will help me to help others. I have many pies in which I have fingers and despite what I said a few minutes ago, I need smart young men,’ here he paused, ‘such as yourself to help keep my finger on the pulse of it all.’
He continued, ‘Now, listen Jack, Devi is a nice girl. One of the best I have met and one of the best I know. She has recommended you to me. I don’t know how you know her or how well, and I don’t want to know, but her word is good enough for me and if you are up for it then you can start here tomorrow night.’
I didn’t know what to say or think, but I knew I was right about Devi, she was a lovely girl.
‘What would be my responsibilities?’ I asked.
‘Yusuf will fill you in tomorrow night. I will pay you two million rupiah a month to start with and we’ll see how you get on,’ he told me.
My mind was spinning. Two million? That was crazy and far, far more than I could have ever hoped for. I merely nodded my agreement and shook his outstretched hand.
‘Good. That’s settled then,’ he said and led me back out to the corridor. Once there, Yusuf took charge and led me back to the reception area.
With a gruff, ‘See you tomorrow,’ I found myself back on the pavement outside.
I was in a bit of a state of shock as I took another ojek back to Heri’s boarding house but I knew this was a golden opportunity that I couldn’t afford to pass up.
