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Show Friday, April 24, 2009 WeekenrfDiversions Thriller with a Thai twist If you like detective noir Bangkok's seedy red-light district. During the adventhrillers by authors such as ture, Burdett depicts a harsh Raymond Chandler, Ignacio world of rich white tourists Paco Taibo II or Dashiell w Hammett, ^ ^ _ ^ ^ _ _ _ _ _ _ ho see Bangkok rendon Butler as a sort of Disney you'll enjoy 1 ^_*__<*_ world of prostituJohn Burdett's staff writer tion. It s a world hard-boiled of drug-addiction, detective disease and povthriller erty. Somehow we "Bangkok 8." manage to laugh Sonchai Grade 8+ at the caricature Jitpleecheep is ''Bangkok 8" he paints of some the half-caste son of a Bangkok prostitute of the prostitutes, including Jitpleecheeps god-mother and an American Marine. Kat, who makes her living He grew up in the red-light as a sharp-shooting dart district as a child criminal player, and Nit-nit, Noi and who became a Buddhist Nat, three beautiful young saint to assuage his karma women who teach the saintly after committing a drugJitpleecheep the pleasures of hazed murder. Now he's the love. only incorruptible cop in a Jitpleecheep is soon city that thrives on bribery joined by shapely FBI agent and nepotism. Kimberley Jones, and The story begins when the two of them uncover Jitpleecheep and his partner come upon a group of drunk a connection between Pitchai's murder and squatters peering into a Sylvester Warren, a seemlocked car. Inside, a giant ingly untouchable billionaire python has wrapped itself American jade smuggler. around the neck of a dead The connection is Fatima, American Marine and is trya beautiful half-caste prosing to fit its enormous jaws titute with a rainbow Afro over his head. Jitpleecheeps and a past-life connection to fearless partner Pitchai Jitpleecheep. makes the mistake of openBurdett's book is a harding the car door to help the nosed, darkly funny romp Marine. Bad idea; he's grothrough the other City of tesquely bitten by dozens of Angels: "Krung Thep" or amphetamine-crazed black Bangkok, Thailand. cobras. -hrendon. butler@aggiemail. To solve the mystery usu.edu of Pitchai s murder, Jitpleecheep must dive into Book Review Page 7 Day set to honor birth mothers Residents of Cache Valley will honor a select group of women May 9, the day before Mother's Day. Birth Mother's Day is a nationally recognized day that most people have probably never heard of. The term for a woman who chooses adoption for her baby is birth mother. In Utah, most birth mothers are unmarried, pregnant and between the ages of 15 to 24. A woman who places her child for adoption does so based upon what she feels is in the best interest for her child now and in the future. Some birth mothers have expressed that on occasion they feel judged by other people as being irresponsible, selfish or not loving their baby. Birth Mother's Day is set aside to pay tribute to the birth mothers who choose to place their babies for adoption, thereby giving the gift of motherhood/ fatherhood to those couples who cannot have a child. For many women, adoption is the only way they can become a mother. Mother's Day, for women who struggle with infertility, can be a devastating, emotionally painful reminder of what she longs for, but cannot have. Mother's Day for a birth mother who placed her child for adoption often times is a day she feels great loss. A 21-year-old birth mother attending USU writes: "I placed my son for adoption 10 months ago and it has been quite a journey to say the least. Along the way I learned many valuable lessons and had some extraordinary moments that have been seared into my heart forever. One of the hardest lessons I learned was that this was not about me. There was an innocent baby boy that would be brought into the world, and it was up to me to decide his fate. The entire experience became focused around his little life - it would be his life that would be affected more than anyone else's. There are no small decisions when it comes to the life of a child." For more information, contact LDS Family Services at 752-5302, or drop in at 175 W. 1400 North, Suite A, Logan, Utah. Birth parent services are free, confidential and available to all experiencing pregnancy outside of marriage. Sandy Burborough is supervisor at LDS Family Services. Questions or comments can be sent to her at burboroughsl@ldsfamilyservices.org. PEPPERONI OR CHEESE ORIGINAL ROUND CARRY OUT PLUS TAX ALL DAY. EVERY DAY! CRAZY BREAD, 8 PIECE ORDER * CRAZY SAUCE ITALIAN CHEESE $1.99 j $3.59 KXPIRt-S -WOW VAIJl> ONLY AT VAKTH1MTIN LOCATIONS VALID ONLY AT PARnnt'ATlN UX'AI IONS Not so easy life Man tells about struggles coming to U.S. BySETH BRACKEN staff writer Editor's note: Tfie inten'iew was conducted in Spanish and translated by the reporter. Names have been changed. "I am not a bad person, I'm really not," said Gustavo Martinez. "Other people make me do bad things. I don't want to do them." Martinez, 34, is a Mexican citizen who is here in the United States illegally to provide a life for his children that he never had. He came to the United States seven years ago. "Three days and two nights across the dessert, through some big mountains," Martinez said. "I don't know where I was. I just know that I ended up in Phoenix tired, hungry and dirty. There was a man there who gave me a ride to Dallas." Martinez arrived in Dallas with about $5 in American money, no friends, no family, no job and he couldn't speak any English. He found a job at a paper factory where he lifted large boxes for 12 hours a day, six days a week and was paid about $5 an hour, most of which he sent back to Mexico to his girlfriend and kids. "Things were going good until the police came and arrested some men at the factory. I was lucky, I wasn't caught," Martinez said. He lost his job and he didn't have adequate skills or education to help him find a new one. He looked for help in the wrong places, but he had no choice, Martinez said. He joined a gang called Los Surrenos, a deadly gang that dealt drugs, dabbled in prostitution and was notorious for assassinations. He fought with their lethal rivals, Los Nortenos, and with other factions within his own gang that were struggling for power and control of the gang. His olive-toned arm is decorated with about seven scars, including a jagged one that runs from his elbow to wrist. "I got that one when someone from another group representing a group of villagers pulled out a knife and started to swing it at me," he said. "His group was trying to get more power than mine. He surprised me so he cut me. But I pulled out my knife and I cut him once on his stomach, from end to end. Then I stabbed him in the neck and twisted. I ran away before I found out if he lived. 1 really don't know. I hope not." It was the first time that he had stabbed someone, or seriously injured someone else. "I didn't want to kill him. I didn't even want to hurt him. I didn't want to be in that situation. But people always find a way to make me do bad things, even though I am not a bad person," he said. Martinez continued to fight his way through life. He carries countless scars, including a large V on top of his head, hidden by the plain blue baseball hat that he always wears. After he lost his job at the paper factory, he did odd jobs, construction work, janitorial jobs or anything he could. He saved all the money he could to send back to his girlfriend and two kids. He got a break when a fellow gang member told him of a job in a small town in a state called Utah, bussing tables and cleaning the kitchen in a restaurant. He would be hired and a fake social-security number is all that would be necessary to begin working. His friend helped him get a fake social security number, and he even got a drivers license in Texas. The new job would be miles away from the life he was living and he could get away from it all, as long as he made a quick getaway and never went back to Dallas, he said. "If I went back there, they would kill me. So many people would want to kill me, even in Mexico," he said. "When I went back to Mexico, I carried a gun with me always. I don't want to hurt people, but they might try to hurt me or my kids. What would you do?" Martinez has been working at least two jobs since he first arrived in Logan logging in overtime in both, well more than 100 hours some weeks. He lives as cheaply as possible in a small apartment with as many as six other people at times, and since he works at restaurants he tries to get as much free food as possible to save on expenses. Every penny that he saves, he sends home to his kids, Maria-Angel, 10, and Lorenzo, 8. "I m not a good father, I know that," Martinez said. "I am so far away. Whenever I think about my kids, I think of how much distance there is between us. I just want to give them a life that I never had." Growing up, Martinez always had holes in his shoes and lived in a shack made from cardboard and whatever other random material that was lying around. He used to use his imagination to make branches and rocks into toys and dolls. Providing a better life for his children is his motivation, even if it means that he has to live in a different country and go years without seeing them. "When I get lonely or think about how far my kids are, I think, focus on work and think to myself, 'With the money that I make today, my daughter will be able to have some shoes. Nice, pink shoes without holes,'" he said. "Or I'll think about how they will be able tg eat for a week with the money that I make today. It helps me to stay focused." Sometimes he thinks about just moving back to Mexico. He wants his family to have a father, but he is torn because he also wants to give them the best. "When my daughter took the communion, I felt like I was in two places at once. My mind was in Mexico with her, and I am here, washing dishes " Martinez said. Martinez went back to Mexico three years ago to visit his family and marry his girlfriend of 15 years. He hadn't seen his family in four years. 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