I breezed across Bangkok on the back of maybe getting ahead of the game, thanks to the boss’s offer. For sure, he was into some kind of weird shit, but who wasn’t, these days? My euphoria suddenly shattered by some cager cutting his bus-sized Toyota estate into my path. I hit the brakes and gears, swerved out of the collision course without really thinking about it. An old hand at the survival game at a mere nineteen years old, living on the edge where nothing but pure instinct ruled.

The cage careered off down the road for ten yards before squealing to a stop, entombed in more traffic. I went along his side at about 20mph, running a screwdriver the length of the cage and grabbing the bars just in time to hold the bike steady as it tore his mirror out of its mounting. Came out with a bang like a shotgun going off. That noise always made me smile because I just knew the driver had jumped out of his clothes.

Before the cager could extract himself I was a half a kilometre down the road, laughing like a madman. Even if he clocked my numberplate I’d never registered the bike in my own name. The only viable revenge, stick a gun out of his window and blow me away. Given the jerk’s auto he might even have the connections to pull it off without suffering any kind of police retribution.

It was hard to believe that Racthadam Road was anything other than plain old hell on earth. I barged my way through the ped’s and squealed the back tyre as I skidded to a stop outside a small office block. Nothing like a bit of noise, as if the machine’s about to go out of control, to get the civilians all squeamish.

‘Hey,whitey, you watch where you put that machine. This ain’t no GP!’

I ignored the guy – some American black GI doing the shops and probably pissed because the Thai women wouldn’t have anything to do with him – despite the fact that he looked like he was high on crack-cocaine and twice my size.

Once in the building, I was kneecapped into ecstasy by the sight of the receptionist… some Bangkok high-society frail with cheekbones that cut ice and lips bruised with lust. Her eyes were all cold fury; my lacerated leather jacket added up to zilch status, my entranced stare more an insult than a compliment. It didn’t stop me smiling like I’d won the lottery.