Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2021 10:15:00 +0100 From: Andrew Passey Subject: Sasha and The Tribe Part Three (Young Friends) Plans had moved on quickly and it was almost time for Sasha and his father to begin their long journey to West Papua. Sasha had been expecting to spend the last couple of days on his own revelling in the home comforts he enjoyed in their house. However he was interrupted from his game of FIFA by the shouting of his father calling him downstairs. He left his controller and walked down the stairs to see his father standing there with a fairly young looking man. "Sasha. This is Matthew, he'll be travelling with us to West Papua. He's the son of the professor we met," Sasha's father said, introducing the young man standing in front of Sasha to him. "Hello Sasha, it's good to meet you!" Matthew said, shaking Sasha's hand with a smile. Sasha looked at Matthew and was surprised he'd be coming with them. He barely looked like he'd left school although Sasha remembered hearing that Matthew had just finished university so he must be around 21 or 22 years old. "Sasha, Matthew is going to be staying with us until we leave on Wednesday. He's an expert on the tribal customs and culture having actually lived with the tribe for a while. He'll be spending some time with me helping me with a few things but I'd like you both to hang out together and get to know one another. In fact, why don't you hang out in Sasha's room until dinner time when we can talk more. I'm conscious you've only just arrived Matthew and I don't want to work you too hard!" Sasha's father said with a smile. Sasha silently cursed to himself that he was going to be adult sitting rather than hanging out on his own. However he put his most winning smile on and invited Matthew upstairs. "Do you know how to play any PS4 games?" He asked as they entered the bedroom. Matthew laughed, "Of course I do! I'm 22 years old, not 52! I've been playing console games for years. I bet I can kick your arse at FIFA !" Sasha doubted that but kept it to himself. He handed Matthew a controller and set up a new game. It turned out that Matthew wasn't lying. He was good and gave Sasha a hard first game. As they continued to play they started to talk to each other about their lives. "It must be strange having so much money that you can have anything you want. If you can have everything then how do you attach value to something?" Matthew asked Sasha. It was a question Sasha had never considered and he was surprised someone he'd just met was asking him. "I don't really know. I guess I'm used to having what I want. I've never not had something if I want it. But that's an interesting question. I've pretty much always been able to do whatever I like. This trip to West Papua is the first time I've had to do something I'm not really keen on." Sasha had vocalised the way he was feeling about their trip out loud for the first time. He wasn't keen and he didn't know why he had to go. "I can't blame you Sasha. It's a far cry from the comfort and warmth of home!" "My father said you ended up living there for a while? What happened? Did you like go on holiday there or something?" Sasha asked oblivious to Matthew's history. Matthew laughed, "It certainly wasn't a holiday Sasha! My dad had insisted my brother and I accompany him on a trip in the region. I can't remember why exactly. Probably something to do with his massive ego and self importance which he has never lost to be honest. Anyway our little plane crashed in the jungle and we had to stay with the tribe while we waited for my Dad to recover from his injuries. He stayed in the adult camp, my brother and I had to stay with a load of other teenage boys. It completely changed my life. That plane crash was a pivotal moment for me as was what followed." This piqued Sasha's interest. He didn't like the sound of a plane crashing but there was clearly more to Matthew's story than he initially thought. "Wow, a plane crash! That must have been fucking scary! So what was it like living in the tribe for a while?" Matthew considered the question. He wasn't sure how much to tell Sasha. It wasn't like his Dad hadn't written a book about it so it was all in the public domain. He also wasn't exactly sure why Sasha was coming with them. If he told him everything that happened it might shock him. Matthew had only just met Sasha but he instantly liked him and enjoyed spending time with him. The last thing he wanted was to upset or scare the boy. "I'm not going to lie Sasha, it was pretty tough at first! It was a world away from what I was used to. I wasn't exactly mollycoddled at home but I was used to hot showers, flushing toilets, comfortable bed and pillows, TV, consoles, nice food. None of that was there! I did things I never wanted or expected to. Sometimes that's what you have to do to survive though!" Sasha was remembering that his father had used the same sort of words. Doing what you do to survive. He didn't quite understand though. "So when you say you do what you have to in order to survive....does that mean they were going to kill you if you didn't?!" He asked slightly concerned. Matthew shook his head and giggled slightly, "No of course not! They're aren't savages or anything who would murder a couple of teenage boys if they didn't do as they're told. No it was more that because we were staying with them that we had to follow their tribal customs and laws. Some of them were pretty fucking nuts to a western boy like me. The chief of the camp had a fair amount of power to bring in new laws and rules but it was the time of the changing of the chief when we were there so things were different. Having said that, it was definitely tough at first. I got used to what was going on. It didn't end when I left either. A tribal boy named Bok came to live with us for a couple of years and I still had to follow some of the tribal customs. It was all a bit of a wet dream for my dad though. He published a book about my experiences and I'll be honest it felt like he was using me to further his own career. I hope your father doesn't do the same for you!" Sasha was surprised at the last sentence as he knew his father would never make him do anything he didn't really want to. Yes he made a big deal about Sasha stepping up when the time was right but he knew a lot of this was just talk. Even if he didn't like his father or have much of a relationship with him he was just pleased he would never be used how Matthew appeared to. Matthew looked at Sasha and wondered if his follow up question would ask more details about what exactly he'd done in the tribe and with Bok. He wasn't embarrassed about it but still, he wasn't sure he really wanted to tell a 13 year old boy he'd just met everything about him. To his relief Sasha moved on to a different topic. "Ah right, your Dad said something about you studying tribal customs at university?" "Yeah just finished a degree and I'm trying to move my career on. I've been chatting to Netflix and also Amazon about a documentary series about mine and Bok's experiences. Telling our story rather than the way my Dad told it before. However as usual my Dad is trying to get involved which is complicating things. It's possible what happens in the next week or two on our trip might form part of it or indeed become more important than it. After all, I'm ancient history now! Anyway, let's see. I can't lie, it's great to be coming along and it's great to have some money coming in!" Sasha hung out and chatted with Matthew for the rest of the day and a fair bit over the following couple of days before they left. He really enjoyed hanging out with Matthew. It was like having an older brother. Something Sasha had never realised he was missing until this moment. The closest person to an older brother previously was Sasha's cousin Victor. He was a couple of years older and Sasha had looked up to him when he was younger. These days though he just thought Victor was a bit of an arrogant prick who liked to boss him around. Matthew was the opposite of that and Sasha felt he was worthy of being looked up to. Matthew also enjoyed spending time with Sasha. He was actually a bit impressed by him. Yes he was spoilt but he wasn't arrogant like a lot of rich boys Matthew knew were. There was an inner strength to him that Matthew thought Sasha didn't know he had. He'd probably need some of that in the coming days. Trekking through the jungle was an uncomfortable experience at the best of times if you weren't used to it. Again Matthew was surprised that Sasha was coming with them. It seemed an unnecessary extra burden but Sasha's father was insistent. He claimed that it was important for Sasha to see new cultures and the reality of business. The words didn't quite ring true for Matthew though. He sensed there was something else going on that was being held back from him. He was going to make sure he kept a close eye on Sasha and look after him. Protect him like an older brother would. After all as Matthew knew himself, you can't always trust your father to have your best interests at heart. Sasha might have been reluctant about the trip but as they flew away from the UK he did feel some excitement about the journey. Yes he'd miss his bed and attached bathroom and all the little luxuries that made life better. He also wasn't looking forward to sleeping in a tent and avoiding snakes, spiders and bugs. However, he couldn't pretend that he wasn't a bit excited about going on an adventure. He didn't know what the reality would be like but he liked to think that he was an intrepid explorer meeting new tribes and people who would be wowed by him. He smiled to himself. He knew that probably wasn't going to be the case but however shitty some of the coming days might be he knew he'd always remember it.