Ex steward on the run? Not so

 While on an errand, I met an ex crew (Joe) whom I have not met nor seen for a decade. All along I thought he was dead. There were rumors of him being killed and dumped in Malaysia by loan sharks. Therefore, it was a big surprise to see him again.

John has not aged much except that he has put on some weight. It's true he was living in Malaysia for almost 8 years prior to his return to Singapore.
We adjourned to a coffee shop nearby and ordered our coffee and sat down to chat. Joe told me he had assumed a new identity. He does not have a passport for the old one has expired. He is a wanted man here. Omg, I asked myself what am I doing with a wanted man? Will I be arrested if the police closed in on him? I shuddered to think of it. I thought of leaving the coffee shop for fear of being seen with Joe. But there again, it's interesting to hear about his life story. I wanted him to tell me more about the things that happened to him while he was in KL (capital of Malaysia) and so I decided to take a chance and stayed back.
As Joe carried on telling about his adventure, he then clarified that he was actually arrested but out on bail. He is going to be on trail soon for a cheating case. I felt relieved as he is no longer a wanted man but one who is out on bail.
I knew Joe rather well since we joined the airline about the same time. He was two months my junior actually.
In 1969, Joe was one of the crew involved in a near airplane mishap. The nose wheels of the B707 on which he was working on could not be lowered during descent. The pilots had dumped the last drop of fuel and decided to land the aircraft on a foamed runway. Fortunately at the very last minute, the nose wheels were ejected by what the skillful captain called "gravity force". Joe had a narrow escape. Joe told me he had a new car delivered that very day he arrived home. Joe had bought the Volvo 144s from his lottery winnings. He told me as he was preparing the aircraft cabin and passengers for the emergency, his thoughts was on his new car. "I thought I was going to die without first driving my brand new Volvo", he told me laughingly.
Joe is an amicable fellow. He has always been a sort of a joker who would make us laugh with his jokes. In the 1970s, Joe was a successful horse punter. He made plenty of money through horse racing and gambling. I remember he once won 64k punting on a horse. Back then,64k could buy you a nice house with a small land area. By now that same house would cost around 2 million. Joe was in his mid 20s and was a bachelor. He enjoyed what he did. Joe had strong connection with horse racing syndicates and that's the reason he was a successful punter. The bookies had lots of respect for Joe. They would avoid taking his tickets.

PS: Above story was told sometime ago and am not sure whether Joe is still around. Not long after I wrote the above story Joe was very sick. I have lost contact with him.