Blood & Tacos #2 Read Online Free PDF Page B

Tinh," Taylor said, "we have a
situation here and I feel you’re the only man I can turn to."
    "Mm. Thank you, sir."
    "Yes, well, don’t thank me yet. Tell me, Sergeant, have you ever
heard of the Vietnam AmerAsian Nightclub?"

    Thuy was trying to think. He allowed his fists to unclench and focused inward,
on the formations therein. Once again, he felt serenity and tranquility in his
grasp, if only those bastard mongrels would shut the fuck up.
    Fists clenched again, Thuy rose from his mat and stomped over to the bastard
pen, where the mongrels mewled and whimpered. Father had always told him that
he was the most impatient, irresponsible boy he’d ever seen—could
never wait for anything, but always late for everything. But even as a young
whelp, he could not possibly have made this much noise!
    "Quiet!" he shouted, his long mustache trembling past his chin.
"You have been fed! There will be no more!"
    My poked her head up through the trap door in the far corner. A smudge of dust
lay above one thin eyebrow. "Thuy!" she said. "Why do you
shout at them? They cannot understand you."
    "They will learn!" Thuy said. "Yes, they will learn their
true purpose if I have to beat it into them!"
    My climbed into the room and shook her dirty slippers off, revealing her delicate
feet. As she approached the pen, a troubled look disturbed her features. "Oh,"
she said, sniffing at the air, "no wonder they’re upset. Don’t
you smell that?"
    "All I smell is the Yankee blood in these … mutants."
    "They need to be changed," My said, retrieving clean diapers from
the bureau, some old safety pins from the glass jar atop it. "Go back
to your meditations, Thuy. I will change them myself."

    "Sergeant Tinh," Taylor said, "as you know, the American
military has had a presence in your country for some time, back when your people
were fighting the French. Though our government has been careful to stress that
we are not here as combat troops, that does not preclude some engagement with
the natives. Do you understand?"
    "No, sir."
    "Right. Well, Sergeant, when men—soldiers—are overseas, it
does not take long before they miss the comforts of home."
    "Mm. Boom-boom."
    Mathes dug his nails into his palms. In nine weeks of Basic, he never cracked
once, and here he was going to lose it in front of a Major, a First Sergeant,
and an ARVN Sergeant on a top-secret mission. Fuck this country.
    "Yes," Taylor said, clearing his throat, "boom-boom. And
boom-boom, as history has shown us, leads to children." The Major actually
began to redden a bit. "Now, Sergeant, a man cannot simply bring home
a child at the end of his tour. The wife and kids might not take well to a new
baby brother or sister."
    "
Bui doi
," Tinh said.
    "Yes, I believe that’s the native phrase. Not as harsh as the English—"
    "Bastards," snarled Sergeant Kitchen.
    "Thank you, Sergeant. Now, lest you think all Americans heartless, Sergeant
Tinh, there has been a sort of enterprise enacted to look after these children,
to try to keep them off the streets."
    "Mm. This nightclub."
    "Yes. Vietnam AmerAsians is the quaint label our government gave these
little bundles of joy. Despite whatever monetary support their fathers see fit
to part with, their mothers often must continue to work, as waitresses, bar
mistresses—"
    "Whores," said Kitchen.
    "Sergeant Kitchen, do you want to take over this briefing?"
    "Uh, no, sir, I—"
    "The VAA Nightclub," Taylor went on, "is the home of an old
mama-san who watches over these infants. A Mrs. … what’s the name
again, Sergeant Bigmouth?"
    Mathes actually whimpered a bit in the back of his throat.
    "Tu, sir," Kitchen said. "Mama Tu, the men call her. Sir."
    "Yes, and unfortunately, Sergeant Tinh, these children have just last
night been kidnapped from under Mama Tu’s watchful eyes."
    "How many?" said Tinh.
    "Three boys and a girl. We received word that they are being held for