The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols & Rini Templeton

Author:John Nichols & Rini Templeton [Nichols, John & Templeton, Rini]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Westerns, Cultural Heritage
ISBN: 9780030122514
Google: AwwgAQAAIAAJ
Amazon: 0805063749
Publisher: Owl Books
Published: 1974-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

If it weren't for bad luck, thought Herbie Goldfarb, recalling a song made famous by Johnny Cash, I'd have no luck at all. And he wondered all the more intently it it might not be a good idea to transfer out of Milagro, forget about his high-falutin principles, and head for Vietnam.

Benny Maestas had already been to Vietnam. Most of the able-bodied sons of Milagro between eighteen and twenty-five were, or had been, in the army, because aside from the Dona Luz mine, the army was the only other "area" employer that issued relatively regular paychecks, allowed people to do something-- namely, hunt living things--that was in their blood from birth, and had a life insurance plan if they happened to get offed.

Thumbtacked on the wall in his room, Benny Maestas had a yellowed cartoon depicting some G.I.'s on a jungle patrol in which one G.I., a Chicano, was saying to another G.I., a black, "Yo soy el unico en mi famflia que tiene empleo." Which translates into: "I'm the only one in my family who's got a job."

In point of fact, the little town of Milagro had one of the highest death ratios in the United States of America. Of the fifteen boys sent from there so far to Vietnam, eight had already died: Tranquilino Apodaca, Meliton P. Trujillo, Chato Arguello, Johnny Moudragun, Elisardo and Juan Cordova, Joe P. Mondragon, and pnofre L. Martfnez.

It is perhaps interesting to note that the previous year's entire seven-man senior class, except for Ru-maldo Ledoux (a cousin of the noted absentee santo carver and rabble-rouser, Snuffy Ledoux), who died in a car accident graduation night, joined the army and four were subsequently sent to Vietnam.

Now, as the Asian festivities were apparently drawing to a close, a national pictorial magazine decided to do a "sensitive" and "searching" feature on Mila-gro's "anguish." With this article in mind, a hip young reporter, Abigail Tedesky, flew out to the capital, rented a car, and drove up to Milagro, intending to complete some necessary background work before the paparazzi and tape-recording experts were trundled hi.

Abby Tedesky had what would have to be described as a "very traumatic experience" in Milagro. In the first place, the minute her swish Cardinal crimson rent-a-car floated like a cruising shark into town eight days after the beheaded lunkers were mailed to Ladd Devine, the inhabitants pegged her for either a flimflam woman, traveling puta, or Kyril Montana's other half, a lady cop, and, beginning with a pebble pelting by Mercedes Rael, they acted more or less accordingly.

Abby first contacted the mayor, Sammy Cantu, who was excessively polite to her. As she explained who she was and why she had come to Milagro, he nodded his head, saying "Yes, yes, yes, uh-huh," and he didn't believe a word she said. Smiling ingratiatingly, though, he also eyed her intently, waiting to catch a high sign--a wink, a hand signal--that would indicate her real reasons for coming to Milagro and wanting to grill people. But to his chagrin, and subsequent terror, that sign was not forthcoming.

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