Baptism by Donald E. Zlotnik

Author:Donald E. Zlotnik [ZLOTNIK, DONALD E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780446566780
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-09-25T16:00:00+00:00

FIVE

Murder

Sergeant Arnason gave in and allowed the two Eurasian kids to stay in the fighting bunker with the team and Sinclair. The eight-man bunker had eight cots built into the sidewalls, and there were only four men on the team; besides, Sinclair wouldn’t let the kids stay anywhere else. The kids worked hard for their keep; no one could say that they were freeloading off the Americans. The seven-year-old girl helped the company mess sergeant in the kitchen, and the boy worked in the hootches, cleaning up and shining boots.

A light knock echoed through the bunker. “Sergeant Arnason?” Lieutenant Reed stuck his head through the doorway.

“Yes, sir.” Arnason continued cleaning the M-60 machine gun.

Reed stepped all the way into the bunker. “We’ve got to talk about those Vietnamese kids.”

“So talk… sir.” Arnason wiped down the tripod legs with a dry cloth and then set the M-60 back down on top of the stand.

“I don’t think that it’s a good idea letting those kids have the run of the place.”

“You think they might be VC?” Arnason stood behind the machine gun and placed his right cheek against the cool black metal stock and checked the weapon’s field of fire. He pushed the butt of the machine gun to the right, until he could see the white stake that marked his right-most final protective line, and then swung the weapon back to the left. The stake had been knocked down.

“It’s not just that. It’s having a little girl running around with all of the men.” Reed started stuttering. “I—I mean, she just walks in the latrine without knocking…”

“Sir, she’s seven years old.” Arnason looked up at his platoon leader.

“But sometimes the men are naked.”

“I’ll tell the guys to be more careful in the future, but I don’t think there’s a soldier in the company who hasn’t become attached to one of the kids.” Arnason locked the traversing device on the M-60 and hung his arm over the butt of the weapon. “I mean, I’ve even seen James smiling at the girl.”

“Don’t you think someone might… ahhh…”

Arnason’s voice dropped a dozen octaves. “That would be very dumb. If someone even tried messing with those kids, Sinclair would blow them away, and that goes for the rest of the company.” The sergeant pointed over to a home-made sandbag and two-by-four chair. “Have a seat, Lieutenant. You and I have to talk for a bit.”

The lieutenant hesitated and then took the offered seat.

“Let me tell you a little bit about Eurasian kids in Vietnam. First, they ain’t allowed to attend school with the normal Vietnamese kids. Second, they ain’t allowed to work in good jobs, like the rest of the Vietnamese kids. Third, they can’t inherit land. Of course, with their fathers being French or American, what land can they inherit? Fourth, they are harassed, beaten, laughed at, and ridiculed all of their lives because of their birth. Add to all of that the fact that their fathers were the defeated French, and the boys have no honor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.