Incensed by Ed Lin

Author:Ed Lin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2016-07-10T18:47:39+00:00

Chapter Ten

Late that night, Nancy and I met up at my place and wrestled in bed a while. After, she asked me why I seemed distracted.

“I’m worried about Mei-ling,” I said. “Not because she wants to sing but because she really is talented.”

Nancy pulled on her sleep outfit, my old T-shirt of The Cure (a band she liked more than I did), went to the kitchen and brought back two cans of Taiwan Beer (a brand she liked more than I did).

“She’s good,” Nancy said as she popped open her can. “It was a little depressing watching her sing. It made me feel old!”

“Music’s for young people,” I said. “Most people our age tune out and listen to the same albums.” I took a swig of Taiwan Beer. “This beer is not so great, you know?”

“You need to drink it more often. Anyway, you’re right. After college, people have less time for music. Less time for movies, too.”

“Probably because they have real jobs. Not like us!”

“You have a real job! You have your own business!”

“Is it my business? I didn’t start it. I still don’t know what the secret marinade is made of. Dwayne won’t tell me. Also, I have no idea where Frankie gets the meat from or how much he pays.”

I would be so screwed without those two guys. Dwayne and Frankie are two huge reasons why Unknown Pleasures works so well. In fact, at some point we may have to expand and hire more people. My grandfather had no idea what he was starting when he opened his dinky one-man stall. He and my grandmother had walked north into Taipei on bare feet from the fields of central Taiwan to find their fortune in the big city, as the family story goes.

I took another swig of Taiwan Beer. Still not great. “I would never allow this brand to sponsor any of Mei-ling’s concerts.”

“She needs a good manager. Most of them are pretty crooked.”

“Big Eye probably knows people in the music business.”

“People like Big Eye are the reason why the entertainment industry is so crooked!”

“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want his daughter mixed up in it.”

Nancy polished off her beer and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “If you had a daughter, and she wanted to be a singer, would you let her?”

“Do you mean our daughter?”

“I’m not asking that!” she said, laughing.

“Did you know I already have a daughter? I left her back in the States!”

Nancy screamed and pushed me down on the mattress. I was dimly aware of a can of beer sloshing across the floor.

In the humid mid-morning, Nancy’s phone thumped with “Sailin’ On” by Bad Brains. She likes to use samples from hardcore punk for her text message alerts. She figures texts are more urgent than phone calls, which she keeps tied to the default ringtone. How boring.

The occupation of the Legislative Yuan had ended with a whimper and the last stragglers had filed out around daybreak. The

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