Embers in the Dark

More Secrets

"Almost three..." he counted on his fingers.  "Almost thirty two?!" Vu shouted, looking impressed yet outraged.  "You kidding me?!"

Lilly giggled, grabbing something that looked like dessert from the pantry and sniffing it.  "Not kiddin' at all, Vu."

Vu scoffed and leaned back a little.  "Girl, you crazy if you think I believe you!" he laughed.

The Irish woman sighed and picked up what looked like a biscuit, licking it.  It tasted good enough, so she took a bite out of it.  It was soggy.  She blehed and spit it out.

"That's...what the hell did I just try to eat?" Lilly asked, looking at Vu with a scrunched up face.

Vu looked over and grinned.  "Bánh bò ,harmless," he replied.  "You not look at what you eat, girl?"

Lilly sighed and set the bowl down.  "Not really, no.  I just eat whatever looks good."

"I didn't know you hungry, hungry girl.  Why you say nothing?" Vu asked with concern.

"Because we have a job to do," she said, looking at him.  "Food can wait."

Just then an older Vietnamese gentleman appeared at the door.  He looked at the two people in his house and gulped before backing away.  Lilly groaned and walked to the door, exiting the house and walking up to the man with a scowl.

"You speak English, buddy?" she asked sternly.

The man shook his head.  "Không," he replied.  [No.]

Lilly groaned and rubbed her eyes.  "How about French?"

"Không," the man said again.

Lilly's eyeball twitched, droplets of water dripping from the brim of her hat.  She sighed and looked behind her at a very amused Vu before glancing back at the man.

"Bạn nợ ông chủ của tôi tiền. Trả," Lilly said, holding out her palm and flicking her fingers back and forth.  [You owe my boss money.  Pay.]

The man frowned, looking down at his hands.  "Tôi không có gì cả. Tôi không-" [I have nothing. I'm not-]

"TRẢ!" Lilly shouted.  [PAY!]

The man backed up and tripped over his heels, falling into the muddy street and looking up at Lilly with fear in his eyes.  Thunder rumbled in the distance and Lilly flinched, shaking her head and shutting her eyes.

"Calm down, Lilly," she muttered to herself.  "It's just a storm."

The man kept looking up at the Irish woman, terrified of her voice.  Lilly sighed and wiped her face before squatting down in front of the man and holding out her hand.

"Tiền bạc," she said softly.  [Money.]

The man nodded shakily before pulling out his pocket book and handing it to her.  She stood up and pulled out two piastres marked for twenty each.  Lilly then gave him back his pocket book and put the money in her shirt pocket.

"Cảm ơn bạn. Đi," Lilly said with a jerk of her head.  [Thank you.  Go.] 

The man nodded and quickly got up before running by Vu to get into the house.  Vu shrugged as he walked to Lilly.

"Your dialect still off," he teased.

"Shut up," she grunted playfully before nudging his shoulder.

Vu laughed.  "Come on, I buy lunch.  You need food for fight tonight."

The two companions wandered off through the rain down the street.

"How long you been in my country?" Vu asked, clasping his hands behind his back.