Lets just face it, my family came to the US because we had invested in extensive properites here. But while my parents were established adults, the period of moving would fall very early in my adulthood, and the descision was made a little before that, so that it influenced who was invited to my coming out party. Where I come from no one can be seen as an adult unless they can land a kill shot on the thier mom (coup style of cource) but if it is considered very likely that that shot is coming its possible to invite everyone you want to be a witness to that event. So it was set in a bar on a side of town not often visited by GIs except by special excursion when looking for something really exotic beyond the sexual. The band that night was one of my dad's and they played several original songs composed for the occasion. Everyone in attendance had prior relationships with eachother and there were many scores settled (also coup style) while the band played, on the dance floor, and most of the GIs in the group attending were unaware that it wasnt a form of dance. But there were several non asians present who had "gone native" and were currently AWOL and some of these were getting a little disturbed having seen such moves in action and recognizing some of the groups present, groups they had believed to be at war but which in this setting apeared to be bosom buddies or even close family.
As all good parties do, they start out a little slow, build in intensity and then end in a grand creshendo that echos in your ears the whole time you are trying to get your story straight so that no one knows you were there. It was here that I first met Gary Bush.
I've heard whispered around that the reason Gary swore he wasnt there, though the GI party was killed, was because he understood that they were looking for him because of an abush situation, that it was the only point of contact linking him to a leak that caused the deaths of more than a thousand americans, due to suspected drug for information activity.
Also though, he was drugged pretty good for a pretty long time after that and kinda thought it might of been a dream until he heard about it, much like other events in his life that had a great impact on others but didnt seem exactly real to him.
When I went to see mom and dad and I told them I didnt like parties very much they gave me a knowing look and said that different people party in different ways and that it was just that the people here dont like to party the way I do, but not to worry such parties as I like still take place and I will see more of them. And I caught a hint of that while watching a movie about people who protect non magical people from magical people that was made in russia. They had a party where people danced, but they were really trying to kill eachother, but the animosity in that room was more real.
I used to bug Gary with asking him why he didnt remember me from Viet Nam. He was doing enough drugs not to worry about it too seriously or remeber each time I did that, but when he started bugging Becky (who was pretty jealous of him) about letting him be more involved with me (clearly meaning sexually) she started putting my hair in two braids, like I wore it back then, because he had told her I reminded him of that young woman, who landed a kill shot on Tony the Tiger and who was treated with deferance by the Hmong (who he feared probably more than anyone else there).
