Page 1 of Taco Daddy

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Rita

“Rojo Fondo Tacos?”Rita read the words on the side of the bright yellow and red taco truck.“What does that mean?”

“Rojomeans red,” her friend Bree offered, going up on her tiptoes.Between Rita and their other friend Eden, Bree was the shortest and probably couldn’t see the whole menu.There was one heck of a line for food truck tacos.Rita sighed inwardly.She hated lines.And waiting.Especially when she was hungry.

“I knowrojomeans red.I’m notthatdeficient in Spanish.But I don’t think I’ve ever heardfondobefore.”

“It means ‘red bottom tacos,’” Eden said, looking up from her phone, where she’d probably popped the phrase in as soon as Rita had asked.That was one of the best things about having Eden around.She was always quick to look things up when someone had a question.

Unfortunately, this time, the answer didn’t make sense.

Rita made an exasperated noise.

“And what doesthatmean?”Tacos didn’t have bottoms.Not really.Did they?Sort of.If the shell or the tortilla was red, maybe?But the pictures on the side of the food truck all showed the normal beige or yellow, soft and hard taco shells.

“Who knows?Maybe the owner just thought it sounded good.”Eden shrugged, unconcerned, before looking up and brushing pink hair out of her eyes.

That’s right.Pink.Rita was both envious and in awe.She would never be able to dye her hair pink—and as the only blonde in their group of friends, she would have had it the easiest.Eden was half-white and half-Japanese, but before she’d bleached and colored her hair, it had been even darker than Bree’s, who was half-Black and half-Chinese and had dark brown hair with spiral curls that always attracted attention, yet she never tried to tame.

Both of them made her feel cowardly sometimes.They were brave, bold, and ready to try new things.They didn’t worry about what people thought about their clothes or their hair.They both liked spicy food, spicy books, and spicy-hot sex.

She was mostly a hot mess.And bland.So bland.Other than the shit that came out of her mouth and her reading choices.Though when compared to some of the books Eden and Bree were willing to read, she was still pretty vanilla.

That was how they’d met, an online romance book club.Realizing they all lived within half an hour of each other around Pittsburgh, they’d turned it into an in-person book club for the three of them.Rita had a lot of friends and acquaintances, but she’d had nobestfriends until she met them.

They were the ones who had insisted on trying the new food trucks for lunch, which happened to be located at the midpoint between their jobs.It was hard to argue with that kind of logic, though Rita wasn’t sure this long line would be worth it.

She eyed the truck next to them, which had an equally long line—Touch of Brie served fancy grilled cheese with all sorts of gourmet cheeses.Grilled cheese was meant to be two pieces of white bread slathered in butter on either side of American cheese, which was why Rita had chosen the taco truck instead.Gourmet grilled cheese was so not her thing.She liked everything simple.Cheap.

Paying out the ass for food truck grilled cheese and tacos?She would have never come down here on her own, but it was what Eden and Bree wanted.They were really excited, and she didn’t want to be a downer.

“Maybe it means your poop turns red,” she suggested, causing both Eden and Bree to giggle.Rita had always enjoyed saying outrageous things.“Or it goes right through you and turns your butthole red.You know, because-“

“Oh my God, we get it, Rita.Stooooop!”Bree drew out the word as she held up her hand, her other hand holding her stomach as she cracked up.Eden was laughing so hard, she couldn’t speak.“You’re saying the ‘inside your head’ things out loud again.”

Well, she had to entertain herself somehow while standing in this ridiculously long line for ten-dollar tacos.That were made inside a truck.On the street.Ugh.Sure, it was two tacos for ten dollars, but she could get like ten tacos from Taco Bell for that same amount of money.

These had better be worth it.

Andres

Covering his mouth, Andres pretended to cough as he stared at his phone, hoping the women in front of him didn’t realize he was laughing at them.He didn’t know whether to be amused or incensed at the blonde’s theories about his taco truck’s name.

What would she say if she knew it had been for his own amusement?

While he had an array of tacos available, his specialty and the one his truck was named after was the birria taco, which had a deep red color thanks to the chiles and spices flavoring the meat.The tortillas were also dipped in the spiced liquid before being fried to give them a reddish hue.The bottom of his taco truck was also red.

The real reason he’d named the truck Rojo Fondo Tacos was because he liked to turn bottoms hot and red and not the in the way the blonde was implying.Though, if someone insisted on ordering the highest heat level, they might have some trouble of that nature.

The man in front of the trio of women turned around.Recognizing one of his regulars.Andres ducked his head and pulled the hat he was wearing down a little lower.Every so often, he liked to join the line and act like a regular patron to get a feel for what they were going through and listen in on how they felt about the food truck both before and after ordering.It was the best way to get completely authentic, sincere feedback… since they didn’t know they were giving it.

Which sometimes felt a little rude, but Andres was doing his best to give everyone the best experience possible.

“It’s called Rojo Fondo Tacos because the specialty is birria tacos, which are red,” Lucas said, looking down his nose at the women.“They are amazing and don’t cause any… gastrointestinal distress unless you are prone to ordering far spicier food than you can actually handle.Which I do not recommend.”

Andres appreciated the defense, though he wasn’t a fan of Lucas’ patronizing tone.In his experience, it wasn’t a tone anyone responded well to.

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