Chapter 15 — Debt Book at the End of the Alley

Dieu went to the ward committee early in the morning, carrying her identity card and a reasonable reason - to request an extract of the original birth certificate to supplement her bank loan documents for her business, a reason she had prepared to avoid causing unnecessary suspicion to anyone who might know her family in the area.

The employee receiving the documents, after checking the documents, led her to the small storage room at the back, where old civil status books were neatly arranged on shelves by year. She waited while the staff searched for the book corresponding to the year she was born, her heart beating rapidly in nervous anticipation.

“Here it is,” the staff said, placing the old civil registration book on the table and flipping to the page with her name. “Check to see if the information is correct.”

Dieu bent down to look at the page, feeling like time was slowing down. The information clearly states: full name Tran Thi Dieu, date of birth, place of birth, mother's name is Tran Thi Hanh. In the father's name section, she saw the words "Tran Van Phong" written in a different type of ink, the handwriting was somewhat different from the rest of the page.

“Officer,” Dieu asked, trying to keep her voice normal even though her heart was pounding. "Why does the father's name have different ink? Was it added later?"

The employee looked closer and nodded in confirmation. "That's right, you'll know right away when you see it. Probably when the birth registration was initially done, there was no information about the father, then the family added it. This case is not rare, especially in the past when the procedures were still lax."

“Can you tell me the exact replenishment date?” Dieu continued asking, trying to keep her voice as natural as possible.

The employee turned to another notebook and compared the numbers noted in the margin. “Let's see... according to this receipt number, the addition was made approximately four months after the original birth registration date.”

Four months. Dieu remembered that number, feeling like an important piece of the puzzle had just been firmly confirmed. She thanked the staff, asked for a notarized copy of the birth certificate, and then left the ward committee with a heavy heart but also full of determination.

On the way home, she stopped by Uncle Tu's car repair shop, watching from afar as he worked hard as usual, unaware of the storm that was about to strike from Dieu's findings. She stood there for a long time, trying to muster up the courage to step forward, but in the end she turned away, not ready for that important conversation right now.

She returned to the shop, where Huong had visited according to a previous appointment, and took advantage of her day off to visit Dieu and see the situation with her own eyes. The two friends hugged each other with joy after many days of only communicating by phone.

“You look so shabby,” Huong said, her eyes looking at her friend with sadness. “Tell me everything, what's going on?”

Dieu pulled Huong into the inner room, where it was more private, and told the whole story — from the debt book, the stack of letters, to the birth certificate just confirmed this morning. Huong listened attentively, occasionally letting out sympathetic sighs.

“Oh my god Dieu,” Huong said when Dieu finished, her voice emotional. "You're carrying too many things. Debt is tiring enough, now add this."

“I don't know what to do,” Dieu said, her voice choked. “I want to know the truth, but I'm also afraid, afraid that once I know, things will never be the same again. again."

Huong grabbed your hand and squeezed it tightly. “You know, no matter what the truth is, it can't change the love that Dad Phong, Uncle Tu, and your mother have had for you over the years. You are still you, still loved like that, you just understand better the story behind that love."

That comforting word made Dieu feel somewhat relieved, although her anxiety had not completely disappeared. “Thank you for coming down here,” she said, hugging her friend. “I really need someone by my side right now.”

“I'll be here for a few days,” Huong said, a warm smile on her lips. “Help you sell the shop, help you analyze the books, and most importantly, be by your side when you need to talk to Uncle Tu.”

Dieu nodded, touched by that sincere friendship. With Huong by her side, she felt like she had a little more courage to prepare for the most important conversation in her life - a conversation that she knew could not be postponed any longer, now that all the evidence had almost fully converged, only waiting for a final confirmation from the person involved.

That evening, after closing the shop, Dieu stood in front of Uncle Tu's car repair shop, holding a copy of her birth certificate, her heart trembling with both excitement and fear. She took a deep breath and gently knocked on the half-closed door.

“Uncle Tu, can I talk to you for a moment?” she called, her voice shaking but trying to remain as calm as possible.

Inside, footsteps sounded, and the door slowly opened, revealing Uncle Tu's face with an unreadable expression — as if he had a premonition that the moment he had always been afraid to face had finally arrived.

Before that, when Huong was still at the restaurant, the two of them discussed for a long time about how to approach this conversation. “You should prepare yourself mentally for both possibilities,” Huong advised, her voice serious. “Maybe he will admit it right away, maybe he will deny it, or avoid it. No matter what, don't let your emotions overwhelm you, just present the evidence calmly, so he has space to decide for himself whether to tell the truth or not.

“I'm scared,” Dieu confessed, her voice shaking. “I'm afraid if he denies it, I won't know what to believe anymore. I'm afraid that if he admits it, our relationship will never be the same again."

“No matter the outcome,” Huong said, holding her friend's hand tightly, “you will always be loved, by all three of them, in different ways. There is no answer that can erase that.”

Those words echoed in Dieu's head as she stood in front of the car repair shop, still clutching a copy of her birth certificate like an invisible shield. She looked at Uncle Tu and saw that he was also looking at her. They both stood silently for a few endless seconds, neither one taking the initiative to speak first.

“Can I come in here and talk, uncle?” Dieu finally broke the silence, her voice trying to stay as calm as possible even though her heart was beating wildly in her chest.

Uncle Tu nodded, stepped back to let her in, his hand reached for the only stool in the shop to invite her to sit, while he stood leaning against the work table full of car repair tools, his eyes avoided looking directly at her, as if he had guessed some of the content of the conversation about to happen.

Dieu sat down, placed a copy of the birth certificate on the table between the two of them, but Don't rush to speak right away. She took a deep breath, trying to organize what she wanted to say. The questions that had been pent up for the past few days now seemed to be coming out at the same time, making it take her a few more seconds to speak coherently.

Uncle Tu looked down at the paper on the table. Although he had not read the content clearly, perhaps his intuition told him what kind of paper it was. He sighed, pulled another chair closer, sat down opposite Dieu, his appearance as if he was mentally preparing for something he had avoided for nearly thirty years.

“What did you find?” he asked, his voice hoarse, no longer as evasive as before.

“I found a stack of letters from uncle and mother,” Dieu replied, her voice shaking but still trying to keep it steady. "I also just got a copy of my original birth certificate. Uncle Tu, I need you to tell me the truth."

The old neon light in the auto repair shop hummed softly. The yellow light shone on Uncle Tu's face, highlighting the deep wrinkles caused by age and perhaps even because of the long years of carrying a heavy secret. He looked at Dieu, his eyes contained a pain that had been suppressed for so long, and now there seemed to be no more room to hide it.

“Whatever you want to ask, I will answer,” he said at last, his voice low, carrying a heavy acceptance. “I'm sorry for making you figure things out on your own this way, instead of hearing it from my mouth or your mother's mouth first.”

Dieu felt like her heart stopped beating in that moment. She had been mentally preparing for this answer for many days, but when she actually faced it, all preparations seemed meaningless under the weight of the present moment.

“I just want to know the truth,” she said, her voice choking. “Whatever that truth is.”

Uncle Tu nodded slowly, raised his hand to rub his face, as if trying to find some calm before starting. Outside, a light wind blew, shaking the tarpaulin covering the front of the shop, making a soft rustling sound, as if the alley itself was holding its breath waiting with the two of them.

"The story between me and your mother," he began, his voice trembling, "is true. She and I loved each other when we were young, and I did not hide that from you. As for the other set of letters, I wrote them while my heart was still heavy and unable to let go, so there are many words that could make you misunderstand."

He stopped, his eyes avoided looking directly at Dieu, his hand unconsciously picked up a small wrench on the table and then put it down again, an awkward gesture rarely seen in the man who was always calm and steady in all his work.

Dieu observed him, clearly feeling that there was a gap between what he had just said and what she read in that last letter. “So what about the 'baby' in the letter, can you explain?” she asked bluntly, her voice no longer as calm as before.

Uncle Tu paused, his jaw clenched for a long moment before responding, his voice a bit more hurried than usual. "That's just what I wrote in general, blessing your mother's soon-to-be-born child, nothing else."

That answer, although spoken with certainty, did not convince Dieu at all - there was something in his voice, in his avoiding eyes, that made her clearly feel that this was not the right one. the whole truth. She sat quietly, looking at him, feeling like she was standing in front of a door that was slightly open, but still had a long way to go before she could completely step inside.