Chapter 24 — Mother's Last Painting

"I didn't know there would be a truck. I really didn't know. I was just afraid that they would look for Chu Lan, afraid that the books would be leaked." I stood outside the door, listening to everything. Tham Minh Trach held onto the wall, his face paler than death. In another testimony room, the second aunt heard it and cried. I didn't cry. Aunt Chu squeezed my shoulder. "Thanh Thanh." I pushed the door and walked in. Seeing me, the second uncle immediately slid off the chair and knelt on the ground. "Thanh Thanh, second uncle didn't mean to harm them. He was just confused, just scared." I asked: "When you called my father, did you think he was your brother-in-law?" He cried and nodded. "Have." "But you still called." He covered his face. "You are wrong." "And your mother? She is my biological sister." He put his head on the ground. "I'm sorry for her." I looked at the person who had taken care of me for many years. He used to cook for me, fix the lamp for me, and in the winter, he was afraid I would be cold and even gave me his thick blanket. Those things are all true. It was true that he led my parents down that path out of fear. I said: "You didn't just let them down." The second uncle raised his head to look at me. I said every word: "You killed them." His crying stopped for a moment, then he sobbed even harder. Tham Minh Trach knelt outside the door. "Thanh Thanh." I did not look at him. When the police took my second uncle away, he kept calling my name. I didn't turn back once. Stepping out of the police station, it was already dark. Aunt Chu asked: "Returning to the house?" I nodded. The courtyard door opened, under the pomegranate tree there were fallen leaves. The main bedroom in the front yard had been tidied up. I put the photo of my parents back on the table. In the photo, they are still very young. My mother was wearing a white shirt and her hands were covered in glue used to restore paintings. My father stood next to her, smiling very foolishly. I told them: "I already know." The wind blew in, the corner of the photo moved slightly. It's like someone is answering me. The days that followed were not peaceful. Second uncle and second aunt were prosecuted according to the law. Lam Thanh, Ma Duc Hai and Luc Van Xuong were also tried in turn. The chain of events behind the accident that year has finally been pulled out piece by piece. The truck driver actually hit the deceased, but his family handed over a recording. In the recording, Ma Duc Hai told him to threaten the Hua couple, not to actually cause death. But the car lost control, eventually turning into a disaster. Luc Van Xuong participated in covering up the incident, Lam Thanh was in charge of spreading the word, and a phone call from my second uncle led my parents down that path. None of them intended to kill anyone. But each of them gave the tragedy one more push. Tham Minh Trach had been to the house several times. The first time, he put the key outside the door. The second time, he brought a box of things from my childhood that my second aunt had previously kept. The third time, he knelt outside the yard door from morning until afternoon. I did not open the door. Ms. Truong couldn't bear to watch, so she brought out a glass of water and asked him: "Who are you kneeling for?" Tham Minh Trach said: "I want to meet Thanh Thanh." Mrs. Truong said: "Your whole family has harmed people like that. Do you still want them to watch you play the role of a filial son?" He did not object. The divorce case between Lam Uyen and Tham Minh Trach was ugly. She refused to sign, went everywhere saying that the Tham family cheated her into getting married, Hua Thanh Thanh forced her to the end. But the evidence that she faked her pregnancy, spread false news, bought stolen paintings and stole savings books was all there. Finally, the court granted a divorce. She didn't get the money she wanted. Lam's mother was also prosecuted for participating in transferring stolen goods. Lam Hao was not spared either. During that time, the Lam family came every day to cause trouble. One time, Lam Uyen stood outside the yard door, shouting from the door: "Hua Thanh Thanh, come out!" I opened the door. She had lost a lot of weight, and her face no longer had the previous smug look on her face, only her unwillingness remained. "Are you satisfied? My family is broken, my marriage is gone, my mother and younger brother are both in prison." I said: "It's not me who destroys." She stared at me. "If you had moved out from the beginning, what happened later wouldn't have happened." I looked at her and, for a moment, found her both pitiful and ridiculous. "If you hadn't robbed in the first place, nothing would have happened." She gritted her teeth. "You have so much, if you share a little with me, will you die?" I said: "Will." She was stunned. I said: "I have divided it before. I divided my trust with my second uncle and my second aunt, my love with Tham Minh Trach, and my dignity to your family. As a result, you guys used those things to dig up my parents' graves." Lam Uyen's face turned pale. Before closing the door, I said: "Don't come again in the future. If you come again, I will report to the police." She stood outside the door scolding for a long time. Then her voice faded away. It took Aunt Chu three months to organize the list of items in the backyard. Items that need to be returned are given back to the owner one by one. Some recipients bowed before me with red-rimmed eyes. There are also people who are dissatisfied, thinking that the Hua family has preserved it for many years, so no matter what, they should compensate some amount. Aunt Chu immediately opened the book.