Chapter 8 — Scary Neighbors

"He said he was paralyzed and there was no point in living anymore. Because of his feelings for her, he accepted to let it go." “But now, after seeing the news, he decided to tell the truth.” My scalp felt numb. Trieu Ngoc Phan could not continue speaking, his lips trembled. “Three years.” “Two years of care.” “It's not about caring, it's about guarding.” "I'm afraid he'll say anything but I can't let him die." "Every day she brings food and drinks. People from the outside looking in think she's gentle and thoughtful, but actually..." She didn't continue. But I know what she means. Actually, she was just waiting for him to be unable to bear it himself. Just like how she treated her mother. Not taken to the hospital, not given food or water, slowly squeezed out of life. I stood in front of the window looking out. Downstairs, there were a few neighbors chatting, and a child was playing with a sled. The sunlight is very beautiful. But in this building, in the apartment next to mine, there is a person who spent five years exhausting the two people closest to him. One person slowly died, the other was tortured to the point of paralysis. “Where is she now?” I asked. “I was taken to the police station for questioning.” “We can't escape this time, right?” Trieu Ngoc Phan shook his head. "Don't know." “I just know that the two hundred thousand in the savings book cannot be withdrawn in cash.” “Which is transferred.” “Move to where?” “A personal account.” "Whose?" “A colleague of hers.” “It's a man.” Day eleven. In the group of residents, there was no one left to speak up for Truong Tu Lan. Aunt Vuong posted a sentence: "I'm really blind, I even said it for her before." Uncle Trieu replied: “We are all blind.” The people who scolded me before began apologizing one after another. But I didn't care anymore. In the afternoon, I went to the management board to review the cameras over the past half year. At first they did not agree. I said the police needed those images so they would cooperate. I watch cameras all day long. In the image, every day Truong Tu Lan leaves the house at eight in the morning and returns at seven in the evening. No day changes. The door to apartment 601 only opens twice a day. In the morning she comes out, in the evening she comes in. The old lady had never gone out on her own. An eighty-year-old woman, for half a year, did not step out of the house once. Curtains in the house are also always closed. I continued to review the previous few months. I found out the last time her mother appeared on camera was seven months ago. That day, Truong Tu Lan helped her slowly walk to the front of the elevator. The old lady wore a dark red cotton shirt. After that she never appeared again. Seven months. Her mother hasn't left the house for seven months. Seven months ago she was still able to walk, but three months ago, when I visited, she had become so thin that she was just skin and bones. I took pictures from the camera and saved them in the evidence folder. 11 Twelfth day. Trieu Ngoc Phan came to say goodbye to me. She said Truong Tu Lan's case has been prosecuted, and the following matters will be handed over to the police to handle. "She still owes each of us one hundred thousand yuan. I don't know if she can get it back." “But the person who was arrested, seems to have an explanation for my aunt.” Walking to the door, she suddenly turned around. “Tieu Luc, I want to ask you something.” “You just ask.” “That day, how did you know the old lady had passed away?” I looked into her eyes. “I just have doubts.” “In case of a bad situation, call the police.” Trieu Ngoc Phan looked at me for a long time then nodded. “You are a smart person.” “Luckily you're smart.” “Otherwise…” She didn't continue, and I didn't need her to continue. After Trieu Ngoc Phan left, I sat on the sofa for a long time. It was dark outside the window. I reviewed everything I had saved over the past ten days. Chat history, call recordings, transfer photos, camera images. More than fifty gigabytes of data document how one person spent five years slowly torturing his biological mother to death. It also records how I almost became the one to bear the blame for her. After the incident ended, I returned apartment 602. On the day of moving, Aunt Vuong came to see me off. She stood

Downstairs, they watched me move each box to the small truck, their eyes were slightly red. “Tieu Yeu, you are a good girl.” “In the future, please come back to visit everyone often.” I hugged her but didn't say anything. I know I will never go back. The new house I rented is located in the south of the city, closer to the company, only a ten-minute walk. The room was not large, only forty square meters, faced south and had a small balcony. During the period after moving house, I dreamed the same dream almost every day. In the dream, I pushed open the door of apartment 601. The old lady sat up and looked at me, her mouth constantly moving as if she was saying something. Every time I want to hear clearly, I wake up. After waking up, my back was drenched in sweat. About three months later, this gradually faded from my life. Until one day, I received a call from an unknown number. The caller is Trieu Ngoc Phan. She said Truong Tu Lan's case had been tried.