Chapter 15 — Tailor Shop at the End of Third Alley

Chau and Hanh read the documents together in the hem of their vests. Hanh recognized an appendix symbol being used as a person's name. She said that year everyone said “P” as a code, so anyone could be put under that word.

An recorded Phuc's words through a lawyer. Phuc said he cut the hem of the shirt, but not the map. He kept the paper because he thought one day people would need it. Hanh asked why he didn't send it sooner. He replied that he was afraid of being called a traitor by both sides.

Chau understands that fear can cause people to hold onto evidence for so long that it loses its effectiveness. She notes the time every document is sent, so no one has to rely on memory.

Mrs. Van sewed a separate pocket for the appendix, using red thread on the outside and purple thread on the inside. Red is the disputed part, purple is the holder's right. An said this bag has too many colors; Chau said the incident already has many layers.

The red suit was spread out on the table. Chau did not immediately remove the stitches because each red stitch may be the only remaining part of the appendix. Tung took photos of the outside, Hanh wrote down the condition, and Mrs. Van used a needle to remove a small section.

Inside the bear is a piece of scrolled paper, with half of the signature and the storage room number. The remaining part was cut off with red-handled scissors. An placed the scissors next to the cut edge and saw a matching blade mark but not enough to prove who held it.

Phuc sent a letter explaining that he had cut the bear as ordered, but after seeing the people's names, he kept the paper so it wouldn't be destroyed. He did not want to take credit for saving the store, he just wanted the signers to be fully heard.

Chau told the group that the evidence does not automatically make Phuc a good person. Hanh agrees. A right action does not erase all wrong actions, but it can pave the way to correct them.

An sewed the hem of the shirt with red thread, leaving an easy-to-remove button. Tung said it was a sign for someone to check later. Chau wrote on the card: "processed, do not cover the cut part".

When leaving the factory, they saw a woman in a gray shirt standing on the side of the road. Hanh stepped forward. The two talked alone for a few minutes, then Hanh came back and said she would sign to confirm that she had received the shirt, but was not ready to name the person who gave it to her.

Chau placed a small clock next to the sewing machine so everyone would know how long it took. An said the watch made him feel like he was at the factory. She said the factory could also be kind if people were given time off. Ngoc sets up a two-hour shift, then changes people. Faculty signed up for the last shift and then fell asleep on a roll of cloth.

Mrs. Van repaired An's father's old shirt while Mr. Thanh sat opposite. The two did not talk about Khai, only about the length of his sleeves. Mr. Thanh asked for one centimeter shorter, Ms. Van asked if he was sure. He laughed and said it had been too long since anyone had asked him a small question.

In class, rumors about An's father spread. One friend said he was favored because the store had an issue with the company. An wanted to quit duty, but Chau asked him to hand over the application to unrelated people. He left, returning with a list of people who still needed shirts, as if that was the answer.

Mai Phuong gave Chau her mother's paper. Her mother wrote that in 2014, she heard Khai say "a set of clothes cannot change a city, but can help a child go to school." She doesn't know the names of the rest, only remembers that the back door of the shop is open every Tuesday.

Chau asked Mai Phuong if she wanted to use this statement in the document. She said she had to ask her mother first. Mai Phuong nodded, then asked Chau if she had ever seen herself as the child in the sentence. Chau replied that she always thought she was protected, until she discovered that others might also need one door.

The extra lesson ended with Khoa discovering a pair of scissors whose blades had been replaced. The new, sharper tongue can be a gift or a warning. Ngoc wrote the sample in the box, Mrs. Van did not use it. Chau learned to check tools before starting, just like how to check documents before trusting.

An received a call from his father. He said Phuc contacted him and wanted to hand over the appendix, but only met him at the old factory. An asked if he should go. Chau said to come with an adult. Tung accepted, Hanh also went.

The old factory is located next to the railway line, the corrugated iron roof is punctured. Phuc did not appear, only a gray suit hanging on a hook. Tung recognized it as the set he had edited for the meeting. The inside of the shirt's hem has a red thread, but a part has been removed.

When Chau touched the bear, an appendix fell out. The first part records the boundary change, the last part records the fine for those who do not hand over the premises. The name of the company's signatory is left blank; The contractor's name is Vu Thanh.

An did not look at his father. Mr. Thanh said he had never signed this page. Tung said the signature had been cut from the original, but fingerprints on the edge of the paper showed that someone had folded the hem many times.

Phuc sent a message: **I do not sell appendices. I returned the thing that was hidden. Look for the person holding the red scissors.**

On the way back, Chau kept the suit. The red line in the hem extends to a cut letter: **P**.

Extra class at the end of the alley

Ms. Thao does not ban the project, but requires that all activities must be supervised by an adult. That afternoon, Ms. Van opened the shop early and set up more tables for the group to work. Ngoc brought a spreadsheet, Khoa brought a camera with two memory cards, An brought a pot of aunt Huong's tea, and Chau brought the worry of not knowing the name.

“Tea cannot solve the case,” Ngoc said.

“But it helps people read the profile longer,” An replied.

They divided the work. Chau read the sewing book, Ngoc compared the names, An called each family for confirmation, Khoa scanned the documents. Mrs. Van sits at number three, repairing clothes sent by customers. The sound of scissors, the sound of flipping papers and the sound of bicycle wheels in the alley create an extra lesson without a blackboard.

Chau discovered that some people in the register were no longer at their old addresses. A name that matches the gray-shirted woman on the shop's customer list. She asked Mrs. Van. She said that was the name before the woman changed her last name after marriage.

“You know who she is and you still let her into the shop?”

"Because the person who once needed a set of clothes is still the person who once needed a set of clothes. Knowing the past does not give me the right to chase them away."

An listens, doesn't speak. When it was time for everyone to rest, he took Chau out the back door. He admitted that his father was considering signing an addendum, because his salary was the only thing that helped his sister continue her studies.

“I don't want you to have to choose between the shop and your sister.”

“I also don't want you to choose between grandma and mom.”

Chau paused. He knew she used to live with her mother after her parents divorced, and knew that Mrs. Van was the storekeeper. She hated that he understood so quickly.

“I can make my own decisions,” she said.

"I know. But being independent doesn't mean having to do it alone."

At that moment, Khoa shouted from inside the store because the scanner had a paper jam. He asked Chau to hold the notebook, and even pulled the paper back himself, causing purple ink to be printed on his forehead. Ngoc took a photo and said this was the first evidence of Khoa being attacked by the profile.

Late at night, the group completed the confirmation sheet of fourteen households. An old man named Bay Loc clearly remembers the back passage of the shop that used to open every Tuesday. He said Khai and Thanh used that door to transport fabric to the village The family was flooded, no money was collected. He also remembers the woman in the gray shirt who was once a student receiving the shirt.

“Her name is Hanh,” he said. “Later work for a project company.”

Chau looked at An. Hanh was the one who asked about the unnamed shirt.

Ms. Van locked phone number three and told everyone to go home. Before closing the door, she looked at the east wall. Above the new pile there is a stain of red paint. She took a piece of purple cloth and tied it as a reminder.

An held the door for her. “Next Tuesday, they will come to check.”

“Then I will have all the documents.”

“What if it's not enough?”

Chau looked at the thread in his hand. “Then I'll sew another line.”

That afternoon, the shop received a special repair order: an old vest, wide shoulders, the inside pocket sewn shut. The person who brought it was a sixth grade boy named Phuc. He stood outside the door for a long time before daring to enter. I said the shirt belonged to my brother, who had left home to work far away, leaving a message that if anything happened, he would bring it here.

Ms. Van did not ask further. She just took a ruler to measure, while Chau removed the lining. Inside the seam was a small piece of rolled paper, damp and smudged with ink. The text is still readable: **The eastern wall landmark is not located on the new map. Look for paint stains under the station steps.**

Phuc looked at Chau, both hands clutching the strap of his bag. She said her brother used to work as a construction assistant for a project company. After reporting the wrong landmark location, he was fired. He told me not to give the shirt to anyone else because "the shop at the end of the alley knows how to keep its word".

Chau told me to sit and wait and gave me a glass of water. As soon as Ngoc arrived, she pulled Phuc out to look at the sewing machine, trying to tell the story of how Khoa once sewed two sleeves on the wrong side. Phuc chuckled. Meanwhile, An called his father and asked about the station steps with paint stains.

Ba An remembers a woman who often came to fix locks there. She did not accept money, only exchanged it for old buttons. Tung agreed to take the group out early in the morning, before the area was fenced off.

Chau repaired his vest with purple thread. She had to remove it three times because the old fabric shrank unevenly. Ms. Van did not urge her, she just said that each needle is a commitment that the wearer will not reveal anything they do not want to tell.

When trying on clothes, Phuc stood in front of the mirror, his shoulders straighter. I asked how much money. Mrs. Van said she would repay it by telling her brother that the shirt had kept its memory.

Before leaving, Phuc gave Chau a silver button. "I said you can't trust people wearing silver rings. But you can hold red scissors."

Outside the door, a man was looking at the repair price list. On his right hand is a cold, shining silver ring. He looked at the button in Chau's hand, then turned away before anyone could ask his name.