Chapter 10 — The Mother Who Stole Her Dream

I told very quickly, from the story of only having five hundred yuan a month for living expenses, the amount of money my grandmother entrusted, to the fact that she went to school to cause trouble today. When I mentioned giving up on the preliminary round, my voice became tense for the first time. Not out of self-pity. But because I was almost pushed back into the mud by her. Duong Duong stood next to him, holding the phone. She turned over the messages Manh Tinh sent in the class group. At ten o'clock in the morning, Manh Tinh once asked:

“If the main dancer suddenly changes, will the costume size have to be changed?”

At that time, no one thought much. Looking back now, that sentence seems like a pre-prepared line. After watching, Ms. Lam's face became even darker.

“Where is she?”

Duong Duong said:

“Probably at the gym.”

The dean gave me the stamped explanation.

“Khuong Le, you sign first.”

I hold the pen. But as soon as the tip of the pen touched the paper, my hand stopped. In the scan that was just sent in, the signature on the waiver is very similar to mine. It's so similar that it's not an arbitrary imitation. It must have been copied from my real signature. I raised my head.

“This signature sample can be obtained from the class performance participation list.”

Miss Lam immediately understood.

“Who collected that list?”

Duong Duong gritted his teeth.

“Manh Tinh once helped the class president collect money.”

Someone knocked on the office door. Not Manh Tinh. It's my younger brother. He stood outside the door, his previous impatience gone, replaced by panic.

“Sister, can I say something to you?”

Duong Duong immediately blocked the door.

“Impossible.”

It looked at me.

“I really didn't know my mother wanted to sabotage your preliminary round.”

I said nothing. It started to get impatient.

“I just told my mom to ask me for money.”

“Mom said that if I lose the chance to join the dance troupe, I will go home and work.”

“By then, our family will no longer lack money.”

That statement is like a basin of cold water poured from head to toe. My mother was not suddenly excited. She had been planning for a long time. Take me out of school. Take me home. Take me to work. Make me continue to fill their never-full hole. I asked:

“Do you find that normal?”

It bowed its head.

“Mom says there's no use for girls learning to dance.”

Duong Duong was so angry that his voice trembled.

“So you feel like your sister should buy you a computer?”

It does not refute. In the office, only the sound of the printer could be heard. Ms. Lam scanned all documents added to the system. It was five twenty-six minutes. The City Dance Troupe responded very quickly.

“A revocation of the waiver request has been received, but since the waiver already exists, the student needs to confirm by video.”

“Students are requested to hold their identification documents, clearly state directly in front of the camera that they do not give up the preliminary round, and at the same time perform a basic technique segment that is at least one minute long.”

Duong Duong immediately said:

“Okay!”

But the next second, Ms. Lam looked down at my feet. I bowed my head. Because I stood in the lobby for too long, my ankles were swollen. Duong Duong also saw it and his face immediately turned pale. Only thirty-four minutes left before six o'clock. The gym is in another building. My mother's voice suddenly rang out from the end of the hallway.

“It can't jump!”

“His leg is broken!”

I raised my head and saw her holding one up Hospital diagnosis sheet in hand. The name on there is me.

11

When the diagnosis paper appeared, the faces of everyone in the hallway changed. My mother seemed to hold the last lifeline, raised the piece of paper and ran over.

“Everyone look!”

“The doctor said he shouldn't be doing intense exercise!”

"I'm the mother, would telling him to give up mean harming him?"

I stared at the paper. That's the imaging record after I twisted my leg in freshman year. The doctor wrote that I need to rest for a short time, and after a follow-up examination, I will gradually resume exercise. But on the piece of paper in my mother's hand there was one more line: Proposal to end dance training. Ha Minh Triet took the paper and just looked at it.

“This is not the original.”

My mother raised her neck.

“Why not?”

“Hospital emergency!”

Miss Lam said:

“Then immediately contact the hospital for verification.”

My mother's hands were clearly shaking. My younger brother stood behind, his face increasingly unsightly. It was like the first time he realized that the words that were previously taken for granted in the house, when taken apart, were full of holes. But I don't have time to look at them anymore. Five thirty-one minutes. Ms. Lam asked me:

“Khuong Le, can you dance?”

Duong Duong immediately shook his head.

“His leg is swollen.”

I looked at my ankle. Painful. Very painful. But it's still not so painful that I can't stand up. I said:

“You can.”

Duong Duong's tears immediately flowed.

“Don't try to act strong.”

I held her hand.

“This is not a forced effort.”

“It's about reclaiming my path.”