Chapter 3 — The owner of the car shop behind the school gate

By the third day, the club had a bigger problem than the pump: no one knew who was allowed to stay open after school.

The key is in Vy's pocket, but she doesn't have the courage to decide on her own. Khoa said if there are no adults present, they should only open the garage during the hours Ms. Van registered. Gia Huy, class representative of class 11A3, objected because that time coincided with many of his classmates' extra class schedules.

“If you want to serve everyone, you have to open when people need it,” Huy said.

“If it opens when there is no one in charge, the waiter will be the first to be questioned,” Khoa replied.

Huy looked at Vy. "You're new. What do you think?"

It's reasonable that Vy doesn't like being pulled between two people. She opened the notebook and wrote two columns on the board: needs and risks.

"I tried for three days. One hour a day. Two people were on duty, one person took notes, one person worked as a technician. If there weren't enough people, then I closed it. Don't open it if it rains or the door isn't locked securely."

Huy frowned. “You turn the club into a hospital duty schedule.”

“Because both should not be left to guess when something goes wrong.”

Khoa looked at her, did not speak but nodded.

Gia Huy created a shift registration form. Quynh Chi, Vy's classmate and communications manager, received the part to write the announcement. She did not use photos of people, just the pump, the loan board and a row of wheels under the roof. Vy asked why she didn't take pictures of people repairing cars to make it more vivid.

Quynh Chi replied: "Vivid photos are easy to like, but if you don't ask the person in the photo, it can easily make people uncomfortable."

Vy laughed. “Do you and Khoa have the same course?”

“No. I just hate having to apologize after posting.”

The first open house had sixteen people. A 12th grade boy brought his sister's old car with locked brakes. A 10th grade girl asked how to inflate a tire without bending the valve. Two students just wanted to watch because they had never seen a car repair kit outside of the video.

Khoa's work is slower than usual, because he has to edit and explain at the same time. Vy is in charge of the snail tray and distributing towels. She stuck a small piece of paper on the table: "The screws are removed from which car to put in that tray."

“Are you afraid of people mixing snails?” Khoa asked.

“I'm afraid a car will come out with four types of screws that are not the same size.”

“Afraid is right.”

A friend picked up a wrench and put it in the wrong place. Vy looked at the borrowed board. She hasn't recorded it yet. She asked softly, you blushed and said just try holding it. Vy handed over the pen, saying the tool was not punished because it was tested, but writing helped the next person know where it was.

Huy stood next to him, recording the number of turns. He discovered that the person who waited the longest for his car to be repaired was not the one with the most complicated problem, but the person who arrived later didn't know how to line up. Huy suggested making a number card. Khoa said not to turn the garage into a transaction counter. Quynh Chi said paper cards can help quiet people avoid being crowded.

Vy cut the paper into small pieces and numbered them with a marker. Bao, an 11th grade boy who often appeared everywhere there was food, asked to be the person who distributed numbers. He named himself "head of circulation". Khoa warns not to sell numbers. Bao said he only accepted cookies, then Quynh Chi confiscated his bag.

At the end of the shift, there was a little girl standing outside the door, without a car. The girl looked at the board, then asked if she could borrow a pump for her car at home. Khoa said the club only lends it during staffed hours, but can instruct you to pump it right here if you bring your car. The girl said her house was far away and she could only come back tomorrow.

Vy asked what difficulties she was having. The girl said the tires were often flat, and her mother didn't have money to replace them. Khoa opened the old box and took a piece The patch is still good. He didn't give it away; He showed me how to mark the hole and told me to bring the car in tomorrow and the club would try to fix it.

Vy watched the girl go down to the gate. “Why don't you give me the patch?”

“Because she needs to know how to use it, not just an item.”

“What if she doesn't come back tomorrow?”

“The patch is still in the box.”

Khoa spoke calmly, but Vy heard patience in it. Not everyone can come back on the right day, at the right time, when others are ready to help.

After the opening session, Ms. Van asked the group to give a short report. Huy gave the quantity. Quynh Chi gave feedback. Khoa gives a list of common errors. Vy added an "unknown" item: how many students don't have good cars but still have to ride to school, how many are afraid to ask for fear of being considered ignorant, and what is a safer way to open the door.

Ms. Van finished reading and asked why Vy wrote "don't know" more than "did".

“Because if we don't write it down, the next person will think we've already checked.”

“Where did you learn that way?”

Vy looked at Khoa. “In the tool room.”

Khoa was removing the pump, pretending not to hear.

That afternoon, a deliveryman brought six old helmets, saying they were sending them to the club. Hat is intact but age and usage history unknown. The department checks wires, locks, and foam layers. He eliminated two that had cracks.

I'm sorry. “It can still be used.”

"If you're not sure, don't give it to others."

“You say this a lot.”

“Because people still try to use things that aren't reliable.”

Quynh Chi took photos of four qualified hats, clearly stating that these were inspected items, not new. The post received a few comments asking why not all of them were accepted. She answers with criteria, not with emotions.

In the evening, Vy went home by taxi because it was raining. Dad is in the living room, in front of him is a tablet with a garage blueprint open. He said the school has sent a proposal to upgrade the area behind the gate, possibly placing a display area for Van Hung's electric vehicles.

Vy looked at the drawing. In the right corner there is a strip of bright glass, the company logo and the words "Green traffic experience space". Mrs. Man's car repair shop is marked in gray, saying "temporary relocation".

“Have you seen this yet?”

"I know. That's the idea."

“So where is the club?”

“If the project is approved, the school will re-arrange it.”

“Does redeployment mean loss?”

Father frowned. “Not necessarily.”

Vy looked at the logo on the drawing, then remembered Khoa's words: a car not only has errors, it has a user, a time and a way to fix it. The same goes for a space. If people only look at the area, they will ignore what happens inside.

“Do you know that Mrs. Man's shop is located in the relocation area?”

“That's what the school handles.”

“Have you asked them yet?”

“Vy, you don't need to interfere in all of my contracts.”

“But if Van Hung's name is on it, it's related to you.”

Dad turned off the screen. “I joined the program to learn how to work, not to examine the company.”

Vy stood still. She wanted to say that the two things could be one and the same, but her father turned his back. On her sleeve there was still a stain of oil from the garage. She looked at it, then thought about the shiny drawing on the table.

Tomorrow, she must ask Khoa if he knows anything about that plan. She knew she would have to ask without turning the question into a command. That's more difficult than fixing a flat tire.

The next morning, Vy did not ask immediately. She and Quynh Chi re-posted the duty schedule, which included One box is for people who don't belong to the club but need to borrow a pump. Huy suggests adding a deposit fee to avoid loss. Khoa denied it with the reason that many people just need to pump the car and don't have any change. The two argued about how much to trust others.

Vy listened and then came up with a plan: not collect money, but ask to take a photo of the student card and write down the payment time. Quynh Chi said you should not save your ID photo. They changed it to just write the class and name, enough to contact if there's a problem. Vy realized that good answers often appear after many people point out why the first answer is not enough.

During recess, Khoa arrived. Vy asked about the drawing. He said Mrs. Man had heard rumors that the garage would have an electric vehicle experience area, but no one had asked his opinion. Vy asked him what he thought. Khoa replied that he was not against electric cars, just against using the car repair shop as a backdrop for a product that his mother did not sell.

“What if they pay to move the store?” Vy asked.

"My mother may need money, but she needs to know what she lost. People often talk about compensation as if a table could replace history."

Vy wrote that sentence in the notebook, asking permission before writing Mrs. Man's name. Khoa nodded. She asked if he could introduce an e-bike user so the group could understand the need. Khoa said yes, but that person did not want to be turned into a representative of the entire generation.

In the afternoon, the group tested the queue diagram. One person is in the vehicle entry position, one person is in the repair position, and one person is in the ticket writing position. After only ten minutes, they discovered that the passage was blocked if there were two people waiting. Huy moved the table aside, Khoa suggested drawing a line and waiting. Vy adds space for shopping carts.

Ms. Van passed by and asked why they tried so much. Vy replied that the drawing on paper did not show that people would collide with each other. Ms. Van said to try, as long as the group recorded all the failures.

Before closing, Quynh Chi discovered a poster with the line "accompanied by sponsor". She asked Huy who gave permission to use that sentence. Huy said it was just a sample sentence. Vy suggested quitting, because there was no agreement yet. Huy deleted it, then wrote: "looking for a better way to operate".

Khoa looked at the new text and said it didn't sound flashy. Vy said maybe because it's true. They all knew there would be more questions about the drawing tomorrow, but at least the group had learned to ask before hanging an answer on the wall.