CHAPTER 3: Best friend in trouble

After a month of working, Anh Tu was very much admired by the boss. Because of his diligence and hard work, he was also very enthusiastic in his work. He also learned the job very quickly, doing everything correctly.

It was said that the previous employees were fired by the boss because they were arrogant, stubbornly argued when they made mistakes, and were very lazy. The young boss said he was very lucky to have met Anh Tu, he was very obedient.

Every month, the boss gave him a bonus, so his salary was quite stable. He alone did the work of two to three people at the same time, so he deserved such a reward.

When Trinh Anh Tu was young, he often studied this auto repair job with his father and then helped him fix cars, so he learned many things the boss taught him very quickly. This made some members of the auto repair shop not very pleasing to the eye, they all tried to isolate him.

Anh Tu did not care, because what he needed was to make a living, not to cause trouble.

At lunchtime, his friend suddenly asked to go home and stop by the store where he worked. Anh Tu saw that Hoai An's complexion wasn't very good, sometimes green, sometimes red, looking like he was sick. He asked: "What's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well? Have you eaten yet? If you haven't eaten, sit down and eat, then I'll buy you some medicine."

Trinh Anh Tu gave Hoai An the lunch box he had just bought and hadn't eaten yet, then stood up to go buy medicine when he grabbed his hand. Anh Tu wanted to ask if he needed anything else so he could buy it, but his eyes stopped on his trembling hands.

Tran Hoai An pulled him back to sit, his eyes darting around to make sure no one was around before daring to speak: "Tu, didn't you have a run-in with a bunch of thugs hanging around the alley a month ago?".

Seeing his friend was a bit strange: "How do you know about this?".

Hoai An moved his lips, but in the end, he still didn't say anything. He stood up: "You, you eat, I'll go home first."

Before he could grab him to ask him clearly, he had already run away like a squirrel and sped away.

"What's wrong with this guy? Did his girlfriend dump him?"

These past few days, I've seen Tran Hoai An acting strangely. He usually gets home from work early before him. Normally, workers come home at five o'clock, but Anh Tu saw him at home by four o'clock.

If he came home early and there was no problem, he wouldn't care, just thinking he was lazy and wanted to go home early to rest. But every time he came home, he saw Hoai An hiding in the bedroom, curled up in a daze. He looked as if he was possessed by a ghost, Anh Tu couldn't help but care. At that time, a weak-hearted person might have been scared away when he saw him.

Trinh Anh Tu still hadn't had the chance to ask him what had happened. Every time he approached to ask, he said he was sleepy and wanted to go to bed, but he didn't know if he had eaten yet. When he got home today, he had to ask him clearly.

Taking advantage of the meal to go in for a shift, at 3 pm Anh Tu asked his boss to leave work an hour early. On the way back, he stopped by the fried food shop to buy some grilled meat skewers and fried sausage skewers, then went to the grocery store to buy a few cans of beer. This was enough for the two of them to confide in each other.

It was rare to see Tran Hoai An acting so strangely. A kid who always had a big smile on his face, who often teased, even when he was beaten to the point of being beaten up, still smiled like a fool, so how could he be worried and afraid of something one day, as if he was about to be castrated?

He was definitely hiding something.

When he got home, he saw Hoai An's shoes and sandals thrown around, so he picked them up and put them in order. He put the drinks on the table, and was about to go into the bedroom to call him when he stopped. It seemed like he was talking to someone on the phone, his voice was very nervous.

"How, how would I know..? I told you I didn't borrow any money from you guys! Do you believe I'll call the police to arrest you guys?!".

Not knowing what the person on the other end of the line said, Anh Tu heard him shouting in anger: "Fuck! I've never gambled or bet! If you're a scammer, I'll call the police to arrest you all!".

Suddenly he stopped, trembling when he heard what the other person said. Trinh Anh Tu stood outside the door and suddenly heard his sobbing: "Sob, it was Dao Anh Tuyet who scammed me, that money was borrowed from her, not mine. Go and ask her for it, I don't know anything... Please don't touch my friends and my family".

Trinh Anh Tu frowned, couldn't help but kick the door open and entered.

Tran Hoai An was startled and quickly hung up the phone, he wiped his tears in a panic. Cold sweat poured out because he was afraid that Anh Tu had overheard him: "Why, why did you come home early today?".

Anh Tu grabbed him and asked him seriously to clarify: "Did you borrow money to gamble?".

Hoai An was startled, pushing him away: "You, what are you saying..? How could I borrow money to gamble?".

"Don't deny it anymore, quickly tell me clearly!".

His lips moved, Tran Hoai An tried to regain his composure at this moment. He made an excuse: "Let's go eat first, I'm hungry. Did you buy anything to eat? If not, let's go out to eat, I'll pay.".

He said then walked past him to go out, but Trinh Anh Tu didn't allow him to leave while everything was unclear. He pulled him back and threw him against the wall: "Where did you borrow it? They threatened to beat you? Where are they?".

Hoai An silently gritted his teeth, he avoided his eyes: "Let's go eat and then I'll talk.".

Trinh Anh Tu didn't want to force his friend, he was very worried about him. He should let his stomachs calm down so that it would be easier to talk.

Seeing the beer and the skewers, Hoai An's eyes lit up, immediately forgetting all the troubles and eating while telling stories. That was Anh Tu's imagination, but in reality, he just sat down at the table, not daring to look into his eyes, nor touching any meat or beer.

Opening a can of beer and placing it in front of Tran Hoai An: "Eat and drink your fill, then tell whatever you want to tell."

Listening to his friend, Hoai An picked up the skewers and took a few bites. Every time he swallowed a bite, he felt restless, so he took a sip of beer to calm down.

Anh Tu watched him eat without feeling hungry at all, he went into the kitchen, scooped up a bowl of rice and brought it to Hoai An: "Don't just eat snacks and drink beer, eat some rice."

Suddenly, tonight, Tran Hoai An was strangely obedient, not refusing but taking the bowl of rice and eating slowly.

Trinh Anh Tu observed him for a while and saw that his hands holding the bowl and chopsticks were shaking non-stop, so he asked: "Is it serious? Could it be that besides threatening to beat you, they also want to kill you?".

The chopsticks slammed down on the table, Tran Hoai An's face darkened as he glanced up at Anh Tu. He stood up: "Sorry, I feel very uncomfortable. I'm going to sleep now."

Without bathing, Hoai An just hid under the blanket, the bedroom didn't have the night light on, it was dark and desolate.

Trinh Anh Tu sighed, maybe waiting for him to calm down would make it easier to talk. He didn't know what those thugs said to him, but since they were soul mates, he definitely wouldn't let anything happen to him.

After eating, Anh Tu put the remaining skewers of meat in a box and put them in the refrigerator, to fry them again tomorrow morning to save money on breakfast. After cleaning the house and bathing, he stood in front of Hoai An's room, intending to go in to comfort him, but thinking again, it was better to leave him alone in peace.

After burning incense on the altar of the Earth God of Fortune, burning incense on the Kitchen God in the kitchen to pray for peace, Anh Tu lay down on the hammock and watched the news.

The life of a strong and healthy young man like him was really boring, like following the lifestyle of old people. At night, he didn't go out to play, but liked to stay at home drinking tea and watching the news.

The delicious lotus tea did not keep Anh Tu awake, but instead made him sleepy. His eyelids were about to droop as sleepiness crept in, the sound of the TV was still playing in his ears but his eyes were already closed. Just like that, he fell asleep on the soft hammock.

In the middle of the night, everything was immersed in darkness. Only the red light from the small round light bulb in front of the altar of the God of Wealth flashed, falling on the white tiled floor. The range of illumination was not much, making the living room space become ghostly.

Trinh Anh Tu slept with his mouth open, not knowing what was happening outside, the rain was rumbling and stormy. The cool rainy night made the healthy young man Anh Tu sleep soundly.

In front of the hallway entrance, next to the altar of the God of Wealth, a black shadow vaguely appeared, staring at him. It was Tran Hoai An, he lightly stepped closer to the hammock. Looking down at Anh Tu sleeping soundly, he clenched his fists so tightly that he was trembling.

"Sorry...".

The soft words came from his lips, then Tran Hoai An turned and walked into his friend's bedroom. It seemed that he knew every object and location in Anh Tu's bedroom, including the tiny broken hole to hide valuables picked up on the road.

As soon as he entered, he walked to the front of the wardrobe, the drawer containing thick winter coats. Lifting up a few coats, a box of Danisa cookies appeared.

It wasn't a box of cookies, opening it up, there was money inside. It was just 200,000 dong bills tied into stacks.

Tran Hoai An pursed his lips, took away half of the money. Then put everything back in its original place. He tidied up his clothes, counted the money he had just taken. Then he tiptoed to the back of the kitchen, put on a raincoat, and opened the back door. He didn't forget to lock the door before running away.

..

The rain stopped, dew drops lingered on the leaves. The dog De Lo kept barking loudly in the ear of the person sleeping soundly. Trinh Anh Tu frowned as he woke up, reaching for his phone to check the time. It was only three thirty in the morning, it seemed that De Lo had become the alarm clock he needed.

Stretching, yawning a few times, intending to go to the bathroom and then exercise, De Lo bit the only pair of pants he had on and pulled him to the tea table. His pants were about to fall down, Anh Tu quickly pulled them back: "What are you doing, Lo? What's the matter that you're so restless so early in the morning?".

He let go of him and leaned on the table, his feet pointing at the paper on the table.

What did the smart dog want him to do? Trinh Anh Tu raised his eyebrows in confusion and picked up the paper. The content inside made his eyes darken.

"Tu, I'm sorry... I'm sorry a million times, I couldn't tell you last night that my girlfriend tricked me into debt. What I'm sorry for is taking your money and running away, you know, I'm scared to death! I'm scared that the thugs will come and kill me! I don't even know when I was tricked by that bitch! I'm so sorry Tu, please don't hate me. I'm sorry!".

Crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it on the ground: "Damn it, this crazy guy! When things got bad, he didn't even bother to say a word to me! Now things have gotten to this point and he's running away! Damn it! You reporter!".

Trinh Anh Tu anxiously called Tran Hoai An, but the calls were still the same. It was only on the hundredth call that he got his number locked. He was so angry that he wanted to smash the phone, and was about to call Hoai An's brother when he suddenly stopped.

He couldn't let his family know about this, in case they were worried and reported it to the missing person police. What if Hoai An was hiding from debt and was found, he might be in even more danger.

What should he do? He was all alone and didn't know anyone, so who could he turn to for help? Should he really call the police?

He remembered that he had Tran Hoai An's girlfriend's phone number. He called her, thinking she wouldn't pick up. As soon as he heard her voice, he rushed over: "Dao Anh Tuyet! Where is Tran Hoai An?!".

She was very indifferent: "Why are you asking me? Am I the babysitter?".

Anh Tu said in a low, cold voice: "You didn't say I called the police to arrest you."

Dao Anh Tuyet smiled sarcastically: "What did I do that you called the police? I'm the one who should be saying that, it's only three in the morning and you're already calling to harass me."

Trinh Anh Tu was furious: "You are a scammer! Now An is hiding from debt because of you!".

"He gave me such a large sum of money, so it turned out to be a loan? Haha, that idiot deserved to be kicked out by me. A worker who doesn't even have a decent house is having illusions, what does it have to do with me if he is being chased by gangsters for debt?".

After she finished speaking, she hung up the phone, Trinh Anh Tu was so angry that he wanted to drag this woman over and teach her a lesson. He called Dao Anh Tuyet again, this time she blocked his number.

What should he do now? He could earn back the money he lost, but he could never find his childhood friend who was like his own flesh and blood.

I hope Tran Hoai An doesn't think too much and do something terrible.

___

[Author's note]

In Vietnam, people believe in gods very much. So every morning and afternoon they have to burn incense and pray to the God of Wealth to pray for money and luck. And that is not superstition.