What We All Long For

Tuyen, curious about her father’s mood and rethinking familial responsibility, reluctantly goes to Binh’s electronics store in order to offer her help while he is away. When she arrives, two of Binh’s illicit business partners are there, along with an Asian woman Tuyen assumes to be Binh’s girlfriend. The woman introduces herself as Ashely, but after finding out her given name is Hue, Tuyen purposefully refuses to call her anything but Hue.

Binh tells Tuyen that he just needs her to check in and make sure everything is going okay; Hue knows how to run the store well enough on her own and will be there every day, as well. After asking to speak to Binh alone, Tuyen again questions him on his motives. Binh explains that their mother has been getting ripped off for years, so he’s doing his own detective work, and ultimately just wants to find them closure for their own sake.

As Tuyen walks after leaving the store, she passes two men speaking in a language she doesn’t quite recognize. Seeing a woman staring at them in dismay, she asks what language they’re speaking. The woman tells her “Portuguese,” then says, “You never know when you’re talking, other people could be listening” (149).