The Tutor
Chapter 12
The Lawyers
"Duo, I'd like you to meet Wufei's cousin, Sally Po. She's the lawyer I was telling you about."
Ruby Chang made a motion behind her cousin's back at Duo to stand.
The tallish blond woman held out her hand and smiled. Bright red lipstick was her only visible makeup, and pearl stud earrings adorned her ears. The only thing vaguely Asian looking about Sally were her tilted clear blue eyes and high cheekbones.
Duo shook her hand gently, and was surprised at the grip the woman had.
"Nice to meet you, Duo," she said in a pleasant voice.
"I don't mean to be rude," said Duo. "But you don't look Chinese."
"I'm only one-quarter Chinese," explained Sally, chuckling. "My father is Ruby's cousin, and his father was Swedish-American. My mother is English."
"That explains the hair and eyes," said Duo.
Sally chuckled again. "I have to explain it a lot, don't worry. Now, let's get busy and figure out your problem Duo. From what Ruby has told me, you need to get unattached very quickly from a very troubled domestic situation."
"If that means my aunt and uncle are a couple of lushes that like to fight, then yeah," said Duo, sitting down and pulling his denim clad knees up, hugging them.
"That's exactly what I mean," said Sally seriously. "There's no way a kid like you should be left with people like you describe. Why hasn't someone turned them in to the social services before this?"
"Because I wanted to stay where I could be with Solo once in a while, and if they put me in juvy or in some foster home, I might not get to see him anymore," said Duo.
"So, I'd lie to the cops, tell them I fell or got in a fight at school."
"Duo, they hit you?" Sally asked, frowning.
"Not too often," said Duo, hanging his head. "Now that I'm bigger, hardly at all."
"Shit!" exclaimed Sally softly. "Duo, you're never going back there, I don't care what we have to do, okay?"
Wufei came in, peeling off his leather motorcycle jacket. "Sorry to interrupt," he said.
"Hey, cuz, haven't seen you in a while," said Sally, standing up as Wufei came over. She leaned over and gave him an air kiss on the cheek.
"Sally, are you here about Duo, then?" Wufei asked. He went over to sit next to Duo on the sofa.
"Yeah, and I think we have a pretty good case against his guardians for neglect, if not abuse. But, time may be on our side. Duo turns 18 in 10 weeks. If we can get Ruby appointed as a temporary foster parent for him, Duo may reach majority before it becomes something we have to make permanent, which is a more complicated situation."
"You're saying that if Duo can stay here for 10 weeks, then that's it, he'll be legally an adult and that's the end of his aunt and uncle?" Wufei asked.
"Exactly," said Sally. "Don't you turn 18 about the same time?" asked Sally.
"Yeah," said Wufei, "In almost 2 months. Our birthdays are only three weeks apart."
"Be careful about revealing the nature of your relationship with Duo," Sally warned. "If Duo's guardians want to make things tough for us, they might accuse your mother of all sorts of nasty things. When you both turn 18, it won't matter, but for the next few months, keep a low profile. I hate to say that, but it's just the hard, cold reality of the situation."
"How do YOU know?" asked Wufei, slightly indignant.
"Because, sweetie, your mother gave me the low-down," Sally said. "You're clients, so don't worry, everything she told me is confidential." Sally winked at him.
"Geez, mom," grumbled Wufei. "Does she know my underwear size too?"
Duo laughed. Sally grinned. "Believe me, if it were pertinent to this case, I'd know it."
Wufei rolled his eyes. "I believe you."
"You're so cute when you're pissed off, cuz," said Sally, rising to leave. "I hate to get legal and leave, but I have appointments."
"We understand, Sally," said Ruby, taking Sally's arm and walking her to the door. "Thank you so much for coming over."
"No problem," said Sally. "I'm glad to help family, you know that, Aunt Ruby."
She bent down slightly to give the smaller woman a brief hug. "I'll do my best for you."
"Do you know a lawyer named Quatre Winner?" asked Duo, as Sally went to leave.
"Sure, why?" asked Sally.
"He's my brother's court appointed lawyer," said Duo. "He any good?"
Sally smiled and nodded, "He's the best, and I'm not just saying that," she said.
"You know him?" asked Duo.
"We went to law school together, graduated same class," said Sally. "At first I thought he was just another snotty rich brat who got into Stanford on his daddy's money, but he really worked hard, was in the top of his class. You know even when his dad disowned him, he kept his pro bono cases."
"Why'd his dad disown him?" asked Duo.
"Well, it might have something to do with the fact that he pretty openly decided to live with a guy who's a performance artist down in Venice Beach."
"Oh, I get it," said Duo quietly. "The things we do for love." He gave Sally a wry grin.
"He'll do his best for Solo," said Sally. "He's a pretty tough cookie in court, I'd sure hate to go up against him."
"Thanks," said Duo. "I feel better now."
"Well, gotta run, people." Sally said as she went out, heels clicking on the walkway.
"Where you been, zhan shi?" asked Duo, leaning over and kissing Wufei on the cheek.
"Working," said Wufei briefly. "I have a part time job at the library after school, cataloguing new books on the computer system. You know that."
"Is that today?" asked Duo. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."
"Saving money for college, you know," said Wufei. "Something you ought to think about too, once all this mess is cleared up."
"Me?" asked Duo. "With my grades, you gotta be joking, babe!" he said.
"Your grades aren't that bad, and with me helping you, you could be honor roll in no time, Duo, maybe even get some sort of a scholarship."
"Really?" said Duo.
"Well, this whole thing began with me being your tutor," said Wufei, taking Duo's hand. "I'd like to help you do whatever it takes. Besides, I don't want to go off to college and leave you behind. I want you to come with me."
"Me too," said Duo softly. "Could we really be together?"
"That's what I want," said Wufei.
"No one's ever encouraged me to do anything like that," said Duo. "Not even Solo."
"What do you want to do, Duo, have you ever thought about the future?" asked Wufei seriously.
"I don't know,' he answered honestly. "I guess I've been so focused on just getting through each day, I never worried about anything else."
"You must have some sort of dream," said Wufei, "Most people do."
"Maybe you can help me figure out what my dream is," said Duo. "Because I'm sure you're in it."
Wufei put his forehead against Duo's. "I hope so," he whispered.
"Dinner is ready," said Ruby, sticking her head out of the kitchen.
"I hope you're hungry," she added.
"Are you kidding?" asked Wufei rhetorically. "I only hope you made enough for the human garbage disposal here."
"Hey," said Duo. "Be nice." He smacked Wufei on the butt as he got up to wash his hands for dinner.
"Mom, Duo's hitting me," said Wufei, in a fake whiny tone. He grinned evilly at Duo.
Ruby laughed. "Knock it off and get in here before it gets cold, you two brats."
Later as Duo was trying to focus on his homework, he began to regret his second dessert.
"Duo, I can't type with you on my arm," said Wufei, giving him a slight shove.
"Sorry, I must have dozed off," said Duo sheepishly.
"I'm almost done," said Wufei, "and then I'll help you finish your algebra."
"I'm done with my algebra," yawned Duo. "What do you think I was doing all afternoon, fixing my hair?"
"Oh, good," said Wufei, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, then putting them back on.
"I am capable of doing something WITHOUT you, ya know," said Duo, yawning again.
"I know," said Wufei. "Am I nagging you?"
"Yes, mother," grinned Duo. "But, I'm a big boy now. I go potty all by myself and everything."
"Sorry," mumbled Wufei, typing away on his laptop.
The phone rang. "Duo, it's for you," called Ruby from upstairs. "It's your brother."
"Thanks," yelled Duo. "I'll get it!"
Duo grabbed the receiver. "Hey bro, what's up?"
"Nothing much," said Solo. "How's school?"
"Doin good," said Duo. "Got an A- on my last test."
"Wow," said Solo. "I'm impressed."
"Tell Mr. Slave Driver here," said Duo. "He thinks I should have gotten an A."
Duo stuck his tongue out at Wufei, who threw a couch pillow at him.
"Uh, oh," said Solo. "Is the honeymoon over already?"
"I don't think it's started, yet," said Duo. "I still haven't found all of Wu-tang's ticklish spots."
"Well, anyway," said Solo, "I wanted you to know I'm meeting with my lawyer tomorrow at 4:00 and he wants you to be there. I guess you need to give a deposition or something."
"Okay, whatever you need," said Duo. "I'll be there."
"How ya doin," asked Duo. "Nice to be home?"
"Very," said Solo fervently. "It only took me about 2 seconds to figure out I'm not crazy about jail."
"I talked to Wufei's cousin today, the lawyer. She said that me turning 18 in a few months might solve all our problems. In the meantime, she's going to get Ruby made my foster mom."
"Sounds great," said Solo, "You really lucked out this time, kid."
"We Maxwells always land on our feet," said Duo, "You will too."
"I hope you're right about that, kid," said Solo. "Well, goodnight, little brother, and I'll come pick you up tomorrow."
"Good night," said Duo, hanging up the phone.
"Missing your brother?" asked Wufei, noting the glum look on Duo's features.
"Yeah, sort of," said Duo. "I guess I'm just a whine-baby, I got it better than ever, and I'm still going around in a funk."
"You've been through a lot, Duo," said Wufei. "Some of it's probably just now sinking in."
"I guess," said Duo, dubiously. "I'm sorry I'm not more grateful."
"Don't be silly," snorted Wufei. "If you find anymore ways to suck up to my mom, I'm going to seem like the worlds most ungrateful son by comparison."
"Yeah, right," said Duo. "You're so dutiful and honorable, you make me feel like a heel about 10 times a day."
"I don't mean to," said Wufei. "I'm sorry."
"See what I mean," said Duo. "You're apologizing for being great!"
"I'm not great," said Wufei, "but I promise not to apologize anymore."
"Is it all right if I think you're great?" asked Duo, scooting closer and reaching over to close Wufei's laptop.
"Yes, it's fine," said Wufei, "because I think you're great too."
"Quite a mutual admiration society we have going here," said Duo. "I say we continue this conversation upstairs." He tugged at Wufei's arm.
"Okay, but let me finish this first."
"No," said Duo. "You're done for the night. It's ten o'clock and beddy bye time for Wufei."
"Okay, mom," said Wufei. "But, I'm a big boy now."
"Yes, I noticed," said Duo seductively, "but I think my memory needs refreshing."
Wufei smirked. "Okay, you talked me into it."
"Didn't take much convincing," said Duo.
"I'm so easy," said Wufei.
Chapter 12
The Lawyers
"Duo, I'd like you to meet Wufei's cousin, Sally Po. She's the lawyer I was telling you about."
Ruby Chang made a motion behind her cousin's back at Duo to stand.
The tallish blond woman held out her hand and smiled. Bright red lipstick was her only visible makeup, and pearl stud earrings adorned her ears. The only thing vaguely Asian looking about Sally were her tilted clear blue eyes and high cheekbones.
Duo shook her hand gently, and was surprised at the grip the woman had.
"Nice to meet you, Duo," she said in a pleasant voice.
"I don't mean to be rude," said Duo. "But you don't look Chinese."
"I'm only one-quarter Chinese," explained Sally, chuckling. "My father is Ruby's cousin, and his father was Swedish-American. My mother is English."
"That explains the hair and eyes," said Duo.
Sally chuckled again. "I have to explain it a lot, don't worry. Now, let's get busy and figure out your problem Duo. From what Ruby has told me, you need to get unattached very quickly from a very troubled domestic situation."
"If that means my aunt and uncle are a couple of lushes that like to fight, then yeah," said Duo, sitting down and pulling his denim clad knees up, hugging them.
"That's exactly what I mean," said Sally seriously. "There's no way a kid like you should be left with people like you describe. Why hasn't someone turned them in to the social services before this?"
"Because I wanted to stay where I could be with Solo once in a while, and if they put me in juvy or in some foster home, I might not get to see him anymore," said Duo.
"So, I'd lie to the cops, tell them I fell or got in a fight at school."
"Duo, they hit you?" Sally asked, frowning.
"Not too often," said Duo, hanging his head. "Now that I'm bigger, hardly at all."
"Shit!" exclaimed Sally softly. "Duo, you're never going back there, I don't care what we have to do, okay?"
Wufei came in, peeling off his leather motorcycle jacket. "Sorry to interrupt," he said.
"Hey, cuz, haven't seen you in a while," said Sally, standing up as Wufei came over. She leaned over and gave him an air kiss on the cheek.
"Sally, are you here about Duo, then?" Wufei asked. He went over to sit next to Duo on the sofa.
"Yeah, and I think we have a pretty good case against his guardians for neglect, if not abuse. But, time may be on our side. Duo turns 18 in 10 weeks. If we can get Ruby appointed as a temporary foster parent for him, Duo may reach majority before it becomes something we have to make permanent, which is a more complicated situation."
"You're saying that if Duo can stay here for 10 weeks, then that's it, he'll be legally an adult and that's the end of his aunt and uncle?" Wufei asked.
"Exactly," said Sally. "Don't you turn 18 about the same time?" asked Sally.
"Yeah," said Wufei, "In almost 2 months. Our birthdays are only three weeks apart."
"Be careful about revealing the nature of your relationship with Duo," Sally warned. "If Duo's guardians want to make things tough for us, they might accuse your mother of all sorts of nasty things. When you both turn 18, it won't matter, but for the next few months, keep a low profile. I hate to say that, but it's just the hard, cold reality of the situation."
"How do YOU know?" asked Wufei, slightly indignant.
"Because, sweetie, your mother gave me the low-down," Sally said. "You're clients, so don't worry, everything she told me is confidential." Sally winked at him.
"Geez, mom," grumbled Wufei. "Does she know my underwear size too?"
Duo laughed. Sally grinned. "Believe me, if it were pertinent to this case, I'd know it."
Wufei rolled his eyes. "I believe you."
"You're so cute when you're pissed off, cuz," said Sally, rising to leave. "I hate to get legal and leave, but I have appointments."
"We understand, Sally," said Ruby, taking Sally's arm and walking her to the door. "Thank you so much for coming over."
"No problem," said Sally. "I'm glad to help family, you know that, Aunt Ruby."
She bent down slightly to give the smaller woman a brief hug. "I'll do my best for you."
"Do you know a lawyer named Quatre Winner?" asked Duo, as Sally went to leave.
"Sure, why?" asked Sally.
"He's my brother's court appointed lawyer," said Duo. "He any good?"
Sally smiled and nodded, "He's the best, and I'm not just saying that," she said.
"You know him?" asked Duo.
"We went to law school together, graduated same class," said Sally. "At first I thought he was just another snotty rich brat who got into Stanford on his daddy's money, but he really worked hard, was in the top of his class. You know even when his dad disowned him, he kept his pro bono cases."
"Why'd his dad disown him?" asked Duo.
"Well, it might have something to do with the fact that he pretty openly decided to live with a guy who's a performance artist down in Venice Beach."
"Oh, I get it," said Duo quietly. "The things we do for love." He gave Sally a wry grin.
"He'll do his best for Solo," said Sally. "He's a pretty tough cookie in court, I'd sure hate to go up against him."
"Thanks," said Duo. "I feel better now."
"Well, gotta run, people." Sally said as she went out, heels clicking on the walkway.
"Where you been, zhan shi?" asked Duo, leaning over and kissing Wufei on the cheek.
"Working," said Wufei briefly. "I have a part time job at the library after school, cataloguing new books on the computer system. You know that."
"Is that today?" asked Duo. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."
"Saving money for college, you know," said Wufei. "Something you ought to think about too, once all this mess is cleared up."
"Me?" asked Duo. "With my grades, you gotta be joking, babe!" he said.
"Your grades aren't that bad, and with me helping you, you could be honor roll in no time, Duo, maybe even get some sort of a scholarship."
"Really?" said Duo.
"Well, this whole thing began with me being your tutor," said Wufei, taking Duo's hand. "I'd like to help you do whatever it takes. Besides, I don't want to go off to college and leave you behind. I want you to come with me."
"Me too," said Duo softly. "Could we really be together?"
"That's what I want," said Wufei.
"No one's ever encouraged me to do anything like that," said Duo. "Not even Solo."
"What do you want to do, Duo, have you ever thought about the future?" asked Wufei seriously.
"I don't know,' he answered honestly. "I guess I've been so focused on just getting through each day, I never worried about anything else."
"You must have some sort of dream," said Wufei, "Most people do."
"Maybe you can help me figure out what my dream is," said Duo. "Because I'm sure you're in it."
Wufei put his forehead against Duo's. "I hope so," he whispered.
"Dinner is ready," said Ruby, sticking her head out of the kitchen.
"I hope you're hungry," she added.
"Are you kidding?" asked Wufei rhetorically. "I only hope you made enough for the human garbage disposal here."
"Hey," said Duo. "Be nice." He smacked Wufei on the butt as he got up to wash his hands for dinner.
"Mom, Duo's hitting me," said Wufei, in a fake whiny tone. He grinned evilly at Duo.
Ruby laughed. "Knock it off and get in here before it gets cold, you two brats."
Later as Duo was trying to focus on his homework, he began to regret his second dessert.
"Duo, I can't type with you on my arm," said Wufei, giving him a slight shove.
"Sorry, I must have dozed off," said Duo sheepishly.
"I'm almost done," said Wufei, "and then I'll help you finish your algebra."
"I'm done with my algebra," yawned Duo. "What do you think I was doing all afternoon, fixing my hair?"
"Oh, good," said Wufei, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, then putting them back on.
"I am capable of doing something WITHOUT you, ya know," said Duo, yawning again.
"I know," said Wufei. "Am I nagging you?"
"Yes, mother," grinned Duo. "But, I'm a big boy now. I go potty all by myself and everything."
"Sorry," mumbled Wufei, typing away on his laptop.
The phone rang. "Duo, it's for you," called Ruby from upstairs. "It's your brother."
"Thanks," yelled Duo. "I'll get it!"
Duo grabbed the receiver. "Hey bro, what's up?"
"Nothing much," said Solo. "How's school?"
"Doin good," said Duo. "Got an A- on my last test."
"Wow," said Solo. "I'm impressed."
"Tell Mr. Slave Driver here," said Duo. "He thinks I should have gotten an A."
Duo stuck his tongue out at Wufei, who threw a couch pillow at him.
"Uh, oh," said Solo. "Is the honeymoon over already?"
"I don't think it's started, yet," said Duo. "I still haven't found all of Wu-tang's ticklish spots."
"Well, anyway," said Solo, "I wanted you to know I'm meeting with my lawyer tomorrow at 4:00 and he wants you to be there. I guess you need to give a deposition or something."
"Okay, whatever you need," said Duo. "I'll be there."
"How ya doin," asked Duo. "Nice to be home?"
"Very," said Solo fervently. "It only took me about 2 seconds to figure out I'm not crazy about jail."
"I talked to Wufei's cousin today, the lawyer. She said that me turning 18 in a few months might solve all our problems. In the meantime, she's going to get Ruby made my foster mom."
"Sounds great," said Solo, "You really lucked out this time, kid."
"We Maxwells always land on our feet," said Duo, "You will too."
"I hope you're right about that, kid," said Solo. "Well, goodnight, little brother, and I'll come pick you up tomorrow."
"Good night," said Duo, hanging up the phone.
"Missing your brother?" asked Wufei, noting the glum look on Duo's features.
"Yeah, sort of," said Duo. "I guess I'm just a whine-baby, I got it better than ever, and I'm still going around in a funk."
"You've been through a lot, Duo," said Wufei. "Some of it's probably just now sinking in."
"I guess," said Duo, dubiously. "I'm sorry I'm not more grateful."
"Don't be silly," snorted Wufei. "If you find anymore ways to suck up to my mom, I'm going to seem like the worlds most ungrateful son by comparison."
"Yeah, right," said Duo. "You're so dutiful and honorable, you make me feel like a heel about 10 times a day."
"I don't mean to," said Wufei. "I'm sorry."
"See what I mean," said Duo. "You're apologizing for being great!"
"I'm not great," said Wufei, "but I promise not to apologize anymore."
"Is it all right if I think you're great?" asked Duo, scooting closer and reaching over to close Wufei's laptop.
"Yes, it's fine," said Wufei, "because I think you're great too."
"Quite a mutual admiration society we have going here," said Duo. "I say we continue this conversation upstairs." He tugged at Wufei's arm.
"Okay, but let me finish this first."
"No," said Duo. "You're done for the night. It's ten o'clock and beddy bye time for Wufei."
"Okay, mom," said Wufei. "But, I'm a big boy now."
"Yes, I noticed," said Duo seductively, "but I think my memory needs refreshing."
Wufei smirked. "Okay, you talked me into it."
"Didn't take much convincing," said Duo.
"I'm so easy," said Wufei.
