Who by Karen A. Wyle
Author:Karen A. Wyle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oblique Angles Press
Published: 2016-12-07T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter 16
Keeping the secret from Theaâs stored fellows was one thing. Keeping it from her parents, she insisted, was quite another, and intolerable. But Hu sternly instructed Thea not to speak to them directly. âItâs too unpredictable. They might say something, or you might say something, that LiveAfter can use against us. You can bet the company will be listening.â
That left it up to Max.
Theaâs father jumped to his feet, shoving his chair back hard enough to knock it over. Theaâs mother, who might normally have restrained him, sat with her hands clasped tightly together, her eyes closed and her face turned upward as if in prayer. Max tried to sit very still until both of Theaâs parents had their emotions under a little more control.
Her father, however, did not intend to wait that long. He loomed over Max and shouted, âDid you know about this bullshit ahead of time? When you signed those papers?â
âOf course not!â Which he had to admit was evading the real question. Would he have signed anyway?
He had no idea.
Linda opened her eyes, stood up, and moved to stand by her husband with both hands on his left armâa gesture reminding Max that Theaâs father was left-handed. âDear, please. Itâs not his fault. Thea was the one who made the arrangement. And she had far more opportunity to look into the details than Max did, taken by surprise at such a terrible time.â She turned to Max. âDoes she know itâs happening?â
âShe does now. And sheâsâweâreâdoing something about it.â
Linda led Bill back to their abandoned chairs, picking up the fallen chair and setting it upright. Max waited for them to sit, then explained the lawsuit as well as he could. He had memorized some legal lingo, but most of it now escaped him.
When he came to a halt, Linda leaned over to Bill, whispered to him for a moment, received his muttered reply, and faced Max again. âWe can help pay for this. We donât know how much that will help.â
Max almost replied that Hu had made such assistance unnecessary, but paused at the last instant: they must feel the need to do something, anything, to defend their daughter. Instead, he told them, âIâll talk to the lawyer about that. Thank you. She might want you to help some other way. In fact, Iâm just about sure of it. You could testify about what Thea was like before.â
A quieter growl this time: âDamn right we can.â
Theaâs mother smiled a little, which did not make her expression any less sad. âAnd I can tell the judge, or jury, or whomever about how Theaâs been hijacked into agreeing with her mother at long last.â Tears had finally gathered in her eyes. âAnd I was glad. I thanked her for thinking things through, and really listening to what I had to say. If Iâd known . . . .â She lifted her chin and sat very straight, defiance personified. âI will fight for Thea until she can disagree with me again.
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