The Rules Series

outside the gates of our property without bodyguards.
If you saw one of us, you would typically see the other. After spending so much time together, we figured out pretty quickly that we could slip in and out of each other’s characters easily and that no one could tell us apart – including our own father. Well, not everyone. Laurette could always tell.
We both lay on our sides facing each other. I sat up slightly and rested my head in my hands. “Yes, I heard them.”
“Do you think it was true?”
“Look at us, Nina. It’s as obvious as the nose on our faces literally. How come we never suspected is the bigger question.”
Nina nodded slowly. Almost as if in a trance, she turned and lay flat on her back linking her fingers together behind her head while looking up at the ceiling. “How come no one told us?”
I stared out into the darkness. “I don’t know.”
“What could she have done for Chang to just send her away like that?”
“Sneeze on the left side instead of the right. Who knows?”
“True. I just have so many questions I want to ask. Why didn’t she tell us herself?”
“I’m not sure. We’ve seen a revolving door of people coming in and out of this house. She lasted longer than most. I guess now we know why.”
“Gina, sometimes you sound so much like Chang that it’s scary. You’re so matter-of-fact about this. While we didn’t know her as our mother, she was still like a mother to us for almost seventeen years. Aren’t you the least bit angry that neither she nor Chang told us? And, how could he just send her away without any explanation?”
I inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly. My heart was breaking, but I couldn’t do anything about it. “What do you suppose we do? Go and challenge Chang?”
Nina was getting worked up and directing her anger at me. “That’s not what I meant. You don’t even sound sad, pissed, or anything. This is not like when Laurette fired that stylist.”
I was angry. I was furious, but I didn’t have any real power. What was I supposed to do? I snapped a little. “I know that! Of course, I’m pissed, but I think life can sometimes be more complicated than it seems. We don’t really know what happened between Laurette and Chang. Why this sudden change. Maybe they broke up or something crazy like that. All we know is that our father has never felt the need to explain himself to anyone including us. If we know that then why are you expecting an explanation?” We weren’t little girls anymore. We both knew what our father was and wasn’t. “All we can hope for is to bide our time and when we’re old enough, find Laurette. You’re going off to Northwestern University in Chicago, and I’ll be going off to Harvard soon. We would have been separated from her in a matter of months anyway.”
“True.”
“Like I said, we’ll be patient, and when the time is right, we’ll find her and then we can tell her how sorry we were for treating her like the help. You’ll get to ask her all those questions that are burning you up on the inside.”
Nina whispered into the room more to herself than to me. “Why do you always give Chang the benefit of the doubt? He’s a cruel man.”
“I think cruel is relative. People ostracizing us is cruel, hunger in the world is cruel, murder is cruel, little kids dying for no reason is cruel. People are either at the top of the food chain or the bottom and using your power to make sure you’re not at the bottom—is not cruel. It’s smart.”
“I hate when you talk like that. It’s times like these that I feel like you’re walking a tightrope. I just hope one day you don’t completely flip over to the dark side. And I don’t agree with any of what you said except for one thing. We’ll bide our time and then we’ll go find Laurette.” I heard Nina blow out an exaggerated breath. “I can’t wait to get out of this house and go to America to college. I hate it here.”
I dropped my elbow and lay flat on my back too. I spoke into the darkness. “So being smart is now the dark side? Whatever. Hate it or not, it’s our home.”
“Home is where the heart is, and my home has always been with Laurette. She spent way more time with us than Chang ever did. She always knew exactly what to say and do to make me feel better.” Nina’s tears flowed freely. “I have to remember no matter what Chang says or does; this is not a goodbye. I will find her.” She sniffed.
I felt torn as I wiped away a tear that had silently fallen down the side of my own face.
“If you could what would you ask her?” Nina turned her head slightly toward me.
It was only the shimmering of my eyes that gave me away. Nina had no idea I’d been crying too. “I guess I would ask the obvious question, like why the hell didn’t you tell us you were our mother?”

Chapter 5
Present Day – Before the Reading of the Will
“I’m not calling that bitch! You’re going to have to find another way, Julian.” My English was perfect, so I knew he understood that.
I lurched and almost dropped my cell phone after the car made a sudden stop. What the hell? I glanced up from the paperwork on my lap into the eyes of my