Free It's a Green Thing by Melody Carlson Page A

never do!). But then I could sort of tell he wanted to go car shopping. Later on, Kim told me that her dad totally loves carsand shopping for them—and if I didn't include him, it would break his heart. So I told him I really needed his help and I wanted to get something with good fuel economy and low emissions that's environmentally friendly. In other words, I want a green car. And if it's green in color, well, that's cool too.
    And Uncle Allen told me he was going to do some research. Okay, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I've already done the research, and I'm leaning toward a Prius, like Dominic, although I don't want to look like a copycat. I figure, hey, let my uncle have some fun. And who knows, maybe he'll come up with something totally new and groovy. Anyway, the plan is to go tomorrow. I cannot wait!
    Of course, right after Uncle Allen told me about Dad's phone call and the car, he handed me a yellow envelope. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” he said. That's when I noticed the name on the return address label: Prichart, Marshall, and Stockton, Attorneys at Law. I vaguely wondered if they'd ever noticed that their initials are PMS? That's about how grouchy they made me feel too!
    “But don't take it to heart,” my uncle said quickly. “This thing is going to blow over in no time. No judges in their right minds would take this seriously.” He lowered his voice now, like someone was listening, although no one was. “I wouldn't want you to repeat this, but I happen to know that law firm has a bit of a reputation.”
    “A reputation?”
    “I'm not tossing this around lightly, Maya, but in my office, they are known as ambulance chasers.” He shook his head. “They go after some of the craziest cases. And I don't think they win too many victories in the courtroom.”
    “That's good to hear, but it's still pretty unnerving. I mean, I've been through all sorts of crud, but I've never been sued by anyone before. I was surprised to find out that minors could actually be sued.”
    “I did a little research on that myself. Minors can be sued, but they aren't allowed to represent themselves in court. If you don't have a lawyer, the court will appoint a guardian ad litem.”
    “What's that?”
    “Basically an attorney to represent you.”
    “Oh…” I was trying to act cool about this, like I wasn't as upset as I was feeling. After all, it's not my uncle's problem.
    “Can I ask you something, Maya?”
    “What?”
    “Does Brooke know anything about your father? I mean, that he's, well, rather famous? And fairly wealthy?”
    I considered this. “As a matter of fact, that kind of slipped out. Marissa was the one to bring it up.”
    Uncle Allen nodded. “Well, I'm not saying that's why you're being sued, but I've been a newspaper man for years, and you get a sense about these things. And again, don't repeat this, but the word on the street is that Marshall's law firm isn't doing toowell. I've heard they have financial troubles over there. I won't go into details, but this might just be one more desperate move on Marshall's part.”
    “That is so low!”
    He nodded. “I know. I hate to even mention it. Except that you're my niece, and I'm watching your back. I'll do all I can to help you. I've still got some nosing around to do.”
    Okay, that almost made me break into tears right there in the kitchen. It was so sweet of Uncle Allen. But I managed to control myself. I'm really, really trying to act like a grownup about this stupid lawsuit. I don't want to be a burden. But, honestly, sometimes I just want to be a great big baby and bawl my head off.
Grow up, Maya!
    So I went to my room and opened the envelope and attempted to decipher the legal papers. I swear lawyers must go to college just to learn how to write things up in such a way that no one can understand what they're saying. It took me three times reading through to finally make sense of it. And my IQ was high enough to get me into the