Antihero (Indefinite Hiatus D: )

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"To be honest," I said as I sat down in the soft chair, crossing my legs and resting my head on my fingers, inspecting Li Wei who sat across from me awkwardly. "I had expected you to call a lot earlier."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to call you," he replied gruffly, shuffling in his seat as he glared at me. "I just needed to see Christopher. Where is he?"

"Oh, we'll see him shortly. I have a few things I want to ask you first," I said, leaning forward and pouring myself a cup of tea. "Would you like some?"

"No."

I laughed at him and placed the teapot down after pouring him a cup anyway.

"How long has it been since you last saw Christopher? Eight months? Ten?" I inquired, blowing on my tea and taking a small sip.

"Something like that," Li Wei muttered in reply, his eyes darting around the room, soaking in the expensive decorations, extravagant furniture, and spacious room.

"You'll be happy to know he's looking a lot better now."

"Would I?"

"I would think so, you do care for him, after all."

Li Wei said nothing, he just glared at me as I sipped my tea again.

"Where's DeMarlo?"

"Oh, don't worry. He's out and about, flitting around the country." I waved my hand dismissively and placed my teacup down, eyeing him.

"What did you want to ask?" he snapped impatiently, his eyes meeting mine harshly.

"I wanted to ask about Christopher. More specifically, about his life before his memory loss."

"Why should I tell you?" he countered angrily, curling his hand into a fist on his lap. "I'm not here to tell you shit, I'm here to see him."

"Li Wei," I said sternly, sending him a withering gaze. "You'll see Christopher once you tell me what I want to know. If you don't want to share, you know where the door is."

Li Wei's fingers curled the edge of his shirt up before he unfurled it again, watching me cautiously. His foot tapped angrily, and I could tell he was running through his options. He was jerky, unsettled, and I wondered what it was he had to say to Christopher. It had been months since I had left my card with Li Wei, and he had never called. I took that as a sign he didn't care about Christopher anymore or, at least, that he didn't care about this new DeMarlo version of Christopher. The fact that he was sitting here now, after so many long months, told me he had something important to say.

"Alright," he said after a long pause. "I'll tell you what I know."

"Excellent," I said with a smile, picking my tea up and taking a sip as I listened.

"Christopher and I first met when we were five. He'd just moved into the area with his parents. It was pretty weird to have a white family move into the area, we normally only had Asian families through," he began, moving in his seat to settle back in a slightly more relaxed position as I nodded at him to continue. "My Dad took them under his wing I guess, showed them the neighbourhood and how to survive there. They weren't used to it. You could tell something was up – his Mum didn't know how to cook; his Dad didn't have a trade... even Christopher was odd."

"How so?" I asked, swapping my legs over.

"He was a rich kid. Cried if his clothes got dirty, fussy eater, complained about walking. All sorts of things. My Dad told me they were on the run, hiding from something. I don't know, I was young," he shrugged and looked away, lowering his gaze as though he felt ashamed. "I didn't really care, anyway."