Marcelo in the Real World Chapter 13 Summary

  • And now for an awkward lunch with smarmy Wendell. He takes Marcelo to a place he calls "The Club," where the maitre d' has to round up a coat and tie for our hero.
  • Wendell wants something, of course. He wants Marcelo to convince Jasmine to go for a ride on his yacht.
  • How's he supposed to do that exactly? Well, Wendell wants Marcelo to go yachting with him and invite Jasmine. While Marcelo entertains himself on deck, Wendell will take Jasmine down below and…
  • Well, let's just say he's getting more despicable by the minute. 
  • Marcelo wants to know if Wendell wants to marry Jasmine. Wendell says people like him don't marry people like her. Ick.
  • He then launches into a long story about "Mayflower Lawyer" (his father) and "Minority Lawyer" (Arturo). Charming guy, that Wendell.
  • The story: Arturo was a patent lawyer; Holmes a litigation lawyer. They met at Yale.
  • Arturo made his post-Yale fortune by helping people in Central and South America sell their inventions in the US. 
  • The problem with this is that when people steal your clients' inventions, you have to sue them. Enter the need for a litigation lawyer, and Holmes is the best.
  • Holmes, seeing Arturo's success, agreed to ignore their longtime, mutual animosity and partner with him for a 50/50 split on the profits.
  • So when Marcelo refuses to help Wendell score with Jasmine, Wendell tells him that Vidromek, Arturo's biggest patent client, can be convinced to drop Arturo very easily.
  • How? Well, right now litigation's the priority for Vidromek. And if they found out about a big mistake Arturo made, he could be useless to the firm and, therefore, let go.
  • Wendell's deal: convince Jasmine, and work a few hours a week on the Vidromek case. In exchange, Wendell will tell Arturo that Marcelo did a great job and deserves to go to Paterson in the fall.
  • Marcelo says he'll consider helping Wendell, but only because talking to Wendell turns his brain to mush and he's not thinking clearly.
  • Done and done. Wendell charges the check (including his two underage martinis) to his father's account and walks out of The Club without even saying goodbye.