Mickey quickly made his way into the alibi, already searching for Kev. It was three days since Mandy drop that bombshell news about Ian, and he internally debated whether or not he should ask Kev about it. He keeps trying to tell himself, that he doesn't give a fuck what Gallagher does anymore, but it keeps creeping back into his mind no matter how much he tries to let it go.
"Hey where were you this weekend," Kev asked, as he got another customer's drink ready.
"Let Svetlana handle the business for a couple of days, had some personal things to take care of for Terry this weekend."
Suddenly a loud grumble came from behind Mickey, who turned around and saw Frank Gallagher laying in one of the booths, with a bottle already in his hand.
"How fucking long, has he been here, it's only barely noon," Mickey asked.
Kev shrugged "Since we closed last night, but once he passes the fuck out hard to get him out, but that's Frank Gallagher for you."
Frank just waves them off while saying something they couldn't understand, Mickey just shakes his head and turns back to Kev, who was already turned around getting his drink ready.
"So, speaking of Gallaghers, Mandy told me you were with her and Ian on Friday evening."
Kev stopped what he was doing, looking a bit nervous but also expecting that Mickey was going to end up questioning him about it. He was surprised it took Mickey this long to come to find him.
"Yeah, I ended up making big bucks that night, as the kids were leaving the party." He said as he pushed Mickey's glass toward him.
Mickey took a drink before he rubbed his forehead, knowing he needed Kev's confirmation as well.
"Did what Mandy tell me about Ian and this bitch Max true"
Kev just raises one of his eyebrows at Mickey "I thought you didn't care about what Ian does"
"I don't, I just find it hard to believe he would randomly fuck a woman. He is gay as they come."
Both Kev and Mickey knew that was a lie, about him not caring, one that Mickey just wasn't ready to admit out loud.
"From Ian's explanation, it seemed like it was a drunken one-night stand type of situation that night of the christening- "
Mickey slammed his hand down on the counter, looking irritated and hurt.
"Though from what Mandy filled me in on the way home that night, I guess she's paying him to hang out with her but from what Ian had told her nothing more than just hanging out, no sex or anything like that. I never heard of someone paying for anything like that" Kev said with brows furrowed together.
At this point, the backdoor opened to reveal Veronica carrying a case of beer and setting it on the counter.
"I have, it's what they call a sugar dating relationship," V says letting out a laugh.
Mickey just looked at her with a disbelief look "You knew as well."
V scoffs and tilts her towards Kevin "Please you think Kev here can keep a secret for more than a couple of hours? He came home looking like he was going to have a nervous breakdown, he barely got in the door before he told me everything that had happened."
"Can you blame me, why is it that I always end up in the middle of situations that I'm not meant to be in?" Kev asks rolling his eyes.
By this time Frank was already making his way over to the three of them.
"Jesus Frank, do you ever go home to either your kids or Shelia," V asked, already getting Frank's usual drink ready.
Frank just sits his empty bottle down as he takes a seat next to Mickey "Oh the kids are fine, Lip's got it under control and besides Shelia is one of her moods especially since Thanksgiving is in a few days."
V hands Frank his drink,
"So, what's this about Ian and sugar dating or whatever you called it," Frank asked, not understanding the meaning of it.
"Have you seriously never heard of sugar dating?" V asked surprised that Frank of all people hasn't heard about it.
"It's just another way of saying prostitution, to keep the po-po off their asses," Mickey said, clearly looking like it should be the most obvious thing in the world and also like the whole term was offensive in general.
V shakes her head as she leans on the table "Not necessarily, some rich people old or young will pay someone just for simple companionship without the sex being involved."
V turns to Kev "You remember my old high school friend Claire."
"The one who got knocked up by her teacher, and ended up working in a rundown gas station."
"That one, she met some old dude in his 60's on one of those websites. He pays for her apartment, he pays for her kid's schooling, her groceries, and all she does all day is keep him company since the guy has no children of his own and his wife passed away several years ago.
Frank looked fascinated by Veronica's explanation "Are you serious, that simple."
"Yeah, they call the person who is receiving financial assistance a Sugar Baby and the Payer the Sugar Daddy or Sugar Momma. From what Kev explained, seems like Ian has such a relationship with Max, whom he is receiving payment for companionship. So, in that situation, Max is the Sugar Momma, and Ian is her Sugar baby."
Mickey looked disgusted when V mentioned that Ian was someone's Sugar baby, while Frank for his part looked impressed.
"Here I thought Lip was the smart one in our family, my boy Ian going out and making money the Gallagher way," Frank said, with genuine proudness in his tone.
V shoots Frank a knowing look "Wouldn't get any ideas there Frank, just take a look at your track record.
"What Ian's got the right idea; I mean making a shit ton of money just by hanging out with some poor lonely rich bastard or bitch in this case it seems."
Kevin massages his forehead a bit "Frank's not wrong, I mean I counted at least a grand on Friday when he came to buy weed. I'm sure she pays him well."
"Jesus Christ," Mickey said, as Veronica and Frank looked at Kev with wide eyes.
Mickey had such conflicting emotions about the whole thing, while he was happy about the fact that Max turned out to be a female because it meant that Ian wasn't romantically seeing someone else, he was upset and jealous that he would sleep with her in an apparent attempt to get some sort of revenge on him. Though Mickey knew with all the hurt and pain he caused Ian, he had it coming especially now that he's spending all of his time with her and trying to keep not only him out of his life but also Mandy.
He knew he should let Ian move on with his life, but something about Ian Gallagher just keeps drawing him back in and something about this situation he is in with this Max girl just rubs him the wrong way. If Terry and his fucking whore of a wife weren't such a major pain in his ass, then he would be able to be what Ian needed him to be.
Frank pointed at Kev as he looked at V "See a grand and possibly even more for doing absolutely nothing. Do you think Ian would be able to get a job with him?"
"Frank if she's not a minor, then is no older than 18 years old. That much I am certain of" Kev warned.
"As V said, doesn't have to be sexual, just companionship."
"I don't think you would be a lonely teenage girl's dream companion."
Mickey just shakes his head and raises his hands a bit "Does it not bother you people, that a teenager is paying for companionship? I mean I get an old fucker, paying for that sort of thing because God knows who wants to be around someone willingly who shits their pants all day, but a teenage girl paying a gay teenage boy to spend time with her."
Frank turns to Mickey "That my friend falls back onto the parents. It's not uncommon for north siders to shelter and isolate their young, which is why they lack the basic survival skills that we in the south have. So, when a north sider meets someone who grew up in the complete opposite of what they know, they tend to cling to that person whom they view as a protector. Ian fits that bill for what's her name"
Mickey just silently rubs his brows, before he quickly gets up.
"Well, I'm going to check on business upstairs, be back in a while."
He couldn't handle any more of this conversation, he needed a break from it and to keep his mind busy on other things. Might as well collect his fair share from the whores upstairs.
"The hell is up his ass," Frank asked.
Kev raises his eyebrows "More like who isn't up his ass at the moment."
Thankfully, making his rounds upstairs did indeed prove to be a wonderful distraction, and he even got to take out some of his frustrations on a women-hitting fucker.
"JESUS CHRIST" the man yelled as Mickey continued to kick him repeatedly in the stomach.
Mickey then grabbed him by his collar "Trust me, this is me going easy on you. If I ever catch you near one of my girls again or see you hitting a girl in general, it will be a lot worse."
He then proceeded to punch the guy straight in his jaw, before getting up and walking back into his makeshift office, where Svetlana was with the baby.
"Need you to take baby for a while," she asks as she lifts him up and tries to hand him to Mickey.
Mickey just walks right past her "Fuck you, he's your kid, you take care of him."
"He is your kid as well"
Mickey turns right back around with his arms raised "Fucking prove it then, fucking whore. That kid can be anyone's, and you know it. You're just lucky you got Terry on your side, otherwise, I would have thrown both you and your kid out of my fucking house by now."
Svetlana just raises one of her eyebrows at him "Take for at least a couple hours, I need to help a girl with a client, then I'll take the rest of the day."
"Fine, I'll be back in 2 hours and then he's all yours," Mickey said as he awkwardly grabbed the baby, took the stroller, and made his way out of the room.
Mickey just decided to run a few errands at some of the local grocery stores, to kill some time, which unfortunately only killed like 45 minutes. Though he should be grateful the kid was mostly quiet for the most part, up until he left the last store.
"Oh, come on" Mickey mumbled, as soon as the kid started to fuss.
He didn't know what to do when he got like this, nor did he want to do it. He never asked for any of this, in every sense of the word. It all came down to his homophobic father, who put him in this situation in the first place.
Soon the kid started full-on wailing, Mickey scanned the area to find a place to sit and try to at least get the kid to shut up before he goes back home to just dump the kid on Mandy instead.
Luckily there was a bench nearby, so he quickly sat down and took the baby out and put him on his shoulder like he has seen his whore of a wife has done constantly. He immediately knew the problem, by the stench coming from the kid.
Mickey just scrunched his face in disgust, he defiantly didn't sign up for this. Luckily the answer to his problems suddenly came into his sight. He saw Ian's younger sister Debbie walking with their toddler brother.
"Hey, Ian's sister" Mickey yelled out to get her attention.
Debbie immediately stopped in her tracks and looked over in Mickey's direction.
"Yeah, you come here"
Debbie seemed hesitant but started making her way over.
"Hey, how would you like to make a little bit of money."
"If it's about watching your kid, I can't right now I'm taking Liam to the park and going to a friend's house," She said already guessing based on his expression and the way he was handling his baby.
"Fuck, well how about 20 bucks to change his diaper then."
Debbie scrunched her face as she smelled the problem "40 for poop diapers."
"Deal" he quickly said handing her the baby, and quickly got the diaper bag for her.
Debbie quickly started getting him out of his clothes and getting the fresh diaper ready.
"So, playing hooky right before Thanksgiving break," Mickey asked.
Debbie just nods "Yeah, it's so stupid they are making us go all the way up the day before Thanksgiving, Not like we're going to be doing much the next couple of days anyway. Besides Lip needs a break, he's always working so hard between college and taking care of us. So, between Carl and me, we're trying to help with Liam."
"What about Ian," Mickey asked deciding to play dumb, just to see if there was anything else he could find out.
"He's been in and out of the house the past month for under-the-table jobs. Did you know he's got a female friend named Max; he's been hanging out with?"
"I've heard."
"Ian said she helped him secure his jobs, and was going to be alone this thanksgiving so he invited her to ours this Thursday."
Mickey's head perked up at that "He did."
"Yeah, he said he owed her a lot since she's been a good friend to him. I just don't know why he hasn't mentioned her before or even bring her around. Seemed Lip knew though" Debbie said as she cleaned the baby up.
Mickey found that particularly interesting and a bit hypocritical of Ian, Ian always complained about him keeping Ian a secret, and now it seems he was keeping his relationship with this Max girl a secret for a while. Why would he do so, if he was claiming that they only had a friendship that was built on a one-night fucking stand?
Debbie lifts the baby who by now was much calmer "There you go all nice and clean."
She then hands the baby back to Mickey and receives the money he promised her.
"Thanks, kid," he said as he put the baby back in the stroller.
Debbie just grabs Liam's hand and starts walking away "See you later."
Mickey just stared down at the baby as he says "Well I guess I know what I'll be doing this Thanksgiving."
He was going to visit the Gallagher household and meet this Max for himself.