p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Frank Lucy intro – Lucy, heads already turn when she walks by, she's a chip off the old shoulder. I showed her the family trade and she's a natural. Best pickpocket in Chicago! But the ungrateful brat refuses to cut me in! /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Ian and Lip ran into the house with 2 6 packs each, they headed into the kitchen. 'Where are the paper bags?' Lip yelled. Carl looked at me and ran into the kitchen too. Liam was asleep on top of me so I couldn't move, no way was I risking waking him. 'Fiona!' Ian started yelling. Footsteps sounded above us and Fiona came down the stairs 'what's going on?' she asked me as she came over to the couch. 'Party?' I said. 'Found them' lip yelled out. I tried to push Liam off me. 'Careful don't wake him' Fi said and helped me move out from under him. We went into the kitchen, Debbie was there too. She must have come down the other stairs. Frank burst through the back door 'where's the beer?' he asked and headed to the fridge. Ian and Lip tried to hide the six packs from him. 'Where's the party?' I asked. 'Hasn't started yet but Donny has been joyriding around in a car for a few days now, going to torch it tonight' Lip said. 'You better not have anything to do with the stealing part' Fiona warned him. 'Of course not, just heard about the bonfire happening tonight' Lip said with a smirk. 'Go tell V and Kev' Fiona said to Debbie who quickly ran off. 'Only 3 bottles? Hey what's that?' Frank asked as he finally noticed the beer on the bench. He made a grab for it, 'no way that's ours' Lip told him. 'Hey, you got to share with your old man. Those are the rules' he slurred. No one did anything to stop him, I noticed there were two beers missing from the pack. 'Wait … bag' Fi said and handed him one. 'Oh yeah, well are you coming?' he said and left without waiting for a response. 'Go on then get ready' Fiona said. Carl and I rushed to put our boots and coats on. 'Grab Liam's coat too' fi yelled after us. 'Jesus, what's taking you so long? Don't want to miss it going up' Kev said as he walked through the front door, his arm slung around Vs shoulder. V went and helped Fi get Liam ready. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The car pulled up just as we arrived, there was already a crowd of people. Two fires were already burning in drums. 'Damn it, should have brought something to burn' I said 'I brought this' Carl said and held up a book from school. We ran over to the closest fire and chucked it in. The smell of gasoline filled the air as a few people set to work getting the car ready. 'Carl!' Fiona yelled and made him come back to her. Ian grabbed me and pulled me away too. We stood back and they lit it on fire, it banged and the glass shattered. We all cheered as more people showed up. Once the fireball had settled down Fiona let us move closer. There were already beer bottles on the ground. Carl found a stick and was busy poking the car with it. 'Lucy!' I heard someone yell out, Cory and Lilly approached me. 'I hate when we miss it getting lit' Cory said. 'Did you bring anything to throw in?' I asked. 'Yeah' Lilly said and we ran off together. They hadn't brought anything fun to put in though and half Lily's throws didn't even make it to the car. A few cars pulled up and more people piled out. There wasn't many other kids around so I stuck with Lily and Cory. Cory nicked a beer from someone but wouldn't share. Someone threw something into the fire that exploded. Everyone cheered and clapped. Ian, Carl and lip were poking a stick into one of the drums. Fiona and Debbie were sitting on a cars hood while Liam was watching the fire from his stroller. Donny stumbled past us and threw up 'weak Donny' I yelled out to him. He looked at me and he wiped his mouth. 'You're a shit' he said to me, smirked and rushed towards me. I ran away screaming. I ran around the car and would have lost him but someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into them. I looked up and saw Kev. 'Hey!' I yelled at him. Donny just wondered off. 'Too close to the fire' V said and wrapped an arm around me. They started kissing. Em and Liz showed up, I grabbed Em and ran off with her. 'What are you doing here?' I asked her. 'Moms boyfriend lives here' 'do you live here now? We can go back to school together?' 'No, we just visiting' 'oh, do you have anything to throw into the fire?' 'No. Where's everyone else?' 'Lilly and Cory are here but most other ones are gone now' 'I missed you' Em sighed 'same' I replied and grabbed her hands and started to dance. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Sirens cut through everyone yelling, which quickly turned to booing. A few people mooned them and flipped them off but most just walked away. Fiona came over to us, 'time to go' she said and held out a hand to me. I took it. Liz came and grabbed Em, 'catch up soon bitches, you got to meet my man' she yelled out to Fi and V. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Lucy' Fiona said as she pulled the blankets off then quickly disappeared out the door, I sat up grabbed the blanket and curled it around me. 'Get up Lucy!' Debbie snarled as she pulled the blanket off again. 'No!' I yelled which was echoed by another Lucy from Fiona. Debbie ran out of the room with Liam in her arms, no doubt about to tell Fiona about my late night listening to music. I found a pile of clothes on the ground and pulled them on then grabbed a handful of notes from my pillowcase and headed downstairs. Everyone else was sitting at the table, 'you can't wear that Lucy' Ian said while glancing at me. 'I wore it yesterday' I shrugged. 'You look like you're homeless' Debbie chimed in. 'Makes sense as they are your hand me downs'. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Electric bill' Fiona said as she put a cardboard box on the table. Everyone but Carl put in money, I emptied my pockets too. 'No, you got sauce on the front of that shirt' Fiona said to Carl and turned it inside out. 'What about Lucy?' Debbie said. I sighed. Fiona looked at me and shook her head 'take them off' she said and headed over to the laundry basket. I stripped, she chucked me some jeans which had mud on them and Ian's sweater 'that's mine' Ian said 'I know but it's the only thing that's sort of clean' Fi said. I pulled it on, it came down to my knees. Fiona went behind me and roughly pulled my hair into a ponytail, 'oww' I complained. She sniffed my hair 'Jesus Lucy, you still reek of smoke have you even showered since the weekend?'. I sat back on my seat as Lip tipped some cereal into my bowl and topped it off with his leftover milk. 'Field trip. Need dads signature' Ian said and handed a piece of paper to Debbie. 'Wow, debs that's getting really good' Lip said. I dribbled milk down my top 'Lucy!' Ian yelled. 'Who's got the phone?' Fiona asked as she shoved washing into the machine. 'I do, do you have a rag?' Lip said. Fiona threw him one and he threw her the phone 'how many minutes left?' She asked 'argh 14' lip said as he tried to rub the milk off my top. I continued to eat. 'I need something for show and tell' Debbie said 'just make up a story' I said 'or don't do it' Carl said. 'No, I want it to be good this time' Debbie said. 'Who put in the 2 $20's?' Fiona asked as she counted the squirrel fund money, 'I did' I said as cereal fell off my spoon 'these things are too big for my mouth' I said as I picked it off my lap and ate it. 'Well done Luce' Lip said. 'It's because you're using a giant spoon' Debbie said and took it off me then gave me hers. 'Where did you get it?' Fiona asked 'Family business' I told Fiona. 'I don't want to know' she replied and went back to tidying up. 'Did Carl put in any this time?' Ian asked 'you're almost 11, you're gonna have to start pulling your weight' Debbie told him. Carl rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her. 'That's right and stop just taking money from the collection plate at church' lip said 'church so isn't worth it' I added. 'We have enough, and I'm filling in for candi so we can have hot dogs for dinner tonight too' fi said and sat down at the table and fed Liam. 'Extra kraut on mine' lip said 'cheese on mine' Ian said. 'Somebody's gotta take Liam. And not Lucy, we got in trouble last time for that' Fiona said. 'I got a calculus test' lip said and left the table 'I can't be late again' Ian said and followed Lip. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'I need something for show and tell' Debbie whined again. 'I got a good poop photo last night' I said 'eww, no way' Debbie said 'mine is still the best' Carl said 'you guys really need to stop taking pictures of your shit' Fiona said. 'Then how would we know who does the biggest?' Carl asked. 'Yeah' I added as I took my bowl over to the sink. 'Someone needs to take Liam to headstart' Fiona said. 'Not it' I said and ran off. Debbie yelled out something as I left. My friends were waiting for me at the corner. 'Do you have money for snacks' Des asked 'not yet' I said as we headed off to school. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Good afternoon Mrs Johnson!' I yelled as I opened the front door. 'Lucy! It is good to see you again' she said, as always she was on her armchair in front of the tv. The ashtray on her side table was full and beer bottles took up the rest of the room. 'I got you a few things' I told her and handed over a bag. I grabbed the ashtray and bottles and took them down to the bins out the back. By the time I got back Mrs Johnston had already opened another beer and lit a cigarette. 'Thank you Lucy. Now go play. I've found some new songs for you to try too' she said and tapped a book on her knee./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Fiona came out of the bathroom as I was heading to my room. 'Lucy' she said and grabbed my arm. 'Shower now and wash your hair' she turned the shower on for me and left. I striped and got in. I could hear yelling in the hallway. V came into the bathroom 'your hair's still in the ponytail' she said as she opened the curtain. She pulled me closer to her and got the hair tie out. 'Shampoo' she said and stuck out a hand. I handed her a bottle 'what is this cheap shit, two in one, Jesus' but she squirted some on my head and rubbed it in. 'Fi better be ready by now' she said and left. I washed the soap out of my hair then got out of the shower. I was on my way to my room when Fi and V rushed out of her room. 'Where are you going?' I asked 'out. Be good for Lip' she said and kissed me on the forehead. 'Bye sweetie' v said to me and they both took off down the stairs. I got dressed then went to see what Lip had planned for the night 'what are we doing?' I asked as I walked into the boys room 'what? Nothing' lip said from his bed, he was acting weird. 'I got a good movie' Ian said. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'You didn't get to meet Steve last night' Debbie teased me 'I don't care debbie' I told her and ate some dry cereal, we were out of milk. 'Where's the milk?' Ian asked as he sat down 'gone' I said. 'Sorry, I'll get some more today. Is there anything else you really need?' Fi asked. 'No it's fine' Ian said 'candy' I said 'no' Debbie said. 'I got something to show you' Carl said to me and smirked as he came into the kitchen 'is it dead?' I asked. He smiled. 'It better not be in your room' Fiona said 'it's on the way to school' 'well don't bring it home, that dead rat stunk out the whole house' 'I wish we could use that smell in stink bombs' I said 'that would be awesome' Carl said. 'Where's the milk?' 'Debbie drank it all' I said. Carl punched her in the arm. 'I did not!' Debbie yelled and tried to hit Carl, they started to fight. Lip came downstairs and broke them up. 'Off to school now!' Fiona said and put our lunches in our hands. 'I didn't have breakfast' Carl whined 'I'll get you something on the way' I said. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Mr Horvat was a mean old man that lived at the end of our street. He carried a gun with him and would happily let off a shot if you annoyed him in any way. We stayed well away from him and his house, except at 8:30am when he would take his straggly little dog for a walk. A few of us neighbourhood kids would let ourselves in and take whatever we needed from his pantry. His mind was going and he hadn't even realised that over half his groceries would disappear. I picked the lock easily and Carl and I went in. 'Quick grab some food and let's go' Carl said as he headed to the cupboard. I went to the fridge and got some yoghurt and juice and a couple of beers. I checked the drawer on the way out and grabbed the packet of cigarettes. I ate the yoghurt with my fingers and grabbed a couple of chocolate bars Carl stole, he was busy eating some crisps. 'It's just up here' he said. I could see a lump of something on the side of the road. 'A dog?' I said after we got to it, it was dirty and it's back legs were completely flat. 'Yeah, been here a while. It's too big for me to take home' Carl said 'damn'. Someone yelled my name, I ran over to my friends./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Lip and Ian were walking up the street. I ran straight into them 'Jesus!' Lip yelled and stumbled. 'Wow, what happened to you?' I asked as I realised he was limping. 'Just help me get home' he said and put a hand on my shoulder and an arm around Ian's. He hoppled home and up the stairs. Fiona was in the hallway. 'What the hell?' She said. Lip continued to his room. Carl and Debbie were already there playing a game. 'Hurt my foot on the train' lip said as he collapsed on his bed, 'Lip! Debbie can you get V?' Fiona said and sat on the end of the bed and took his shoes off. Debbie ran off. 'Jesus, how did you do this?' Fi asked. I sat down on the desk chair and Ian sat on his bed. 'He is a hero, saved on old lady' Ian said 'really an old lady on the train?' Fi said as she looked at Lips foot, lip winced. 'Oh, yeah, the doors were closing on her walker. Lip barely got his foot in in time to stop …' Ian said 'uh, Jesus, Fiona!' Lip yelled out. 'I can't remember if that's good or bad. More likely you jumped the turnstiles and he twisted it trying to outrun the transit cops' Fi said to the boys. V walked into the room, followed by a puffing Debbie. 'No. Always elevate extremities. Move before you give him a fucking embolism' V yelled and took over Fiona's spot. Fiona pushed me off the desk chair and sat down on it. 'Are you ok Lip?' V asked 'just please don't touch it' Lip sooked. 'Ok, wiggle your toes' v said. Lip grunted and didn't move his toes 'go to my house, top of the freezer, two ice packs. Second cupboard above the sink, liquid ibuprofen, freeze spray, ace bandages.' V told Ian 'should we get it xrayed?' Fiona asked 'fuck no, you'll be in the ED forever and for what? Submetatarsal hematoma. Thanks tell us something we didn't know five hours ago. Fuck off' v said and jumped up 'my bedroom, top of the tv' she yelled out to Ian. Ian stuck his head back in the room 'yeah?' 'Pack of smokes and the lighter'. there was a knock on the door downstairs. Lip and Ian freaked out 'shit, I'm not here!' Lip yelled and tried to pull a blanket over himself. 'You don't know us Fiona!' Ian yelled as he ran back into his room and tried to get under a bed. I started laughing, 'oh what have you done? What have you done?' Fiona yelled and stormed out. Carl and I ran after Fiona. 'This is going to be good' Carl whispered to me. We went out the front door, a truck was there 'can I get it through here or is it better around the back?' A guy asked. We just stared at him. 'Samsung washer?' He said. 'It's not me' Fiona said 'Gallagher, number 2119 (change)?' 'Yeah, but that's not ours' Fi said 'well it's paid for. You want me to hook it up or not?' 'Take it' I whispered to Fiona. She looked at me and shrugged. 'Ok, it should fit through the front' she said. 'That wasn't exciting' Carl said. I agreed as we went back inside. Fiona and the guy followed us. I went upstairs to the toilet. Liam was fussing in his crib so I got him out and went to go downstairs but Lip and V were going very slowly down the stairs. 'Got it? Ok. Ice and Advil. And keep your weight off it' V told Lip. The guy was settling up the new washer 'I thought you were broke?' V said. Fiona rushed over to the sink and picked up some flowers. 'These were in the washer' she said looking very happy. V went over to have a look. 'Can I have some food?' I asked as I put Liam in the highchair. He was still fussing. I found a melty bit of chocolate in my pocket and gave him that. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Don't touch the floor!' I yelled at the twins. We jumped from the couch to chairs and then cushions. 'I bet I can make it to the stairs!' yelled Susie and leaped off the back of the couch. She face planted into a step. Lee and I started to laugh. Her lip had split open and was bleeding. 'Now how are you going to get back?' I asked her. 'Shit' she thought for a moment and sucked on her lip. 'oh well I'm going to explore upstairs I bet I can find some cool stuff'. She took off and I followed. We ran through the room and pelted each other with whatever we could fine. Debbie stormed up the stairs 'enough! Lucy get out, I'm trying to do a project' she screamed and pushed me. I pushed her back then made a run for it. We were soon joined by a few other kids and spent the rest of the day riding our bikes and exploring abandoned houses. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Liam was fussing. 'I'm not getting up' Debbie said. 'Fiona!' I yelled out. I heard her open her bedroom door and walk up the hallway. I pointed to Liam but it wasn't necessary. She got him out of the crib and tried to settle him but it didn't work. 'I'll get him a drink, watch him for a moment' she said and put him on my bed. He started tapping my face but soon reverted to wailing 'Debbie?' I asked. 'Can't you do anything without my help?' She whined and got down from bed. 'See why Fiona's taking so long' she told me as she grabbed Liam. Ian walked down the hallway as I got out of bed. I went down the kitchen stairs. Fiona was sitting in the lounge room with Liam's cup, Frank was asleep on the floor. Fi kicked Frank then yelled at him 'dad, get up' and she kicked him again. Frank didn't move. 'Get up' she screamed. Frank didn't move. She knelt down beside him. I walked over to her but she didn't see me. 'Good job, I don't know how I could do this without you. Thanks for all your hard work' she said to Frank and used his hand to pat herself on the shoulder. She grabbed his hand with both of hers 'your welcome dad' she said 'my pleasure'. 'Are you crazy?' I asked her, she jumped and scrambled to her feet 'fuck Lucy!' She ran her fingered through her hair. 'Have you got Liam's drink? he is screaming now' I said. 'Yeah' she sighed and put her arm around my shoulder. Debbie was gone when we got back to the room. Liam was in his crib. 'I'll take him for the night, get back into bed' Fi said and pulled my bed covers back. I jumped in and she tucked me in. 'I love you' I said 'same' she said and smirked at me. She patted my forehead then grabbed Liam and left. Debbie came back into the room a little bit later. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Liam squealed as he played in the sandpit with Lacey's little sister. She was babysitting for the day and came over to my house as it was warmer and more fun. Fiona had suggested we go to the park to play. Lacey and I played on the monkey bars while the babies played and screamed. Fiona was watching them and talking on the phone. 'Who she talking to?' Lacey asked. I shrugged and climbed onto the top of the monkey bars and went to stand up 'hey, no!' Fiona yelled at me. I sat back down. Lacey joined me on the top. We swung our legs at each other. 'She met a guy the other night, it's probably him. He bought her a washing machine' I told her. 'Wow, pretty white girls get all the good things. No one's ever buying stuff for my mom or sisters, unless you call getting knocked up getting stuff' Lacey looked at her sister. Her mum had 8 kids, 2 grown now though both had their own kids that were now living in the 3 room apartment too. They had heaps of food and toys though, her brothers made sure they had all the good stuff. 'I got to go help with lunch' Lacey said and jumped down, grabbed her sister and left. Liam started crying so I went and sat down with him. Fiona came over 'want a go on the swings?' she asked 'they are broken' I said 'I thought they just fixed them?' 'It's been a couple of weeks now, lucky if they last the week. Apparently homeless Bob was doing a chick who got caught in one' 'are you making that up?' 'No, go look' I said. Fiona gave me side eye but picked up Liam and went over. 'Jesus, did they tied it up to make the seat higher?' Fi said. 'How do you know about everything?' she asked me 'I'm a street kid, we know everything … everything Fiona' I said and smirked at her. 'What?' She asked suspiciously. I continued to smirk and walked away. 'Hey, Lucy! What's that suppose to mean?' 'Nothing' I sang. 'Liam, get her!' I heard Fi yell I started to slowly run while Fi with Liam in her hands chased me. 'No, not the Liam monster!' I yelled as Liam squealed. I stopped on the steps on the slide and Fiona pushed Liam into me while he laughed hysterically./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Frank was sitting at the table smoking. 'Where's Fiona?' I asked him 'Fiona, Fiona, Fiona. What about me?' he said 'as if you will help' 'what's wrong?' 'I think my arms broken' 'yeah right, let's see then'I slowly took my coat off and carefully took my arm out. 'Get that sweater of too' he said 'my arms not really moving that well' I said as I tried to get it out of the sleeve. I winced with every movement. Frank helped me. My arm was clearly bent and red. 'Looks fine to me' Frank said. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a couple of pills. He picked out two and gave them to me, 'take these' he said. I put them in my mouth and he put a bottle of beer up to my lips to drink. He kept tipping it up so I kept drinking until the bottle was empty. I burped and stumbled a bit. 'That's my girl' he said and stood up. 'Let's get you to bed' he picked me up. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"My head throbbed but it was nothing compared to my arm, it looked worse this morning. 'Lucy!' Was yelled up the stairs again. I stumbled down the stairs. Frank was passed out on the floor, while everyone else sat at the table a jumble of noise from their chat. 'Fiona, I think I broke my arm' I whined as I stepped down the last step. Quiet. 'Geez, you think?' Ian said while everyone just looked at me. 'Lucy?' A random guy said he approached me and gently touched my arm, I winced. 'How the fuck did you do that?' Fiona asked as the guy made me sit down. 'Fell' I replied, 'I don't want to go to the hospital'. 'Well, you're going, your arms broken' Fiona said. 'surely the 5supth/sup one is free' Lip said. 'When did you do it?' Debbie asked. 'Last night' 'what why didn't you tell me?' Fi asked.'You weren't home' 'what so you just went to bed with a broken arm?' The guy asked. I didn't say anything. 'Lucy?' Fi asked 'Frank' I said 'of course' lip said 'what did he do?' Fi said 'why does daddy get in trouble' Debbie said Fi knelt in front of me. 'Lucy' 'he looked at it, said it wasn't broken and gave me some pills' I mumbled. 'Arsehole' lip said and got up and nudged Frank with his foot, Frank didn't wake up. 'Just leave it' Fiona said. 'What did he give you Lucy?' Lip asked getting angry. I shrugged then winced as pain shot from my arm. 'Let's get your coat and go' fi said 'so what, he gets off Scott free' 'no but I needed to get Lucy to the hospital before it gets busy, you wake him and find out' /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Lucy, again' abbey said and walked up to us 'can we go out the back?' Fiona asked. 'You're still a fair way down the list, what she done?' 'Broken arm' 'of course' abbey opened up my coat and took a look at it. 'I'll see if I can get her up to xray now' 'thank you abbey' 'do all the nurses know you here?' Steve asked 'pretty much between the kids and dad we are in here a lot' fi said and snuggled into him a bit more. 'You really don't have to wait, it will be a couple of hours even after the X-ray' 'I'll wait' steve said/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Right one this time Lucy?' Dr Morris asked as he pulled back the curtain, abbey followed him. 'How did you do it?' 'Fell' 'more info please' 'off a brick wall' Fiona sighed. 'How high?' 'About the same height as me' 'ok, and why were you on a brick wall?' I shrugged. 'Quick, we've got bets on this' I smirked 'that might have been why' I said 'knew it' abbey said. 'I had bike, go on tell us the whole story' the Dr said. 'I was with friends just playing, doing back flips. Des said I couldn't do two on the wall, so I bet him $20 I could' 'so a broken arm and you lost $20' Fi said. 'No, I got $20. I did the two flips easy and he gave me the money then when I tried to get off the wall I slipped' 'well at least you get the $20' the doc said. 'Frank took it' 'oh, of course he did' abbey said. 'When did you do it?' Fiona chuckled and answered 'last night, I wasn't home. Frank was, gave her two pills and put her in bed' the doctor shook his head 'do you know what pills?' Abbey asked 'Frank reckons Valium and codeine, but I can't see him sharing codeine' fi said. The doctor sighed 'ok well let's get the arm set and a cast on, we will just do a light sedation and nerve block. But like you said he probably wouldn't have given her anything good' 'what colour do you want luce?' Abbey asked 'dark green'. 'Cool, we will be back soon' 'that's it?' Steve asked. 'What do you mean?' Fiona said 'I.. uh' Steve stuttered 'we know the drill' I said. Fiona whispered something to Steve, but I couldn't hear./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"I had been enjoying the couch and tv to myself while Fiona and Steve played music up stairs, Steve joined me on the couch just as lip, Carl and Debbie got home. 'There she is! What colour did you go with this time?' Lip asked. 'Dark green, that's so lame' Debbie said 'better then stupid pink or purple you would have gotten' I said. 'Where's the marker? I'm going to draw a dick on it' Carl said. 'No!' Fiona yelled from the kitchen. She came and stood in front of us 'no dicks, no swear words, no dirty pictures of any kind. Do you hear me? All of you?' Fiona said sternly. 'Yes' Debbie, Carl and I sighed. Steve chuckled. 'Why am I included in this?' Lip said 'oh please, you know why and I'll be telling Ian the same. That things on for 6 weeks and I don't need to be painting it every day because someone drew another dick on it' Fiona said. Lip just left. 'What can I draw on it then?' Carl asked 'how about just a nice get well soon, love Carl' 'eww, that's boring' Carl said and took the remote of me by punching me in the arm. Fiona went back into the kitchen and Debbie followed 'they are all so childish' Debbie told Fiona. 'Your graffiti is going to suck now' Carl said 'will still be better than yours' I said. Steve chuckled. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Ian and Lip ran into the house with 2 6 packs each, they headed into the kitchen. 'Where are the paper bags?' Lip yelled. Carl looked at me and ran into the kitchen too. Liam was asleep on top of me so I couldn't move, no way was I risking waking him. 'Fiona!' Ian started yelling. Footsteps sounded above us and Fiona came down the stairs 'what's going on?' she asked me as she came over to the couch. 'Party?' I said. 'Found them' lip yelled out. I tried to push Liam off me. 'Careful don't wake him' Fi said and helped me move out from under him. We went into the kitchen, Debbie was there too. She must have come down the other stairs. Frank burst through the back door 'where's the beer?' he asked and headed to the fridge. Ian and Lip tried to hide the six packs from him. 'Where's the party?' I asked. 'Hasn't started yet but Donny has been joyriding around in a car for a few days now, going to torch it tonight' Lip said. 'You better not have anything to do with the stealing part' Fiona warned him. 'Of course not, just heard about the bonfire happening tonight' Lip said with a smirk. 'Go tell V and Kev' Fiona said to Debbie who quickly ran off. 'Only 3 bottles? Hey what's that?' Frank asked as he finally noticed the beer on the bench. He made a grab for it, 'no way that's ours' Lip told him. 'Hey, you got to share with your old man. Those are the rules' he slurred. No one did anything to stop him, I noticed there were two beers missing from the pack. 'Wait … bag' Fi said and handed him one. 'Oh yeah, well are you coming?' he said and left without waiting for a response. 'Go on then get ready' Fiona said. Carl and I rushed to put our boots and coats on. 'Grab Liam's coat too' fi yelled after us. 'Jesus, what's taking you so long? Don't want to miss it going up' Kev said as he walked through the front door, his arm slung around Vs shoulder. V went and helped Fi get Liam ready. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"The car pulled up just as we arrived, there was already a crowd of people. Two fires were already burning in drums. 'Damn it, should have brought something to burn' I said 'I brought this' Carl said and held up a book from school. We ran over to the closest fire and chucked it in. The smell of gasoline filled the air as a few people set to work getting the car ready. 'Carl!' Fiona yelled and made him come back to her. Ian grabbed me and pulled me away too. We stood back and they lit it on fire, it banged and the glass shattered. We all cheered as more people showed up. Once the fireball had settled down Fiona let us move closer. There were already beer bottles on the ground. Carl found a stick and was busy poking the car with it. 'Lucy!' I heard someone yell out, Cory and Lilly approached me. 'I hate when we miss it getting lit' Cory said. 'Did you bring anything to throw in?' I asked. 'Yeah' Lilly said and we ran off together. They hadn't brought anything fun to put in though and half Lily's throws didn't even make it to the car. A few cars pulled up and more people piled out. There wasn't many other kids around so I stuck with Lily and Cory. Cory nicked a beer from someone but wouldn't share. Someone threw something into the fire that exploded. Everyone cheered and clapped. Ian, Carl and lip were poking a stick into one of the drums. Fiona and Debbie were sitting on a cars hood while Liam was watching the fire from his stroller. Donny stumbled past us and threw up 'weak Donny' I yelled out to him. He looked at me and he wiped his mouth. 'You're a shit' he said to me, smirked and rushed towards me. I ran away screaming. I ran around the car and would have lost him but someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into them. I looked up and saw Kev. 'Hey!' I yelled at him. Donny just wondered off. 'Too close to the fire' V said and wrapped an arm around me. They started kissing. Em and Liz showed up, I grabbed Em and ran off with her. 'What are you doing here?' I asked her. 'Moms boyfriend lives here' 'do you live here now? We can go back to school together?' 'No, we just visiting' 'oh, do you have anything to throw into the fire?' 'No. Where's everyone else?' 'Lilly and Cory are here but most other ones are gone now' 'I missed you' Em sighed 'same' I replied and grabbed her hands and started to dance. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Sirens cut through everyone yelling, which quickly turned to booing. A few people mooned them and flipped them off but most just walked away. Fiona came over to us, 'time to go' she said and held out a hand to me. I took it. Liz came and grabbed Em, 'catch up soon bitches, you got to meet my man' she yelled out to Fi and V. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Lucy' Fiona said as she pulled the blankets off then quickly disappeared out the door, I sat up grabbed the blanket and curled it around me. 'Get up Lucy!' Debbie snarled as she pulled the blanket off again. 'No!' I yelled which was echoed by another Lucy from Fiona. Debbie ran out of the room with Liam in her arms, no doubt about to tell Fiona about my late night listening to music. I found a pile of clothes on the ground and pulled them on then grabbed a handful of notes from my pillowcase and headed downstairs. Everyone else was sitting at the table, 'you can't wear that Lucy' Ian said while glancing at me. 'I wore it yesterday' I shrugged. 'You look like you're homeless' Debbie chimed in. 'Makes sense as they are your hand me downs'. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Electric bill' Fiona said as she put a cardboard box on the table. Everyone but Carl put in money, I emptied my pockets too. 'No, you got sauce on the front of that shirt' Fiona said to Carl and turned it inside out. 'What about Lucy?' Debbie said. I sighed. Fiona looked at me and shook her head 'take them off' she said and headed over to the laundry basket. I stripped, she chucked me some jeans which had mud on them and Ian's sweater 'that's mine' Ian said 'I know but it's the only thing that's sort of clean' Fi said. I pulled it on, it came down to my knees. Fiona went behind me and roughly pulled my hair into a ponytail, 'oww' I complained. She sniffed my hair 'Jesus Lucy, you still reek of smoke have you even showered since the weekend?'. I sat back on my seat as Lip tipped some cereal into my bowl and topped it off with his leftover milk. 'Field trip. Need dads signature' Ian said and handed a piece of paper to Debbie. 'Wow, debs that's getting really good' Lip said. I dribbled milk down my top 'Lucy!' Ian yelled. 'Who's got the phone?' Fiona asked as she shoved washing into the machine. 'I do, do you have a rag?' Lip said. Fiona threw him one and he threw her the phone 'how many minutes left?' She asked 'argh 14' lip said as he tried to rub the milk off my top. I continued to eat. 'I need something for show and tell' Debbie said 'just make up a story' I said 'or don't do it' Carl said. 'No, I want it to be good this time' Debbie said. 'Who put in the 2 $20's?' Fiona asked as she counted the squirrel fund money, 'I did' I said as cereal fell off my spoon 'these things are too big for my mouth' I said as I picked it off my lap and ate it. 'Well done Luce' Lip said. 'It's because you're using a giant spoon' Debbie said and took it off me then gave me hers. 'Where did you get it?' Fiona asked 'Family business' I told Fiona. 'I don't want to know' she replied and went back to tidying up. 'Did Carl put in any this time?' Ian asked 'you're almost 11, you're gonna have to start pulling your weight' Debbie told him. Carl rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her. 'That's right and stop just taking money from the collection plate at church' lip said 'church so isn't worth it' I added. 'We have enough, and I'm filling in for candi so we can have hot dogs for dinner tonight too' fi said and sat down at the table and fed Liam. 'Extra kraut on mine' lip said 'cheese on mine' Ian said. 'Somebody's gotta take Liam. And not Lucy, we got in trouble last time for that' Fiona said. 'I got a calculus test' lip said and left the table 'I can't be late again' Ian said and followed Lip. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'I need something for show and tell' Debbie whined again. 'I got a good poop photo last night' I said 'eww, no way' Debbie said 'mine is still the best' Carl said 'you guys really need to stop taking pictures of your shit' Fiona said. 'Then how would we know who does the biggest?' Carl asked. 'Yeah' I added as I took my bowl over to the sink. 'Someone needs to take Liam to headstart' Fiona said. 'Not it' I said and ran off. Debbie yelled out something as I left. My friends were waiting for me at the corner. 'Do you have money for snacks' Des asked 'not yet' I said as we headed off to school. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Good afternoon Mrs Johnson!' I yelled as I opened the front door. 'Lucy! It is good to see you again' she said, as always she was on her armchair in front of the tv. The ashtray on her side table was full and beer bottles took up the rest of the room. 'I got you a few things' I told her and handed over a bag. I grabbed the ashtray and bottles and took them down to the bins out the back. By the time I got back Mrs Johnston had already opened another beer and lit a cigarette. 'Thank you Lucy. Now go play. I've found some new songs for you to try too' she said and tapped a book on her knee./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Fiona came out of the bathroom as I was heading to my room. 'Lucy' she said and grabbed my arm. 'Shower now and wash your hair' she turned the shower on for me and left. I striped and got in. I could hear yelling in the hallway. V came into the bathroom 'your hair's still in the ponytail' she said as she opened the curtain. She pulled me closer to her and got the hair tie out. 'Shampoo' she said and stuck out a hand. I handed her a bottle 'what is this cheap shit, two in one, Jesus' but she squirted some on my head and rubbed it in. 'Fi better be ready by now' she said and left. I washed the soap out of my hair then got out of the shower. I was on my way to my room when Fi and V rushed out of her room. 'Where are you going?' I asked 'out. Be good for Lip' she said and kissed me on the forehead. 'Bye sweetie' v said to me and they both took off down the stairs. I got dressed then went to see what Lip had planned for the night 'what are we doing?' I asked as I walked into the boys room 'what? Nothing' lip said from his bed, he was acting weird. 'I got a good movie' Ian said. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'You didn't get to meet Steve last night' Debbie teased me 'I don't care debbie' I told her and ate some dry cereal, we were out of milk. 'Where's the milk?' Ian asked as he sat down 'gone' I said. 'Sorry, I'll get some more today. Is there anything else you really need?' Fi asked. 'No it's fine' Ian said 'candy' I said 'no' Debbie said. 'I got something to show you' Carl said to me and smirked as he came into the kitchen 'is it dead?' I asked. He smiled. 'It better not be in your room' Fiona said 'it's on the way to school' 'well don't bring it home, that dead rat stunk out the whole house' 'I wish we could use that smell in stink bombs' I said 'that would be awesome' Carl said. 'Where's the milk?' 'Debbie drank it all' I said. Carl punched her in the arm. 'I did not!' Debbie yelled and tried to hit Carl, they started to fight. Lip came downstairs and broke them up. 'Off to school now!' Fiona said and put our lunches in our hands. 'I didn't have breakfast' Carl whined 'I'll get you something on the way' I said. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Mr Horvat was a mean old man that lived at the end of our street. He carried a gun with him and would happily let off a shot if you annoyed him in any way. We stayed well away from him and his house, except at 8:30am when he would take his straggly little dog for a walk. A few of us neighbourhood kids would let ourselves in and take whatever we needed from his pantry. His mind was going and he hadn't even realised that over half his groceries would disappear. I picked the lock easily and Carl and I went in. 'Quick grab some food and let's go' Carl said as he headed to the cupboard. I went to the fridge and got some yoghurt and juice and a couple of beers. I checked the drawer on the way out and grabbed the packet of cigarettes. I ate the yoghurt with my fingers and grabbed a couple of chocolate bars Carl stole, he was busy eating some crisps. 'It's just up here' he said. I could see a lump of something on the side of the road. 'A dog?' I said after we got to it, it was dirty and it's back legs were completely flat. 'Yeah, been here a while. It's too big for me to take home' Carl said 'damn'. Someone yelled my name, I ran over to my friends./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Lip and Ian were walking up the street. I ran straight into them 'Jesus!' Lip yelled and stumbled. 'Wow, what happened to you?' I asked as I realised he was limping. 'Just help me get home' he said and put a hand on my shoulder and an arm around Ian's. He hoppled home and up the stairs. Fiona was in the hallway. 'What the hell?' She said. Lip continued to his room. Carl and Debbie were already there playing a game. 'Hurt my foot on the train' lip said as he collapsed on his bed, 'Lip! Debbie can you get V?' Fiona said and sat on the end of the bed and took his shoes off. Debbie ran off. 'Jesus, how did you do this?' Fi asked. I sat down on the desk chair and Ian sat on his bed. 'He is a hero, saved on old lady' Ian said 'really an old lady on the train?' Fi said as she looked at Lips foot, lip winced. 'Oh, yeah, the doors were closing on her walker. Lip barely got his foot in in time to stop …' Ian said 'uh, Jesus, Fiona!' Lip yelled out. 'I can't remember if that's good or bad. More likely you jumped the turnstiles and he twisted it trying to outrun the transit cops' Fi said to the boys. V walked into the room, followed by a puffing Debbie. 'No. Always elevate extremities. Move before you give him a fucking embolism' V yelled and took over Fiona's spot. Fiona pushed me off the desk chair and sat down on it. 'Are you ok Lip?' V asked 'just please don't touch it' Lip sooked. 'Ok, wiggle your toes' v said. Lip grunted and didn't move his toes 'go to my house, top of the freezer, two ice packs. Second cupboard above the sink, liquid ibuprofen, freeze spray, ace bandages.' V told Ian 'should we get it xrayed?' Fiona asked 'fuck no, you'll be in the ED forever and for what? Submetatarsal hematoma. Thanks tell us something we didn't know five hours ago. Fuck off' v said and jumped up 'my bedroom, top of the tv' she yelled out to Ian. Ian stuck his head back in the room 'yeah?' 'Pack of smokes and the lighter'. there was a knock on the door downstairs. Lip and Ian freaked out 'shit, I'm not here!' Lip yelled and tried to pull a blanket over himself. 'You don't know us Fiona!' Ian yelled as he ran back into his room and tried to get under a bed. I started laughing, 'oh what have you done? What have you done?' Fiona yelled and stormed out. Carl and I ran after Fiona. 'This is going to be good' Carl whispered to me. We went out the front door, a truck was there 'can I get it through here or is it better around the back?' A guy asked. We just stared at him. 'Samsung washer?' He said. 'It's not me' Fiona said 'Gallagher, number 2119 (change)?' 'Yeah, but that's not ours' Fi said 'well it's paid for. You want me to hook it up or not?' 'Take it' I whispered to Fiona. She looked at me and shrugged. 'Ok, it should fit through the front' she said. 'That wasn't exciting' Carl said. I agreed as we went back inside. Fiona and the guy followed us. I went upstairs to the toilet. Liam was fussing in his crib so I got him out and went to go downstairs but Lip and V were going very slowly down the stairs. 'Got it? Ok. Ice and Advil. And keep your weight off it' V told Lip. The guy was settling up the new washer 'I thought you were broke?' V said. Fiona rushed over to the sink and picked up some flowers. 'These were in the washer' she said looking very happy. V went over to have a look. 'Can I have some food?' I asked as I put Liam in the highchair. He was still fussing. I found a melty bit of chocolate in my pocket and gave him that. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Don't touch the floor!' I yelled at the twins. We jumped from the couch to chairs and then cushions. 'I bet I can make it to the stairs!' yelled Susie and leaped off the back of the couch. She face planted into a step. Lee and I started to laugh. Her lip had split open and was bleeding. 'Now how are you going to get back?' I asked her. 'Shit' she thought for a moment and sucked on her lip. 'oh well I'm going to explore upstairs I bet I can find some cool stuff'. She took off and I followed. We ran through the room and pelted each other with whatever we could fine. Debbie stormed up the stairs 'enough! Lucy get out, I'm trying to do a project' she screamed and pushed me. I pushed her back then made a run for it. We were soon joined by a few other kids and spent the rest of the day riding our bikes and exploring abandoned houses. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Liam was fussing. 'I'm not getting up' Debbie said. 'Fiona!' I yelled out. I heard her open her bedroom door and walk up the hallway. I pointed to Liam but it wasn't necessary. She got him out of the crib and tried to settle him but it didn't work. 'I'll get him a drink, watch him for a moment' she said and put him on my bed. He started tapping my face but soon reverted to wailing 'Debbie?' I asked. 'Can't you do anything without my help?' She whined and got down from bed. 'See why Fiona's taking so long' she told me as she grabbed Liam. Ian walked down the hallway as I got out of bed. I went down the kitchen stairs. Fiona was sitting in the lounge room with Liam's cup, Frank was asleep on the floor. Fi kicked Frank then yelled at him 'dad, get up' and she kicked him again. Frank didn't move. 'Get up' she screamed. Frank didn't move. She knelt down beside him. I walked over to her but she didn't see me. 'Good job, I don't know how I could do this without you. Thanks for all your hard work' she said to Frank and used his hand to pat herself on the shoulder. She grabbed his hand with both of hers 'your welcome dad' she said 'my pleasure'. 'Are you crazy?' I asked her, she jumped and scrambled to her feet 'fuck Lucy!' She ran her fingered through her hair. 'Have you got Liam's drink? he is screaming now' I said. 'Yeah' she sighed and put her arm around my shoulder. Debbie was gone when we got back to the room. Liam was in his crib. 'I'll take him for the night, get back into bed' Fi said and pulled my bed covers back. I jumped in and she tucked me in. 'I love you' I said 'same' she said and smirked at me. She patted my forehead then grabbed Liam and left. Debbie came back into the room a little bit later. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Liam squealed as he played in the sandpit with Lacey's little sister. She was babysitting for the day and came over to my house as it was warmer and more fun. Fiona had suggested we go to the park to play. Lacey and I played on the monkey bars while the babies played and screamed. Fiona was watching them and talking on the phone. 'Who she talking to?' Lacey asked. I shrugged and climbed onto the top of the monkey bars and went to stand up 'hey, no!' Fiona yelled at me. I sat back down. Lacey joined me on the top. We swung our legs at each other. 'She met a guy the other night, it's probably him. He bought her a washing machine' I told her. 'Wow, pretty white girls get all the good things. No one's ever buying stuff for my mom or sisters, unless you call getting knocked up getting stuff' Lacey looked at her sister. Her mum had 8 kids, 2 grown now though both had their own kids that were now living in the 3 room apartment too. They had heaps of food and toys though, her brothers made sure they had all the good stuff. 'I got to go help with lunch' Lacey said and jumped down, grabbed her sister and left. Liam started crying so I went and sat down with him. Fiona came over 'want a go on the swings?' she asked 'they are broken' I said 'I thought they just fixed them?' 'It's been a couple of weeks now, lucky if they last the week. Apparently homeless Bob was doing a chick who got caught in one' 'are you making that up?' 'No, go look' I said. Fiona gave me side eye but picked up Liam and went over. 'Jesus, did they tied it up to make the seat higher?' Fi said. 'How do you know about everything?' she asked me 'I'm a street kid, we know everything … everything Fiona' I said and smirked at her. 'What?' She asked suspiciously. I continued to smirk and walked away. 'Hey, Lucy! What's that suppose to mean?' 'Nothing' I sang. 'Liam, get her!' I heard Fi yell I started to slowly run while Fi with Liam in her hands chased me. 'No, not the Liam monster!' I yelled as Liam squealed. I stopped on the steps on the slide and Fiona pushed Liam into me while he laughed hysterically./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"Frank was sitting at the table smoking. 'Where's Fiona?' I asked him 'Fiona, Fiona, Fiona. What about me?' he said 'as if you will help' 'what's wrong?' 'I think my arms broken' 'yeah right, let's see then'I slowly took my coat off and carefully took my arm out. 'Get that sweater of too' he said 'my arms not really moving that well' I said as I tried to get it out of the sleeve. I winced with every movement. Frank helped me. My arm was clearly bent and red. 'Looks fine to me' Frank said. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a couple of pills. He picked out two and gave them to me, 'take these' he said. I put them in my mouth and he put a bottle of beer up to my lips to drink. He kept tipping it up so I kept drinking until the bottle was empty. I burped and stumbled a bit. 'That's my girl' he said and stood up. 'Let's get you to bed' he picked me up. /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"My head throbbed but it was nothing compared to my arm, it looked worse this morning. 'Lucy!' Was yelled up the stairs again. I stumbled down the stairs. Frank was passed out on the floor, while everyone else sat at the table a jumble of noise from their chat. 'Fiona, I think I broke my arm' I whined as I stepped down the last step. Quiet. 'Geez, you think?' Ian said while everyone just looked at me. 'Lucy?' A random guy said he approached me and gently touched my arm, I winced. 'How the fuck did you do that?' Fiona asked as the guy made me sit down. 'Fell' I replied, 'I don't want to go to the hospital'. 'Well, you're going, your arms broken' Fiona said. 'surely the 5supth/sup one is free' Lip said. 'When did you do it?' Debbie asked. 'Last night' 'what why didn't you tell me?' Fi asked.'You weren't home' 'what so you just went to bed with a broken arm?' The guy asked. I didn't say anything. 'Lucy?' Fi asked 'Frank' I said 'of course' lip said 'what did he do?' Fi said 'why does daddy get in trouble' Debbie said Fi knelt in front of me. 'Lucy' 'he looked at it, said it wasn't broken and gave me some pills' I mumbled. 'Arsehole' lip said and got up and nudged Frank with his foot, Frank didn't wake up. 'Just leave it' Fiona said. 'What did he give you Lucy?' Lip asked getting angry. I shrugged then winced as pain shot from my arm. 'Let's get your coat and go' fi said 'so what, he gets off Scott free' 'no but I needed to get Lucy to the hospital before it gets busy, you wake him and find out' /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Lucy, again' abbey said and walked up to us 'can we go out the back?' Fiona asked. 'You're still a fair way down the list, what she done?' 'Broken arm' 'of course' abbey opened up my coat and took a look at it. 'I'll see if I can get her up to xray now' 'thank you abbey' 'do all the nurses know you here?' Steve asked 'pretty much between the kids and dad we are in here a lot' fi said and snuggled into him a bit more. 'You really don't have to wait, it will be a couple of hours even after the X-ray' 'I'll wait' steve said/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"'Right one this time Lucy?' Dr Morris asked as he pulled back the curtain, abbey followed him. 'How did you do it?' 'Fell' 'more info please' 'off a brick wall' Fiona sighed. 'How high?' 'About the same height as me' 'ok, and why were you on a brick wall?' I shrugged. 'Quick, we've got bets on this' I smirked 'that might have been why' I said 'knew it' abbey said. 'I had bike, go on tell us the whole story' the Dr said. 'I was with friends just playing, doing back flips. Des said I couldn't do two on the wall, so I bet him $20 I could' 'so a broken arm and you lost $20' Fi said. 'No, I got $20. I did the two flips easy and he gave me the money then when I tried to get off the wall I slipped' 'well at least you get the $20' the doc said. 'Frank took it' 'oh, of course he did' abbey said. 'When did you do it?' Fiona chuckled and answered 'last night, I wasn't home. Frank was, gave her two pills and put her in bed' the doctor shook his head 'do you know what pills?' Abbey asked 'Frank reckons Valium and codeine, but I can't see him sharing codeine' fi said. The doctor sighed 'ok well let's get the arm set and a cast on, we will just do a light sedation and nerve block. But like you said he probably wouldn't have given her anything good' 'what colour do you want luce?' Abbey asked 'dark green'. 'Cool, we will be back soon' 'that's it?' Steve asked. 'What do you mean?' Fiona said 'I.. uh' Steve stuttered 'we know the drill' I said. Fiona whispered something to Steve, but I couldn't hear./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"I had been enjoying the couch and tv to myself while Fiona and Steve played music up stairs, Steve joined me on the couch just as lip, Carl and Debbie got home. 'There she is! What colour did you go with this time?' Lip asked. 'Dark green, that's so lame' Debbie said 'better then stupid pink or purple you would have gotten' I said. 'Where's the marker? I'm going to draw a dick on it' Carl said. 'No!' Fiona yelled from the kitchen. She came and stood in front of us 'no dicks, no swear words, no dirty pictures of any kind. Do you hear me? All of you?' Fiona said sternly. 'Yes' Debbie, Carl and I sighed. Steve chuckled. 'Why am I included in this?' Lip said 'oh please, you know why and I'll be telling Ian the same. That things on for 6 weeks and I don't need to be painting it every day because someone drew another dick on it' Fiona said. Lip just left. 'What can I draw on it then?' Carl asked 'how about just a nice get well soon, love Carl' 'eww, that's boring' Carl said and took the remote of me by punching me in the arm. Fiona went back into the kitchen and Debbie followed 'they are all so childish' Debbie told Fiona. 'Your graffiti is going to suck now' Carl said 'will still be better than yours' I said. Steve chuckled. /p