"Lucy!" I recognised Franks voice so kept on walking. "Hey!" he yelled out. Hanna slapped my side. "No, keep going he will lose interest" I told her and walked faster. "You little shit" Frank yelled out, I heard puffing and grumbling and someone grabbed my shoulder. I spun around, Frank was bent over trying to catch his breath. "What?" I snapped. "Spoilt bitch, making me run in this heat. I'm your father you should stop as soon as you hear me. I deserve your respect…" he began to rant. I walked off. "No wait, please" he yelled out. "I don't have any money" I yelled back at him. "I don't want money" he yelled. I turned around again, "no way! Scamming then?" I asked. He grinned and shrugged. "You remember Butterface?" he asked. I shook my head. "You would have met her, regular at the bar, amazing arse and tits but ugly as hell?" Frank said. A vague memory came to mind. "Maybe, why?" I said. "Her hearts giving out and I'm keeping her company in her last days, she would love to see you again" he said. "What you giving me?" I asked. Frank groaned and waved his hands in the air, I realised he was about to start ranting again. "Why you being nice to her then?" I asked. "She's a friend and she dying, have a heart Lucy. She's dying" Frank said. "Nah, not buying it. Why Frank?" I said. "Fine, she worked for the city. Got a pension and doesn't speak to her daughter anymore" he sighed. I stared at him. "She's got a really nice tv too, could probably give you that" he said. "Suppose I've got a spare hour or so" I said and said goodbye to Hanna.
"What's her name?" I asked Frank as we walked up the stairs to her house. "Umm, Dottie" Frank said and grabbed my shoulders. He knocked on her screen door. "I brought a visitor! My youngest, Lucy" Frank yelled out. "Liam is the youngest" I told him. "Shh, remember you're a happy, friendly, normal kid" he whispered to me.
"How did Frank make something as beautiful as you?" Dottie said as we walked inside. I shrugged. "Maybe she's not yours?" Dottie joked and started laughing, Frank fake chuckled. "Oh they are all mine, I've raised them all and look after them all. Lucy just has her moms and sisters good looks. She's going to be a star" Frank said and put a hand on my shoulder. "Monica was a pretty lady, not the sharpest or sanest but if she was she wouldn't have end up with you Frank" Dottie said and laughed and again Frank forced a laugh. I was enjoying all the Frank roasting so laughed too. "What do you like doing Lucy?" Dottie asked. "Umm, playing with my friends, music, drawing …" I started, "and hanging out with me, right Lucy?" Frank said, I glared at him. "We have the most fun, going into the loop on the L, visiting parks and playgrounds, going out for ice cream. We spend so much time together" Frank continued, Dottie didn't really look like she was buying it. "Are you dying?" I asked her, "yeah" she replied. "That sucks, why you just staying home then?" "Can't really do much else, I get really tired and need to sleep a lot" "oh, you got cable at least?" I asked. "I do, want to watch a show?" she asked. "Ok, but something good. No kid shit" I said. I sat down next to her and she smiled at me, her teeth were gross but she was dying so I smiled back at her.
I ran away screaming as the mayo dripped down my leg, Des had managed to pop my balloon but I had got his too. The mayo made my sandals slip all over the place but I kept on running, I had noticed another target. Lilly was on the other side of the road, she only had one balloon left.
"Debbie does this count as bleeding?" I asked as I hobbled inside. "Omg! What happened?" she asked. Blood dripped down my leg and onto the floor. "Carl stabbed me" I said. "I was just playing!" he said, he was a bit panicked about the whole thing. "I said I won't tell her" I replied. "You go wake her" Debbie told him. He went upstairs. "It's pretty deep, want to see?" I asked Debbie. "No way, it will just bleed more if you take the pressure off" Debbie said. It didn't take long for Fi to come rushing over. "Oh my god! Lucy!" She said flustered. "Where is the blood coming from" she asked as she knelt in front of me. "Cut my hip" I said. "And you smell, like piss and mayo. What the hell?" she asked. Lip came running in "hey, kids said you got hurt. Jesus Christ" he said when he saw me. Fiona gently lifted my hand and my wadded-up t shirt away from the cut, it started to bleed again and my shorts and underwear which had only been staying on because I had been holding them with the t shirt fell down. "How?" Fi asked as she pushed the tshirt back onto it but that was pretty soaked now too. I didn't say anything. "It was the pin balloon game, wasn't it?" Lip asked. I smirked "is V home? Can someone get her?" Fiona asked "she's working until 2 I think" Lip said. "Great, we'll have to go to the hospital then" Fi said. "No" I whined. "You'll miss day care pick up" Debbie said. "Fuck, I don't know. We can't just leave it she's bleeding" fi said and ran her hands through her hair. "Maybe it will stop if she stays still and we put pressure on it?" Lip said. "Get me more rags, Debbie get the kids out of here, Carl put some towels on my bed" Fiona said. Lip grabbed some rags from the drawer. He and Fi looked at me for a bit. "How about I carry her and you hold a rag to the cut?" Lip suggested. It was awkward but they managed to get me upstairs without too much mess.
"I told you not to play that stupid game, the scratches and pin holes were bad enough. How the hell did someone do this with a pin?" she asked. I was laying in the bed on my side while she pressed a rag to the cut. "Someone decided to use a knife" I said "what? What kind of kid does that?" she said getting upset. Carl looked guilty behind her. I didn't say anything. Fiona pressed down harder. "Stop, you're making it hurt to much" I said and wiggled a bit "Lucy, don't you'll make it bleed more" she said and slapped my side. I sighed and stopped moving. "You're making it hurt on purpose" I whined "I'm not, we've got to stop the bleeding". I laid there quietly for a bit, then grabbed her hand. "Can we check it?" "No, it's to soon. Just wait." I sighed again. "God I hope V can fix this" Fi said.
"Ok what has the twerp done this time?" V asked as she walked in with her first aid kit. "Pin balloon tag injury" I said. "And what the fuck is that?" V said as she lifted the rags, "shit, I can't fix this" V said and put pressure on the cut again. Blood had already started to drip down my side. "What?" Fi said. "You're going to have to take her to the hospital" V said as she climbed off the bed. "How are we even going to get her there?" Fi said as she ran her hands through her hair. "Ambulance? I can see muscle Fi, that shits deep" V said. "I'll call" Lip said and got his phone out. "What about daycare?" Fi said. "I'll sort it out, you go with her to the hospital" Lip said.
"It wouldn't be the summer without a trip to the Gallaghers, hey" Rodney joked. "Haven't been round here in a while actually, Frank not around?" Nathan asked as he looked at the cut. "Sorry, to call you guys we just don't have a way to get her in with a cut that bad" Fiona said, she had changed and grabbed everything we would need for a trip to the ER, including a clean set of clothes for me. "Yeah that's a nasty cut, how did you do it?" Nathan asked as he put a clean dressing on the cut and wrapped a bandage around my hips to keep it in place. "Playing with some kids, one took it too far" I said. "With knives?" Rodney asked. I shook my head. "Kid had a knife though" Debbie said. "Outside with the daycare kids please" Fiona whispered to her. "Right if I just carry you? Save us bringing in the gurney?" Rodney asked. I nodded. They put a blanket on me and he carried me into the ambulance. Fiona followed.
"Just can't stay away from us, hey Lucy?" Dr Ross joked as they wheeled me in, "that's original" I sighed. "It's been over a month now though, right?" Linda added as they put me in the suture room. "It's been a while since she's been hurt" Fiona said. "Yeah, I don't think I've treated her but she's been around. Friend with the broken arm, the eduction session Dr Lewis gave them, you were at Carols at the end of the winter …" he started. I glared at him, Fiona didn't really know about half of that stuff. "Her friends are as bad as she is so you're lucky she's not in here more. They all think they are old enough to just take themselves to the hospital too" Fi said, I knew questions were going to be asked as soon as the doctors and nurses left. "True, let have a look" Dr Ross carefully cut the bandage round my hip and pulled back the dressing. The cut wasn't bleeding anymore, but it was open and looked deep. "Yeah, surgery will probably want to look at that" Dr Ross, "will she need to go under? Is it going to take long?" Fi asked. "I'll get someone down asap but they might just be able to numb it" Dr Ross said then started asking questions about how it happened and how much blood I lost. Linda put a needle in my arm and started me of fluids and an antibiotic.
"Hidey Ho!" Lip said as he walked into the room, "it's Mr Hanky the Christmas Poo!" I replied. "Really?" Fi sighed and kissed me on the forehead. She was off to work, and Lip had come in to keep me company. "Call if there's any issues, I've done all the paperwork. Hopefully you get out of here before midnight, if not I'll come back after work" Fi said as she headed to the door. "Stop stressing, I've got it" Lip said as he sat down next to my bed. "Bye!" I yelled out to Fi as she left.
"I'm going to miss all the fireworks, aren't I" I whined as Dr Benson slowly stitched up the cut. "They go on all night, you'll get to see some" Carol said. Lip stood at the door for a second talking to a chick then came back in, he had gone out for some fresh air but had been gone for a while. "Good?" I asked him, "not to bad" he said with a grin, I could tell he had just hooked up with the chick. I had seen that look so many times I knew what it meant, the post cigarette smoke still clung to his clothes too. I glared at him, "Lucy don't" he said and turned my face away from him. Carol was giving us a weird look. "Are the fireworks already happening?" I asked him. "There were a few bangs" he said. I sighed loudly.
Carol handed Lip a bag, "dressings, antibiotics and same stuff to clean it with if needed with a handout on how to do it. If it gets infected bring her back here. Stitches out in 2 weeks. Now Lucy get in the wheelchair" she said, "I can walk" I whined. "Hospital policy" she said and gestured at the chair. We didn't go to the exit though, Carol took us up in the elevator and onto the roof. "You can usually see the 10pm ones from up here" she said. "Really? Oh awesome!" I replied. There were a few other people up there too.
The first one was huge, it lit up the whole sky. I glanced at Lip with amazing, he was already looking at me and smiling. More shot into the sky, so many colours and patterns. I had watch people in our neighbourhood let of fireworks all the time but they were nothing like this. I noticed the other people were glancing at me occasionally but I didn't care, I stared at the fireworks, pointed out the cool bits and got excited at the really awesome ones.
A tweaker was ranting on the train, he wasn't including anyone and was just pacing up and down the carriage. We ignored him and looked out the window at the fireworks still being let off in the streets. The train stopped then started again, I could tell the guys that had just got on were looking for trouble. They had American flag tops on and were being loud and obnoxious. The mood of the carriage changed almost straight away. They targeted ranter straight away, he yelled some anti government stuff in their faces and they started throwing punches almost instantly. They didn't stop when he fell down. Other people looked away, a couple were wondering if they should get involved. Lip didn't hesitate as soon as they started kicking the ranter he pushed his way past me and tried to pull the guys back. "That's enough" he yelled at them. They paused for a moment then swung at Lip, Lip was quick and dodged it. He had one guy grabbing his face and another his stomach before he got hit, but it was a good hit and he staggered backwards. A couple of other people had dragged the ranter away. I scrambled to get in front of Lip so the guys would back off. The train slowed and stopped, we were at the next station. Transit cops were already waiting, we bolted out the doors the moment they opened and ran off. It was never a good idea to get involved with the cops.
"Arseholes" Lip yelled and spat out a mouthful of blood. "That was awesome, you got two of them before they even threw a punch! What pussies!" I said as I jumped round him. "Where are we?" he asked, "Archer" I told him. "Let's go find a bus" he mumbled. I pointed to the bike rack. "You got bolt cutters?" he asked. I checked my pockets, there's was still a bobby pin in one of the shorts pockets they rarely came out in the wash. I held it up to Lip, he gestured towards the bike. It was a nice bike with pegs on the back wheels, the lock he had used was simple to get open and we quickly headed off home.
I awoke to crying. "Is that a baby?" Debbie asked and jumped down from her bed. "It doesn't sound like Liam" I said. "Nah, way younger" she said and headed out of our room. I followed though my side hurt. Fiona and Lip were coming out of their rooms too. The asain lady barged out of Franks room, a bag on her back and a baby in her arms. She completely ignored us and hurried down the stairs. "She had the baby in Franks room?" Debbie asked and went into it. "Oh yuck!" She yelled. We all rushed in behind her, franks bed was covered in blood. There was also a turd and a big bloody thing on it. Debbie pushed past me to get out. "What is that?" I asked. "I think it's the placenta" Lip said. "Eww" "come on out, I'm not dealing with this right now" Fi said and pushed us out of the room and closed the door.