"Open the door and I'll give you this chocolate bar" I said to Maddie and waved the chocolate around. She looked over her shoulder then quickly opened the door. I barged out of the dog cage and gave Maddie the chocolate. Debbie was busy trying to break up a fight between Cami and Charlie. I sneaked into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of pop from the fridge then ran out the back door. I grabbed a skateboard on my way to the street. It took a while for me to find any of my friends, most had camp or were stuck at home with siblings or working. So far it had been a pretty boring summer and I missed having a constant friend around. I found Jav playing baseball and sat in the stands watching them.
"Do you know where anyone else is?" I asked Jav after the game. "Nah, sorry. You can hang with us" he said and handed me his notes on the upcoming little league matches for Lip. I handed over two roaches. "Their arseholes. I would rather go home" I said and walked away. I ended up at Sheila's and watched sound of music with her.
Lip had started a fight club, Carl and I had snuck out to watch as soon as we realised what was going on and of course Carl got caught straight away but Lip let us tag along anyway. Tonight Lip had to jump in as a fighter had pulled out. "How the hell did that little guy kick Kurt fucking Landis ass?" Mandy asked as Lip gave the security guard his share. "We make anything on my fight?" Lip asked "nobody wanted the odds" Ian said, "what'd you put down?" Lip asked. "On you? Nothing. Made a bit on Sans fight though" I said. "You picked that?" Mandy asked "yeah, have you met Sans dad?" I said. Lip playfully punched me in the arm "Ian?" He asked "on the fight you lost? Nada. Sibling loyalty doesn't extend to stupidity, bud" Ian said. They play wrested for a bit then Lip lit a cigarette. "So Mickeys out soon, hah?" Lip asked Mandy. "In about a week or so, if he doesn't stab anybody else. Plastic fork barely broke the kids skin, but it bought him 30 days" Mandy said. "Plastic never does any damage" Carl said. "You gotta be looking forward to having Mickey home again huh?" Lip said but I noticed he glanced at Ian not Mandy. "I guess" Mandy said. "Hey, I wanna stage another fight night next week" Lip said. "Go around to the dojos and round up more scrabbers, and more booze this time too. How quick did you guys run out?" Lip asked us "within the hour" I said. Lip handed everyone some money. "Double then? Where you going?" Ian asked as Lip walked off "Karen's" lip called back "thought you gave up on that" Ian yelled after him. "Karen Jackson, even after that thing with your dad?" Mandy asked. "I'm sneakin antibiotics into his toothpaste, just in case" Ian said.
—-
Lee and I dashed across the road, narrowly missing the car which screeched to a stop. "Lucy! Lee!" Fiona screamed, I looked over my shoulder and saw her in the car. "Sorry!" Lee yelled out as we rode away. We turned into the alleyway then my backyard. "Hey!" I yelled out to the homeless guy splashing water from the pool on himself, he whipped around then took off down the side of the house. "Who was that?" Lee asked as he jumped off his bike. "Don't know, I don't like him though" I said as I let my bike fall to the ground. We ran up the back stairs and I unlocked the back door. Fiona came in as we were unpacking our bags, "hey, check for cars before crossing the road" she said and slapped the back of my head. "We were rushing" I explained. "Not good enough" she said. "I've got to go, catch up later yeah?" Lee said and rushed out. "You stay at his place?" Fi asked. "Nah, you stay at fancy car guys place?" I asked. "Nope" she said and went over to the fan and turned it on. "How is it already this hot?" I complained and took the milk and cheese to the fridge. Lip stomped down the stairs. "Whoa, what happened to you?" Fi asked him and walked away from the fan. I quickly took over that spot. "One of my fighters pussies out. I had to fill in" Lip said. "Looks like the pussy had the right idea. Get some ice on that eye" Fi said as she took a closer look at Lips face, it was bruised and a bit swollen but not nearly as bad as I was expecting. "Good morning. We're out of Mac and cheese. I can make pb and js instead but I'm gonna need more bread" Debbie said as she came down stairs and poured herself a coffee. "Got more of everything, check the table" I yelled at the fan, then giggled at the noise my voice made. "How many sighed up for today?" Fi asked. "Nine. Romano twins, cami, mangis, that Ulin kid with the big head …" Debbie started. "Ewww. I hate Mangis, he always touching me" I said, again at the fan. "Little creep" Lip said. "Woah, half a cup of coffee only" Fiona told Debbie as she rushed around the kitchen putting away the stuff me and Lee had brought back. "I'm exhausted, Liam had me up half the night banging his head. I need him out of the room, sharing with Lucy is bad enough" Debbie whined as she went through her check list for the day. I grabbed the cup of coffee Lip had just poured for himself and skulled as much as I could. He snatched it off me and pushed me away. "And I want a pony for Christmas" Fiona said to Debbie from the other side of the table as she cleaned up the mess there. "He is a boy, he should be in with the boys" Debbie said. "No way, there's three of us in that room" Lip said. "There's three of us in our room too" I said to Lip. "You and Liam combined still weigh less than me so it's not the same" Lip said. I poked him in the side, he flinched and batted me away.
"Im a girl. I'm going to be a woman soon, I need privacy to undergo the upcoming traumatic transformation" Debbie was saying "argh, not this again" I sighed as I walked around to the table, Fi poured some cereal into a bowl for me. "It's not that traumatic" Lip chuckled. "How would you know?" Fiona asked. "Video in 5thgrade" Lip said. "What are we talking about?" Ian asked as he came downstairs. "Moving Liam into our room" Lip said and headed for the back door. "No fucking way" Ian said. "Where are you going?" I asked him. "Kev" he said and left. "First day care kid is here, can we move Liam?" Debs said looking at Fi. "It's not gonna happen, Debs. Go, go" Fi said and shewed her away. "Traumatic transformation?" Ian asked. Fi rolled her eyes. "She won't stop going on about it" I whined.
Debbie was busy telling Fiona about her daycare plans as they walked back into the kitchen "oh and don't wake you unless there's blood or exposed bone" Debbie said. "Lots of blood" Fi said and kissed Debbie on the forehead. "Lucy walk with me" she said as she pointed at me and then headed up the stairs. I hurried after her. "What are you doing today?" she asked. "Busking" I said. "Ok, don't yell at people who ask were your parents are just point to a random shop and say in there, no swearing or adult songs and fucking check for cars when you cross the road" she told me as she pulled her dress over her head and headed into her room. "Got it?" She asked "yes" I sighed, she pulled the door closed.
I continued to sing and play as I watched Frank approach. He had Liam on his back which was a bit of a surprise. I snapped the case shut "fuck of Frank" I said. He whipped his hand back. "Got a fair bit in there, spare some for your old man?" he said. I just stared at him and picked the case up, I knew he wouldn't leave me alone now he knew I had money. I put my guitar away and walked off. "Lucy, please. It's really important" he said, he sounded kind of desperate. I spun around and looked at him, "no" I told him and went to turn around again. My guitar was ripped from my hands as Frank bolted past me, Liam popped up and down in the carrier on Franks back. I took chase but Frank dashed in front of traffic and got away.
"Ethel! Where's Lip?" I yelled as I walked through her garden. "They said something about a van" she yelled, she was knelling down at the bottom of a plant pulling out weeds. "Great thanks" I said. "I'm going to the alibi soon, will you join me?" she said. "Maybe later,
Frank took my guitar and all my busking money, want to find him before he dumps it" I told her. "Oh dear, I do hope you get it back. I enjoy your lovely playing" she said. "Thanks Ethel!" I yelled back to her as I picked up my bike and rode off.
"Lip!" I yelled as I approached the van, the cover was off and I could here banging so figured he was around. "Hey, what you doing?" he asked and stuck his head around the corner. I went over and looked at what he was doing, "frank took my guitar, I've checked the alibi and Shelia's. Where else would he be?" I asked. "Arsehole, I have no idea" he said and threw a dirty rag at me, I used it to wipe the sweat of my forehead.
Lip sat in the van and started it up, it took a few revs but it eventually started. He jumped out and stuck his hand out, I slapped it. "Well done" I told him as he grabbed a smoke from his pocket. "We have a problem" Kev said as he walked up behind us. "We may need to sell some pot" Kev said. "Isn't that what you always do?" I asked. "A lot of pot" Kev said. Lip just nodded. The van backfired.
I didn't go with them to the Alibi, I needed to find Frank. I rode to all the hang out spots and asked them to keep an eye out.
"Fiona!" I yelled, "she's already left for work" Debbie mumbled. "Shit. what's your problem?" I asked her. "Frank took Liam" she said, "yeah he was begging with him, he snatched my guitar too. Arsehole" I told her. "Why aren't they back yet?" Debbie asked, she sounded stressed. I shrugged. "They weren't at Shelia's just now but Frank got a bit of money when he took my guitar so he is probably getting drunk somewhere, that's what he did when we hung out. Not the alibi though I checked there too." Debbie still looked worried. "He will be back or someone will call Fiona to get Liam as franks passed out somewhere" I said trying to comfort Debbie but she didn't look very hopeful. I heard yelling out the back and went to investigate.
Jav and his arsehole friends were in the pool, Mary Rose stood a few feet away watching them. "What you doing?" I yelled out. "You find Frank?" Jav yelled. "No" I yelled as I ran down the stairs and joined Mary Rose. Javs friends tried to splash me with water, I pulled Mary Rose back a bit. "He has been around trying to sell coke and weed" Jav said. I just rolled my eyes, he had used that old scam last summer too. "Hope no one was stupid enough to buy anything from him" I said. "Also been at the manhole" Jav yelled out as he got out of the pool. "Manhole?" I wondered. "Wait, the bar? I thought he was banned" I said. "Don't know, we went past on the way here but he wasnt there" "ok thanks, you staying for a bit?" "Nah but can you take Mary Rose for a piss?" I nodded and waved to get Mary Roses attention we then went back to the house. "Hey? Where you going? Not getting wet with us?" Javs arsehole friends yelled out. "Hey!" Jav yelled at them. I ignored them and headed inside.
Debbie woke me up "Fiona's home, we are off to find Liam" she told me and rushed out of the room. I put a hoodie on over my nightie and ran downstairs. Carl followed. Everyone else was already there. "Fucking Frank" Ian mumbled as he pulled on his shoes.
Fiona banged on Shelias door. "Where the hell is he?" She asked as soon as Shelia opened the door. She took of the chain and let us in. "Frank!" Fi yelled as she ran upstairs. We followed her. Frank was asleep. Fi pulled the covers off him "where is Liam?" Frank yawned, then smiled "hey" he said, he didn't even seem worried. "Where is Liam?" Fiona asked again. "He is at his first sleepover" Frank said. "He's not even two!" Fi yelled "they sleep a lot at that age" Frank said. "Can I beat on him?" I asked and crawled onto the bed. "Better talk Frank, Lucy's got a good swing and none of us are going to stop her" Lip said. "We will be joining in too" Ian said. "Don't threaten dad!" Debbie said. "He lost Liam Debbie" I said. "He is not lost, I know exactly where he is. I just can't get him back" Frank said. "Frank" Shelia whispered.
Fiona banged on another door. A sawed-off shotgun barrel greeted us. "Who the fuck are you?" The guy asked. "We want Liam back" Fi said not taking a step back. "Liam stays. He's collateral" the guy said "then you better start shooting" Fi said and pushed the gun to the side and walked into the apartment. We found a table and unloaded all our money onto it. "How much is that?" The guy asked "don't know, but we're good for it. We pay our debts" Fiona told him. "Now where the hell is our brother?" The guy sighed but went and grabbed Liam. I spotted my guitar in leaning against a wall, I ran over and grabbed it. "Lucy" Lip hissed. "What you doing?" the guy asked as he brought Liam into the room. "This is mine" I said. "It mean a lot to you?" he asked. "Well I need to to busk and make money" I said. "Well, it's collateral now. When your dad pays me my money then you get the guitar" the guy said and grabbed it off me. He handed me Liam.
It was a long walk home. "Well that worked out, no need to pay the rest of the money either" Frank said. "What? I need that guitar" I said. "Who gives a shit about that?" he scoffed. "You're an arse" I said and pushed him as hard as I could, he stumbled onto the road. Lip grabbed me and stopped me from charging at Frank again. "We are paying that guy the money, I said we would" Fiona said. "And we don't want to be murdered in our sleep" Ian added. "He doesn't know where you live" frank yelled. "Piss off Frank" Lip yelled at him. "Just leave him" Fi sighed, she looked exhausted. Debbie looked over at Frank who had stopped in the middle of the road but continued to follow us. Frank followed as well but kept his distance.
I watched Fi put Liam in his crib. The boys all said goodnight then went to bed. "I'm sorry, Fiona" Debbie said from her bed. Fi stood on the side of my bed so she could see Debbie. She whispered something "get some sleep, ok?" She said louder then left.
—
The room was full of pot plants, we had been told to chop them all up and put them in garbage bags. Lip had quickly shown us what good buds looked like and we were secretly saving those. "We handed over all the cash we made so far this summer and we still owe them like 6 grand. That's money we count on to get through the winter" Fi said to V while we cut. "What was it, some kind of bet?" V asked. "10 grand, can you believe that? Now we'll be lucky to bank enough to get us to christmas" fi said. "Hey V, can we at least save some for the ice cream truck, keep it stocked all summer?" Lip asked "how much is that?" V asked "one bag should do it" lip said. "Alright but less then an ounce on the truck at all times" V said "yeah, yeah, yeah" Lip said. Fiona looked at V with puppy dog eyes "sure, take a bag of plants. It's the least we can do to thank you for your hard work". Kev came running over looking hopeful "no, no, not you, Johnny Appleseed" V told him. We loaded up all the bags on the truck then left.
"Lucy!" Fi yelled out, she held up my guitar. I ran up to her and jumped into her arms. "Thank you" I said as I kissed her cheek. She laughed. "You'll need it to make up all that money" she said.
"Ok words spread, $20 admission so should make a few hundred. Everyone was pretty excited" I told Kev. He was busy digging a hole for the garbage bags of pot he managed to sneak past v. "Tony" I quietly warned him and went to distract "Hi Tony, how amazing is Ethel's garden?" I asked him. "Great looking tomatoes. Heirlooms?" he asked and looked at one of the plants. Kev quickly put the bags in the hole he was digging. "Yes they are, Cherokee purples" Ethel said "hope I can talk you out of a couple when they are ripe" Tony said "of course, it's all in the compost. I can give you some worms to get you started" Ethel said. "That'd be great. I was thinking I should start a garden." "You should." "I'll go change, grab a shovel" Tony said and left. Kev quickly covered the bags in dirt. I heard my name screamed out and headed home.
We walked up to the field. "Five minutes 23 seconds?" Debs asked. "I'll be happy with anything under 6" fi said. Debbie had the stopwatch and stood at the side of the track. Fi and I lined up. "I'm going to win" I teased her. "As if Lucy" Debbie said. "Girls, let's focus" Fi said. "On your marks, get set, GO!" Debbie said. Fiona took off. I was behind from the get-go and only got further behind. I stopped and cut across the field. Fiona was still in front by the time I got to the track again. "I almost won" I said as I crossed the line. Fiona chuckled. "You cheated Lucy, and you still didn't win" Debbie said. "If I had proper running shoes I would have won" I said. "No, you wouldn't have." "yes, I woulda" "you're lying" "no I'm not" "will you just shut up!" Debbie yelled and stormed off. "Great Luce. Debbie!" Fi yelled and followed after the drama queen. I stayed behind, maybe I could run another lap? Fi and Debbie disappeared near the stand but Fi come back a few moments later, "Lucy come on!" I ran to her and jumped on her back. "How fast can you run now?" I asked as I jumped up and down. "Why do you have to be so annoying?" Fi asked but grabbed my legs. "It's fun". "Yeah, we will see how fun it is when she smothers you in your sleep" "nah, she will push me down the stairs or off the roof" Fi just laughed. "What was Fi's time?" I asked Debbie as we caught up with her.
I looked over the couch to see who had come in, it was Ian. "Want some popcorn?" I yelled out to him. As he came closer I could tell he was upset. "What's wrong?" He didn't answer but took a handful of popcorn. "it's not burnt" he said. "Good, hey? I found a popcorn maker. Do you want a beer?" He nodded. I quickly ran to the fridge and back. "What's wrong?" I asked again. "Kash left". "Your boss?" "Yeah. He ran away and left Linda and the kids" "that sucks." Ian started to cry. "He must have been a good boss". "boyfriend" Ian whispered. I just hugged him. "I thought he was a good guy. But he just left his family. Didn't even say goodbye". "I'm sorry Ian" Ian hugged me back.
Lip helped Kev unload all the plants then Ian covered them with gasoline. Kev lit a smoke and flicked it onto the stack. About 50 people had come, all gave $20 to be there. Flames burst through the plants and everyone started cheering and waving the smoke towards themselves. Kev had a keg set up and was handing out beers. We had collected long sticks and handed them out to all the kids who roasted marshmallows. Everyone started dancing and singing. Some other people came and joined in; they didn't pay but by then no one really cared. The police never showed.