I banged on the door hoping Karen or Shelia would answer, unfortunately it was Frank. "Is Karen here?" I asked him. "And good morning to you too, fruit of my loins" I just rolled my eyes at him. "Karen?" I asked again. "She's not home" Jody yelled out from the kitchen. He was completely naked. "Jesus!" Frank mumbled, "can you put that thing away" he said to Jody. "What do you want with Karen?" Jody asked me. "She was going to give me some cds." "Want some eggs?" Jody offered "ok" I said and sat down at the table.

Fi came rushing through the back door, the sound of another woman yelling followed her. "Jesus christ, do not let that woman in" she yelled. I jumped up to see what was going on "what the hell did you do?" Frank asked with a laugh. "Lucy what are you doing here?" Fi asked between breaths. "Who did you piss off?" I asked excitedly then ran upstairs to get a look at her through the window. A disheveled women with a baby strapped to her chest paced around the yard with a bat. "You know how I know you fucked him? He told me you filthy penis mitten" the women yelled.

When I got back downstairs Fi and Frank were under the table, I knelt down beside it. "Holy shit I'm you" Fi finished as the women continued to yell outside. "I've waited for this day" Frank said looking rather proud. Jody squatted down in front of them "want some eggs?" he asked Fi, she just stared at him. "Where are my eggs?" I asked, Fi quickly grabbed me and tried to cover my eyes but only pulled me over instead. "Can you cover up please?" Fi asked Jody. "Oh yeah. Of course," he said and went back into the kitchen and put an apron on. "Jesus Frank just let her hang out with a naked guy" "pretty sure Jody was the one doing the hanging out" Frank said. I laughed. "Your eggs" Jody said as he put a plate down on the table. We all helped ourselves. Fi's angry woman soon left and we tentatively headed home.

Kev was in the pool when we got there. "Pool time!" I yelled and went to jump in. "Not in your clothes" Fi said grabbing my top before I had even climbed up the chair. I ran off to change, Debbie was coming out of the house with the day care kids as I ran up the stairs. When I got back Fi and Debbie were gone. Kev reached over the side and yanked me in with a big splash, the kids screamed.

I dived under the water to pick up the toy and swam through Vs legs as well. When I got back to the surface I noticed Cindi and another girl walking up to the pool. I waved to her as some of the daycare kids splashed me. I quickly splashed them back then climbed out of the pool. "I haven't seen you in so long!" I told her. "I know! this is Zuri, she's in summer school with me" Cindi said. I waved hello to Zuri. She was taller than Cindi, and thinner. They both had pen drawings all over their arms. Zuri's hair was braided and had purple and blue extensions mixed through it. "Love your hair girl!" V yelled out from the pool. "Thanks, my cousin did it" Zuri yelled back. "It's awesome" I said, Zuri smiled at me. "We got the day off, where is everyone?" Cindi asked. I shrugged, "we can go look for them though" I said.

I was walking down the street with some friends when someone chucked their drink out of a car and it hit someone in the head. We started to laugh, my laughter only increased when I realised it was Fiona. We ran over to her "that was hilarious!" I yelled "you should have seen your face!" Zuri added and copied the face Fi made, we all joined in and continued to laugh. "You're coming home" Fi said to me. "What! No we were going to get some candy" I said. "Oh well." Fi said and grabbed my arm and lead me away from my friends. "Is this because I laughed at you? Common you can't say it wasn't funny. You got hit with a drink. It's all over you." Fiona pushed me as we walked along.

"There's only 3 people on her list. Me, V and Aunt Ginger. Doesn't she have any friends?" Fi asked "not really, she's kind of weird" "Lucy!" "Sorry but she is, the other kids don't really like her" "kids are mean" Fiona said and left the bathroom. I finished my shower then went into her room, she had her back to me. "So how are you going to make the party fun?" I asked her "Me? You mean you" "no way, Debbie hates me. She won't even want me there" "she doesn't hate you and you're going, you're good with people" "who is even going?" "Can you go get dressed? I've got to go to work. Be good tonight, please?" I rolled my eyes. Fi kissed me on the head as she walked past.

Lip had finally set up the zip line so we spent most of the evening going down that or in the pool. Lee arrived with more crisps and bottles of pop. "Finally, everyone but Cue is here" I said as I grabbed some pop off him. "He is stuck at his cousins with the kids again" Hanna yelled out from the pool. "How long has it been this time?" Lee asked. "Nearly a week" I said. "Shit, we got to do something for him" Lee mumbled as Hector come down the zip line and dropped onto the mattress before he hit the van. Lee ran up the stairs to use the line, "That is so cool!" he yelled out.

I followed behind Zuri as she walked along the top of the fence, I had never even tried to walk along it before. "If you break an arm I'm not taking you to the er" Lip yelled out. "Is Debbie coming out?" I asked. Ian shook his head. "I give up then" I said. "Give up what?" Zuri asked as she jumped off the fence. "Fiona wants Debbie to make more friends but Debbie isn't even trying" I told her. "Piggy back ride?" she offered and stood next to me. I jumped down onto her back and she ran and span around for a bit before we jumped back into the pool.

—

I grabbed some toasted cheese before Ethel had a chance to cut it "Lucy go away!" Debbie yelled. "My cheese" I said as I took the biggest bite possible and sat at the table. "Malik may come by today with Tamika, if that's okay?" Ethel said to Debbie. "Fine. But they eat, we charge them" Debbie said as she carried a tray full of cups to the table. "Malik? Really? Does his baby mumma know?" I asked Ethel "I told her we could share" Ethel said, I laughed "that would have been awesome to see, how come you don't have a black eye?" "Lucy be nice" Fi said as she came downstairs. "Thought you'd still be asleep" Debbie said to Fi. "We have a party to plan, most important part of any birthday celebration, the cake. What you feeling?" Fi asked her. "Hmm, strawberry and cheese coffee cake from Webers Bakery. Definitely" Debbie said. I sighed, "so lame" I said. "Even your taste in food is like a 40-year-old. Okay, it's your party" Fiona said and started searching through a drawer in the kitchen "triple espresso lattes" Jasmine said as she barged through the back door. "Hi Jasmine" Fiona said. "Does she have a key now?" Debbie asked. "It was open" Jasmine said. "Where's my coffee?" I asked. Fiona just looked at me. "Just go hang out with your friends Lucy" she said. "Yes! Bye."

The door was locked, I knocked out a tune while I waited for someone to open it. "Shut up!" some little voices yelled from inside. Eventually one of them opened the door. "Are you going to eat me?" they asked, I pulled a face then lunged forwards. "Yes little French fry I am" I yelled and chased after them. They took off screaming. I notice baby Violet crying in her crib, Cue wasn't around. "Where is Cue?" I asked Junior. "Who cares?" he sighed without taking his eyes from the tv. "Fry, where is he?" I asked. He pointed up at the ceiling. "Cue?!" I yelled and grabbed the baby.

- Baby violet crying, get her a bottle then make up one for the baby Cue brings down the stairs. Changes diaper and notices bad rash. Tell Cue he needs help. He agrees she can tell V.

I don't think Lip and Ian even saw me sit down on the couch. They were watching something sexy on the tv. I sat down without saying anything. "Speaking of hookers, how's Karen?" Ian asked Lip. "Fuck off" Lip laughed "still working on operation choady, got a couple ideas on how to lose the guy" he said. "Why don't we just kill him?" Ian said. "So not worth the time in jail. Thinking more along the lines of planting naked photos of Lucy on his laptop" "oh good one" "yeah, I thought so. Thanks." "Hey, no way" I said. Both boys spun around "it was a joke" Lip said. "Not like it will be hard for us to get them though, probably already got a heap in the photo albums" "you suck Ian" I said and went into the kitchen. "Yes, he does" Lip chuckled. "Is that some gay joke?" I yelled back at them.

V was in the kitchen with Fiona and Debbie "can somebody take my shift?" Fi asked V. "Some hall of fame party. Anybody who doesn't work is fired" V said. "Maybe we can make the party another night?" Fi said to Debbie. "Work your shift. We got the party" Lip said. "You can be here all night?" Fi asked them. "Of course. It's gonna be the hottest party ever. Mandy's coming too" Ian said. V slapped me on the arm "don't" she warned me. I rolled my eyes at her. "Oh my god, this is gonna be so cool" Debbie said and ran over to the boys. They started to tickle her and picked her up and carried her into the lounge room, "oh my god, oh my god" they mimicked. V smiled, Fiona didn't look very happy. She went into the toilet room. I gave v a concerned look but she just shrugged. I grabbed some pop and sat at the bench. "You know Cues cousins, yeah?" I asked. "Some of them, why?" V said and leaned on the bench next to me. "The cousin Cue is staying with at the moment keeps nicking off for days and leaving him with all the kids, they aren't all hers either" I said. "Shit, that's rough. How many?" "6 and all under 6, ones only a month old" "maybe I should pop over and see how he is going" V said. "Really?" I asked. She smiled and nodded. "You're the best" I said and jumped of the stool to hug her. "Arseholes, leaving a kid with that many kids" she said as she hugged me back.

- Goes to cues, v takes kids back to parents so cue is only looking after 3. Invite cue around for pool party afterwards.

Violet had finally fallen asleep, I continued to rock her back and forth while I watch Cue, Carl, Lee and the two kids play in the pool with Kev. I noticed V and Fiona looking at me, I could tell they were talking about me too. I smiled at them. V beckoned me over and took Vi off me then told me to go play. I jumped into the pool "ok me and Lucy against cue and Lee" Kev s aid as he grabbed me and lifted me onto his shoulders. "No way, I'm not taking on Lucy. She's feral" Lee said. I kicked water at him and laughed. "Me and Carl then" fi yelled as she climbed into the pool, "you two pussys can go over there and watch" she added with a nod at Lee and Cue.

—

I was sitting on the steps with Debbie eating toast while she went on about her sleepover. Des and his cousin walked over "hey girls" his cousin said with a smirked. Debbie completely ignored him. I poked her in the side, "you doing anything fun today? Debbie has some spare time too" I said. Des looked shocked. "Who is Debbie?" his cousin asked. I pointed at Debbie, "oh yeah cool" he said and smiled at her. "What? No I've got a party to set up" she said. "You're having a party?" The cousin asked. "Deb's is" I said. "No, your friends aren't coming" Debbie said and went inside, "he isn't my friend, I don't even know his name" I yelled out to her as I followed her back inside. "Bitch!" Des's cousin yelled out. I flipped him off as I closed the door.

Debbie held up some more clothes, "a jumpsuit?" I questioned. "It's a sleepover, we are meant to be relaxing. This is comfortable, like pyjamas" she said. "I suppose" I mumbled but wasn't convinced. "I'm going to wear my hair down, maybe straighten it to get the kinks out" she continued. "Do you know how to do that?" I asked. "Yes, I've done Fiona's before" she snapped. "Ok, will look good then. Want to use the bath bomb Shelia got me? You said they smelt nice" I said. I got of the bed and crawled under it to find the box I had put them in. "You ready?" Fi asked as she opened the door. I heard her sigh as I dragged the box out. "Black panties don't work with that dress, put some white ones on" she said and went over to my drawer. "What's wrong with black?" I asked. "You can see them through the dress" Fi explained as she chucked me a white pair. I quickly changed while Fi grabbed my violin off the desk. "Spend the day relaxing please" Fi said to Debbie as we left.

"wow" she mumbled again. We had tried busking with the violin for the first time and it was a huge success. I had only played for 1 and a half hours and the jar was full of notes and coins. We hadn't counted it, but Fiona said she saw a couple of people put $50s in. She had spent most of the time getting compliments from the people walking by too.

"Are you going to use my money for Debbie's fake birthday cake?" I asked as we went into the bakery. "I am now" Fi said. I sighed. "At least get a chocolate one" I whined. "Debbie already chose what cake she wants" Fiona said as she went up to the counter and picked up the order. "Lame" I mumbled. "Lucy, we are doing this to make Debbie happy. She's been working all holidays and needs our help to relax and have some fun" Fi explained. "I already try all the time" I said. "Teasing her doesn't count." I sulked, that's not what I meant. I tried to help her with daycare and stuff but she never let me, and she never wants to join in on the fun stuff I do either. She's the one making it hard for herself. "Are you jealous?" Fi asked. "No" I said and pushed into her. "You sure?" she teased. "Yes! I have parties with my friends all the time" I said. "Exactly and I want Debbie to enjoy that part of being a kid as well. She just needs a bit more help than you do. You'll help tonight yeah?" Fi said. I nodded but knew Debbie wouldn't want my help.

"One strawberry and cheese coffee cake from Webers" Fiona said as she walked inside. I pushed her in the arse one more time then ran upstairs.

"Get downstairs and help" Fiona told me. "She doesn't even want me there" I complained but headed back down. Ian was getting snacks ready in the kitchen. He handed me a bowl. "Thanks, guys" he said to Ethel and Simon who were also helping him. "Hey, it's your party. No work. Come on" he said to Debbie who was cleaning up some of Liam's toys. Fiona came down the stairs "got a light?" she asked Ian. I sat on the couch and started eating the popcorn. "Hey party girl!" Mandy said as she came in. "I bought you a couple black lights. Set the mood. It makes most people better looking" she said and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Aren't they good for finding traces of blood?" Debbie said "well my dad uses them to sniff out fake bills" Mandy said. "If I cut my finger and put blood somewhere will we be able to find it?" I asked. "Maybe?" Simon said. "It could be like a weird treasure hunt, we could turn off all the lights and do it after watching the scary movie" I said. "You're not leaving trails of blood around the house" Ian said. "There's probably heaps of dried blood around here anyway" Debbie said. "Ding dongs, awesome!" Carl said as he and little Hank walked in from the kitchen. "Carl, those are for guests" Debbie said rushing over him and tried to take it off him. "Good, I bought one" Carl said. "Hey, birthday girl, I'm little Hank" he said. "Hi, I'm Debbie. And it's not really my birthday" Debbie said acting weird. "Good, because I didn't really bring you a present" Little Hank said. "Wanker!" I yelled out to Little Hank. "Princess Lucy, where's your mob?" he asked and sat down next to Carl. There was a knock on the door. Ian answered it. Holly walked in. "Yo! We got some sparklers, make some sparkler bombs. Where's the duct tape?" Lip said as he came downstairs. "In my kidnap kit in the van. I'll get it" Carl said and he ran off with little Hank. Fiona came over and knelt down in front of Debbie. "I'm sorry I gotta go. I hope you have a really great time tonight" she said. "Me too" Debbie said. Fi went to kiss her but Debbie pulled away. Fiona pointed at me and beckoned me over. I followed her to the front door. "Do not cause trouble and be nice to Debbie. If I hear otherwise, I will ground you for the rest of the summer" Fiona warned me "I've got camp" I told her "No camp" "what?! That's not fair" "just behave Lucy" she said

Debbie kicked me out when the movie started. I went up to my room. There was a lot of banging coming from the boys room. Mandy soon walked out of the room. "Really?" I yelled out to her. "Lucy! Go back downstairs" Lip yelled "I'm just doing what I'm told!" "Get downstairs" I went back down just as a scary moment was happening. I screamed and threw a glass of water on everyone. They all jumped, Debbie and Simon screamed. "God that was awesome" I laughed

"Our aunt Ginger died in this room. Sometimes late at night you can still hear her sniffing" I told them as everyone was settling down to sleep. "Not to mention her husband, only half of him was found. All chopped up and buried in the woods. The cops said it was the mob but he was a mean old bustard, aunt ginger had been heard a few times talking about getting rid of him. And there was the remodeling of the basement that happened around the same time" Ian said. "Is that why I hear slapping noises all the time? And the sound of an axe?" Carl said. We spent the next 30min making sniffing and slapping noises randomly before falling asleep.

Holly came back downstairs and walked all over us. She grabbed her stuff "what's going on?" Ethel asked, "lips an asshole, I'm out of here" Holly said. "Want me to kick his ass?" Little Hank said. I laughed. "I'm making waffles for breakfast" Debbie said "yeah? Well, you can shove mine up Lips ass" Holly yelled and left. Little Hank and Carl followed her. Debbie started throwing thing around. Lip came downstairs. Ethel and Simon started packing up too. Fiona rushed in with a guy in tow. "What's going on?" she asked "Holly left my party in the middle of the night because of something Lip did" Debbie said. "You didn't" Fi said "no, I didn't. I blew her off and she split" Lip said. "You could have done her so my party wouldn't suck" Debbie yelled and hit Lip with a pillow. "Debs she's 13" lip said "which ones Holly" Fiona's guy asked. "She left. And then Little Hank left too" Debbie said and slouched down on the couch next to me. "Debs, I'm sure the rest of the party was awesome" Fi said kneeling in front of her "how would you know? You weren't here" Debbie said. "You Craig?" Debbie asked the guy. "No" fi said "who?" The guy asked. "Hey, you wanna open my present now" Simon asked as he came over with a gift. "No, Simon. I don't really give a shit about your present" Debbie snapped. He walked off. Fiona plonked down on the couch too. "You're an idiot" I whispered to Debbie. She full on punched me in the arm. I jumped of the couch. "Great job chaperoning" Fiona said to Lip. I walked over to the guy. "What would you have me do? Sleep with the kid?" Lip said. I slapped Fi's guy on the arm and held out my hand for the beer he was drinking. He handed it over, he was clearly a bit lost and very drunk. I took a swing. "Name?" I asked him. "Yours first" he said "Lucy" "Adam". Ethel and Simon snuck out the front door "thanks for coming" I told them. Ethel gave me a smile. "This is my worst birthday ever" Debbie said and walked out of the room. "No way, remember when Frank and that chick were caught banging in the jumping castle on your 8thbirthday? And lip threw up everywhere. That was so awesome" I said. Adam chuckled. "Deb, let me make it up to you" Lip said and followed her. Fi got up as well, and Adam followed too. I found some food and sat back down on the couch. "Hey, I can drive" Adam said as he and Fi came back into the lounge room. "No, you can't. I'll see you in the morning" Fiona said as she walked towards me. "Grab my bag" she told me. I got off the couch and did as I was told.

—

Carl was searching through Adams wallet when I went into the lounge room. "Too late" I told him. "Carl, knock it off" Fi said at the same time from the kitchen. I continued on outside and tried my hardest to land on Ian as I jumped into the pool. Lip was throwing a beach ball at V who was trying to hit it with a floaty. A guy and the crazy wife of the guy Fi slept with walked past us and went up to the back door. I looked at V, she looked back at me and shook her head. "Just leave it Lucy" she said and threw the floaty at me. I did a shocked face and started to splash her. "Get her!" Kev said and picked me up so I could full on kick water at her. "No! Hey, you're meant to be on my side" V screamed. "I'll save you" Ian said and tried to tackle Kev. Lip joined in too and tried to grab my legs. Kev let me go and I sank under the water.

I straddled the chair as Kev and V and Lip and Debbie wrestled each other. "Come on. Kevs like a giant, that's not fair" Debbie said. V waved her hands in the air, taunting her. "Life's not fair, haven't you learnt that by now?" Lip said. Kev and V laughed "take her down" lip encouraged Debbie and they started to wrestle. Ian started squirting them with a water gun. Debbie fell off Lips shoulders "I don't play" v said and Kev ducked under the water so she could get off. "Lucy sit down, we don't need another broken arm" Fiona said as she and Adam came outside. I canon balled of the chair into the pool. I swam over to Ian. "Who's this?" Kev asked "oh sorry, Kev, Adam, Adam, Kev" fi said. "Nice to meet you" Kev said and splashed Adam as he went to shake hands "oh sorry bro" Kev said. We laughed. Karen marched up to Lip and kicked him in the balls "why the fuck was Mandy Milkovich at my house trying to screw Jody? He turned her down and told me what happened" Karen screamed at Lip. "Because he is a fucking pussy" Lip said as he moved to all 4s. "Fuck you" Karen said and kicked Lip in the stomach. Fiona ran over to stop her but Karen didn't stop "stay the fuck away from me, stay the fuck away from Jody and stay the fuck away from this baby" she yelled as she kicked Lip. Everyone just stared. Karen walked off.