GAME OVER ━━ Lip Gallagher

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Game Over
chapter twenty two

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

"SO, THE FIRST ONE WAS A BUST." Phoebe sat in the back of the expensive car, hands feeling around the interior. Ian sat in the passenger seat, silently watching the world go by out the windows. Lip was driving, pretty well, and chuckled at her statement. "If you call being threatened with a shotgun a bust, then yeah." Her eyebrows rose in surprise. She knew Frank had a temper, but this Jerry was next level. "You'd have shit your pants. He looked just like Frank." She looked up for a moment to catch Lip's eyes in the rearview mirror. He seemed to be having fun with this mission, kind of like a child playing super spies at a park. She shook her head at the thought of Lip wearing these God awful sunglasses and walking around like he had a gun just ready to shoot at any bad guy that got in his way. Lip could be stealthy though, she thinks.

"And who's car is this?" she asked. She had been careful the moment she got into it. If anything happened, she couldn't pay the damages on her own, and her parents probably wouldn't help. "I borrowed it from Steve," Lip replied. Phoebe had become aware of Steve's job, mostly because secrets were never kept in the Gallagher's house. The walls are thin and Steve doesn't speak very quietly, nor does Fiona. It was a matter of time the eldest three would find out. "So, we're sitting in a stolen car." That fact alone had the situation reading out as bad news. "Yep," Ian finally voiced. Wow, she thought. What a way to start the day.

Her attention was brought to the outside as Lip took a right turn. The houses there were a lot nicer than most, close to how Phoebe's looked. They were well kept, the driveways were shoveled, and there were Christmas decorations out. She scooted over to the window to get a better look. Wreaths with different colored ribbons took purchase on the exact same spot on every door. Someone had the Christmas light reindeer on the lawn. There was an inflatable Santa Claus in one, standing about six foot tall. "Remember when we'd sneak out and go look at the Christmas lights?" she asked the two boys sitting in the front. "Ian got so cold one time we had to carry him back home."

"Yeah, yeah. His lips were blue!" Lip added, a smile evident in his voice. Ian's jacket swished against the seat as he shuffled uncomfortably. "You guys didn't even let me get my jacket. It was below freezing." He had been looking out the window too, watching the decorations come and go. "You were taking too long!" Phoebe argued, though she did feel bad now. The two had to put him, clothes and all, in the bathtub full of hot water just to make his limbs less stiff. And he ended up getting sick for a whole week after. "I could have died!" Lip snickered at Ian's retort. "We weren't gonna let that happen."

          The conversation was dropped as Lip pulled to a stop on the curb. They were parked outside a two story house with grey siding, a garage, and a basketball goal in the driveway. Phoebe whistled at the sight. "Looks like Clayton has money," Lip commented with a grin. One at a time, the kids hopped out of the car, sneakers crunching the snow beneath them. "Imagine living here." Ian followed a few steps behind. He was taking in the place, this heavy feeling residing in his chest. Lip was the one to knock on the door, excitedly waiting to see what Ian's father looked like. There was still the possibility Jerry was Ian's father, though the boys had both agreed to take that man off the table.

          The door pulled open to reveal a tall, middle aged man. His face was littered with dark freckles, eyes a nice hazel color. His hair, though it was darker, was a shade of red. Phoebe's eyes widened upon seeing the man. There was no doubt in her mind that this was Ian's father. They had the same bone structure, the same paintbrush freckles, the red hair. Though Ian's eyes were more more blue and green than hazel. "Can I help you?" Lip grinned like a mad man as he looked back to his brother. This was it. He finally had a father who didn't look like an incompetent pile of walking puke. "Uh, yes. We're Frank Gallagher's sons. Lip and Ian. And this is our friend, Phoebe."