Shameless

41|There's the Rub

Carla sat on the couch, watching TV. Carla,Carl,and Debbie's head turned simultaneously when they heard the door open. "Hey." Lip said. "No way." Carl said. "Lip. You're home." Debbie said excitedly as she hugged him.

"Though it was time I stopped by,check in." Lip said. "How are the coeds?" Carl asked with a smirk. "Oh,it varies by coed. What's this?" Lip asked.  "Creepy art she's making because her boyfriend dumped her." Carl explained. "What boyfriend?" Lip asked.

"I'm expressing myself creativity. You're counting underarm hair with a mirror. " Debbie said,"Check it out,four new ones." Carl said, putting his armpit on her shoulder. "Ger off me!" Debbie exclaimed as Carla laughed. Lip smiled and ruffled Carla's hair, then picked up Liam.

"Phillip! How nice! No one told me you'd be home." Sheila said. "Sheila,what are you doing here?" Lip asked."Good question." Carla said. "Well,Fiona is at work, and then she has a barbecue at Mike's house, and I said,'I'd be happy to watch the kids.'." Sheila explained.

"And you and Liam here have a candle-lit dinner?" Lip asked. "Well,Fiona said it was okay if I had my date over. It's actually our fourth date. He's such an interesting man." Sheila said as she played Indian music on the radio.

"What's the music?" Lip nodded her head towards the radio. "Tribal Twilight: Recorded Song of the Menominee Indian Tribe." Sheila explained as the timmer dinged. "That would be my succotash. Hold on." Sheila said as she turned to walk into the kitchen

"Okay." Lip chuckled as Sheila turned around and shut the music off, then went into the kitchen. Lip kissed Liam's cheek, then placed him back on the ground. "There you go. Hey, um, you guys heard anything from Ian?" Lip asked.

"Not for weeks. And Fiona doesn't even care." Debbie said. "Whar about the U.S Army? Did you hear anything from them?" Lip asked.

"No." Carl said. "Why the Army?" Debbie asked. "Because Ian joined up." Lip explained. "Cool." The twins said simultaneously. "Is he old enough?" Debbie asked. "No,he used my name and social when he signed up,and then he tried to steal a helicopter and a bunch of other shit. Went AWOL." Lip explained.

"Helicopter? Awesome." The twins said together. "Does Fiona know?" Debbie asked again. "No,not yet. You know when she's gonna be back?" Lip asked. "She doesn't always come home. Lots of Sheila babysitting." Debbie explained.

"You could call her." Carla said. "No,it's not the kind of news you wanna deliver on the phone." Lip said, then turned to Debbie. "Hey,is that your boyfriend with the toothpicks in his head?" Lip asked. "It's sort of abstract. I'm calling it True Love." Debbie said.

The twins leaned forward to get a better look at what Debbie's doing. "Super creepy." Carl said. "Collectors will pay millions for it one day. An early work from Debbie Gallagher's collage phase." Lip said as he picked his bag up. "I'll see you guys later,okay?" He said. "Where are you going?" Debbie asked. "I'm gonna go ask around about Ian. See jf anyone's heard from him." Lip explained.

"Okay." Debbie said,"Bye." Lip said as he left. Debbie turned her head and looked at the twins. "Like you know anything about art." She said only to earn a glare from the twins.

~~

Carla and Debbie help Lip look around the boys' room for what lip said are clues. "What kind of clues are we looking for?" Debbie asked.  "Uh,a friend of Ian we don't know about,an address,anything really." Lip said. "He really stole a helicopter? Doesn't sound like Ian." Debbie said as Lip sat on the bed and the two girls kneeled on the floor.

"You're worried?" Carla asked."Yeah. Yeah,you know,it would be nice to find him before the Army does. " Lip replies. "I can help look for him after school tomorrow." Debbie offers. "Yeah,me too." Carla added. "It would be great if you could talk to Mandy." Lip said.