amaya woke up the next morning to the usual chaos of the gallagher house. she felt a sense of comfort in the noise; her house with her cousin was always mostly quiet and she didn't like it very much. she yawned from the lack of sleep the night before, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
she made her way down the kitchen stairs, only to be greeted by three members of the gallagher family. debbie and liam sat at the table with bowls of cereal in front of them whilst lip stood, waiting for his coffee.
"morning amaya, how'd you sleep?" he raised his eyebrows at her.
"fine, thanks lip." she smiled.
"you want coffee? you look tired."
"i'm alright thanks." she grabbed a bowl from the centre of the table, filling it up with fruit loops and milk.
"fruit loops!" liam shouted, excitedly. amaya grinned at him.
"yeah, delicious." she chuckled. he gave her a toothy grin, before spooning cereal into his mouth.
"you do look fucking exhausted, amaya." debbie rubbed the girl's back. "you sure you slept okay?" she questioned.
"yeah, i'm sure. thanks debs." amaya smiled and debbie smiled back at her. she began to eat her cereal, grateful to be eating one of her favourite breakfast foods.
carl came strolling down the stairs, looking nearly as tired as amaya. he pulled out the chair next to her and laid his head down on the table.
"yeah, morning carl." lip scoffed, shaking his head in amusement. carl groaned. "what's the matter with you?" lip tilted his head.
"fucking frank and queenie." carl muttered. lip let out a laugh.
"at it all night again? really?" he looked barely surprised. "they're fucking sex rabbits."
carl nodded against the table.
"your cornrows are looking worse by the day, white boy carl." amaya tugged on the end of one of the braids tied tight on carl's head. he groaned again.
"you keep telling me." he lifted his head up and rolled his eyes, facing the girl.
"and you keep telling me you're gonna take them out." she raised her eyebrows.
"yeah, i agree with amaya on this one. i never liked them." debbie shook her head. lip nodded, agreeing with her.
"yeah, what they said." he laughed, walking to the back door. "hey, i'll be back later. get to school, all of you." he pointed at the four kids sitting at the table. they all nodded and waved at him as he shut the door.
right at that moment, frank and queenie hopped down the stairs, hand in hand, singing some strange old folks song about love and jesus.
"right, that's me gone then." debbie stood up, grabbing liam out of his chair. "let's get you to school, yeah bud?" she took his hand.
"me too." amaya followed her.
"fuck if i'm staying here on my own." carl shook his head, running after the two girls.
the rest of amaya's week was pretty uneventful, each day the same as the next. she called joey everyday, he told not to worry everyday, she worried anyways. by the time the weekend rolled around, she was wondering whether to stay at the gallaghers for much longer.
"nope. you're staying here. it's decided. at least until i have my baby." debbie refused to let amaya go back.
"debbie, come on. that could be weeks away. we can't fight off social services for that long." she protested.
"oh, trust me, we can and we will." fiona raised her eyebrows. "they ain't got nothing on us gallaghers." she gave liam a high five as she walked past. amaya smiled.
"did someone say gallaghers?" frank strolled down the stairs with queenie.
"and that's my cue to leave." fiona rushed out the door. "love you guys!" she called out behind her.
"love you fi!" everyone shouted before hearing the door slam behind her.
"uh uh, no breakfast in here." queenie shook her head. "we eat in the dining room, like well-mannered civilians." she explained, gesturing to a laid table in the spot between the kitchen and the living room.
the four kids rolled their eyes. they had just about managed to leave before this every morning, but now that it was the weekend, there was no avoiding it. they reluctantly sat down whilst queenie walked around them all, placing various pills on their empty plates. carl, amaya and debbie looked at each other with annoyance. liam sat, clueless, on his seat happily.
queenie continued to ramble on about gut and heart health and spinach whatever, and the three kids started making up excuses for reasons that they had to leave.
"no, y'all, sit down. your father has worked hard to make this meal for you, be gracious." queenie tutted.
the kids all huffed and sat down again before hearing a knock at the door. "i'll get it." carl began to stand up before being pushed back down by queenie.
"no, your father will. won't you frank?" he nodded whilst sauntering off, still singing some song about grace and love.
"carl here?" they heard a voice speak from the door.
"who's asking." frank replied, inquisitively. carl stood up and rushed towards the door.
"hey, i got this." he pushed past his father and stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door behind him.
"hey, what's his problem?" frank scoffed, walking back to the table. debbie and amaya looked at each other, confused. they sat in silence for a few more minutes, suffering through more of frank and queenie's talk about equal living and mother nature and other shit.
"hey, i'm gonna go see where carl is, he's been gone a while. wouldn't want his food to get cold." amaya fake smiled and stood up.
queenie smiled at her. "okay sweetie, be quick." she patted her on the back. amaya nodded and rushed towards the door.
"fuck's sake i can't handle anymore of that shit i- carl?" she stood on the porch in shock, looking down at the boy who was laying on the steps, breathing heavily. "carl what the fuck?" she stepped down past him, looking at his face, speechless.
"what the hell happened to you?" she reached out to touch the large gash on his forehead. he jerked backwards harshly.
"yo, don't touch it!" he spat. she scoffed.
"jesus. wanna tell me what happened?" she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.
"work." he rolled his eyes. she hummed.
"hm, sure, whatever. you should get out of that business carl. it's only gonna get you killed." she shook her head, walking back inside the house. shit, she thought, this is not going to end well.
AUTHOR NOTE
guys we're getting back to the original storyline sorry so much of it is gone it's just so boring to writeeee because i know what happens anyways hope you guys like this chapter it was sort of a filler but still the next few will be better just stick with me guys 😘😘😘🤞🤞🤞
