Shameless

116|Citizen Carl

Carla and Carl walked late at night. They walked up to a bus stop and sat beside an older woman. "Oh, thank goodness you're here." The woman said. "We know you?" Carl asked.

"No. This bus stop is so dark." The woman said, looking around. "Yeah, a couple of streetlights are out." Carla said. "Have been ever since my Emeril was still alive." The woman told them.

"Really?" The twins asked together. "Hmm. He passed in 2002." The woman said. "I'm Ester." She put her hand out. "Carla." Carla shook Ester's hand. "Carl." Carl did the same.

"I'm not usually out this late. Was celebrating my birthday. My sister got me this." Ester said, pulling out a pink fabric. "Oh, wow. That's really nice, huh, Carl?" Carla asked. "Yeah, that is nice." Carl said.

Ester chuckled. "I'm 75 years young today." She smiled widely. "Holy shit! Oh, I'm sorry." Carl said. "Oh, don't worry. I can swear with the best of them, too." Ester said as the bus pulled up.

The twins stood up. "Oh, you need a hand?" Carla asked. "This isn't by bus. I'm number 15." Ester said. "Oh." Carl said. "You two go." Ester told them. "Sure?" Carl asked.

"Get the fuck out of here!" Ester said, making the three laugh. "See? What'd I tell you? Nice meeting you, Carla. You too, Carl." Ester said. The twins waved to her. "Take care." Carl said as they got on the bus and scanned their tickets.

Once they sat down, the twins waved at Ester one last time before the bus started moving. That's when they saw Ester getting robbed. "Stop the bus!" Carla exclaimed. "That woman's getting robbed!" Carl exclaimed.

"Ester!" The twins exclaimed simultaneously. "Not a chance." The bus driver said. "Call 911 if you want."

"Come on, stop the bus!" Carl exclaimed. "Shut up." A woman said as there were gun shots. "Hey! Let us out! Open the door! Open the door! Come on!" Carl exclaimed as he pounded on the doors.

"Come on!" Carla exclaimed. "I ain't stopping, man. I have a schedule to keep." The driver said. "Ester." Carl said. Carla sighed as she sat back down.

~~

Carla pushed the bus doors open after yelling at the bus driver to stop the bus. "Hey,get away from her!" Carla exclaimed at the man who was robbing Ester. "Get me your purse!" The man said before running away.

"Ester." Carla walked up to the bus stop bench. "Ester, are you okay?" Carla asked. Ester sat up and looked at Carla with a bullet wound in her forehead. "Yes, Carla, I'm okay." Ester said, making Carla yell, tumble backwards and fall.

Carla shot awake yelling. "whoa, babe, are you okay?" David, who was changing the twins' clothes, asked. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." Carla said,rubbing her eyes. "Okay,well, we're be downstairs eating breakfast. C'mo punks." David said, picking up the twins and walking out of the room.

"What the fuck? I've haven't had a nightmare since I was nine." Carla mumbles to herself as she got off the bed and put some of David's sweatpants on before throwing her hair into a messy ponytail.

Carla walked downstairs and kissed the twins and David on the cheek before pouring herself some coffee. "Wanna talk about that?" David asked, leaning against the counter.

"Just some nightmare. Stupid really." Carla shook her head as she sipped her coffee. "You sure?" David raised an eyebrow. Carla nodded. "Whatever you say." David kissed her before kissing the twins' heads.

"See you after work." He said softly. Carla nodded again as she sat beside the twins."what was that all about?" Debbie asked as she looked at her younger sister's tired face. "I saw some lady get shot at the Ashcroft bus stop last night." Carla explained,leaning back in her chair.