Mickey - The View From Here PART TWO - Gallavich

The Gentrification Game

After we picked Franny up from school, we headed to Lip and Tammy’s new place for a family dinner. Lip and his buddy, Brad had picked up an old barbeque thought to be broken. The pair fixed it easily and announced the first BBQ at the new house.

Lip had finally sold the Gallagher home, taking a loss and receiving a meager amount in return. Ian and I offered him our cut from the sale of the house (we were doing fine), but Lip was too proud to take it. It bothered Ian that his brother had ended up worse off for the sale, but what could be done? Lip had played the gentrification game and lost, just as so many others do.

We’d all been affected by the “cleanup of the ghetto.” The house I had grown up in with a family I hated wasn’t even standing anymore, torn down to be replaced with a more expensive home that was pleasing to the eye. As much as I hated the changes my neighborhood had to endure, I didn’t mind the destruction of my house. With the pure evil that once resided there, I would have been glad to see the place burn.

Lip and Tammy's new house was…let’s say cozy. Okay, it was cramped as hell, forcing the entire party out onto a backyard covered in dead grass without a tree in sight for shade.

“Are you sure you’re gonna use all this extra space?” Ian jested with Lip as Franny as I squeezed past them through the kitchen to get to the yard.

Lip tried to laugh it off, but the vein bulging from his forehead indicated how stressed he really was. Glancing at me, he said, “Mick, could you help Tammy set up the picnic table?”

I agreed and took Franny with me to help out.

Upon noticing Tammy, Franny broke into a jog to slam into her leg to embrace her.

Laughing, Tammy gave her niece a hug before Franny pulled away, fetched something from her pocket, and showed it and Tammy.

“What’s this?” Tammy thought out loud as she unfolded a piece of paper Franny presented to her. After skimming the words on the page, she clicked her tongue and approached me. “You read this?”

I shook my head, taking the paper from her to see for myself.

Miss D. Gallagher,

Our office has attempted to contact you numerous times regarding this issue with no response. As I mentioned in my voicemails, there have been a series of recent events that have required your attention and cooperation. We would like to sort this out as soon as possible. Without your cooperation, we will be forced to contact the authorities. To avoid this, please give me a call or email ASAP.

What followed was the name of Franny’s vice principal, a phone number, and an email address. Panic seized me before I could calm myself. At Franny, I snapped, “what is this?”

The tiny redhead gazed back at me with large, innocent blue eyes before lifting her tiny shoulders in a shrug.

Bullshit, I thought, slightly jilted Franny would lie to me. Given, kids lie sometimes and test their and your limits, but me? I was her favorite uncle!

Pathetic, I checked myself. Gettin’ your feelings hurt by a six-year-old ‘cause we’re “supposed to be friends?” The fuck is wrong with me? Be an adult.

“You guys want me to call as Debbie? Keep ‘em off your back for a while?” Tammy offered.

Reading the letter over again, I sighed with confusion. “I dunno.”

“You don’t know what?”

We were both were caught off-guard by Fiona’s sudden materialization at my side.

With a suspicious brow raised, I said, “thought you went back to…wherever it is you go...”

Fiona met my comment with a wide, pearly white smile. “That’s one of the great things about real-estate. I’m still certified here, and I have some clients interested in moving to the city.”