kind of a badass//Carl Gallagher

2

I woke up to the sun blaring through the room. I sat up groggily. Looking at the time on my phone. It was 8 in the morning. Early as usual. I stood up and walked to the bathroom. I locked the door and started my morning routine. When I had finished I walked to my room to change. I wore light colored skinny jeans with holes in them, a black light weight hoodie, and my knock off converse. I walked down into the kitchen. V was up and watching TV with the babies. "Hey V! Are these my two gorgeous cousins?" I asked excited to see them. She nodded. "Here you want to hold Gemma?" I nodded, taking the baby in the purple onesie. "Hey can you check the mail? You can take her with you. She could use the fresh air." I nodded. I walked out to the mailbox which was just on the other side of the fence.
There was nothing so I walked back inside. "So what is there to do in this city for fun?" I asked her smiling. "Well, the kids here on the south side find random shit to do around the city. Especially in the summer." She laughed. "Once Kev gets back from the store i'm going over to Fiona's. Do you want to come?" I nodded. Fiona sounded like a cool person so I was definitely down to hang. "Yeah sounds like fun." We sat there and watched the news for the next 30 minutes. My uncle walked through the door with a chocolate cake and a case of beer. "We were invited to the Gallagher's pool/ Carl's military school graduation party for this coming Friday. I figured it could be your welcoming party/graduation too so I picked up a cake in advance." He hugged me then his wife. "You girls go i'll take the girls to the park" We thanked him and then walked next door, where I had saw that drunken guy passed out at.

We walked straight through the front door. There was a kid running around and a guy on the couch. "Who's that?" The guy spoke, flipping through the channels on the TV, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "Delilah. She's Kev and I's niece. Just got in last night. Delilah this is lip." I waved. The guy turned around. "Sorry, that was rude of me..." He eyed me up and down.

"Lip she is under aged." he shrugged his shoulders at V's response. "Yeah so? I'm just... making a friend." He smirked. "Yeah... so what does Lip stand for?" I raised an eyebrow in curiousity. It was a unique name. "Phillip." He tilted his head to the side for a moment. "Can I bum one?" I asked him. "Here. We'll share." He handed the cigarette to me. I only smoked cigarettes every now and then, but yesterday was so stressful I needed one. I took a drag off of it and placed it back in between his lips. "That's all I needed. Thanks." I then walked into the kitchen. "Hey Delilah! V said you go by Deli?" I nodded, leaning up against the counter next to V. "Yeah. either really." She nodded. "So I made some breakfast wanna join?" She asked with a bright smile. "Yeah! Thanks." she put three plates on the table and three on the counter. "Six?" I asked. She nodded. "Carl! Debby! Lip!" She shouted. Lip walked into the kitchen and sat at the table lazily. A red head who didn't look too much older than me but had a baby on her arm, sat by Lip. "Who is she?" She asked with furrowed brows. "Hi i'm Delilah. Or Deli. Whichever you prefer." I waved. "Okay Deli. You look to young to be a friend Fiona's. So who are you." Fiona shook her head. "Debby don't be rude. She is Kevin's niece. She had some family issues so she is living with V and Kev now. Just moved from Texas." Debby nodded, then waved back with a smile.

"She has gone through a lot lately. She has had a life as rough as ours if not worse. So don't be so tough on her. The siblings she raised were taken away just Friday." Fiona looked at me with a worried glance. "Sorry I wasn't thinking-" I cut her off politely. "No its okay I'm an open book mostly. I trust you guys. Your home gives me a welcome feel." She nodded. I took a bite out of my sausage. "Carl!" She shouted again. "I'm coming. Calm the fu-" The voice stopped. I turned around to see a mostly attractive guy about my age, if not my age, at the end of the stairs. He stood tall, had longish hair for a guy, a big smirk on his face. "Who is she?" He smiled.

Fiona took not even a second to fire back. "Out of your league." She raised her eyebrows at him. Giving him a look as to say she was serious. everyone in the room but Carl and Fiona laughed. "Delilah or Deli. Don't get any ideas, Carl." V stated sternly. He mumbled something under his breath. "So Delilah how old are you?" Debby asked, taking a bite out of her pancake. Her red hair and freckles stood out to me. Made her unique. "I'm 17." Carl dropped his fork, smiling bigger. "Oh cool! I'm 18! I usually live with my fiancé but I needed a break." She smiled. "You graduate already?" She asked, setting her baby into the stroller she had. Fiona then stopped her. "Alright it's not interrogation time."

"We are going to the park later want to come?" Debby questioned. I shook my head politely. "Is their a community free gym?" I asked. "Yeah, i'll take you later." V smiled, rubbing my back. Lip put everyone's plates away. He rinsed the plates off. "I'm going for a walk." Lip waved everyone off.

"So your mom told you that she just wanted to get high? that she didn't give a fuck about anything that happened?" Fiona asked when I explained the argument with my mom. "Yeah. Bullshit right?" They nodded. "You know, I remember when you called Kev and I laughing your ass off about when you kicked these two girls asses because they tried to jump you over being different than those country hicks. Kev and I were begging for videos." Fiona's eyes widened. "I can't believe this!" She was smiling big. "Yeah I broke the small girls jaw and the giant girls nose." I laughed. Her eyes grew bigger than I thought was physically possible. "Holy shit! You'll fit well into the south side being able to defend yourself like that." She laughed.

"I was going to take you to the gym now. you ready?" V asked me smiling. I nodded. "Hey mind if I go too?" Carl came walking down the stairs. Fiona turned around on the couch to face the guy. "Since when do you go to the gym?" I didn't turn around. I could hear a chuckle. "Since I got to military school." He sat on the edge of the couch. "Fine go get changed." Fiona shook her head. He then got right back up and ran up the stairs. "Lets go before he gets downstairs." Fiona rushed out the door and to our house. V and I followed. I went upstairs and changed into my white sports bra and black shorts. I slipped on my white running shoes and put my hair up in a pony tail.

I went back down the spiral stairs and Carl was arguing with Fiona at the door. Looks like he figured out that we were trying to ditch him.