Finger Paintings • gallavich

Plan B

"We gotta call the plan off."

Mickey's finger hovers over the send button. Last night when Terry had not so discreetly admitted he was onto him was the final straw. Sure he wanted to be free, but he also needed to look after his son. And so far he had been able to protect Yevgeny from the wrath of his father and he didn't want to do anything to fuck that up. His son was everything to him.

He sends the text before he can change his mind and quickly tosses his phone down onto his bed so he can't look at it. His stomach was already churning and he rubbed the palms of his hands onto his jeans. He hadn't slept all night and he felt jittery and on edge. Mickey glances toward the night stand and looks at the clock.

7:00 am.

Which meant it was almost time to bring Yevgeny to school.  He reluctantly picks his phone back up. Mickey tugged on his flannel and buttoned it up as he walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Yev grins at him widely, a bit of milk dripping down his chin. "Morning, sleepyhead," Yev teases, shoveling another spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth.

Mickey gives him a strained smile and pulls the orange juice out of the fridge. "Hey, kiddo," he says. He twists the cap off and chugs some of the cold liquid down.

"What have I said about drinking from the carton?" Svetlana scolds, hand on her hip. "Don't."

Mickey slowly brings the bottle down away from his lip and grabs the cap. "Alright fine. And how many fucking times have I told you to put Yevgeny's toys away in the bathroom and you haven't?" He questions, putting the cap back on and setting it back into the fridge.

"Yevgeny is big boy, yes? Then he should clean own mess up." She says. Svetlana grabs a napkin from the counter and wipes Yevgeny's face off. "Go get shoes on." The boy nods. He hops down from the stool he was at and runs to his room to get his shoes.

"Listen, I have a job interview today," Mickey lies, knocking his knuckles against the side of his nose. "So I may be out for a while today."

Svetlana shrugs. "Don't care."

"Didn't think so," Mickey mumbles. He walks into the living room and tugs his scarf around his neck. "Yev you ready?"

Yev comes running out of his room, shoes untied. "I need you to tie my shoes first!" He grins widely.

Mickey let's out a small sigh and bends down. Normally he wouldn't mind tying Yev's shoes or driving him to school but today was different. Today everything just seemed to put Mickey on edge and it was only seven in the morning.

He quickly ties the boy's shoes before standing back up. He opens the front door and let's Yev walk out and hop down the stairs first before following behind. "Are you gonna say hi to Mr. Gallagher?" Yev asks.

Mickey rubs his thumb over his bottom lip and shakes his head. "Don't worry about it," he says as he unlocks the car and gets inside with Yev. He sits down on his seat and feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulls it out and looks at it.

Ian [7:13] : what?? Mick is something going on.

Mickey bites his lip as he types back a quick reply.

Mickey [7:14] : we're not moving in together. Not getting full custody of Yev. Nothing. We're done. I'm done.

Before he could sit and dwell on his words, he puts the car in drive and drives down the road. The ride was rather quiet. Mickey didn't bother with the radio and Yev seemed to notice that his dad wasn't on the talking mood.

The ride to the elementary school seemed to go by too quick for mickeys liking. He parks the car and reluctantly gets out with Yev. He holds his son's hand as he leads him up to the school and into his classroom. Yev grins widely and waves at Ian. "Hi, Mr. Gallagher!" He says.

Ian looks over at them and forces a small smile. "Hey, kiddo. Why don't you put your stuff up and grab your art box. We're going to be coloring this morning." Yev nods and hurried over to the other students. Ian looks over at Mickey. "Can we talk?"

Mickey rubs his bottom lip with his thumb. "Ian... you saw my text. This is it. We're done," he whispers, turning and leaving. Ian follows him out the door.

"You're kidding, right?" Ian laughs humorlessly and shakes his head. "You're pathetic. You're so close, mick. So close to getting out of that house and we're gonna move in with Yev. Come one, Mickey.... everything's gonna be okay if we just follow through."

"You don't get it, Ian. My Dad's onto us and if he finds out what we're doing he will kill us both. And who the hell knows what hell do to Yevgeny. I ca-... I can't risk that. My son's safety is the first concern of me. Always has been and always will," Mickey says, knocking his knuckles against the side of his nose.

Ian shakes his head. "You're fucking stupid if you go through with this. You say that your son's safety is your first concern but that's bullshit. If it was you'd do anything to get him out of that house. From the shit that you told me goes on in there... Mickey it's not safe for you or him to live there, but I can keep you safe. We move to the north side, get Terry sent to prison and we'll be safe. And I know it's what you want. I know you'll just be miserable and fucking... fucking pathetic your whole life if you stay there."

Mickey let's out a bitter laugh. "Fuck you, Gallagher. You don't know shit about my home life so why don't you do us both a favor and butt out," he says before walking away.

________________________________

Mickey had spent his whole day driving, grocery shopping and pretty much using every excuse he could think of so he wouldn't have to go home. It was now seven pm. He was in the living room smoking and watching tv while Yev was in his bedroom playing with his toys. Svetlana on the other hand had ran off somewhere and Mickey couldn't care less. He stared at the basketball game that was on the screen, but wasn't really paying much attention to it. Instead he was trapped inside his own mind, worrying about his earlier actions. 

"Daddy!" Yev yells, running into the living room. He was grinning widely, two action figures in his hands. "Daddy!" he repeats, climbing onto the couch next to him. "Do you wanna play with me?"

Mickey looks over at him and puts his cigarette out in the ash tray. "Not right now, bud," he says, rubbing his hands over his face. 

Yev frowns. "But we always play before bedtime."

"Not tonight, Yevgeny," Mickey repeats. 

Yev looks up at him, leaning in close to inspect his father's face. "Are you sad?" 

Mickey frowns. "What? No, no don't worry about it. I'm fine."

Yev shakes his head. He sets his toys down on the table and grabs the blanket off of the back of the couch. He scoots over closer to Mickey and spreads the blanket out across them. "Did grandpa do something?" He whispers. He knew most of the time when Mickey got angry or upset it was from something that Terry did. 

Mickey smiles sadly down at Yev and kisses the top of his head. "I'm fine, bud."

Yev smiles a little and nods. "I know you always say that even when you're not okay. But Aunt Mandy told me that sometimes it's okay to be sad or to cry. So if you wanna cry it's okay. Just let me know so I can go get the tissues."

Mickey laughs and nods. "Okay, deal. I'll give you enough time to go grab the tissues before I start crying."

Yev giggles. "Good! I love you, daddy."

Mickey smiles softly. "I love you too, Yevgeny."