The Gallagher House, Dining Room.
Facing Debbie's question, Lip subconsciously wanted to promise, but the words were swallowed back just as they reached his lips. "Debbie, I can't promise."
"But I can promise that I will definitely try my best to prevent this kind of thing from happening."
"Okay?"
Debbie actually understood in her heart that Lip couldn't guarantee it. Hearing this, she nodded. "Okay."
At this point, for the time being, there wasn't much else to say.
Debbie was silent for a few seconds, turned around and went back to the living room, quietly watching TV with Liam.
Lip didn't follow. He looked back at the computer, his thoughts uncontrollably racing.
Another problem added...
Fiona was leaving, probably for a year...
And during this year, besides studying hard—he had to get a full scholarship to some university—he also had to take good care of Debbie, Carl, and Liam, the three of them...
Besides that, he also had to earn money, otherwise they'd starve...
In fact, further down the road, there was another big problem... A year later, when he went to university, and Fiona chose her own life, then what would happen to Ian and the others?
The more Lip thought, the more irritable he became. Thinking back and forth, he suddenly thought of Samantha.
Could Samantha replace Fiona?
Even if not, she should at least be able to keep Debbie and the others from being taken away by DCFS.
Lip thought about it seriously and decided to have a good talk with Samantha when she came back.
Time flew by, more than half an hour passed.
Lip selected a few universities, turned off the computer, and went out to look for a job.
Today was different from yesterday. The news that Fiona was leaving was like a heavy bomb, changing a lot of things... Lip felt the urgency. He didn't dare to try shortcuts anymore, he just wanted to find a job quickly, whether it was a burger joint or a restaurant... anything would do, as long as he could earn money.
On the road, Lip walked very fast.
Suddenly, his phone rang. Mandy, who had just finished washing dishes at Dex Restaurant and could take a break, hurriedly called.
Lip took out his phone, looked at Mandy's name, and hesitated.
Mandy was clingy. The current him didn't need this kind of woman, nor could he afford to be distracted and waste time with Mandy.
Just like that.
Lip stuffed the phone back into his pocket and didn't answer.
Mandy called a few more times immediately, but Lip pretended not to see them all.
Mandy finally stopped calling.
In the blink of an eye, two hours passed.
Facts proved that as long as one was willing to lower their requirements and endure hardship, even in a place like the South Side, a job wasn't that much of a luxury item.
Lip found a job as a clerk at a burger joint... the salary, well, minimum wage, very little money, but at least there was income every day.
"Come to work tomorrow," the manager said to Lip.
"Okay," Lip rarely put down his arrogance and nodded in response.
Job secured, Lip left the burger joint, lit a cigarette, and while walking back, pondered about tutoring some students to make money.
He had done this kind of thing before. With Karen, it started with tutoring Karen's homework...
Although, he hadn't done it many times.
The reason was simple: he felt those students were all fxxking stupid. He looked down on them and didn't like idiots. Spending a little longer with idiots made him want to lose his temper...
But now, the situation was different. He needed money very much!
Therefore, without thinking too long, after weighing the pros and cons, Lip took out his phone and started making calls, asking those classmates if they needed tutoring, or if they knew students who needed homework tutoring...
Making calls like this took almost an hour.
The effect was okay. Two Asian students explicitly agreed. Then, after some bargaining, the final price was quite a bit lower than Lip's psychological price.
If it were before, Lip would have pulled a long face and thrown a tantrum.
But today, Lip didn't.
Money is money... He accepted the minimum wage job at the burger joint; the tutoring fee was still higher than the minimum wage after all.
At this point, the tutoring part was considered settled. It would be difficult to increase clients for the time being.
Lip then thought about other ways to make money.
Thinking and thinking, Lip thought of the smuggling he had done twice... Smuggling was really easy money. A round trip took two days, netting two or three thousand dollars. Doing it twice a month would be far more than enough.
But, this kind of thing was illegal...
More importantly... Lip thought of Dexter...
If Dexter found out, what would he do to him?
Thinking about it, Lip couldn't help shuddering. He dispelled the idea of smuggling again, gritted his teeth, and decided to rely on tutoring and the burger joint job to earn money slowly.
---
Inside Jimmy's newly rented house.
Fiona leaned against the sofa absentmindedly, looking at the Gallagher house. She had been looking for quite a while.
After living this life for so many years, when the day to give up on those kids truly arrived, it was really, really hard.
Fiona's mood was incomparably complicated, her mind a mess, not even knowing what she was thinking about.
Jimmy sat aside, watching TV quietly, very consciously not disturbing her, letting Fiona be lost in thought.
A long time passed.
Fiona sighed heavily, withdrew her gaze, and looked at Jimmy. "Have you confirmed things with the school? When are we leaving?"
Jimmy smiled faintly. "It's summer vacation now, some things can't be confirmed. But, it should be no problem. They told me to go over on the 20th to handle some procedures."
"We can go over together. You can familiarize yourself with the environment there."
Fiona nodded. "Okay."
Looking at Fiona like this, Jimmy thought for a moment and still spoke up. "Don't worry too much. It's just a four-hour train ride. We can come back once every week."
These words, from a certain perspective, directly hit the problem Fiona had the biggest headache about. Fiona felt warm in her heart hearing this and smiled. "Mm."
Words spoken, Fiona's mood improved a bit. She decisively lay down and started servicing Jimmy.
---
Night fell.
Samantha and Frank indeed found a hospital where Frank hadn't skipped out on bills before, and returned happily to the Gallagher house.
Lip was making dinner in the kitchen. Seeing Samantha, because he had a favor to ask of her, he immediately smiled and greeted her. "Samantha, had dinner yet?"
Hearing this, Samantha was instantly very happy and hurriedly smiled back. "Not yet. Been busy with Frank all afternoon. You can just call me Sammi; everyone who knows me calls me that."
Lip nodded gently. "Okay. If you haven't eaten, let's eat together. I happen to have something I want to talk to you about."
Hearing this, Samantha immediately walked quickly to Lip's side proactively. "Are you in any trouble? Tell me."
Lip didn't like Sammi, but for now, he didn't hate her either.
Therefore, seeing Samantha being so eager to talk, Lip didn't delay and decisively got straight to the point, talking about the idea that Fiona was moving out and he hoped Sammi would stay here.
"Even if Frank dies, you can still live here. In exchange, I need you to ensure we won't be taken away by DCFS. Can you do that?"
Sammi was reasonably familiar with DCFS. After listening to Lip, she understood what was going on. Immediately, she nodded and agreed without hesitation, then extended her hand to Lip. "Deal."
Lip shook hands with Sammi. "Thanks."
Sammi smiled brilliantly. "What are we having for dinner? Let me help you."
Lip wasn't good at this to begin with. Seeing Sammi wanting to help, he hesitated slightly and agreed.
Soon.
Sammi got busy, in a very good mood. On one hand, it seemed she would have a house to live in and wouldn't have to go back to living in a trailer. On the other hand, she would soon become the real big sister of the Gallagher family.
How great.
Sammi was very happy.
...
Full of food and drink.
Lip lit a cigarette, walked out the back door, and called Karen.
This call should have been made long ago, but Lip had been avoiding it all day.
But, for some things, avoidance is useless. When it's time to face it, you have to face it.
The ringtone for waiting to answer sounded.
Karen, who was shopping outside preparing for her trip to Los Angeles, heard her phone ring. Seeing it was Lip calling, she immediately smiled, then pressed answer. "What's up?"
Hearing Karen's voice, Lip subconsciously took a fierce drag on his cigarette, then spoke as calmly as possible. "There is indeed something I want to talk to you about."
"I'm downtown, won't be back for a while," Karen replied.
Lip took another drag of the cigarette, feeling relieved. Because he didn't want to, or rather, dared not tell Karen this to her face.
"Talking over the phone works too," Lip said.
"Okay, then make it quick, I have things to do," Karen replied.
"Mm," Lip responded. "Karen, I plan to take the college entrance exam and leave this hellhole of the South Side. So, I can't marry you. Get rid of that baby, okay?"
The words entered her ears.
Karen was stunned, very puzzled by Lip's 180-degree turn in attitude. She thought for a moment. "I didn't beg you to marry me, hehe. What if I don't get an abortion and give birth to the child?"
"You mean, you won't take care of this child, right?"
This was exactly what Lip was afraid of. Instinctively raising his hand to rub his forehead, he smoked several puffs in succession, gritted his teeth, and bit the bullet to reply. "Mm..."
"Heh, you are really interesting. I clearly said from the beginning I didn't need you to care," Karen sneered. "Alright, I got it. You go take your college exams and leave here."
"Karen..." Lip didn't want Karen to give birth to the child. "Go get an abortion. You're still young, you'll regret it..."
Beep beep beep~~
Karen hung up the phone crisply. Done with that, she immediately called Dexter.
Dexter was busy in the restaurant kitchen. Seeing Karen's call, he pressed answer. "Karen."
Karen didn't talk nonsense and nimbly repeated what Lip just said to Dexter.
Dexter listened quietly, then chuckled, finding it truly quite interesting.
Was the operation yesterday morning that effective?
Turns out, just one bullet, and Lip wouldn't be such an idiot anymore.
"Got it," Dexter responded with a smile.
"What should I do?" Karen asked.
"In the short term, he probably won't look for you. Don't look for him either, don't answer his calls. Let him be. You just do whatever you need to do," Dexter pondered slightly and replied.
The reason he said short term was because Dexter believed the matter between Lip and Karen hadn't reached the point of complete conclusion yet.
"Okay," Karen really didn't care. Whatever Dexter said, she would do.
Dexter didn't say more, hung up the phone, continued working, and imagined Lip's future development.
Could Lip persist?
Hard to say.
Too young. How firm could his will be? Moreover, he was a Gallagher...
Just wait for the follow-up development.
---
The convenience store.
Kash and the love-struck Ian were busy with full motivation, working hard for the future.
After a short while, no customers came in for the time being.
The two then whispered about their destination.
America was big, with so many cities, each with its own style. It was really hard to choose.
They discussed for quite a while.
"How about New York? I read online that New York is very open. When we get to New York, we can do whatever we want," Ian suddenly said.
Kash smiled happily. "New York is indeed very nice. Let's note it down first."
The two looked forward to the future with excitement and thrill.
---
Unknowingly, five days flashed by.
This morning, Karen packed her luggage early, went out, and got into the car sent by the travel agency, heading to the airport.
In the car, the female tour guide responsible for accompanying Karen to Los Angeles to play spoke to Karen very politely.
Arriving at the airport, the two boarded the plane and flew to Los Angeles.
In the blink of an eye.
By evening, the idiot Jody, who had received Karen's permission to continue living here, walked into the Jackson house without feeling there was any problem at all.
Eddie was at work as usual, and only Sheila was in the house.
So, it was really logical and reasonable that looking at Jody, Sheila's heart beat faster.
Subsequently, some things, once there's a first time, there will be a second time...
Past ten o'clock at night, Sheila gave Jody a BJ again.
This time, Jody still held out and didn't fxxk Sheila.
But, how long could he hold out?
The answer was three days.
Three days later, still at night.
Jody couldn't hold out and fxxked Sheila;
Sheila had a great time.
Interestingly, around the same time, on the second floor of the Gallagher house, Lip, who also couldn't hold out and answered Mandy's call, was fxxking frantically with Mandy.
Finished.
The two sat on Fiona's bed, each lighting a cigarette.
After taking a few puffs, Mandy looked at Lip with a complicated expression. "Want to explain to me why you didn't answer my calls for so many days?"
Lip anticipated Mandy would ask this. He thought about it and decided to tell the truth. "I plan to take the college entrance exam and leave here. I don't want to hurt you. You should find a man who will stay here."
Hearing this, Mandy shook her head sadly. "I knew long ago you would go to college and leave here. I didn't expect you to stay for me, nor did I have the extravagance to hope you would take me with you."
"You overthought it."
Lip exhaled a puff of smoke, turned to face Mandy, didn't know what to say, and remained silent.
Speaking of this topic, Mandy was actually very sad. She silently buried her head between her knees. "You should leave here. You're so smart, destined to go out and live a good life."
"I can only stay here and muddle through this life. I know we have no future."
"I don't care."
In fact, how could she not care?
The problem was, what use was caring?