The Gallagher House.
Frank was absolutely livid.
All that money, gone in a puff of smoke.
Frank chain-smoked aggressively, taking drag after drag, burning through several cigarettes in a row. He glanced at Monica in the living room and finally made a decision.
He couldn't stay in this house. He had to skip town! He was going to Sheila's!
"Carl, wheel me out," Frank said. "I need some fresh air."
Carl looked at him and said just one word: "Money."
"You little bastard," Frank cursed. "I'll give it to you. I stashed another few dozen bucks outside. You push me there, and it's all yours."
Money makes the world go round.
Carl grinned, didn't waste a second, jumped up, and wheeled Frank toward the door.
With a bit of effort, they made it to the sidewalk.
"Where'd you hide the money?" Carl asked.
"Sheila's house. Push me there."
"Deal."
It wasn't far. Before long, they successfully entered Sheila's home.
Sheila hadn't seen Frank in days and missed him terribly. After helping Carl get Frank inside, she immediately fluttered around him, asking about his health and well-being.
Frank never got this kind of treatment at the Gallagher house. His mood improved instantly.
"Frank, do you want something to eat? I'll make it right now," Sheila asked, her face full of expectation.
"Sure, go ahead. Make whatever, just a bit of everything. I'm starving," Frank smiled back.
Sheila didn't delay and bustled straight into the kitchen.
"Frank, the money," Carl demanded.
Frank gave a sly smile, reached down his pants, and pulled a bill out from behind his butt. "Here. My last twenty bucks. All yours."
Carl might have been a bit slow, but he wasn't completely retarded. Watching Frank pull money out of his ass crack, his eyes filled with suspicion. "How much did you stash?"
"Just this one bill!" Frank insisted firmly.
Carl didn't buy it. "Give me more!"
Frank did indeed have more money. In fact, he had quite a bit.
Earlier, when Teddy came to the Gallagher house demanding payment, Frank had immediately realized where things were heading and quietly stuffed some cash down his pants.
"You want money?" Frank smiled at Carl. "Go get me a pair of crutches, and I'll give you another ten bucks."
"Just ten?" Carl thought it was too little.
"Take it or leave it."
"I'll take it! I'm going to get them right now!" Carl, easily swayed by the promise of cash, dropped the sentence and ran out the door.
"Sucker," Frank muttered.
---
The Gallagher House.
Patrick barged in with his two sons like he owned the place.
He shot a cold glance at Monica, Lip, and the others in the living room but didn't say anything. He simply instructed his two sons to start marking up the house and calculating renovation materials based on his own plans.
After everything they had just been through, Lip was already suppressing a massive amount of rage. And now, this bastard Patrick had just waltzed right in?!
Lip took a harsh drag of his cigarette and stood up. "Patrick, you said we had seven days! What the hell are you doing here?"
Patrick wasn't about to indulge Lip. "This is my house. Do I need to listen to your whining? Don't make me kick you all out right now!"
The words hit hard.
Anger erupted. Lip clenched his fists tightly, his face twisted with fury, and looked ready to beat Patrick to a pulp.
Seeing Lip's reaction...
Instantly.
Ian panicked and rushed to block Lip. "Lip, don't do it!"
Debbie and Monica were also screaming in distress.
Patrick stood his ground, deliberately not moving. He didn't blink, staring Lip down viciously. "Come on, you little bastard. Let's see what you've got."
"!!!" Lip snapped completely. He lunged forward. "You motherfcker, I'll kill you!"
Ian was frantic, shoving Lip away from Patrick with all his might.
Monica couldn't move, so she could only scream at Patrick, "Patrick, we've been through too much today! Stop provoking us!"
Patrick gave Monica a look of contempt and sneered. "Heh."
Debbie, her face covered in tears, was shaking uncontrollably from fear and anxiety. She felt like she was going crazy, just staring at Patrick and crying nonstop.
Patrick saw her and looked disgusted. "Stop crying!"
After barking at her, Patrick headed upstairs.
Debbie continued to tremble, watching Patrick through her tears until he disappeared from view. Only then did she slowly withdraw her gaze. Simultaneously, the gears in her little head started spinning rapidly.
Debbie couldn't bear the thought of losing this house. She was desperate to do something—anything—to save it.
She thought and thought...
Suddenly.
She had it!
A great idea popped up. Debbie's body stiffened. She took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her face, turned to Lip—who had been forced onto the sofa by Ian—and spoke up. "Lip, lend me your phone to make a call. I know what to do."
Lip took a drag of his cigarette. "What do you mean?"
"Don't worry about it, just lend me the phone," Debbie said firmly, her eyes red.
Lip hesitated, then handed the phone to Debbie.
Debbie took it and dialed 911 without hesitation. "Hello, I need to report a crime. I think I was just molested by an uncle... Please hurry. The address is 2119 North Wallace Street."
The word molested hung in the air.
Thump.
Lip, Ian, and Monica's eyes all went wide as they stared at Debbie in shock.
Debbie calmly hung up the phone and handed it back to Lip. "That bastard Patrick isn't taking our house!!!"
Lip genuinely didn't know what to say.
---
The Police Station.
Teddy had just finished filing his report and gave the officers the address of Fiona's crew.
Moments later.
Four police officers hurried out of the precinct, jumped into two squad cars, and sped straight toward 2119 North Wallace Street to make arrests.
Normally, the police wouldn't be this efficient.
But Teddy had been smart about it; he played the Roberta card.
Roberta, a black woman, had just been murdered, and shortly after, her home was looted by a group of white neighbors...
Add to that the current situation in the South Side, where racial tensions were extremely high due to the horrific acts committed by Kamala...
The police department did not want the racial conflict to escalate any further. If that happened, the department would be in deep trouble.
In the blink of an eye.
Wee-woo, wee-woo~~
Two police cars sped into the distance.
Teddy pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and smiled. "This trip was totally worth it."
Happily dropping that comment, Teddy walked away.
Just then.
Two more officers ran out of the station and rushed into another cruiser.
Wee-woo, wee-woo~~~
Sirens blaring.
The police car sped toward the Gallagher house.