2119 North Wallace Street, The Gallagher House.
Jimmy really left.
With this fact in front of her, Fiona, who couldn't stop smoking one cigarette after another and drinking beer, suddenly realized just how unacceptable this fact was to her, and at the same time realized how much she actually loved Jimmy.
Fiona had the urge to chase after him, ignoring everything, and just follow him to Michigan to live the life she should be living.
Unfortunately...
How easy could it be for an adult to be reckless?
Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam were practically pulling her back. She couldn't leave.
After a long time, having smoked several cigarettes and drunk several cans of beer in a row, Fiona raised her hand and wiped her face fiercely to cheer herself up. Then, she got up and walked to the door to look.
She didn't see Jimmy. Jimmy had indeed left.
Life had to go on.
Time flew.
Five days passed.
This morning, having gone round and round, Fiona finally returned to the big pit of the Gallagher house. What was even sadder was that she had adapted to this life again. She got up early, made breakfast, and with a cup of coffee, went to the front door, leaning against the doorpost, waiting for Dexter to come out and walk the dog.
Not long after, seeing Dexter coming out with that Husky, Daijiu, Fiona didn't waste time and moved immediately, walking over.
Dexter saw Fiona coming straight for him, so he stopped, lit a cigarette, and waited calmly.
"I want to talk to you, can I?" Walking up to Dexter, Fiona said with a rare humble attitude.
Dexter smiled faintly. "Walk and talk."
Fiona nodded and walked forward side by side with Dexter.
After walking for a dozen seconds, Fiona spoke again. "I apologize to you. I was indeed wrong about what happened before. I'm sorry."
Dexter was amused hearing this.
The attitude of this apology was indeed much better than last time.
Dexter looked at Fiona. "It must be hard for you to say such words."
Fiona's eyebrows twitched slightly. Her temper flared up a bit, but she held it back, thought for a moment, and nodded. "Mm."
"Don't get excited," Dexter replied with a smile. "Since you want to talk, let's talk. You said you were wrong. Where were you wrong?"
Fiona: "????"
Not good, her temper flared up further!
Fiona was never a woman who could hide her mood. Dexter saw at a glance that Fiona was losing her temper, so he added with a smile, "Feeling unhappy again? How about this, if you can hold your temper and walk this round with me, after returning, I won't deal with that house, how about it?"
This was what Fiona wanted. She agreed decisively. "Okay."
Dexter smiled. "Then, answer my question just now. Where were you wrong?"
"In the hospital, I shouldn't have scolded you like that just because of one sentence from you," Fiona said almost through gritted teeth.
"Hehe," Dexter smiled, finding it quite interesting.
If a person was willing to stay in a pit, feeling comfortable and content in it, then how could someone outside the pit pull this person out?
"Listening to you, what I said was wrong, right? You Gallaghers are actually quite amazing, right?" Dexter asked with a smile. "Tell the truth, it doesn't matter."
Fiona widened her eyes slightly, hesitated for a moment, and decided to tell the truth. "That's right, I do think we are amazing!"
"We have nothing, always struggling to live. I raised Lip and the others to this age, with food, drink, and a place to live. I put in so much hard work."
"Rich people like you, have you ever suffered like us? What right do you have to judge me from a high horse? Judge our Gallagher family?"
Dexter exhaled a puff of smoke and smiled. "First, stay calm. Don't forget the deal we just made."
"Secondly, you are wrong. Compared to the suffering I've been through, what is this little suffering of yours?"
"You always think you are miserable, your Gallagher family is miserable, so stealing, cheating, and swindling are all okay, all for survival."
"But the fact is, you are just immersing yourself in this excuse. America is so big, is there no one more miserable than you? Only you are miserable, right?"
"You say I am a rich man. I can't understand, but have you ever thought, maybe I wasn't born rich. I climbed up bit by bit by myself."
Dexter was telling the truth, talking about his life before crossing over.
"Difficulty is not your excuse. I've lived here for so long, I know your family's situation."
"Your family has never been miserable to the point of starving to death. You could have slowly made life better, but you have no plan, living day by day, and always creating various problems for yourselves. In the end, blaming the world for being unfair."
"Hehe, don't you think it's absurd?"
"Finally, regarding whether I have the right to judge you."
Dexter grinned. "Fiona, the world is this cruel. I judge you, I look down on you guys, what can you do?"
"Hit me? Kill me?"
Fiona: "..."
That last sentence from Dexter was truly fxxking punchable!!!
Fiona was instantly so angry her mouth twisted a bit, but she dared not say anything, having to grit her teeth in silence.
Dexter glanced at her, didn't look more, smoked, and continued to walk forward with Daijiu.
About half a minute passed again.
Fiona recovered a little and barely managed to speak. "What exactly do you want to say?"
Dexter smiled faintly. "What I want to say is, you are not great, and you are nothing special."
"You raised Carl and the others, true, but you just fed them."
"Except for Carl, Lip, Ian, and Debbie have so many problems. Do you really think it has nothing to do with you? Not influenced by you? You have no responsibility?"
Thump.
Fiona couldn't handle such questions. She had always avoided thinking about such questions and immediately bit her lip.
Dexter said again, "Also, there is a question, I don't know if you have thought about it."
"So many things happened to your Gallagher family, have you thought about the reason?"
"Why do so many things happen to you?"
"Is it because someone has nothing better to do than specifically looking for trouble with you? Just like that?"
Hearing this, Fiona subconsciously retorted, "Otherwise?"
Dexter grinned brilliantly and shook his head. "Who would be so idle? If someone really hates you Gallaghers so much, why go to such great lengths?"
"Wouldn't it be better to just kill you directly?"
"Of course, Carl is fine. This doesn't involve Carl."
Fiona: "..."
What the fxxk!!
This was a complete admission!
It was all done by this guy!
Instantly, Fiona was both angry and afraid, her body trembling slightly.
Dexter saw it but didn't care, turning back. "Go back and think carefully about the reason why someone did this. I can give you a hint. You can think about what the situation was at the very beginning."
"By the way, I have never been interested in you."
"..." Fiona was still terrified, her head buzzing, unable to speak.
Unknowingly.
The two returned to Dexter's door.
Dexter looked with a smile at Fiona, who had remained silent throughout the return journey. "You did it, the house is safe. By the way, mentioning it in passing, if one day you figure it out, feel free to come to me. I can probably get you out of this life."
"Provided you really figure it out."
Hearing this, Fiona looked at Dexter blankly, feeling Dexter was shameless, disgusting, and incredibly ugly.
Dexter faced Fiona's gaze with a smile.
Completely indifferent to what Fiona thought.
After all, he never said he was a good person.
A few seconds later, Dexter turned around and took Daijiu home.
Fiona stood blankly on the spot for a long time before lifting her incredibly heavy feet and walking home.
---
The Gallagher House.
Because school starts tomorrow, Lip had already quit his job at the burger joint. Not needing to work today, Lip had been waiting anxiously for Fiona.
Therefore, seeing Fiona return, Lip immediately went up to her, wanting to know the result of the apology.
Fiona looked at Lip slightly absentmindedly for two seconds before speaking. "The house is saved. I need a cigarette."
Hearing this, Lip first let out a long sigh of relief, then nimbly took out a cigarette and handed one to Fiona. "Then what's wrong with you? What did he say? Why are you reacting like this?"
Fiona lit the cigarette, took two fierce drags, then turned her head slightly, glanced at Carl and the others eating breakfast in the dining room, finished, took a deep breath. "Talk in the backyard."
Soon, the two arrived in the backyard.
Fiona took another fierce drag on the cigarette. "He didn't admit it directly, but indirectly admitted it. Indeed, he was messing with us."
Hearing this, Lip subconsciously took a drag of his cigarette too, not feeling much surprise. After all, he had basically confirmed this in his heart long ago. "And then? What exactly did he say? Repeat it."
Fiona had long lost her wits. She nodded and obediently did so, repeating as much as possible.
Lip smoked, listening quietly, his brows furrowed into a knot, silent for a moment, thoughts spinning fast.
Spinning and spinning.
Although he couldn't figure it out too clearly, Lip roughly had some ideas, and thus couldn't help feeling it was too fxxking bizarre.
"I listen to his meaning, he seems to think that from the very beginning, he was helping us..."
Hearing this.
Fiona, who was actually not too stupid and also realized this layer of meaning, blinked, hesitated for two seconds, and spoke.
"At the very beginning, if I had accepted the job he offered, everything would probably be very different..."
Mentioning this matter, Lip instinctively raised his eyebrows.
Lip had a good memory and of course hadn't forgotten what he did back then.
So, after taking a fierce drag on his cigarette, Lip habitually defended himself. "Looking at it now, I wasn't wrong back then. He's a psycho."
How to put it.
There was nothing majorly wrong with these words.
But saying there was absolutely nothing wrong wasn't right either.
Fiona didn't know how to reply, her thoughts very chaotic, so she didn't make a sound, just smoked silently.
Lip looked at Fiona, didn't want to discuss this matter anymore, and changed the subject. "Anyway, according to his meaning, as long as we don't steal, cheat, and swindle like before, he probably won't trouble us anymore..."
"Maybe," Fiona replied feeling very tired.
Words spoken, Fiona looked at Lip again. "I need some peace and quiet."
Lip pondered slightly and nodded. "Okay."
Responding, Lip walked away.
Fiona leaned somewhat weakly against the railing, lost in thought.
---
A new day.
Lip and Debbie's first day of school.
Debbie started middle school today.
Debbie was looking forward to this. She got up early in the morning, dressing up and busy non-stop.
Carl saw it and unceremoniously made a few snide remarks.
Debbie, who had gained quite a bit of weight and become plumper this summer, retorted decisively.
Lip also got up very early, also looking forward to school... The reason was different from Debbie.
Lip looked forward to going to school mainly because he didn't need to work himself to death at the burger joint anymore, wasting his labor for that little minimum wage.
Of course, in this way, the task of supporting this family fell mainly on Fiona again.
Fiona hadn't returned to normal yet. Dexter's words yesterday were still having an effect.
This morning, the Gallagher house was chaotic as usual.
Time flew.
Lip and Debbie packed up properly, ready to go out.
"Fiona," before leaving, Debbie hesitated slightly and spoke to Fiona. "Frank is discharged today..."
Fiona knew what Debbie meant and instantly got a headache. "Sammi will take care of Frank. Frank is not our problem."
Debbie: "..."
This wasn't the answer Debbie wanted to hear.
Debbie felt disappointed immediately. After a slight struggle, she asked tentatively again, "Frank will move back here, right?"
Fiona shook her head decisively. "There is no place for him here anymore."
Debbie: "...But..."
Before she could finish.
"Debbie, we should go," Lip hurriedly interrupted, not letting Debbie continue asking.
Debbie bit her lip, finally stopped asking, turned around, and followed Lip out.
Watching Debbie's back, Fiona sighed silently, knowing this matter was definitely not over, truly a headache.
At this time, Carl, who still had two days before school started, spoke to Fiona. "Sammi lives in a broken trailer. I'm afraid there's no place for Frank to live there."
"My house is habitable. I can let Frank live there."
"..." Hearing this, Fiona felt speechless instantly and rejected it subconsciously. "NO!"
"That's my house," Carl retorted immediately.
Fiona choked. "...Carl, if you let Frank live in there, in less than a few months, your house will turn into a garbage dump!"
"By then, even if you want to kick Frank out, it will be impossible!"
"Do you want Frank to destroy your house?"
Although Carl wasn't too smart, that house next door was so beautiful. Turning into a garbage dump? Carl indeed didn't want that and was muted instantly.
Seeing this, Fiona breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't worry about Frank. He's like a cockroach. He can live well anywhere."
Just as the words left her mouth.
Fiona's phone rang.
Taking out the phone to look, it was a call from a familiar employment agency. Fiona pressed answer immediately.
"Fiona, I have a paper cup company here recruiting a part-time staff member. Are you interested?" the employment agent asked.
Fiona was certainly interested, only a bit worried. "Legitimate company? Won't they check my criminal record?"
"Just a part-time job. They shouldn't check, but don't volunteer it either. Do you understand what I mean?" the employment agent reminded.
Fiona nodded hurriedly. "I understand. Good, I'm very interested."
"Then come to my place later," the employment agent said.
"Mm, see you later," Fiona replied in a much better mood.