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Game Over
chapter twenty seven
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THE ICE CREAM TRUCK STILL LOOKED TERRIBLE. She would never come out and say that to Kev's face, but she could surely think it. As they whipped into the park, Phoebe found herself grimacing at how dirty it looked. Regardless, though, this was where she was to spend her day. Once they had put it in park, Phoebe approached the vehicle with two bags in hand. "Good morning, boys," she greeted the two. One bag was dropped onto Kevin's lap and the other was thrusted toward Lip. "I made breakfast." The look on Kev's face was one of pure shock. "You made this?" he asked. "You had time to make this?" She nodded her head with a smile. Lip had already opened the bag and took out the wrapped egg biscuit. "Is there cheese?" he asked, narrowed eyes focusing on the girl.
"Of course. I'm not a barbarian." She moved through the truck to stand by Lip. She watched as the boys began to pull back the plastic wrap. Kev bit into his first, face contorting to one of pleasure as he let the runny yolk absorb into his tongue. A little bit of cheese stuck to the corner of his mouth, but it only made the reaction that much better. Lip was next, taking the biggest bite he could to devour the food. "Mm," he hummed, brows pinched as he focused on the flavor invading his senses. "You made this?" She felt her cheeks heat up underneath Kev's gaze. A broad, proud smile crossed her features. "Yeah," she laughed. "I told you, I'm being domesticated. Domestic people make breakfast." She sat atop one of the freezers and crossed her ankles in front of her. It was nice seeing such a pleasant reaction, especially from two people she valued.
"Wow, you're really doing that," Lip spoke up, seemingly amazed that she'd even think of settling down. "You've known this guy for, what? A few months?" The smile she once sported faded with his words. "So?" she pushed. Her brows furrowed. "He's a great guy. But, like, don't you think you're moving a little fast? You already live with him—" She scoffed in disbelief. "Yeah, and who's fault is that?" she retaliated. "You can't blame that on me. You're the one who got kicked out of your house." — "After you stole a car!" Lip shook his head. He turned to face the girl head on now. "No, that is not what happened. I borrowed it from Steve." She threw her hands up in mock realization. "Right, right! I totally forgot you were oblivious to his criminal occupation!" Lip wanted to argue, but she had gotten him. He groaned beneath his breath and turned back to the sandwich in his hand.
"Well, I think this tastes awesome," Kev spoke up from his spot behind the steering wheel. She grinned over at the man. "Thank you. At least someone knows how to appreciate a gift." She hopped off of the freezer and moved past Lip to take his previous spot in the passenger seat. "I can appreciate it. I never said I didn't appreciate it." Her eyes rolled at his argument. That's all they seemed to do now, is argue. "Customers," she called out, leaning back into her seat. "Yeah, yeah. I got it." He popped the remaining biscuit into his mouth and crumpled up the plastic wrap. People were already lining up outside the truck, wallets or cash in hand. It always amazed Phoebe how many people smoked or gambled, even if some were there for ice cream. "So.. You're really into this kid, huh?" Kev asked with a cheeky smile.
"What's going on?" She turned to spot a kid at the window. "Yeah, I'd like to think so," she replied with a laugh. His eyebrows rose for a small moment before nodding his head. "Mind helpin' out, guys?" Kev finished off his breakfast and tossed the trash back into the bag. Phoebe hopped up first and made her way toward the window. "Hello~" The younger boy looked up at her with a sheepish smile. "What can I get ya?" She leaned against the counter with a grin. "A lemon-lime shot, chocolate chip cookie bar, and a Molson's." Kev scoffed from his place behind the wheel. "Molson's? We sell American beer here to children of age." Phoebe moved to grab the uce cream and passed it to the boy. "Come back for a Bud Light when you're sixteen."
Phoebe took the money and passed it to Lip. He put it in the lock box, and gave her the exact change in return. "Thank you," the kid muttered, obviously disappointed with his lack of alcohol. "Two frozen Snickers, a bag of beer nuts, and a couple of joints." Phoebe glanced toward Lip as he looked to her, an amused smile on his face. This kid was clearly no older than twelve. "You fourteen? Got I.D?" Phoebe fought back a smile, hiding her mouth behind her hand. The kid only shook his head. "Okay. When's your birthday?" A smirk crossed the boy's face. "June third, nineteen ninety seven." Phoebe snorted. She turned away from the scene, shaking her head. She instead busied herself with grabbing the Snickers and beer nuts. "Yeah," Lip chuckled. "Okay." She set the food on the counter and nudged Lip with her elbow. "Cash," she stated, holding her hand out for the boy.
Kev finally joined the two as Lip passed the kid a couple of joints. She moved to lean against the freezer. "Taking little league book again like last year?" Phoebe grimaced at the old man who walked up. She remembered him from last summer. He always smelled worse than dog shit burning on the pavement. Her nose scrunched in distaste. "Absolutely. What do you want?" Lip asked. He looked in his element. He moved around with confidence, handled the money with ease. It was nice seeing it. "Marlins." Kev stole a DumDum from the bag and unwrapped it. "U10 or U12?" He wiggled his brows over at Phoebe before moving back to his spot in the driver's seat. "U10 for fifteen," Johnny answered. Phoebe sighed to herself, fingers drumming against the freezer door. "You're not worried about that Ratkovich? Kid threw seventy two pitches the other day." The middle aged man shrugged his shoulders. "Nah. He's Dominican."
"Huh! Brilliant reasoning!" Phoebe chimed in sarcastically. Leave it to old white men to be racist. Lip chuckled as he wrote down the bet in their little, brown book. "Yeah, whatever," Johnny responded, slapping his cash against the counter. Johnny looked to be the last customer for the moment. But as Lip put the money in the lock box, Phoebe noticed someone approaching. "Oh, no," she groaned, quickly turning toward the freezer in hopes of hiding her identity. Her palms fell flat against the dirty lid. "Can I get a, um, push pop? Grape preferably." His voice alone was enough to crawl under her skin. Lip glanced toward the customer before sighing heavily. "Get out of here, Peterson." Kevin's interest was peaked at the dismissal. Dicky tilted his head, though he wasn't focused on Lip. He was focused on the girl with her back to him. "Hey, Phoebe," he called out, making the girl flinch.
"I said get out of here, Peterson. We don't sell to rapists." Phoebe's head fell in her hands at Lip's words. "He didn't rape me, Lip," she hissed. She glanced over her shoulder toward the blond boy. He was staring intently back at the other boy, daring him to say something. These days he was looking for a reason to get into a fight. "Wait, what?" Kev asked. He scratched his pinky through his ear before looking between the occupants of his truck. "Fuckwad can't keep his hands to himself," Lip stated. "Even when a girl says no." Dicky wanted to argue. Phoebe rolled her eyes at the offensive expression on his face. "And he did that to you?" Kev's question was directed toward Phoebe, brows pinched. "If she didn't want it, then she would have said so."
"I did!" she fired angrily. "Multiple times!" Lip's hands curled into fists. "That's it." Kev jumped up from his seat, grabbing a nearby sturdy object. "Get the fuck out of here, Make A Wish Peter Parker!" he shouted, swinging the pipe in the boy's direction. He hung out of the door, watching as the boy backed away. "You liked me!" Dicky shouted, pointing at the girl. "I pitied you," she argued. "Go away, you creep." Lip could have climbed over the counter. He would have chased him to the ends of the earth just to beat his head in. "Whatever." She turned back around to the freezer and jerked it open. She grabbed the first ice cream cone she saw and let the freezer door fall closed. "Fucking asshole. I swear to God, I see him freaking everywhere." Lip shook his head. "I don't understand what you even saw in that joker."
"Look, he was sweet in the beginning. He made me feel... like a goddess. I mean, he worshipped me. It felt nice." She ripped open the paper holding the cone and crumpled it all in her fist. "Never trust a man like that," Kev sighed. "They always keep the darkest secrets." He wiggled his fingers toward the girl before plopping down into the driver's seat. "You said you've been seeing him everywhere?" Lip leaned against the counter facing the girl. He held his hand out for the cone, to which she obliged. "Sometimes I feel like I catch a glimpse of him when I'm out. Like when we go to the store, or when I stop by Kash and Grab." She grimaced as Lip took the first bite, breaking into the chocolate shell surrounding the vanilla ice cream. "And you haven't said anything?" Her shoulders lifted in a shrug as she licked the cone. "You do realize that any of us would happily beat the shit out of him for you, right?"
"Mm.. I can't. I wouldn't do well in prison." She felt that uneasiness in her chest rinse away as she ate away at her ice cream. She grinned over at Kev with a giggle. "It's not a big deal. It's not like he knows anything important. Its a little harmless stalking." She shrugged nonchalantly. She knew that if it got to be a problem, she could trust Alan or Lip to do something. "Stalking is never harmless. Have you not watched the Lifetime channel?" Kev asked incredulously. "It could seem harmless at first, but then you find him hiding in your closet with a turkey baster and a sandwich bag of his own baby juice." Both Lip and Phoebe glanced toward Kevin with horrified expressions. But before they could question him on his scenario, they could hear footsteps approaching. A blonde head of hair entered the truck and before Phoebe could react, there she was. "Sorry I'm late. Slept through my alarm."
There was Karen Jackson in all of her glory. Her eyes met Phoebe's and a small smirk found her features. Phoebe took a bite of her ice cream and turned away from the girl. "Yeah, I came by last night, waited for a while." Kev glanced between the three teenagers in his truck in confusion. Last he had checked, there was bad blood between the two girls. "Well, I didn't get in until four a.m." She brushed past the boy and headed straight for their stash of joints. "Hi, Phoebe." The brunette's eyes widened upon being greeted. She almost choked on the piece of chocolate she was chewing. "So, a new guy?" Lip asked, wanting to get back on track with Karen. The blonde scoffed. "Jody? He's nice. I don't know, we got to talking about music yesterday. And he showed me a bunch of bands I've never heard of. My favorite was called Guns N' Roses."
Kev had since gotten out one of his many reading materials and shook it open. He cut his eyes toward the blonde in disbelief. "Guns N' Roses?" he asked. "How old is Jody?" Karen looked thoughtful for a moment. "Thirty seven, I think?" Once again, Phoebe almost choked on the food in her mouth. She coughed against the cold ice cream sliding down her throat. "You know, he laid out a blanket in the park and we listened to his iPod, and fell asleep in each others' arms." It did seem like a dream come true. It even reminded Phoebe of when she and Alan would fall asleep together on his couch, his head on her chest, the music playing from her headphones long forgotten. She bit down on her lip to hold in her coughing. "Wow," Lip breathed out in surprise. "Sex any good?" She couldn't stop herself from slapping his arm. He gasped at the sharp pain, glaring over at the brunette. "Heh. No sex," she responded, unaware of the abuse he just endured.
Lip's brows lifted in shock. "It's a part of this whole Sex Addicts Anonymous things." Sex Addicts Anonymous, Phoebe thought, That exists? "Right, but you're a teenager. I mean, all teenagers are sex addicts. Right, Pheebs?" He wanted validation so desperately. If someone agreed with him, maybe Karen would change her mind. Maybe she'd remember what it felt like when they were together before. "Excuse me?" His eyes widened. "No, I didn't mean it like that." She frowned over at Lip. "It's different when you've been having sex since eleven," Karen argued. "Phoebe lost her virginity at, what? Fifteen?" The brunette shrugged. "Almost. It was, like, a few days before my fifteenth birthday." Lip groaned to himself. Kev was completely enthralled with their conversation, though he tried to hide it. But every time Karen spoke, it was like a fresh new loaf of gossip was served up just for him. She was as fucked up as they came.
"Jody and I don't want the physical to complicate things for us." Phoebe felt her stomach tighten. She and Alan were the same way when they first started talking. They had held out for so long before the imminent sexual tension became too great. "Yeah, but we can still get complicated, right?" Lip sounded so needy. Phoebe took another bite of her ice cream cone with a shake of her head. Even Karen was starting to sense it. "Sure, I guess," she responded with a shrug of her shoulders. As the conversation began to die down, Lip's invention began beeping. Karen wrapped up the marijuana in a panic and tossed it back in its original place. Lip jumped toward the device, eyes squinted as he took in the map. "Uh, foot patrol, nine o'clock, two hundred yards and closing." He climbed into the passenger seat and closed off the door. Karen came to stand beside Phoebe, both holding on to the racks above their heads.
She glanced toward the brunette, the joint held between her lips. "It's been a while," she commented, the edge of her lips quirking. The brunette met her eyes, tongue lapping at the melting ice cream. "Yeah," she sighed. "Not long enough."
—
Phoebe couldn't believe her eyes. The amount of weed in that room could get you multiple life sentences in prison. She wielded a pair of shears and cut branch after branch off of the plants. Her fingers were starting to cramp up. "We handed over all the cash we made so far this summer," Fiona complained. "And we still owe six grand. That's money we count on to get through the winter." Phoebe glanced over to meet Lip's eyes. He smiled over at her. The previous night had been pretty scary. They were woken up in the middle of the night to find out Liam was kidnapped by his own father. Not to mention the fact they also had a gun pointed in their face. She smiled back, her shoulders shaking as she laughed quietly. "Well, what was it, some kind of bet?" Veronica asked. Fiona scoffed. "Oh, ten grand. Can you believe that?"
"Yes," Kev muttered beneath his breath. Phoebe bit down on her bottom lip hard. "We'll be lucky to bank enough to get us to Christmas." Kev paused his movements, letting out a tired groan. It was obvious how heartbroken he was over having to waste all of this primo weed. He had worked hard to grow it and yet here he was, forced to destroy what he had built. The reasoning behind it was plausible, but it was still sad. "Hey, Vee, can we at least save some for the ice cream truck, keep it stocked all summer?" Lip asked as he hauled an armful of branches toward the pile. Phoebe watched as he went, eyes snapping toward Veronica after. "How much is that?" she asked carefully. He tossed the branches down and turned back to the woman. "One bag should do it," he replied. "Fine, but less than an ounce on the truck at one time."
She looked intimidating pointing those shears toward Lip. He grinned back at her, nodding his head. "Yes, ma'am," he replied, hands risen in surrender. Veronica chuckled at him before spotting Fiona with a pleading look. "Sure, take a bag," she laughed out. "It's the least we can do to thank you for your hard work." She looked over the trees to spot Phoebe snipping away. "You too!" She threw up an 'okay' sign before getting back to work. Kev parted the branches of a tree to stare at Veronica with pleading eyes. "No. No, not you, Johnny Appleseed." Phoebe snorted. She quickly covered her mouth, but her actions didn't go unnoticed. Kev looked over at her with an upset look. "Really?" he asked her, nudging her out of his way to get back to his own shears that he had dropped on the floor. "It was funny," she retorted. "I have a sense of humor."
"Since when?" Lip quipped. Phoebe looked toward him in mock disbelief. "You're really asking to get beat up, Gallagher." He poked his tongue out at the girl from over the trees. She scoffed. "But, hey, Kev. Alan actually told me to talk to you about buying some of this stuff off of you." Kev's eyes widened. He quickly shushed the girl, firmly pressing his finger to her lips. "Walk outside with me," he whispered, eyes flickering from her face to Veronica. Phoebe stared back at him with wide eyes, confusion evident behind them. "Okay?" she mumbled against his pressure, lips struggling to move around her words. He used his opposite hand to smooth down her hair. "Okay. Follow me." He took the shears from her hands and placed them on the ground. He brushed past her so secretively that if Phoebe didn't know any better, she would have thought he was some sort of spy.
They each grabbed two garbage bags full of marijuana and made their way toward the door. Once outside, Kev began to jog toward the truck. "How much is he thinking?" Kev asked, dropping the bags at his feet. Phoebe dropped hers, hands coming to rest on her hips. "He said he could spare two grand. He wanted to help out with the bill." Kev looked surprised. Phoebe sucked in a breath before shrugging her shoulders. "He doesn't want to pay too much that it'll get his employers attention. He'd prefer to keep the exchange quiet so you guys don't get involved. He also said that if you still needed more, he could sell it on the side and give you the profit." — "All of it?" he asked incredulously. She nodded her head. They both had jobs, they didn't need the extra at that time. Plus Kev and Veronica had done so much for Phoebe, she felt like she owed them her life.
Kev grabbed Phoebe's head between his hands and pressed a hard, wet kiss to the top of her head. "You two are angels. Like real angels," he told her, running his thumbs over her ears. "We gotta find where to hide it." He released her just in time to notice Lip hauling a bag over his shoulder. He stopped a few feet away from them, eyebrows bouncing. "Are you two having a secret meeting?" he asked. "Without me?" She narrowed her eyes toward the boy. "Not everything is about you, Phillip," she teased. She picked up her bags once more and glanced around the area. There weren't many places to hide large trash bags. The only spot that wouldn't be questioned is the garbage bin. "How about there?" She nodded toward the open bin and Kev turned in that direction. It was basically fool proof. Who would question why there was trash bags in there? "Okay. Come on."
"Wait, what are we doing?" Lip asked. "We need your bag, pretty boy." He ignored the fluttering his stomach at her words and followed after them. Kev easily chunked the bags into the bin, taking Phoebe's next, and then taking Lip's. "Are you going to fill me in or do I need to guess?" The two turned toward the blue eyed boy silently. "If I have to guess, what do I get if I get it right?" Silence ensued for a moment before Phoebe scoffed. "How does it feel to have an ego the size of a boat?" she asked. "I'm sure it isn't fun." She patted his chest before brushing past him. "We've got more work to do," Kev sighed. "So much beautiful weed going to waste. It's almost enough to make a grown man cry.." Lip scoffed. Just one more secret added to the pile. How wonderful.
from rumi . . .
petition to have phoebe fight
karen. sign below.
another petition to have alan
& lip beat up dicky.
the besties, tho, are going back
to normal little by little. i can't
wait until they're back to normal
tho. i miss them. 😔
but what is you guys's favorite part?
mine was definitely the "make a wish
peter parker". i've had it planned ever
since i first watched season two 😂
don't forget to vote + comment!