As I got out of history, I ran into Mandy. She recently got new highlights that looked super cute.
"Hey girl," she said.
"Hey," I said, "What's good?"
"Oh, nothing much," she said, "Had to walk in through the back to avoid Nate Tompkins."
I chuckled, "Why? Did you fuck him?"
"Nah, just a blow job," she said, "But I know he wants to, and once a guy goes soft in your mouth, there's no going back from that."
I covered my mouth upon gaining that information and laughed.
"Your friend, Ian," she said, "He seeing anybody?"
I froze, trying to come up with an answer, "I mean, no. But I don't think he's looking for anything with anyone right now."
"Really? I don't know. He keeps sending me mixed signals."
"Huh?"
"You know, like the occasional smile or smirk in class."
She meant his nervous smile that he does all the time.
No one except for me knew that Ian was gay. Not even Lip or Fiona. I didn't know why he didn't tell them because it's not like they'd judge him for it.
_______________________________________________________________
The pharmacy was quiet that day, so my manager told me to clock out and go home. I grabbed the dental floss and headed to the Gallaghers.
I walked in and didn't see anyone, so I went upstairs into the boys' room.
"Lip?"
"Yo!" I heard him say as I walked up the stairs.
"Here's the dental floss," I said, throwing him the pack as he laid in his bed, "How was tutoring?"
"It was good," he said, smiling, "Yea, it was... good."
I raised an eyebrow, "Why are you smiling like that?"
"Oh, nothing," he said.
I walked closer to him and looked into his light blue eyes. That's one of my tricks for getting people to tell the truth. I stared at him until he cracked.
"Alright, alright!" he said, "I was explaining the laws of motion to her, and then she gave me a hummer under the table."
I cringed, "Ew, Lip! You seriously let that skank blow you?!"
"Her mom was in the other room cooking," he said, "Didn't suspect a thing."
"It's Sheila. She never suspects shit from her daughter," I said.
Sheila was always sweet, but she was a whackjob. Her husband, Eddie, was a cop and a massive dickhead. No wonder Karen was so fucked up.
"Not complaining, though," he said, "It was a nice blow job."
I groaned and walked out, "Goodbye, Lip."
"Oh, come on, Mayo. Don't be like that."
"Yeah, whatever," I said, "Have fun getting herpes."
I was upset, especially since he knew I wasn't thrilled about him tutoring her in the first place, but the fact that he just let her blow him and didn't tell her to stop made me angry.
I toned out dinner that night. Diana and my Dad were talking about themselves, and I couldn't care less. I didn't give a fuck about Diana's stupid baseball boyfriend or my dad's boring job.
After dinner, I tried to read a book and relax, but Diana was on the phone with her boyfriend, Jason, and she was so fucking loud. Deciding it was no use, I tossed the book aside and put my iPod on shuffle, humming along to Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac, one of my favorite songs.
And is it over now? Do you know how? Pick up the pieces and go home.
________________________________________________________________
After school, I took a much-needed therapeutic walk. I walked down two blocks when I saw Frank sitting on the curb. In one hand, he had a cigarette. In his other hand, he held a Coors banquet bottle.
"Hey there, Mayo! Are you willing to do me a small favor-
I knew where this was going.
"Don't have any money to give you, Frank. Get a damn job," I said.
"I'll get a damn job whenever the hell I feel like it! I work so hard in this life, and I'm the father of six ungrateful degenerate kids. What do I get for that? I get shit! Everything always goes to this generation, even if it means just sitting with their thumbs up their asses all day," Frank ranted to me.
I shrugged as I walked off, "I repeat, get a fucking job!"
Frank was so pathetic, and everything he said was bullshit.
I was outside the Jacksons' house and was about to walk on when I heard screaming and running from inside. The next thing I know, Lip jumps out the second-floor window while Ian runs out of the house the back way. I screamed and threw my hands over my mouth.
"The further you run, the more I will kill you!" Mr. Jackson yelled.
"What the hell is going on? Lip, here," I said as I let Lip hold onto me for support. He was limping because he landed funny from the fall.
"Long story. We'll tell you later. If Fiona's home, don't say ANYTHING. I mean, anything. If she asks you something, agree with our alibi," Ian said, running behind us.
Fiona was home, and so was everyone else. Even Blake was at the house. We got Lip upstairs and laid him on Ian's bed.
"Really?" Fi said, looking at his foot, "An old lady on the train?"
"Oh yeah, yeah, the doors were closing on her walker, and Lip nearly got his foot in time to stop them from-
I could tell she wasn't buying it as she examined it further.
"Ow! Jesus, Fiona!" Lip yelled.
"Can't remember whether that's good or bad."
"It's not good. I can say that," I said.
"More likely you two jumped the turnstiles again, and he twisted it trying to outrun the transit cops."
V walked in and threw her hands up, "No, no! Always elevate extremities! Move before you give him a fucking embolism. You ok, Lip?"
Lip winced as V got a better look at it and then looked at Ian and me.
"You two, go to my house. Top of the freezer. Two ice packs. The second cupboard above the sink. Liquid ibuprofen, freeze spray, ace bandages."
"Should we get it x-rayed?" Fiona asked, concerned.
"Fuck no! You'll be in the ER forever, and for what? Submetatarsal hematoma. Thanks, tell us something we didn't know five hours ago. Fuck off."
Ian and I almost left the room when V stopped us, "My bedroom, top of the TV!"
"Yea?"
"Pack of smokes and a lighter."
Someone knocked on the door, prompting Ian and Lip to panic.
"I'm not here!"
"You don't know us, Fiona!"
"Oh, what have you done? What have you done?!" Fiona said angrily, Blake and Carl following after her.
I groaned and walked to Kev and V's house. Ian eventually caught up with me, and we walked into the bedroom to find Kev asleep on the bed. He turned and took the blanket off, showing his penis. My eyes widened, not prepared or excited to see that.
We exchanged shocked looks, leaving the room when Kev muttered, "Where are you going with those?"
"It's for V," I said.
"Well, gimme one."
We slowly turned out, gave Kev a cig, and lit it for him, trying to ignore the fact that his dick was out.
"You get a haircut, Mayo?" he said.
"Yeah, and highlights," I said.
"Looks good."
I nodded and smiled awkwardly before leaving.
"So, are you going to tell me what happened at Karen's now, or am I gonna have to figure it out?"
He sighed, "OK. So, Lip found my secret stash of magazines, and he was convinced that if he brought me over to Karen's so she'd give me a hummer under the table, he'd be able to snap me out of it."
"And?"
"It was awful. Couldn't get hard at all," he said, "And then, Karen's dad saw her under the table, put the pieces together, and chased us out of the house."
I shook my head in disbelief, "Fucking Lip. I'm so sorry about that."
He shrugged, "It's fine. I mean, who's the one with the busted foot?"
I laughed as we went back inside, and to our surprise, there was a new washer in the kitchen.
"Thought you were broke," V said.
"Yeah, where'd this come from?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
Fiona smiled and reached for a bouquet of roses, "These were in the washer."
V and I looked at the tag, which read Steve.
"Who's Steve?" V said.
"The other night," Fiona said as V remembered.
"I'm sorry, who?" I said.
Fiona filled me in on this guy who ran after an asshole who stole her purse, and when they all couldn't get back into the club because they didn't have the re-entry stamp, Steve decked the bouncer to defend Fiona's honor because he called her a skank. And not just any bouncer. Jimmy Clifton. This guy must be really special.
I had to work that afternoon and got off around four when Lip came in.
"Mayo, I need to talk to you. Right now."
Before I could respond, he grabbed my hand and dragged me outside.
"Ow!" I said, "What?! What is going on?!"
"What's going on is Ian is screwing his fucking boss!" He said angrily.
I sighed, knowing it was only a matter of time before they'd get caught.
"Wait a minute," Lip said, "Mayo, you- you knew about this?"
"Yes, I did," I said, "And I've known he's gay for a year."
"Why the fuck didn't you tell me?!"
"Because he fucking begged me not to!" I said, "Jesus, you think I wanted to keep this from you? You think I haven't had to stop myself from sending the cops an anonymous tip against Kash?"
"Well, why didn't you do it?"
"Because Ian would know it was me, and he'd never forgive me," I said, "And Kash is married with kids. Linda would be fine, but I can't do that to his poor boys."
Lip just shook his head, and the ride on the L was the quietest and most tense ride I've ever been on. I tried to leave to go home but Lip stopped me.
"No, we're not finished here."
I groaned in discomfort as we went towards the direction of the Gallaghers. We went upstairs to the boys' room and sat on Lip's bed.
"How'd you even find out?"
"I went to go thank Kash for giving me tools to help Karen with her windows," he said.
"So, what? You're buddy buddies with Karen Jackson now?" I said coldly, "I know the reason why her dad chased you out of the house. Congratulations, your plan failed."
"First of all, fuck off. Second, come on. It's nothing. I only did it because I'm the reason her dad's out of the house now."
"Yea. You're the reason," I said sarcastically, "Anyways, go on."
"So, I thank him, and I see they're wearing mismatched shoes."
I hesitated, "Look, Lip. I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you. You're his brother and best friend, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with you."
I put my hand next to his, and our fingers slowly intertwined. We looked at each other, not sure what to do next. Slowly, we leaned in and were about to kiss when Carl swung the door open, prompting me to push Lip away.
"Come on, Lip. That's not funny."
Thank god Carl was a dumb kid, or he would've figured it out in a second.
An hour later, Ian came home and took off his shoes and jacket.
"He bought them for you, didn't he? Those shoes," Lip said, "He's married! With kids! What else did he buy you, Ian?"
"Stuff," Ian replied, "Now and again."
"And you're happy with that?" Lip said, "What does that make you? Fucking kept boy at best!"
Ian and Lip started fighting, and I tried to break it up but to no avail.
"Listen to me, stupid! You think you know everything, but you know shit!" Ian said, "Ask me what I got him, huh? Ask me. CDs. Dozens of CDs! Stuff that he's never heard of. Stuff that he might like because I want him to like the same things I like, and a couple of Sox tickets for his birthday. What does that make you, Lip? It makes you wrong, you fucking smart asshole! Now go back to Kash and promise him you're not gonna tell anybody because he's got nothing to be sorry for. Nothing."
I'd had the same conversation with Ian, minus all the cursing and insults. Kash had a shit ton to be sorry for, and the fact that Ian couldn't see that proved my point.
"Fake Muslim. Cheats on white fundamentalist wife with gutless gay boy," Lip said, "Says more about White Sox fans than it does the rest of us."
Ian swung at him, causing him to leave the room.
"You gonna say something now?" Ian said.
"I don't have to," I said before leaving, "You know what my stance is on this."
_________________________________________________________
Blake woke me up extra early because he wanted to show Carl something, so, I threw on my clothes, and we went to the Gallagher's. When we entered, the kitchen was full of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and hash browns.
"Holy shit, what happened here?" I said, looking around, and then looking at the man holding a frying pan, "Are you Steve?"
"That is I."
"So, you just made all this?" I said.
"I mean, why not?"
I chuckled, took a piece of bacon, and looked at Fiona before whispering, "This one's a keeper."