Kevin, Fiona and Veronica decided to throw Bella a last minute 'going-away' party. Carl told them that Bella had been telling him her mother was crazy but to them the woman seemed pretty normal. They were waiting for something to happen but things seemed to be quiet.
Carl dragged Bella into the house, covering her eyes with his hands. The kids almost fell a few times and took a slight detour when Bella punched Carl for walking so slow. The kids fought in the street, punching and kicking while the Gallaghers (plus Kev and V) waited inside. They all sat around the living room, waiting for Carl to walk in with Bella as planned but something seemed to be taking them long. Lip finally stood up impatiently, looking through the window.
"Jesus Christ" He sighs, pointing to the wrestling nine-year-olds. Carl was punching Bella and she tripped him, sending the boy to the floor. The young girl starting punching him as he tried to fight back.
"These damn kids" V groans, walking over to the door. She swings it open and yells out. "KIDS! INSIDE! NOW!" The tone of her voice makes Carl and Bella stop dead in their tracks, the girl was holding Carl up by his shirt and was winding her arm back to clock him before the interruption. She let him go and he stood up, dusting himself off. They walked inside, looking at the ground so they didn't have to look at Veronica-who they were very much afraid of when she was angry. They sit on the couch and Bella wipes some blood off her lip.
"God damn it Carl!" Lip scolds and he groans.
"That was probably my blood anyways!" The boy says in defense and holds onto his side where she had kicked him.
"Anyways" Fiona changes the subject, getting the cake she made out from the kitchen. "Surprise Bella!" She smiled and the girl grins as everyone whoops. Kev hugs her from the side and Lip ruffles the girl's hair.
"You want cake now or later?" Veronica asks, cleaning the girls dirty face from fighting in the road.
"Now!" Bella says like it's obvious and Fiona laughs, starting to cut the cake. Debbie squeezes her way between Kev and Bella, hugging her friend. Bella groans, due to the fact that she was still sore from Carl punching her. She doesn't say anything, fighting the pain and hugs the redhead back. Ian hands them a piece of cake and the girls begin eating. Carl takes some of Bella's frosting off with his finger and she does the same from his, wiping it on his face.
For a good hour they were uninterrupted, eating cake and enjoying each other's company. Things were good but of course things never go good in the Gallagher or Zambada-García house. They were playing uno, all around the table when a knock at the door distracted them. Ian was closest to the door so he got up to answer it. Upon opening it he finds Bella's mom, she's frantic and asks for her daughter repeatedly. The woman was shaking, which Ian noticed and because of that he refused to let her inside. Finally the other family was brought to the attention of the intruder, when Elvia Jimenez puked right on Ian's shirt. The teen groans in disgust, stepping back and the others get up.
Bella looks at her mother in silence, getting up from her spot on the couch. "Mom, let's go home" Is all she says and upon grabbing the woman she slaps the nine year old girl right in the face.
"Hell no" Veronica gets up, taking off her earrings and handing them to Lip. Bella grabs her mom's face and looks her dead in the eye.
"You need to stop" The girl pleads, walking out the front door before V can do any harm to her mother. "I will tell dad!" She warns.
"You can't tell your dad Bella!" The woman is shaking and Bella eyes the yellow plastic bat that Lip banned her and Carl from playing with. "He'll kill me!" The woman frantically says and the Gallaghers watch in shock. "He'll kill me!" She repeats, falling to her knees and whispering incoherently.
"MAYBE HE SHOULD!" Bella raises her voice in a way that none of the family had seen and she walks towards the bat that Lip banned her and Carl from playing with. She grabs it, pointing it at her mother. "Go home and get in the shower"
"I-I'm not feeling well" The woman says, throwing up again and this time it seems to be mixed with a little blood. Bella grabs her mom's hand, trying to drag her across the road.
"Hey! Hey!" Lip yells out, running down the steps. He bends over, helping the older woman up as she gasps for breath. "What are you gonna do with that bat?" He asks and Bella looks at her mother. Before he can do anything the little girl is hitting her mom in the legs with the bat. The woman yells in pain and lunges forward but Lip holds her back. Kevin runs into the street, picking Bella up but the girl fights him-kicking and screaming at her mother. She doesn't stop until Fiona and V drag her mom into the shower and is no longer in the girls sight. He lets her down and she picks up the yellow bat again, walking across the street. Before Kevin can yell at her to get back, Bella hits her mailbox with the bat.
She bangs it repeatedly, screaming bad words in Spanish as the bat dents. They all watch in shock st the angry girl. Finally, the plastic bat is bent completely backwards and she throws it on the ground. She sits in the street, breathing heavily and she tries to calm down. She crosses her arms in silence and the family soon joins her.
"You cant sit out here. You'll get run over" Lip says and she shrugs without saying a word.
"I need to go to sleep soon" Bella sighs. "We're leaving early tomorrow"
"You're not going back with her!" Fiona exclaims, pointing at the house holding Bella's dysfunctional mother.
"I have to" Bella says, looking up and Carl runs into the street. He finally broke free of Kevin's release. Kev was supposed to keep the kids inside while Ian, Fiona, Lip and V figured out what to do with the nine year old. The Gallagher sits by his girlfriend, holding her hand. "I'm scared she'll die"
"Why would she die?" Veronica asks.
"Almost happened before" The girl shrugged. Her mom overdosed twice in the past and she had a feeling that another one was coming. "She was throwing up blood"
Lip bends down, looking her in the eye. "What did she mean when she said your dad was gonna kill her?"
Bella Zambada-García sighs, playing with rocks from the street as she thought of a way to explain her dad. "He's killed people before and she saw...." The girl looks back at her house. "I think she's just scared of him"
The four look at her in shock. Her dad really was a bad guy. There had been no sugar-coating and now it was no wonder Bella didn't want anything to do with him. "W-when he killed those people" Ian starts but he's afraid of the answer he may get. "Did you see?"
Bella doesn't say a word. She leans her head on Carl's shoulder and looks off into the distance, deciding that's a question she doesn't wanna answer. "Im going with her. You can't change my mind"
"Why?" Carl finally speaks and he grabs her other hand. "Stay with me"
The nine-year-old sighs, smiling at her boyfriend. "I need to be there for her. No one else is"
Lip shakes his head. "That's not supposed to be your job. You're a kid" He says in disbelief.
"I know" Bella nods. "But if she dies I wanna be there"
Fiona can't say anything, her arms are crossed and she taps her foot anxiously. She looks at Ian and he doesn't say anything. V sighs and hugs the little girl feeling tears cloud her eyes. "If you wanna stay with your mama I can't stop you" She reassures and the girl sniffles, hugging her back. They stayed like that for a few minutes and V doesn't even believe that she ended up caring for the little girl across the street this much. Carl joins the hug and before you know it the other 3 Gallaghers join in.
Veronica hands Bella the lunch she packed her for the road and hugs the young girl for what felt like the millionth time that day. She kisses her head and the girl smiles before turning to Kevin. He was taking Bella's leaving very hard and was an emotional mess. Bella grabbed out the bracelet she had made for him out of beads and strings and shows it to him.
"It has 'K' for Kevin" She says and he gasps, holding out his wrist so she can tie it. He chokes back a sob, looking at Veronica who's rubbing his back. "And I only made it with black, green and blue"
"My favorite colors!" Kevin exclaims, hugging her. He wipes a tear away from his eye and gives her a fist-bump, making her giggle.
Fiona smiles, hugging her and the girl places a kiss on the cheek. Next is Lip, who kneels down and she kisses his cheek. He messes her hair up like usual, making her slap his hand away. Ian smiles, turning his head so she can kiss the same spot on his cheek she always did. Next is Debbie who's holding Liam. Bella hugs her only girl friend and tickles Liam's stomach, kissing him on the forehead. The last one is Carl, who is crossing his arms and leaning against the gate. He doesn't look at her, picking his head up towards the sky.
"Carl!" She groans, and he turns his head to the right. She moves to the side and his head goes to the left-opposite of her. Finally Bella sighs and punches him in the stomach. The family watches with wide eyes and the little boy doubles over in pain. Bella kisses his lips, then his cheek and he smiles. They do their handshake, the one where they punch each other in the shoulder in the end. Finally, her mom grabs Bella by the forearm, guiding her to the car and closing the door behind. She waves to the people watching her but only receives a few glares back.
They watch the car drive away and Carl doesn't leave until he's positive he can't see the car anymore. A nine-year-old Carl Gallagher stumbles in and throws his body on the couch, groaning into the cushion. "It'll be okay bud" Lip rubs his back in support and Carl picks his head up.
"My heart is broken into a million pieces!" He exclaims, dropping his face back into the couch and Debbie scoffs.
"I didn't know you could count that high"