The Alibi Room.
The deal was made.
Frank, who took money very seriously, put on a look of sheer determination. Without wasting a second, he beckoned Monica to leave the Alibi. "Monica, let's go home. We can't stay here and be tempted by these drunks."
Five thousand dollars. That was serious cash!
Monica wanted it badly, so she nodded excitedly and stood up decisively. "Okay."
Before long.
Frank and Monica left the Alibi happily, clinging to each other like conjoined twins.
Dexter watched them go, downed the rest of his beer in one gulp, and felt incredibly amused.
Once Frank quit drinking...
Heh.
Carl and the others, who were severely love-starved, would soon experience some incredibly unfamiliar fatherly love from Comrade Frank.
So, how would Fiona react?
Fiona, who was deep down so weak-willed, would probably develop a beautiful fantasy that the Gallagher family was finally getting back on track.
Dexter was looking forward to the next plot points.
Driven by anticipation, he didn't delay. He put down his glass, left directly, got into his car, and while driving toward the shooting range, summoned Little Black to start tailing Frank.
The fact was, he actually believed Frank would follow the rules for that five grand. He wasn't really worried Frank would sneak a drink.
After all, to Frank, five thousand dollars was a huge amount. It could really do a lot of things!!
---
The Grocery Store.
Lip had been here for over two hours, patiently wearing Ian down. He showed absolutely no intention of leaving for the time being, clearly posturing that if Ian didn't agree to go back, he'd stay there forever.
Ian looked at Lip again, genuinely getting a headache and feeling helpless.
Honestly, Ian didn't want to go back. He truly felt that living with Carl was great.
But Lip being like this... this couldn't go on.
Ian thought for a moment and decided to try persuading Lip to leave. "Lip, stop lying to yourself. You can't actually listen to Fiona forever. Give it up. Let Fiona live her own life. It's better for everyone."
Lip knew in his heart he couldn't actually listen to Fiona all the time. He laughed decisively and shook his head. "Whether I can do it or not isn't important."
"What's important is getting Fiona back!"
"More importantly, getting Fiona to take care of Liam!"
Yes, because he understood Fiona's personality very well, Lip had calculated this clearly.
What happens later, they can deal with later. Ignore it for now.
The urgent matter, to put it bluntly, was to put on a show to get Fiona back!
Lip believed that as long as Fiona changed her mind and came back, and the Gallagher family was reunited for a while, Fiona would find it very hard to harden her heart and choose to give up again.
Ian frowned subconsciously, feeling that this logic was truly a bit disgusting. "You mean, trick Fiona into coming back?"
Lip didn't like that phrasing. He corrected him, "It's not a trick! We are family, we have to stick together."
"Fiona just isn't thinking clearly right now. I'm helping her wake up."
Look, how arrogant.
Ian felt a wave of discomfort, thinking this guy Lip was truly ridiculous. "Then you go try. I don't want to get involved."
Lip took a harsh drag of his cigarette. "You're not thinking clearly either. Have you really thought about how you're going to live without this family?"
"With your little wage here? You'll starve!"
"What will you do if you run into trouble? Without this family, who will help you?"
"..."
Lip said all this in one breath with conviction.
Honestly, while harsh, it wasn't a lie.
Currently, Ian—a hopeless romantic with limited intelligence—would indeed find it hard to survive alone.
But Ian didn't think so.
Ian was pissed. He clenched his fists and sneered, "I don't need any help. If I run into trouble, I'll solve it myself!"
Hearing such childish words, Lip just laughed.
In Lip's eyes, Ian basically had no capabilities. He was bad at school, had a weak personality, wasn't good at dealing with people, and had no skill in making money... he was almost useless.
Lip laughed for two seconds, then suppressed it. He didn't speak his true thoughts and instead asked, "What will it take for you to go back?"
Lip chose to negotiate.
This conversation between the half-brothers was destined to last quite a while longer.
---
The Shooting Range.
Dexter, who hadn't been here in a long time and basically ignored the place, got out of his car and looked around. Seeing Mickey and Carl working, he grinned, lit a cigarette, and walked straight over.
Arriving next to the two, Dexter greeted them with a smile, then asked Mickey, "Mandy took the day off today and didn't come to work. Did you know?"
"???" Mickey didn't know. He froze slightly and shook his head. "She didn't tell me."
"This morning, I happened to see her coming out of the Gallagher house. Did she hook up with Lip?" Dexter asked again, maintaining his smile.
Hearing this, and knowing the friction between Dexter and Lip, Mickey immediately furrowed his brow slightly. "Seems like it... I'll call her and have a chat."
Mandy's job at Dex Restaurant wasn't exactly high-end, but it certainly wasn't bad.
Mickey hoped Mandy would keep working well and not screw things up.
"No rush. I'm just mentioning it in passing. And, giving you a heads-up. The restaurant has its rules. Mandy did save up some time off before, so using those days is fine," Dexter exhaled a puff of smoke, speaking breezily. "But if later on, she starts being late or skipping work because of dating..."
"I'll have to let her go."
"You understand, right?"
Mickey wasn't a genius, but he wasn't that stupid either. He immediately understood that Dexter was already considering firing Mandy. He instantly got a headache.
To this day, Mickey had indeed changed a lot.
If it were the old days, being threatened?
Heh, are you kidding?
Mickey would absolutely blow his top and glare daggers.
But now, it was different.
Now he had a legitimate high income, his life was getting better and better, and he had even bought a Mercedes... It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance to frugality. Mickey really didn't want to return to those old days; he truly felt those old days were terrible.
"Yeah, I get it. I'll have a good talk with her," Mickey replied with a headache.
Dexter didn't say more since his stance was clear. He turned slightly to look at Carl. "Carl, I need a word. Walk with me."
"Okay," Carl didn't think much of it and nodded obediently.
Leaving Mickey behind, the two slowly walked into the distance.
"Carl, it's time for you to move back home." Carl had limited intelligence, so Dexter didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point.
Carl was stunned. "Huh????"