Little Morgan Gallagher

37- I'll miss you

     A few weeks had passed and Jimmy had gone AWOL once again, Debbie went on about how they must've broken up as we were all confused by his absence.

     I woke up to the sound of Ian opening and closing drawers in our room, bustling through his stuff.

     I slowly propped myself up on my elbows, looking down on him from the top bunk through squinted eyes since I had just been woken up. "Dude can you be louder?" I yawned.

     "Sorry mouse," he chuckled, and I saw he was dressed in full ROTC uniform.

     "Wait they got ROTC the last day before Christmas break?" I asked.

     "Yeah they're having some sort of winter ceremony," he told me, reaching up to pinch  my nose before grabbing his bag and heading out of our room.

     I didn't buy it for a second.

     I hopped off the top bunk quickly, pulling on a pair of baggy jeans over my underwear and grabbed a hoodie to put over my pyjama top before going to follow him out the door.

***

     "Morning guys," I smiled at my younger siblings, kissing Liam and Debbie on their heads and ruffling Carl's head. "Morning mouse," Debbie said shovelling cereal into her mouth.

     "I'm heading out munchkins, see you in a bit. Remember, no more Jimmy talk," I warned as Debbie rolled her eyes but I just giggled at her.

     "Also proud of you Lip! Fucking genius!" I called spotting him in the living room, but slamming the door before he could respond. He was the first Gallagher to get his diploma, and I wouldn't admit it fully but I was the proudest little sister in the world.

     "Yo! G.I. Jane!" I yelled, running after Ian after I spotted him walking down the alley, "Slow down!"

     "Hey, you're out of bed. Thought we'd have to put you on suicide watch," he laughed as I caught up to him, walking with him.

     "No need," I smiled, "I moved on."

     "Well, the best thing about falling for Mickey Milkovich is that you can always find someone better," he smiled, ruffling my hair, before we parted ways.

     Where the fuck was he going?

***

     I followed Ian to the army building, spotting him coming out. "Hey! I knew you were bullshitting about ROTC? Are you serious?" I called, pulling my cigarette out of my mouth.

     His face dropped when he saw me, "what're you doing here?"

     "I knew you didn't have ROTC, you're trying to enlist? Again? You gotta be 18!" I told him, in reality my fear for my brother was coming out in anger.

     "I figured a way around it," he smirked, coming closer to face me. I felt a small lump in my throat, "you're serious?"

     "Yeah, I'm shipping out tomorrow morning," he explained, taking my cigarette out of my hand to take a drag of it.

     "I swear you think this is a fucking joke!" I snapped, feeling the lump in my throat get more painful to fight back.

     He raised his eyebrows at me, "No I don't, I've wanted this for a long time Morgy."

"What the fuck is Fiona gonna think?"

"Well you won't tell any of our siblings because if you do, I'll Fiona that you've been getting shitfaced every night the past two weeks without her knowing."