southside trash [shameless]

• Chapter 22 • Lost •

"Carl, we're serious. The stakes are really, really high," Fiona says to the young boy sat on the coffee table in front of her, "we love you and we need you in this family, in this house. You need to stop being and punching and hurting people."

"Well how else do I make them cry?" Carl asks, voice as innocent as a dove, despite it contrasting what he is saying.

"Gossip and slander," Lip tells him seriously.

"You know, when I get really angry, I usually just count to ten," Steve decides to pitch in.

"Hey, little man, tell you what we'll do," Lip taps Carl on the knee to get his attention, "we're gonna get you some pads and skates, get you out on the ice. You can take you frustrations out with a hockey stick."

"Yeah, you can come to karate with me," Ian adds, "remember when I broke Kyle's leg? Took three pins to put it back together."

"You can't beat karate when it come to regulated, sanctioned violence for children," Debbie gives her younger brother a small smile.

Carl looks over to Fiona, furrowing his eyebrows, as if battling over everything that has happened tonight, before eventually nodding, "okay."

She smiles at him and pulls him into a hug, "hey, Debs, Carl, why don't you both go get ready for bed, huh? Then come down and we can watch a film, how does that sound?"

They nod with grins on their faces and scurry up the stairs.

Fiona breaths out heavily, "where the fuck is, Emma?" She leans back on the couch, running her hands through her hair, "this isn't like her. I mean, come on, it's Carl for Christ's sake, she'd take a bullet for him."

"I haven't seen or heard from her since we left school," Lip sighs.

"She was with Jonas, that's all I know," Ian adds.

"Probably just lost track of time, I mean, she didn't know about Carl nearly getting expelled did she?" Steve points out.

"Yeah," Fiona sighs, "but she knows there was a letter, and she'd want to get home to find out what it was about."

Lip is about to say something when the Gallagher phone starts wringing from Fiona's coat pocket, which is hanging on the stairs bannister. She quickly gets up and pulls it out of the pocket, answering the call and putting the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi there, may I speak to Francis Gallagher." A lady formally asks through the phone

"Uh, he's not in right now, what's this about?" Fiona replies.

"I'm going to need to speak to a parent or guardian of Emma Gallagher." She continues.

"Why? What's happened? Is she okay? Who is this?" Fiona frantically asks, now certain the call isn't about some crap Frank's gotten himself into.