Comrade Carl has a bright future ahead of him.
Watching Carl's reaction, Dexter thought to himself, thoroughly amused. He couldn't be bothered with the hateful glares Fiona was shooting his way and simply turned to Bianca. "Let's go back inside."
Bianca wasn't stupid. She had noticed the venom in Fiona's eyes too. She nodded in agreement.
The two of them went inside and closed the door.
Watching this happen right in front of her, Fiona couldn't hold it in anymore and cursed Dexter viciously in her heart.
Inside Dexter's House.
It was still early, and the watermelon wasn't finished yet.
Dexter invited Carl to join him and Bianca on the sofa to watch some TV.
"Okay," Carl nodded. After everything that had just happened, he was feeling a little low.
Dexter noticed it but decided not to say anything.
This was part of Carl the God's growth arc.
You can't see the rainbow without weathering the storm.
A moment later.
The three of them were sitting on the sofa like a little family of three, eating watermelon and watching a horror movie.
Of course, Dexter picked the movie.
He knew Carl was into this stuff.
After watching for a while.
Dexter thought for a moment, got up, went to his computer, logged into YouTube, and deleted the video.
The video had served its purpose. Letting it ferment any longer might actually attract the authorities and send Fiona back to prison...
That wouldn't be interesting.
Video deleted, Dexter sat back on the sofa and returned to the movie.
The Gallagher House.
The storm surrounding the daycare had finally passed.
But that didn't mean life at the Gallagher house could just snap back to normal.
After a storm passes, you still have to deal with the wreckage.
Fiona collapsed onto the sofa and rubbed her face hard.
The daycare was dead.
They had just lost a significant chunk of income for the summer.
Not only that.
Because she had used almost all the daycare money yesterday to pay Dexter's rent... paying back all those parents was going to be incredibly difficult...
On top of that.
What Debbie did was bound to have consequences. For example, playing outside might now mean getting targeted or bullied...
After stewing in frustration for a while, Fiona took a deep breath, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a harsh drag. She decided to tackle the problems one by one.
Start with the easiest one.
"Debbie, for the time being, don't go out to play. Just stay inside and watch TV," Fiona said gently to Debbie.
Debbie had stopped crying a while ago. Hearing this, she nodded in agreement immediately, then instinctively defended herself. "Those two boys were too naughty. If they weren't so bad, I wouldn't have locked them in the cage. It's not my fault."
Tsk tsk.
The Gallaghers really live up to their name.
Comrade Debbie Gallagher really is a classic little "princess."
But that wasn't the most interesting part.
The most interesting part was that Fiona didn't think what Debbie did was all that wrong either.
In Fiona's view...
So the two boys got locked in a dog cage for a bit. So what? They weren't beaten, they weren't hurt. What was the big deal?
"Yeah, I know," Fiona comforted her.
Debbie sniffled and didn't say anything else, seething with hatred for those two little boys.
Fiona turned to Lip. "Lip, about paying them back?"
Karen was still there, so Fiona couldn't bear to lose her dignity by being too explicit.
Lip understood. "I'll talk to Ian. We'll figure something out."
"Okay," Fiona was mentally and physically exhausted by the sudden debt, but she didn't dare rest. She checked the time and got ready to head to the club for work.
But before she left, the Carl issue needed addressing.
"What's going on with Carl?" Fiona asked.
Carl's situation involved Karen, and Lip didn't want to get into it. He shook his head. "Don't worry about Carl. I'll have a talk with him tomorrow."
"Yeah. Make him stay away from Dexter," Fiona said firmly.
Lip nodded in agreement.
Fiona sighed. She'd said what needed to be said. Everything else could wait until tomorrow. "I'm going to work. House is yours."
"Be safe out there," Lip told her.
Fiona got up and left.
Second Floor.
Peggy was lying in Frank's bed, wide awake. She clearly heard the conversation downstairs. She shook her head gently and started thinking.
The money Fiona needed to pay back the parents... for the current Peggy, it was pocket change.
She could easily give them the money and help Fiona weather this crisis.
But...
Based on the conversation she just heard...
Peggy genuinely felt that Fiona, Debbie, and Lip were no different from Frank. They were hopeless.
Since they were hopeless... giving them money was just throwing it away. It was meaningless.
Peggy didn't like throwing money away. It wasn't her habit.
However, Carl still had hope. Using the money on Carl might yield unexpected results.
Peggy thought for a while and decided not to rush giving them money. She'd wait and see how Fiona and the others treated her first, then decide.
The fact was...
In the few days since she'd been back, Fiona and the others hadn't exactly treated her well.
---
Dexter's House.
The movie finished, and it was getting late.
Bianca had work tomorrow.
Knowing this, Dexter smiled at Carl. "Carl, you usually sleep pretty late, right?"
Carl had polished off half a watermelon and his belly was round. He nodded. "Yeah, usually around midnight."
"Bianca and I are going upstairs to rest. You okay down here by yourself?" Dexter asked.
Carl gave a cocky grin. "No problem. Go to sleep."
"Okay. There's food in the fridge. If you get hungry, help yourself. Watch the water temperature when you shower, don't scald yourself," Dexter gave a few instructions.
"Yep," Carl responded briefly.
"Goodnight then, Carl. See you in the morning," Bianca stood up and said gently.
Carl liked Bianca.
A woman like Bianca was something Carl had never really encountered in his life.
"Okay, see you in the morning," Carl said with a genuinely happy smile.
Dexter and Bianca went upstairs.
The house had two bathrooms, one on the first floor and one on the second.
Dexter and Bianca showered, went back to the bedroom, and fell asleep.
First Floor.
Seeing the lights go out upstairs, Carl—who was still young and staying here for the first time—felt a tiny twinge of fear. He shifted his body and sat next to Dumb-Nine, who was lying at the end of the sofa.
"Dumb-Nine, quit sleeping. Wake up, time to party! Watch a movie with me!" Carl petted the dog's head.
Dumb-Nine opened his eyes, looked at Carl like he was looking at an idiot, closed his eyes again, and went right back to snoring.
Carl was out of options. He thought for a second, got up, went to the fridge, grabbed a beer, and chugged. Gulp, gulp, gulp.
Downed a whole bottle!
Liquid courage.
Carl smirked triumphantly, found a slasher horror movie, turned the volume down a bit, and started watching intently.
---
The Alibi Room.
Frank had been drinking non-stop, complaining non-stop, and was now completely wasted, lying on the floor like a puddle of mud.
Kevin looked at him helplessly and called out to Tommy. "Tommy, give me a hand. Let's carry him out."
"You got it," Tommy agreed readily.
A moment later.
Kevin and Tommy carried Frank out to the alley beside the Alibi, dumped him next to the dumpster, dusted off their hands, and walked back inside chuckling.
About ten minutes later.
Kevin finished cleaning up, locked the doors, and went home.
As soon as he got home, Kevin found Veronica and asked about Ethel.
Veronica had a real headache about this. "Ethel is already asleep. Kevin, we need to talk."
The tone was serious.
Kevin was dumb, but he wasn't that dumb. He immediately got nervous and sat down next to Veronica. "V, what's wrong?"