No one thought much of it, only seeing her walk to the kitchen and quietly pick up a pre-filled plate from the counter. The plate contained a little leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, and two chicken wings.
Fiona also bagged a small amount of bread.
But she didn't head for the bathroom; instead, she quietly turned towards the front door.
She glanced back at the living room, ensuring no one was looking her way, before reaching out to open the door.
The door opened a crack, and cold wind rushed in, making Fiona, who was only wearing a T-shirt, shudder involuntarily.
Frank was still sitting there, like those neglected rotten statues in the park.
Hearing the door open, he looked up slightly, his eyes appearing a bit cloudy in the dim light.
Fiona didn't make eye contact with Frank, nor did she speak. She just placed the plate on the step beside him and closed the door again.
Then Fiona returned to the living room and sat back in her seat as if nothing had happened.
After a while.
Taking advantage of the loudest moment of the TV program, Debbie quietly slipped from the side of the sofa and tiptoed towards the kitchen.
She took a half-empty bottle of beer from the table, hesitated, and swapped it for a bottle of soda, but after thinking about it, swapped it back.
Finally, hugging half a bottle of beer and an old blanket she dug out from somewhere, she also quietly crept towards the door.
Like Fiona, she first looked back at everyone's reaction in the living room, confirming no one was looking at her before pushing the door open.
Debbie opened the door a crack and squeezed out.
Placing the half bottle of beer and the blanket next to the plate, her fingers paused on the bottle.
She looked at Frank, opened her mouth, wanting to say "time to eat," or "Happy Thanksgiving," or maybe "you're just a bastard."
But in the end, Debbie said nothing.
She just gripped her doll tighter, then turned around, tiptoed back into the house, and closed the door.
Frank turned his head sideways, looking at the extra plate of food, half bottle of beer, and the blanket next to him. His Adam's apple moved.
Bursts of laughter and TV dialogue came from inside the house from time to time, as if the Gallagher family was already moving forward in another way of life on this side of the door, while he was shut out.
...
Shane had already walked onto the street of Karen's house.
Usually at this time, there would be one or two people walking on the street occasionally, but today was Thanksgiving, and now Shane was the only one walking on the road.
Finally arriving at Karen's door, Shane knocked directly.
Because Karen had mentioned to him before that her dad was a bit unlucky and was scheduled to work on Thanksgiving.
So, Eddie went straight to work after finishing Thanksgiving dinner.
Before long, the door opened a crack. Karen looked out from the crack and saw it was Shane, immediately opening the door fully.
"Hey, why are you here?"
Shane walked straight in and said, "Happy Thanksgiving."
Karen was wearing a home sweater now, her hair tied casually, holding a rag in her hand. It seemed she was helping Sheila clean up.
"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be spending Thanksgiving with your family at home now, or did you drink too much and your family sent you out for a walk to sober up?"
Karen looked at Shane, then at the bag he was holding.
Shane skillfully took off his shoes and put them into a plastic bag. "Didn't drink too much, just missed you, so I came here to see you."
Karen stared at the bag in Shane's hand and asked, "What are you holding?"
"Let me in first, freezing to death," Shane said.
Karen got him a pair of slippers and closed the door.
Inside, the air still carried the lingering smell of turkey, but now more of dish soap and disinfectant. Sounds of water and clinking dishes came from the kitchen direction.
Sheila was facing away from the door, washing dishes at the kitchen sink.
"Karen, who is it?" Sheila asked. "Did you lock the door? Remember to use both locks, and check the door gap for drafts, because the wind brings in bacteria."
Karen dragged her voice: "Mom... it's Shane."
Sheila turned around, saw Shane, froze for a moment, then smiled. "Oh, Shane, it's you."
"Are you cold? Did you wash your hands? Do you want to first..."
Sheila picked up a bottle of disinfectant from the counter as she spoke.
Shane walked over immediately, took the disinfectant from Sheila's hand. "No problem, no problem, let me do it myself. Your posture looks like those priests sprinkling holy water in church."
Sheila was amused by Shane's words, then added: "Don't spray into your eyes, it hurts."
After spraying, Shane walked to the dining table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Karen poked the bag he brought from the other side.
"So, what's in your bag? You didn't bring something weird, did you?"
Karen's thoughts went astray.
"This is the gift I promised to give you before, did you forget?"
"Are you serious? How come so fast this time?"
Karen was a bit incredulous. After all, in the past, if Shane said he wanted to give her a gift, he basically had to save for two weeks or half a month to give her something, but now only a few days had passed.
Shane reached out and took out a white box, then pushed it in front of Karen.
Karen looked at the box in front of him, saw the logo on the box, and froze.
She picked up the box and looked at it carefully, then looked at Shane.
"iPhone 4?" Karen appeared somewhat incredulous. "This doesn't look like something South Side high school students like us should have. Where did you get it?"
"Special channel, you don't need to worry."
While speaking, Karen had completely unwrapped the box. She looked at this artwork inside—iPhone 4 was indeed an industrial-grade artwork for people in 2010.
"Shane, don't tell me you stole this from the Apple store, or did you sell your ass behind my back?"
Karen's small face was full of doubt because, in her impression, Shane didn't seem like someone who could suddenly take out hundreds of dollars.
"All right, all right," Shane looked like he surrendered.
"Actually, this is a very special channel. Someone ordered the phone online, and when the courier delivered it, those in need of money stole it. And I happened to have a channel to buy these stolen phones at a low price. So you don't need to worry."
Karen looked down at the phone. "So strictly speaking, this is 'stolen goods'?"
"No no no, strictly speaking, it's 'delivery lost at someone's door.' But it's brand new, not activated, no one can say you stole it. If they look, they look for the guy who stole the package."
Karen accepted this reason directly from Shane. If it was stolen, then it wasn't strange.