23: The Disability Investigator
"Hmm?" Frank was lost in thought as he walked down the street, suddenly noticing a car trailing him.
"Is it just my imagination? No, it's not!" Frank realized the car was indeed following him. When he sped up, so did the car; when he slowed down, the car did the same.
The driver was clearly aware that Frank had noticed, yet made no attempt to hide, openly 'tracking' him.
Frank's first thought was whether this was another mess from 'Frank's' past coming back to haunt him.
But he quickly realized that if someone wanted trouble, they'd confront him directly rather than just tail him.
"Who are you, and why are you following me?" Frank boldly approached and knocked on the car window.
"I'm Gaspar, remember? Frank, you forgot about me?" The window rolled down to reveal a man eating a burger with one hand while pointing a video camera at Frank with the other.
"I've got everything ready this time; you won't escape. I'm going to catch you faking your disability. The insurance company is tired of paying you. If I can prove you're faking, they'll pay me a thousand bucks," Gaspar said.
Hearing Gaspar's words, Frank remembered who he was—a disability investigator who targeted those pretending to be disabled to collect welfare, like Frank.
'Frank' and Gaspar had a long history. Every year, Gaspar would try to catch 'Frank' cheating the system, but 'Frank' always managed to evade him.
But this time, Gaspar seemed serious, ready for a prolonged battle.
With Gaspar watching closely, Frank couldn't go scavenging for junk. If caught on camera demonstrating physical ability, his disability benefits would be revoked.
Meanwhile, back at Frank's house, Steve came by to see Fiona early in the morning.
"Fiona, it's Steve," Debbie called out, seeing Steve at the door.
"Let him in," Fiona said, not turning Steve away this time.
Steve was pleased but was immediately greeted by Fiona's stern face as she shoved a handful of coins into his hand. "I don't need you to pay our gas bill. Here's the money. We don't owe you anything."
Fiona had gone to pay the gas bill after work, only to find it already settled.
She immediately suspected Steve, thinking he'd done it to smooth things over between them.
Steve had done similar things before, like buying the family a new washing machine without asking, as an apology for involving 'Frank' in a scheme to smuggle him to Canada.
But Fiona wasn't the type to accept charity, not even from Steve. Despite being poor, she had paid him back for the washing machine.
So Fiona assumed the gas bill was Steve's doing.
"What gas bill? Why are you giving me money? Wait, I didn't pay the gas bill!" Steve exclaimed, bewildered.
"It wasn't you?" Fiona paused.
"No, I wouldn't lie about something like this," Steve replied.
"Then who paid it?" Fiona snatched back the money, puzzled.
"It must have been Frank!" Debbie said excitedly.
"Impossible!" Fiona retorted without a second thought.
Fiona had known 'Frank' to be unreliable all her life. If he wasn't stealing from the family, he certainly wasn't contributing financially.
Although she couldn't figure out who paid the bill, Fiona kept the incident in mind.
"Hurry up with breakfast; class starts in ten minutes. Why are you still here?" Fiona said, preparing the kids' lunches and addressing Steve.
With the disability investigator tailing him, Frank couldn't do much that day and decided to return home. Fortunately, he could still take on translation jobs to earn a bit of money.
"You're here, Frank," Karen said as she and Lip returned home from school, seeing Frank on the couch.
"Uh, you're back from school," Frank looked up.
"You've been here all day, not with my mom?" Karen frowned, noticing the ashtray filled with cigarette butts.
"I'm leaving now, Lip, come with me," Karen said, pulling Frank along with her.
"Lip, hold onto this for me," Frank quickly said.
Karen clung to Frank's arm as they walked down the street, appearing like a loving father-daughter duo.
"Did you forget about the bathroom talk yesterday? You better keep my mom happy, or you'll regret it," Karen warned with a sweet smile, greeting familiar faces while whispering threats to Frank.
"I'm not who I used to be," Frank responded with a wry smile.
"I don't care about that. You must make my mom happy. If you do, I might reward you," Karen said, brushing her developing chest against Frank's arm.
"Karen!" Frank's expression turned serious as he grabbed her shoulders, looking her in the eye.
Karen was startled by Frank's sudden seriousness.
"Karen, you're a good girl, but your behavior right now is wrong. You shouldn't ruin your life or body to get back at your dad," Frank's tone softened, seeing Karen's shocked reaction.
"Let go!" Karen's faux-sweet smile faded, replaced by a sullen look as she shook off Frank's hands.
"Karen," Frank tried to say more.
"My life is none of your business. You're just a useless drunk, a parasite in my house. Your only job is to keep my mom happy," Karen interrupted, shouting.
Frank's words seemed to hit a nerve, causing Karen to lose her composure as passersby stared at them.
Realizing her outburst, Karen instinctively adjusted her hat and hair, then walked ahead, leaving Frank behind. Neither spoke for the rest of the walk.
"Karen, Frank!" Sheila greeted them excitedly as they returned home.
"What's wrong, dear?" Sheila noticed something was off with Karen.