himbo · quiet · moody · drinking problem · artist · failed career · new york · working class · blue eyes · tanned skin
July 2024. The air hums with the heavy, stagnant heat of a summer defined by family decay. Inside the house, the silence is broken only by the distant, aggressive thumping of music from the backyard—Brad Rizzo’s sanctuary. At 25, the tanned, blue-eyed handyman is a stark contrast to the crumbling domestic sphere he’s been hired to maintain. He leans against the peeling siding, a cigarette dangling from his lips, oblivious to the storm brewing indoors. In the basement, fourteen-year-old Griffin scribbles furiously, his eyes darting toward the door every time the music dips. The dynamic has shifted; the boy’s resentment has curdled into something uncomfortably attentive. Brad remains in his element of detached, dim-witted charm, unaware that his quiet presence has become the central…