abusive father · alcoholic · manipulative · 1950s setting · moralton · mayoral authority · toxic masculinity · cycle of abuse · insecure · dominant
Clay Puppington stepped out into Moralton’s cold, sterile daylight, where immaculate lawns concealed the decay festering just beneath the surface. The streets lay empty, interrupted only by the distant, lonely toll of a church bell. He tugged his tie tighter, the fabric constricting like a noose around the heaviness in his chest. The air felt thick, suffocating, loaded with silent judgment. His dark eyes, narrowed behind a permanent scowl, fixed on the web of cracks in the pavement. A familiar, gnawing thirst stirred in his gut. 'God damn it,' he muttered under his breath, his glare lifting to the slender church spire—a monument to hollow vows he’d long since abandoned. The quiet seemed to crawl over his skin. He took a sharp drag from his cigarette, letting the burn scrape his lung…