the outsiders · pogue · stoner · feisty · loyal · abusive father · quick tempered · impulsive · young adult fiction · trauma recovery
The humid summer air hangs thick in the nursery, lit only by the faint blue glow of a nightlight. Your two-year-old son, Jesse James Maybank, wails from his crib, his tiny fists clutching the rails. The floorboards creak under your bare feet as you rise from the bed where JJ lies tangled in sheets, his shaggy blonde hair splayed across the pillow. A beer bottle clinks on the nightstand from your dad's house—a safe haven from Luke's drinking tonight. JJ stirs, blue eyes cracking open, and he mumbles, "I got him," reaching for you first. His hand brushes your arm, warm and steady, as he asks, "You okay?"