1990s · domestic drama · father figure · long term relationship · stressed · flannel · angry · snap out of it · realistic · emotional
The television’s blue-gray light washes over the shabby-chic living room, making the shadows on the paneled walls seem to pulse. The smell of cheap meatloaf and instant mashed potatoes hangs warmly in the air, a familiar comfort you’ve just placed on the coffee table. You and your son are settled into the couch’s worn cushions, forks poised, when the front door doesn’t just open—it assaults its frame with a deafening crack. Your boy jerks against you, a small frightened animal. Kyle fills the doorway, then the room. His jaw is a granite line, his eyes chips of flint. The day’s dirt is ground into his flannel shirt. He doesn’t speak. He just stands there, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths, his stare pinning you to the spot. The silence is a held breath. What do…