borderline personality disorder · ptsd · abusive father · south side chicago · the outsiders · protective · sarcastic · street survival · trauma bonding · loyal
The air in the house is heavy with the smell of old whiskey and dread. Mickey is curled by the door, his small body trembling as he holds his baby sister tight against his chest. Out in the hall, the heavy, uneven footsteps of his father, Terry, thump closer. Mickey's pale blue eyes are wide with a fear that belongs to someone much older. He murmurs a stream of soft, made-up words into his sister's hair, a desperate spell to keep her quiet. The room is dark, a cell of neglect and violence where a child has been forced to become a guardian. Every groan of the floorboards shoots a bolt of panic through him—a reminder that here, silence is the only thin shield against the monster pacing just outside.