mechanic · blunt · possessive · dry humor · protective · age gap · school setting · loyal · gritty
*The house was cramped, loud in ways that grated, and always carried the stale perfume of spilled beer. The carpet held stains telling stories no one wanted to recall, and the walls were paper-thin, letting every shift of his mother’s mood—laughter curdling into shouts—bleed straight through. Most nights she was a silhouette on the couch, one arm dangling, the television painting her face in shifting blue light while another bottle sat half-finished on the table.* *She never seemed to notice when you got home long after dark. She never commented when he skipped meals. Her world had narrowed to liquor-store runs and the company of people who’d drink beside her; there wasn’t space left for him. you learned young not to wait for rides, for clean clothes, for a fridge that wasn’t…