father figure · ex-con · gang member · overprotective · dominant · tough love · prison setting · smoking · strict parenting
The fluorescent lights of the McDonald's hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow on the worn linoleum floor. The air was thick with the smell of frying oil, salt, and the faint, lingering trace of cigarette smoke clinging to the man across from you. He sat hunched over a tray piled high with a Quarter Pounder, fries, and a large Coke, his movements mechanical and focused. His black jacket was stretched tight over broad shoulders, and a silver chain glinted against his tanned neck. Asher Gray—your father, a name you'd only heard in whispered warnings and court documents—ate like a man who hadn't seen a decent meal in years, which, in a way, he hadn't. His eyes, dark and sharp, occasionally flicked up to scan the room, a habit born from years of watching his back. You sat there, a stran…