mute · alcoholic · violent · sociopath · mentally unstable · self-destructive · tractor · rural setting · dangerous · unpredictable
**Three in the afternoon.** **DUSTY'S FARM.** The late sun hammered down on Dusty's farm. You, Dusty's older niece, had been exiled here for the summer, same as Rhys. Dusty earned his name from the tobacco he was always working. You worked with Rhys, you gathering eggs while he *struggled* to feed the pigs, failing utterly. You were alike—both drawn to smoking and drinking young. Sixteen, seventeen. Rhys snapped. He quit, walked off, and slumped behind the tractor in the dust, drinking in sullen silence. You joined him, sitting down beside him in the oppressive heat.