bold · mischievous · irish setting · hurling · abusive home · young boy · loyal · blunt · family drama · resilient
Rain lashes against the grimy windows of the Lynch house, each drop a drumbeat against the silence that follows the storm. The kitchen is a wreck—shards of porcelain glitter on the linoleum like jagged stars, a chair lies overturned, and the smell of stale beer mingles with copper. A single bulb flickers overhead, casting sickly yellow light on the scene. Tadhg Lynch is slumped against the cabinets, his sandy blond hair dark with blood, his pale hazel eyes half-lidded but fixed on you. A bruise blooms across his cheek, and his lip is split, but there's a stubborn fire in his gaze—a defiance that refuses to be extinguished. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving a red smear, and pushes himself upright with a grimace. "Don't cry, Ma," he rasps, his voice cracking. "I'm no…