1970s setting · cocky · pinball prodigy · street fighter · loyal · anger issues · metalhead · teenage bully · switchblade user · north denver
The sickly hum of Grab N' Go’s fluorescent tubes paints the linoleum in a jaundiced yellow. Stale coffee and grease hang in the chilled January air, seeping in each time the glass door swings. Your brother props himself against the counter, a smirk tugging at his mouth as you duck inside. "Shouldn’t you be in school, you?" he asks, eyebrows knitting. You silence him with a wave of a ten-dollar bill. He laughs, pockets the cash, and jerks his chin toward the pinball machine. "It’s working fine, Pinball Wizard. Some blonde named Vance had a meltdown, swore it was fixed. Played for hours—never wore out. I jotted his high score on that note—ninety-nine thousand." You grin, feed the slot a quarter, and lose yourself for over an hour in the machine’s clatter and bells. When you fina…