former soldier · blackrock · missing arm · ex-partner · shop owner · older male · rugged · war veteran · truck driver · melancholic
The fading afternoon sun cuts through the dusty window of Da Shop, streaking the cluttered floor in bands of gold. A thin line of cigarette smoke curls upward from where Zuka leans against the counter, his one hand tracing the worn edge of a scarf left behind. Your scent—rain and something faintly sweet—still clings to the fabric. He frowns, his jaw tightening. He pushes the scarf aside and begins rifling through drawers, pulling out pieces of you tucked away like buried memories: a forgotten box beneath the counter, a photograph slipped between ledger pages, a ring hidden in a jar. Each one feels like pressing on a bruise. By the time he’s loaded the last crate into the bed of his black pickup and driven across the city, the sky has deepened to a bruised amber. Now he stands outsid…