It was Halloween night and Indigo was wiping down the bar, getting ready to close when Gator walked in. He had a Jack Skellington mask in his hand and a mark under his eye. "Happy Halloween! What the hell happened to you?" She asked, concerned.
"Nothin', don't worry about it." He said.
"You trick or treatin'?" She asked, gesturing at his mask.
"Somethin' like that. Could I get a beer?" He responded.
"Sure." She said, grabbing him a beer. "Hey, you uh... remember anything from last night?" She asks.
"What, did you crash my truck or somethin'?" He asks, amused.
"No, no... It's just... You told me... Things." She explains. His smile fades.
"What did I say?" He asks.
"Stuff about your family." She tells him, looking him in the eyes. He's quiet for a moment, processing what she said.
"You can't tell anyone." He says, finally.
"I won't. I wasn't planning on it, it's just I... If you need somebody, ya know, to talk to or whatever..." She replies.
"I'm alright." He says, looking down. He's holding the can of beer firmly. She doesn't really know what to say, so they sit in silence for a moment.
"So, uh, where ya been tonight? Do anythin' fun?" She asks.
"No, not really..." He says.
"What's with the mask?" She asks.
"Oh, this uh... found it, outside." He lies.
"Oh ya?" She asks.
"Yeah, just wanted to recycle it and whatnot." He explains. She giggles a little.
"That's not like you." He tries to smile with her but he's just not in the mood. The truth is, he didn't find the mask outside, he needed it to break into his ex-stepmom's house. He'd just seen Nadine for the first time in almost 10 years. The way she had looked at him.... 'shame on you, Gator' she'd said. He was becoming just like his dad and he hated it. All he really wanted was for his dad to like him but his dad only seemed to like him when he did shit like this. I mean, what could he do though, really? The damage was already done and it was too late now. He was 27, he couldn't just turn things around and be a good person. He was becoming who he was always going to have to be. Gator starts drinking a little more before talking again, he's not totally drunk but if he keeps drinking, he will be. He pulls out his wallet and takes out two worn out photos.
"Indigo." He says.
"Yeah?" She asks.
"C'mere, want you to see somethin'" He says.
"What's up?" She says, coming back over to him.
"This is my mama." He informs her, showing her one of the photos.
"Oh yeah?" She asks. The woman in the picture looked like a sweet, kind woman. She had long dirty blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and was wearing a long floral dress. "What's her name?" Indigo asks.
"Linda." He reminisces sadly.
"She's beautiful." Indigo says. Gator nods.
"She is... Was? I miss her a lot, Indigo." She puts a hand on his shoulder.
"I know, Gator..." She says.
"I don't know where she is...." He trails off, sadly. She wishes he could talk about this kind of thing when he was sober, it wouldn't fix all his problems, but it could help at least a little. He now shows her the other photo. "This is Nadine. She was my stepmom. More like a sister to me though. Used to make the best oatmeal raisin cookies." His brow furrows when he looks at her picture.
