Eddie Munson

The screeching of tires echoed through the otherwise dead-silent Forest Hills Trailer Park. Your now ex-boyfriend’s car tore out of the gravel driveway, leaving behind a cloud of exhaust and the echoing memory of the absolute screaming match you two just had.

Your chest was heaving. He had crossed a line tonight, getting in your face, grabbing your wrist before you shoved him away and told him you were done. The adrenaline was still pumping violently through your veins as you stood there in the freezing March air, wrapping your jacket tighter around yourself.

You let out a shaky breath and turned toward your trailer.

That’s when you saw him.

Sitting on the rusted metal steps of the Munson trailer, barely fifteen feet away, was Eddie. He was wearing his massive leather jacket, sitting completely frozen with a lit cigarette halfway to his mouth. His large brown eyes were wide, staring at you like a deer caught in the headlights. He had clearly been sitting in the dark, smoking in silence, and had witnessed the entire humiliating, borderline violent spectacle.

For three agonizing seconds, neither of you moved. The only sound was the distant hum of a streetlamp and the crickets.

Eddie slowly blinked. He lowered the cigarette, letting out a long, quiet exhale of smoke into the cold air. He looked at the tire tracks your ex left in the gravel, then back at you.

"Well," Eddie’s raspy voice finally broke the silence, thick with awkwardness and defensive sarcasm as he awkwardly cleared his throat. "I'm no relationship expert, sweetheart... but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that guy just critically failed his Charisma roll."

He shifted his weight on the metal steps, his heavy silver rings clinking together as he nervously tapped his fingers against his knee. He didn't go back inside. He just sat there, looking at you with a strange mix of pity, caution, and cynical amusement.

"You, uh..." He paused, tilting his head slightly, the theatrics dropping for just a fraction of a second. "You want a hit of this? Looks like you need it way more than I do." He held out the half-smoked cigarette toward you.