MIKEY BUCKLEY
Kanima
Posts: 143
Age:
41
Occupation:
Line Cook
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Mab Carmello
Played by:
Jodi
Broken isn’t the same as unfixable
Last seen Nov 12, 2024 16:41:49 GMT
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Post by MIKEY BUCKLEY on Nov 12, 2024 16:35:50 GMT
Mikey didn’t head straight to Mab’s. Instead, he sank onto a bench in the town square, needing a few minutes alone to process what had just unfolded at Chase’s apartment. The encounter with their parents left a bitter taste in his mouth, one that wasn’t going to wash away easily. There was no amount of apologising that could patch up what had been said, no words to cover the scars of old judgments that had flared up again tonight. Once a criminal, always a criminal in their eyes. He buried his face in his hands, a sigh rolling from his chest. Underneath the anger was a sharper, deeper sadness—maybe even heartbreak. They’d swung a sledgehammer at his heart, and he was left wondering if they even loved him anymore. Chase had always been the golden child, a role that wasn’t hard to fulfil given Mikey's past, but did they really have to make it so obvious? Chase and Roxxi had both jumped to his defence, reminding their parents that Mikey wasn’t some deadbeat ex-con with no direction. He had a steady job, a place of his own, and even a girlfriend. But that last part had gone down like a lead balloon. He’d grown tired of defending himself, knowing that no matter what he said or did, they wouldn’t listen—they’d only see the tainted parts of him. The broken parts of him that he was trying to repair. Those parts were almost glued back together thanks to Chase and Mab, but the conversation with his parents had threatened to shatter him all over again. When they brought up Mab, it was the final straw. Mikey had exploded, lashing out, even cussing at his mom as he stormed out. He could almost tolerate the way they treated him, but dragging Mab into it crossed a line. She wasn’t there to defend herself, and he’d be damned if he let them talk about her that way. They were excited that Chase had met a woman he loved, but they could mirror that excitement with Mikey. His mom instead questioned what was wrong with Mab. He felt a pang of sadness and anger surge in his chest, and he swiped a hand over his eyes to catch a stray tear before it could fall. He’d spent too many years crying over his parents, but tonight was the last time. He didn’t need their approval. Mikey reached out first, messaging her to say he was coming over. As soon as he walked into her apartment, the tension started to ease from his shoulders. “Hey,” he said, letting out a bitter laugh as he shut the door behind him. “That was…fucking awful.” He managed a flat chuckle, but his voice was rough around the edges. “Things got heated pretty fast.” He sighed, running a hand over his face. “They’re just so damn blind. They can’t move past what happened.” Or they didn't want to move past it. MAB CARMELLO  |
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MAB CARMELLO
Witch
Posts: 81
Age:
34
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Mikey Buckley
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 18:04:55 GMT
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Post by MAB CARMELLO on Nov 16, 2024 18:01:39 GMT
Coffee cup in hand, Mab sank onto the couch. The TV had been buzzing since she’d arrived home. Shows she hadn’t paid any real attention to – if anyone had asked her what had been on, she wouldn’t have been able to describe it. It had just been something to occupy her mind in the most distant way while Mikey was at his brother’s place, trying to rebuild the shattered bridges between him and his parents.
Wishing well for others had been a rarity for her. As a teen it had looked like the girls around her had everything she didn’t – loving parents, kindly grandparents, the freedom to head to the mall after school, to have boyfriends. Everything in her life had been controlled by Chiara and for a time the old witch’s bitterness had seeped into her too. Fuck them for everything they took for granted, fuck the universe for taking it all from her. If she’d continued down that path she’d have ended up just like her great-grandmother. Thankfully each time it had started to grow in the shadows of her life it had been chased back again. The last time had been by the light that was still in Mikey, despite everything he’d gone through.
Were his parents gonna see that it was still there in the man their son had become while he was behind bars? Just as she could’ve let the bitterness in, Mikey could’ve let the violence and anger slowly turn him into a scumbag like the men he was imprisoned with. The fact that he’d withstood it all those years, holding on to who he was, was astonishing. Mikey had emerged from jail determined to turn his life around. His brother had opened his arms to him to help make that happen. He’d found someone willing to employee him. At every step it could’ve gone the other way, but Mikey had taken the right path each time. Each of those turns carried him away from who the gang had tried to make him. Surely from this distance his parents would be able to see that now, they’d realise that Mikey was still their son, that they ought to be proud of what he was making of himself – the same way she was, the same way his brother was.
Trying not to stare up at the clock on the wall, Mab flipped the channels and settled back to only half watch the movie she’d settled on. Small sips of coffee drained the cup, every tick of the hands seeming to take longer and longer. Surely that was a good thing. The longer the meal was, the better it had to be going. She’d almost convinced herself that it was gonna be midnight before he slipped away, the fear that this was all gonna fail lifted from his shoulders by his parents doing the right thing. A message would ping on her phone, a small celebration of its success, then tomorrow she’d head over to the Diner as he was finishing work to get the whole story out of him over dinner.
Dread welled up in the pit of her stomach when her phone rumbled into life on the coffee table. It was too early. A quick glance at the time on the screen proved that they couldn’t have gotten much further than starters – apparently Chase’s girlfriend was one of those women who could create course after course of incredible food. Frowning, Mab reached for her phone. The gut feeling she’d hoped would be wrong was spot on. There was no good reason for Mikey coming over now. Her reply was instant, not pressing for answers, just letting him know her door was open.
The sound of the door closing a little while later had her getting straight up from the couch. ”Hey,” she said softly, hating the bitterness in his laugh, the roughness in his voice. Her hand settled on Mikey’s bicep as she reached him, drawing him in like she could shield him from it. That boat had sailed though, the damage, it seemed, was already done. ”I’m so sorry,” Mab murmured. ”I was hoping they’d change their minds when they got to see for themselves how well you’re doing.” She’d hoped they weren’t burying their heads in the sand. ”What happened? What did they say?” What did they do was the obvious question, the blame in her head lying squarely with his parents. Mikey wouldn’t have made the first step towards setting fire to those bridges again, he was trying, they’d just needed to do the same. Apparently, again, his parents were failing him.
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