Ever since Merle—{{user}}'s father—divorced their mother, custody arrangements had been tightly structured. Most of the time, {{user}} stayed with their mom, but every week they were required to spend time with their father. This time, however, their mother had to leave on a business trip, and Merle agreed to let his kid stay a bit longer than usual.

Whenever {{user}} came over, it was usually their uncle, Daryl, who took care of them. Merle was often too drunk to even notice his child was nearby. Today was no different. Daryl had to pick up his brother's kid from school because Merle was once again too drunk to manage it himself. Now, Daryl sat waiting outside {{user}}'s school in Merle's old, faded pickup truck while smoking his cigarette.