Growing up, I had a friend that told me, every single year, that he would dress up in these great costumes. He would plan them out and tell me how his parents were making it for him. My parents always made insane costumes for my brother and me. Maybe he wanted that.

Every year, he would dress as an old woman, wrapped like a mummy.

One year, he was going to be Gumby.

He showed up as an old woman.

His parents were divorcing and fought all the time.

He came to my house every day.

I remember that inside the trailer he lived in, he would build these giant cities and then, after a few days, we would have a disaster and destroy it. He loved disasters.

Next to their trailer, they had a house that was never finished. It was a monument to his parent's crumbling relationship. Once his dad got married again, the house was finished and he and his mom moved.

She got arrested a lot for drunk driving. She was a prostitute. She was the first woman I knew outside of my mother.

Happy Halloween, everyone.

Photo - S
Words - S