❝Sometimes you get so close to someone you end up on the other side of them.❞
B A S I C S –
Name: Frederick Theodore Odell.
Nicknames: Fingers (earned during his pinball legend years), Freddie.
Birthday: September 3, 1972.
Pronouns: He/him.
Gender/Sex: Cisgender/male.
Sexuality: Straight until proven bisexual.
Occupation: Owner of Pinball Wizard.
P E R S O N A L I T Y —
+ Sincere, compassionate, honest. - Coarse, passive, sloppy.
Gruff as fuck. Generally in a decent mood, though he prefers not to talk to anyone, lest they put him in a bad mood. Will happily defeat kids at Mortal Kombat without batting an eye, though he will slip them free games for their losses. He's been in a seven-year depression but at least in the last five he hasn't been so angry drunk about it all.
A R R I V A L — ( MARCH 2017 )
After his divorced was finalized, Fingers puttered around Bellevue, Nebraska for a few weeks before setting sights on Aurora Bay. He bought the building in February, revamped the entirety of Pinball Wizard over the course of March, then reopened to the public April 1st. He still had not unpacked his full set of kitchenwares by the time patrons were filing in the door.
E X T R A B I T S —
– Does not technically have a pet but he does carry a small bag of treats in his pocket in case a stray cat or dog wanders his way. He also shares his sandwich crusts with the birds when he eats in the park (he doesn't have any idea he shouldn't feed them bread but it's fine).
– Will destroy you at pinball and most 90's video games but can NOT do fuck shit in a board game. Boggle? What the hell are you talking about?
– Can't stand meatloaf but sometimes he'll make it just to feel close to his grandmother again. He brings small ones to neighboring businesses but he always chokes down a slice first.
– Ugliest fucking clothes in town I can tell you that. Someone get this man on Queer Eye stat!
C O N N E C T I O N S —
Santiago De Leon: friend of five+ years. What started as Fingers coming into the Four Leaf to get blackout drunk and meander back home (or to the backroom of Pinball Wizard) has ended in a pleasant, geriatric friendship. After some gentle encouragement, Fingers found himself in AA, and, better yet, found himself a friend.
Xavier Matthews: AA buddies. Brought together by their inability to keep their hands off The Stuff, the two don't have much else in common, but they make it work.
The Gutter Sluts: a weekly bowling team. While Fingers might've never seen himself as a bowling guy, sobriety brought out the competitive ball guy in him. Now he goes every week to smack pins and eat nachos with "the boys". Members include Bora Winters, Benji Hyun, Will Meyers, and Gideon Green. Founded by Mysterious Red, who gave them both their team name and team color before disappearing into thin air.
B A C K G R O U N D —
Freddie Odell never met his parents. Not really, anyway. They were there, he knew, for the first year of his life, but who remembers any of that infant shit? Freddie's memories only start to kick in long after his parents died in a car accident; for him, life started with Peggy (Gamgam) and Buzz (Pawpaw) Odell: technically his paternal grandparents, but for Freddie, they were home.
Nebraska life was both simple and boring. Freddie had a decent childhood, all things considered. He grew up playing t-ball and then real ball though he only made it one full season before the bruises and general distaste for the sport ended that particular outlet. Fall meant corn mazes and apple picking and rolling in the haybales for winter, and summer meant spending all day running around town unsupervised until the streetlamps came on — or until one of their moms yelled into the night for their return. Even at such a young age, they all knew the kids were safe - knew they'd come back at the ring of a bell.
Freddie's favorite thing, though, was when his Gamgam would get her hair done. They'd walk into town together, or drive if her legs were feeling really tired, and on the way to the salon Gamgam would slip Freddie a fiver, give him a smile, and let him loose upon the local arcade. After an hour or so, her hair smelling like chemicals and her breath smelling like sharp peppermint, she'd pick him up again (his mild disappointment to be leaving always noticeable) and take him home. This tradition started what would eventually become Freddie's ultimate passion in life... Pinball.
When Gamgam's biweekly visits stopped satisfying his urge to play, Freddie started begging for more, and then eventually gave up on asking and just started riding his bike alone. He spent hours in that damn arcade, building his skill until he was replacing every high score spot with his own initials. All the way through high school he played, eventually finding himself in competitions and garnering a name for himself among the underground pinball crowd. Fingers, they called him. And boy, did it stick.
Freddie — sorry, Fingers — didn't give up on pinball when he went to school, either. He didn't actually want to be a lawyer, didn't want to be anything honestly, but Pawpaw insisted that Fingers do something with his life that wasn't just play Pinball, go with Gamgam on walks, and read. So Fingers went to community college for two years, and then he went to University of Nebraska, and he did the damn lawyer thing.
And sophomore year? It changed his life. In walks Ginny Birdman, and out flies his heart.
They fell in love fast but took it slow. Relatively. Dating made it easier to study together, even though Ginny always managed to be better at everything, but dating also made it easier to get distracted. Regardless of the hearts clouding their vision, they both got really good at what they were doing and graduated at the top of their class. Somewhere between studying and graduating they also got married, which is neither here nor there. Look, they graduated, didn't they?!
Ginny was the real breadwinner in her career path and Fingers was happy to support her. He focused on small time elder law work, using his soft, assertive demeanor and easy ability to bond with the ancient ones to both make money and feel satisfied with his life's work. Life was easy, and passed in a blur. No problems. Not a single one.
Except Ginny couldn't get pregnant. No matter how hard they tried, no matter the position or the ovulation window or the phase of the moon, it just wasn't clicking. They both tried to pretend like it didn't hurt, but when you know someone, really know them, you see their pain. Together, they suffered in silence as a wedge slowly began driving itself between them.
In the end, Fingers claims he doesn't know what happened. Twenty-two years of marriage down the drain, all coming to a terrible stop when Ginny announced she didn't love him anymore. What could he do but watch the love of his life disappear? What could he do but let everything fall apart?
Buy a bunch of pinball machines, it seems. After Gamgam and Pawpaw's passing years earlier, he'd gotten a sizeable amount of money from their wills which he'd happily tucked away in both savings and bonds. With a portion of this money he bought several of the games from his childhood arcade (after quitting his job, of course) and decided he was going to open his own safe haven for flipping and paddling. Not in Nebraska, though. Not where the ghosts of his marriage haunted every corner.
Southern California seemed as good of a spot as any. In February of 2017, Fingers migrated west to the coastal town where he bought up an arcade that had been closed for years, renovated it, and reopened under the name Pinball Wizard, even though many of the games have been updated to keep with the times. Pinball Wizard, his first real baby, has been a running success for seven years, and will hopefully continue to be until Fingers is long gone and in the ground.
" I was a romantic as a boy. I grew up. I know love is real and all around n' I respect that my experience ain't the same as everyone else's, but love always comes to an end. "
Introduce us to an NPC: Ginny Birdman, his ex-wife
" I don't much like talkin' about her anymore. It's... Man, it's painful. She's still the world to me. I know I wasn't what she needed anymore, probably haven't been for a long time, I get it. She needs someone on her level, truly on her level. I was real smart and she still ran circles around me. She can do a sudoku puzzle in seconds, minutes. Easy. I mean, whip smart. Which, of course, means she's funny as Hell. Not overly kind or nothin', but she never needed to be because everyone just automatically respects her off the bat. You know the type. Just real, real wonderful. "
" I'm from Nebraska and I was always right smack dab in the middle of tornado alley. Bein' there, you get used to it. The sirens and all, and the drills in school. I really liked sitting out on my porch on those storm days - before the rain really started to fall. The skies'll get all green and the hair gets all hot and electric. I love it. I miss it all the time. Ain't got shit for storms out this way. "
F : FLIRT. is your muse good at flirting? how do they flirt?
" Heh... Ah... No. No I am not. And even if I were, I'm too old for it now. When I was tryin' to win over my w— my ex-wife I spent a lot of time bringin' her flowers and starin' at her hair. A lot of time proof-reading her papers. She never was the candlelit dinner type. "
where: driftwood. Can be during the speed dating thing or they could’ve just run into each other and started talking
“So you have a bowling team?” Soren sipped his coffee as he tried to make conversation. He wasn’t much on bowling and had completely forgotten people would bowl for more than just trying to find something fun to do on a Friday night. “What’s the name again?”
" It's, er, well. " Freddie taps the tabletop with the pads of his fingers, his coffee not quite half-drank and getting cold in front of him. The speed dating has been a failure on all counts, most particularly in the flavor of his too-fancy coffee. " We're the Gutter Sluts. The name's a hand-me-down, " he adds sheepishly. The boys are the reason Fingers had felt inclined to show up tonight, so he puts in the effort despite hating every minute. " You a bowler? A boney-fide kegler? "
" The way this thing is advertised I'm afraid you're going to have some very confused patrons showin' up to the club with their stuffed animals and love notes. " Fingers shakes his head as he appraises the large bonfire - not yet lit - and feels vaguely privileged enough that he's not only managed to hang out with Bo outside of bowling practice, but that he's getting to help with the pre-party set-up. He turns to Bo, arms crossed over his wide chest, as he considers his words. " People ain't very smart, Bo. You can't trust them to read. "
"Hey," Cole's voice was quiet as he stood outside the tattoo studio. "I was dared to go and get one of those stupid little hearts tattooed on me and that sounds like a scam, you don't feel like a new tattoo do you?"
" You tryin' to get me to do your dare for you? " Fingers tsks. " Shit outta' luck, my friend. Never been inked and never will be, thank you very much. "
Interested in starting your casual bowling career? This is where to look! Every Tuesday and Thursday at Rock N' Bowl the Aurora Bay Sports Association hosts its league games for all of the registered teams. League teams consist of 6-8 players, with four main bowlers and their 2-4 alternates. The current winter season runs from January to mid-March with points being tallied and trophies awarded at the League Championship Ceremony on March 8th. Spring Season begins immediately following the Winter Championship.
Tuesday League Teams:
☆ The Ball Busters
Members: Alabama Marie (captain), Bernie Cho, Camryn Hendricks.
Thursday League Teams:
☆ The Gutter Sluts
Members: Fingers Odell (captain), Bora Winters, Benji Hyun, Will Myers, Gideon Green, Marcus Young, Colton Crane.
"Oh, I don't know about that—" Will replied humbly. Bowling wasn't exactly something he grew up doing. In fact, he was sure that no one in his family had ever set foot in a bowling alley. His parents were likely rolling around in their graves. The sports he did participate in and his general athleticism made him a slightly above average bowler however. "Beginner's luck, probably."
Bo had sent a text asking if he was interested in bowling, unveiling an layer to his friend he hasn't expected. At first, Will had expected it to be some kind of joke. Another surprise of the evening was how much he'd enjoyed it. So much so, he'd asked if he could join.
The name Fingers made Will's lips twitch humourously. He had heard the name, and it made him internally chuckle then, just as it did now. "Will," the Brit mirrored the introduction, extending out a hand. "I have to know how you earned that nickname."
The unexpected thing about moving from Bumfuck, Midwest to the coastal, cultural mixing pot of Aurora Bay means that Fingers regularly runs into people of all walks of life instead of the same 10 people he's known his whole life. Meeting folks from other countries has been both exciting and enriching; it's thrilling to meet someone who has a British accent outside of his television set. Enough so that his mouth twitches up into a smile that he just barely contains to normalcy. Bora never said anything about Will being British!
" Pleased to meetcha, Will. Happy to have you on the team. " Fingers is used to the question - and the stares, and the feats of gymnastics that people's eyebrows do when they hear his name - so he's not so upset to have to explain it again. " I, uh. Well, I promise I'm not tryin' to brag or nothing, but I was a bit of a pinball-head back in the day. Won some competitions, nothing big. But I picked up the nickname during my contest years and it stuck. I s'pose it works doubly being a bowling team now as well. "
Benj stares at Fingers with a deadpan, devoid of any amusement. Did Santi know about this name before mentioning it to him? At least he’s not stuck walking around in a shirt that says Gutter Sluts.
Wait, do they have team shirts?
“Isn’t the name a bad omen, though? It’s almost like it’s saying we love throwing gutter balls or something.” It doesn’t, but it’s Benj’s attempt at reasoning.
Benji has a point - one that Fingers can't exactly argue. Still, he waves off the logic as though it's a buzzing fly. " It's ironic. I think. Do I consider myself a slut? No, unless it's just me and a box of powdered donut holes on my recliner. Do I throw gutter balls? Occasionally, sure. But Gutter Sluts isn't about being literal or honest. It's about fun! And we're having fun, right, Benj? "
Fingers claps his hand on Benji's shoulder, 100% genuine despite his face looking just as gruff and emotionless as it usually does.
"I don't think it ever hurts to have a guy in the wings," Gideon wagers as he takes a drink from his own coffee.
He never so much minded the taste -- he had withstood years of new employees making their first batches on the industrial at the diner, so he'd learned long ago that coffee was coffee.
"That way we can sub someone in when we need it. Personally, I'm not getting younger. Who knows when I'm gonna throw my back out."
" You're telling me. I started going to the gym a few weeks ago to keep my strength up 'cuz the last thing I need to is to be even more embarrassed at the doctor's office. It'll be bad enough facing the ' you're getting older ' conversation without telling them I did whatever I did at a bowling alley. "
Fingers nods in Gideon's direction, nothing more than a jut of his chin. " You must work out, right? Your biceps are what cartoon muscles are based off of. "
" I'll always take the opportunity to talk about my GamGam: Miss Shirley Odell, sweetest damn lady in the whole world. Strongest, too. I know everybody says this stuff about their family but I really mean it. I think if I look back on my childhood with my old fart brain now, I could find a lot of flaws in that woman - I mean, it took me forever to realize that the reason her breath always smelled like peppermint is because she was drinking Schnapps like water - and I'm sure my grandfather would have some choice words as well. None of that matters to me. She fit her life around making mine good and that will always sit right on my heart. "
