B A S I C S
Full Name: Stevie Fitzgerald Faceclaim: Margaret Qualley Pronouns/Gender: she/they, nonbinary Age & Birthday: 30 & nov 28 Birth Place: New Bellevoux, Louisiana How long have they been in town?: 30 years ( On and Off ) Living Situation : Lafayette Hills; just upgraded from Macon Park Occupation: Tattoo Artist @ Wicked Tattoos
BIOGRAPHY:
Stevie grew up in Macon Park and up until recently, she was sure she’d die there.
Ok, that’s a lie. There was a time she thought otherwise. She wanted nothing more than to skip out of the trailer in Shady Grove the moment she finished high school. Maybe their brother didn’t make it out like he was supposed to, instead sticking around out of nostalgia or some silly duty to see them grow up, but they weren’t him.
Their childhood wasn’t his and theirs wasn’t…it wasn’t always great. Their mother held them tight. Too tight in their opinion. And so did Jason. Sure they let them spend their single digit years loose on Little Bear Creek Trail, the mason park docs, really anywhere their feet could take them, once she hit her double years, things changed.
Maybe that was due to the whispers. The idea that their father, Jason’s father, was not their own. That their mother liked to get around. That she was trash and that despite his once potential so was their brother. You know, the same old cliche small town bs. Or maybe it was the fights. Because adults are mean but kids? So much worse. And Stevie never stood for it. She’d lunge, she’d bleed, and occasionally black out for it.
Their mother never sided with her over it though. Stevie was the problem, not the little jerks of New Bellevoux Elementary or Middle. Jason took care of them though. Was he disappointed? Sure. But he was there. Always always there to make them feel more than just another problem in their mother’s long list.
It helped and so did his prodding for them to turn their attention away from the jerks and toward their passions. Art. Music. Writing. She did a little bit of everything, always carrying a pen or a pencil behind her ear. She was good. Excuse me, is good, cause that was their ticket out of New Bellevoux. An art school way way way away from NB.
Or it would have been if not for a certain rendezvous with a certain Tommy Duvall. They were friends. Really good friends despite the distaste he left in their mother’s mouth. And Jason’s too. But he was one of the few kids at the time that saw them for them and she wasn’t telling him to kick rocks for the reason everyone else told them to. And they were just having some fun. Partaking in some things they weren’t supposed to, in a place they weren’t supposed to and well– they were 18 and she…she was pretty sure she was a lesbian at that point. Guys were….eh, at best. But with their lack of judgment and their comfortability with Tommy? One thing led to another and…just once. Just to see.
Five weeks later, it was confirmed. She was pregnant and their world imploded.
Chaos ensued, not just in the normal way of like, oh yeah, your future is screwed, but the level in which their family reacted? Stevie expected it from their mother. The surprise came from Jason who had supported them in everything so steadfast up until this point. It was a big blow out, one that sent him to the nearest bar and them packing as just a few words from him made everything she ever knew to be true about their life unravel.
Those words? All this work and you still made the same stupid mistake I did– or something like that. She doesn’t quite remember. Only that next came the questions. He’d gotten someone pregnant? Who? When? Then his shut down, their attempt to leave, his attempt to control and their usual scoff. The usual roll of the eyes and the ok *dad* – something that was met with more fire than she had ever experienced and then…the click.
It all began to click into place. Jason. Their over involved, over protective, throw all his dreams away to stay here with them brother? Not their brother at all. It didn’t take long to prove it. A confrontation with their ‘mother’ settled it and Stevie was on their way out the door.
Being eighteen, there was nothing to keep them from it though looking back on it, being pregnant made it extra dumb. But so much was crumbling in so many directions.
It didn’t take long for them to come back. A few months. She didn’t say much and neither did they. She got a job, finally told Tommy– honestly everything leading up to Hayes’ birth and even a few months, maybe even years is a blur.
In that time she took off again. Going here and there, but never staying gone too long. Working this job and that job till she grew tired of it. Never really feeling settled or stable but putting in what work she felt she ‘had’ to take care of Hayes. Tommy wasn’t around much either, instead his parents helped out and of course Jason. But the latter was still just…strained.
It wasn’t until Hayes was about five that things began to shift. Why then? She couldn’t tell you. Just that she was tired. Tired of just…existing. Not in *that* way, but in the sense of doing the bare minimum in every part of life. It started with him– wanting to be better for him and then slowly for herself.
It wasn’t easy by any means. It still isn’t but in the last few years, things have been steady. Three years ago she stopped job hopping and started to apprentice at Wicked Tattoos. It had started as kind of a joke, them wanting to be a tattoo artist. She’d bought a tattoo gun at one of those treasure hunt blind box events and wanted to learn to use it. Turned out, she really enjoyed it and it spiraled into something serious. Just last year she graduated to a full time artist.
And all the pennies she’s been squirreling away for the last several years? She used to buy a fixer upper in Lafayette Hills. A place she’ll share with Hayes more often than not as Tommy has finally gotten his shit together too. They co-parent to the best of their abilities and yeah– things aren’t perfect. Not with him. Or Hayes. Or Jason. But they’re better and will be better. A bit at a time.