Buster

Buster's the story of a guy that anyone in his right mind would run away from. Or should run away from, since Buster spends all his spare time provoking strangers into fights, then refusing to defend himself as they pummel him 'til they grow bored. He's also a grifter, sucking his brother dry, and a cancer, sabotaging his brother's relationship with his girlfriend. Think of him as the patron saint of passive aggression, the don of all losers, or maybe just a regular guy who lost his mind trying to avoid growing up. But most people aren't in their right minds, so this is also the story of the people who don't run away: Scott, his brother, who'd like to imagine Buster has just been "going through a phase" (his entire life...). Scott's girlfriend Jesse, who dreams of a life where she'll wake up without Buster sharing their bed but realizes that means he'll sleep outside. Ben, a bum who thinks he's Buster's friend despite getting nothing but abuse in return. Sam the drunk bartender - who helps Buster keep his habits. Sam's crazy girlfriend Missy, a very skimpy dressed loud mouth, who drags Buster to bed whenever she can. Missy's daughter Bess, a 15-year-old girl, always lurking about, never speaking, just staring, using Buster as clay for her own never-realized imaginings. The Preacher, who sees in Buster a sort of ruined nobility that in reality's probably nothing but pure ruin (though to be fair to the Preacher, he is drunk most of the time, and sometimes drunks just forget to know better). In this collection of unlikely admirers -- from the strangers who beat him to the strangers who've deluded themselves into thinking they're not strangers at all -- Buster keeps his distance. The only one close to him is his brother Scott, who himself is trying to get his life together. Buster tries in vain to keep Scott next to him in his care free land of non-tax-paying-abusers, knowing he'll loose him sooner or later to the much prettier and determined Jesse. Buster can only beat her at fucking up and does so in a way that's very hard for Scott to ignore.