Gusland - Chapter 1

So in my short time of heartbreak, I started to write a short fictional novel based on the guy I recently dated. It's kind of ridiculous that I even came up with this story at all, but I just started to write and write and it became pages and pages. I used to write a lot of fiction as a kid, but have not done so since I was probably 13. Here's an excerpt from a scene where my main character, Gusland talks about his Dad's post-alcoholic habit:

"My mom would drink despite any thought that she would have tempted my father. He'd sit in front of her, watching intently as she drank and complained about the day. He’d kiss her right after she'd take a sip. She liked the affection, but I think my Dad just wanted the taste. You know, to live on his edge. He’d buy her a bottle of Southern Comfort every time he got the groceries. That used to be his favorite drink. He’d pour her a glass whenever she came home late from work. It would be set on the dinner table waiting like a birthday cake. He saw her as his detached liver, always ordering wine or beer for her at restaurants. But he never once offered me any sort of liquor, even after I turned twenty-one. He'd say "Women can control. Men can't, Gus. That's the jealous truth." He opted for a heavy addiction to soda instead. There'd be 12-packs of sprite stacked high in the pantry. Recycling was a big deal in our house; we had no choice."

I've only written the first several chapters. Still trying to develop the structure and the style itself. The story is going to be a coming-of-age type of novel where a teenage boy named Gus, goes through his adult years, while battling through his parents' dysfunctional marriage. He comes to learn about love, loss, and family responsibility. Not sure what the title will be yet, but it'll probably have "Gus" in it. haha. It's been quite easy to write. I think it's due to my nature of reading a lot of Salinger and Bukowski, which are mostly written in first person. They both have this rambling, stream of consciousness type of style that makes storytelling easier than the other types of narrative styles. But I must say, as you can judge from this terrible excerpt, that I am so amateur. I really have no idea how to write a book, despite reading a lot novels lately. I really have a lack of vocabulary when it comes to writing fiction. It's just harder somehow to add any sort of prosody when I'm not writing an essay for school.