Ruggie’s Family

Ruggie explains that his “mom joined the stars in the sky” right after he was born, while he dad “went out to scrounge up some money one day and never came back”, so he was raised by his grandmother. As they “couldn’t afford any big fancy birthday cakes” he said she would make him doughnuts on his birthday instead. He describes his grandmother as being “real nice” and “tough as nails”, saying that he is lucky to have her.

When asked about his father Ruggie says that he doesn’t have one, as he disappeared when Ruggie was so little that he doesn’t remember him. Trey apologies for asking and Ruggie says that most of the children where he grew up were in the same situation, and food scarcity was a larger problem for him.

Ruggie says that his grandmother (his only relative, much like Malleus) taught him to cook and is the best in their neighborhood back home. 

Ruggie has taken the Master Chef class multiple times, getting full credit each time.

When Malleus comments that Ruggie must be a veteran chef Ruggie responds, “I just know normal cooking stuff. Picked it up from Grammy back home. She taught me how to do things in the proper order, and how to cook food you can’t eat raw. Stuff like that.”

Ruggie seems to impress Trey with his cooking.

In the world of his dream Ruggie’s father has returned after working away from home, but then managing to “strike it rich.”

A fruit vendor (a creation of Ruggie’s own mind) comments that his grandmother is living in comfortable retirement in the world of the dream, and later we learn that his dream-father had bought her a new car.

Even in Ruggie’s dreamworld he was born into poverty, saying that they barely had anything to eat when he was growing up and he was hungry every day.

He is pleased with how he looks like “a smarty-pants rich boy” in his dream, saying, “Grammy would love to see it.”