Page 29 of Whiskey Lullaby
“Oh no, honey. I’m up with the roosters, besides”—she pointed a weathered finger down the hall—“that one sounds like he’s buzz sawing aRedwood.”
I shook my head on my way down the hall to get Bo. I heard Grandma ask Hannah if she was going to church when I ducked through the doorway. Bo was sprawled out on the bed like a damn starfish with a fresh pile of drool on the pillow. “Alright,” I said, clapping my hands. He jumped a little but didn’t wake. “Come on now,Bo.”
Groaning, he flopped over on the bed. “Ugh.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I flipped the light on. “We all have these nights. It’s a rite of passage or someshit.”
He opened one eye, his brow wrinkling. “Whatthe…”
“Ah, blackout drunk.” I held a finger up. “That’s when you know you had a goodtime.”
“God, I feel like I’mdying.”
“Ah, hell, one bottle of Jack ain’t a death sentence.” I grinned. “Trustme.”
He swatted his hand over his face and attempted to sit up, but immediately sank back to the ricketybed.
“Yep, suck it up, buddy.” I patted his knee. “Your sister’s waiting onyou.”
“Hannah?”
“Yep.”
“Jesus, does she want to killme?”
“Nah, man. You’re actually lucky as shit ‘cause that girl loves you. Don’t even know what you’ve got, do you?” I shook my head. “Come on. Let’s get a moveon.”
When I walked back to the living room, Grandma had the photo album open on her lap. “What are youdoing?”
Grandma slowly looked up from the old picture album and arched that damn brow. “Showin’ your baby pictures since you don’t ever bring a girl home for me to show, I thought I’d show the preacher’s daughter.” Her brow quirked before she went back to the album. “This is the first time I knew he’d be a smartass, caught him pretending to smoke one of my Marlboros in his Pull-up.” She snickered. “He was a cute stinker, whatn’the?”
Hannah glanced at me with a grin spread across her face, her eyes twinkling. “You were prettycute.”
I rolled my eyes and snagged the album from Grandma. “Alrightnow.”
“Noah Benjamin Greyson,” shescolded.
Hannah laughed. “Benjamin? Aw, that’sadorable.”
“Itn’t it?” Grandma nodded. “Give me that photo album back,boy.”
I shook it at her. “No, ma’am, I know what’s on that nextpage.”
She pushed up from the chair, grumbling as she tossed her hand into the air, her house slippers shuffling over the floor on her way to the kitchen. I tucked the album back in its place on the built-in bookshelf by thefireplace.
“What was next, huh?” Hannahpried.
“A picture of me in a full bodycast.”
“What?”
“I fell out of the neighbor’s window when I wasfour.”
“Aw, that’sterrible.”
“Yep.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Terrible,alright.”
The worst part of it wasn’t the body cast—that is sad—it was the fact that they didn’t make kid’s clothes that fit over that shit, so in the picture, I’m standing there in my body cast with a scowl on my face and my pecker just hanging out. I mean, sure I was a kid, but I don’t want this girl seeing that, and my grandma sure as shit would have shownher.
