Page 171 of Mountain Daddy
I feel like someone died.
I can’t sleep.
I’m drinking every night.
I haven’t showered in two days.
So, even though we’re in a heat wave, I have a beanie pulled down over my hair so no one can tell what a mess it is.
At least here, in the bar, you can’t tell if the whiskey you’re smelling is from me or the bottles lining the wall.
“I…” I can’t make myself say it.
I haven’t told Jessie that it’s over between me and Kendra. And saying it out loud…
I blindly grab a random bottle off the shelf behind us and a shot glass off the drying rack.
Saying it out loud will be the final nail in the coffin.
And I can’t lift that hammer sober.
Eyes on me, Jessie grabs a shot glass for herself and holds it out.
I fill hers, then mine.
Setting the bottle down on the bar—knowing I’ll need more than one round—I tap my shot to hers.
We don’t say anything as we tip the drinks back, swallowing them in one go.
I set my glass down next to the bottle, and Jessie puts her empty next to mine.
She looks at me cautiously. “If someone died, you’d tell me, right?”
The edge of my mouth pulls up into an ironic smile. “I’d tell you.”
This time, she’s the one who picks up the bottle, pouring two more shots. “How about we get drunk on the job, you spill your guts, and we make Joe come drive us home.”
Joe.
I pick up my glass and down it.
She clicks her full shot to my empty one, then tips it back.
“I appreciate you,” I tell my sister.
She’s a pain in my ass, but she understands sibling code.
Never get drunk alone when you can get drunk with your sister.
“I—” My phone rings.
Pulling it out of my pocket, I see it’s Ashley and accept the call.
I press the phone to my ear. “Hey.”
“Hey, Dad.”
“What’s going on? Everything okay?”
