Vodka: Green Apple

"Thanks, Bob," Eli said, carefully looping the plastic bags around his left wrist.

"Uh huh, you be careful," Tim said, not offended that Eli never seemed to remember his name. "Swear, way some them people drive? Think you could do a better job than them."

Two months after their first meeting outside of the Burns & Burns grocery store, , Terri came to Eli's condo, and asked Eli if they could talk. With a nod, Eli waved her to the couch.

"I, God damn it, I don't know how the fuck, but shit, I'm fucking knocked up," Terri managed to sputter.

"I, but all we ever did, we only, who else you been fucking?" Eli stammered.

"What? Who else...? Fuck you, God damned blind mother fucker!" Terri shrilled.

Which made Courtney cry. Terri struggled against the urge to hit Eli as she stomped over to her baby girl. Taking Courtney from the stroller, she cooed and patted the child's back.

"No, no, Sweetheart. Mommy's not mad at you. Mommy's mad at her ass hole boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend he don't take that shit back real fucking quick," Terri soothed.

"I'm your boyfriend?" Eli asked.

"Well yeah! Shit! I'm over here every fucking day," Terri shrilled. "No, no, you USED be my boyfriend. Really? REALLY? Even have to ask? And what's this shit, who else I been fucking huh?"

"Terri, you're over here every day 'cause I get you that cheap ass vodka crap," Eli said.

"Oh God, shut up, you dumb ass," Terri spat. "God! I could get that shit anywhere! I didn't have no problems getting it before you. Think I'd have any problems now?"

"Okay, so what are we going to do? About the baby?" Eli asked.

"We? WE? We're not doing nothing," Terri said, putting the no longer crying Courtney back into her stroller.

"Okay, fine, what are YOU doing?" Eli said.

"Me? Going down to the clinic, get a fucking abortion," Terri said, picking up the diaper bag.

"Oh no you are not," Eli said, emphatically.

"What? You can't tell me..." Terri said.

"That's my baby too," Eli said, getting to his feet.

"Huh? Minute ago, you're all like 'who else you been fucking' and now it's your baby too?" Terri said.

"Listen, I'm sorry 'bout that. But, you got to agree, I mean, that shit just came straight out of left field, huh?" Eli said, trying to put his hand on Terri's arm.

She batted his hands away from her. Eli's exasperation showed on his scarred face. Terri's own face had tears as she avoided his attempts to touch her.

"Please stop," Eli whispered.

"No," Terri choked out.

*.*.*

"Here at the H. O. W. Group, we got us this here little chip system, shows the quantity of your sobriety, not necessarily the quality," Vernon said as he stood at the spindly lectern. "Now, first, we got this white chip, sign of surrender. Picking up one of these don't mean you want what we got. It just means you don't want what you got."

No one came forward, so Vernon moved on to the one month, two month, three month, six month, then nine month chips. He then fished out a blue chip.

"And this one; it's the only one we recommend you get multiple ones. Anyone got a year or multiple of years?" Vernon called out.

"I'll take one of them," Terri Perry said, getting to her feet.

"Well hot damn!" Vernon said as the others in the group clapped and cheered. "Yes ma'am, hot damn!"

"My name is Terri and I'm an alcoholic," Terri said, receiving a hug from Vernon. "Watch them hands, Vernon."

"How many?" someone asked.

"One," Terri said, feeling a tear beginning. "One year today. Should have been sooner; Eli and me, both us came in at the same time, but God damn, they kept making that green apple vodka, it kept calling my name, and I just kept going back for more. Even after we lost the baby, I just kept going back. And then, don't ask me what happened, but I just said, 'God, I can't go on like this. I hate myself, my husband hates me, the group hates me 'cause I just keep fucking up. God, you got to help me' and the desire was just gone. I mean, it was just gone."

"Can't teach surrender, huh?" Vernon said as Terri sat down. "All right, we offer the white chip a second time. And why's that?"

"Because it's that fucking important," the group intoned.

"And I never hated you," Eli whispered into his wife's ear as she sat back down next to him.

"Really? 'Cause I sure did," Terri whispered in reply.

Eli gently kissed Terri on her cheek. She grabbed his hand before he could give her rear end a playful pinch. Then she made him laugh when she pinched his rear end.

THE END

*

(And now, the rest)

**Author's Note: I write these stories for my pleasure; I post them here for your enjoyment. I thank you sincerely for reading my stories.

I especially thank those that take the time to leave comments, good and bad. I also thank those that take the time to rate my stories, those that 'Favorite' my words.

I do not read emails.

Nulough's is pronounced 'new lows.' In other words, if you're drinking this slop, you've reached a new low in your alcohol consumption.

Terri Combs is a character from 'Buy Y'all Some Wine?' in the Anal category.

Eli Perry is a character mentioned, but not named in '2 Alliance Square' in the Lesbian Sex category. In that story, Ashley Dunn is on her back porch, listening to the blind drunkard as the blind man is playing his guitar.

Vernon Wurtz, the alcoholic handing out the chips at the AA meeting is a character from the 'Tequila' series. His behavior in that series explains why Terri Perry would warn him to 'watch them hands.'

Have a swell day. And some of you? Have a swollen day.