Devil in the Bottle

DEVIL IN THE BOTTLE





He swallowed the beer as if it were sweet nectar. It’d been a month since his DUI and his last drink. He took another big gulp. Nothing had ever tasted so good, even if it was cheap beer. He drank the rest of the bottle down in the next swallow. He walked somberly into the kitchen and threw it in the trash he turned around and opened the fridge door. There they were 11 more bottles just sitting there waiting for him. But he had told himself he wasn’t going to drink more than one. He didn’t want to risk getting into trouble. That would land him in jail and it would also seal the deal on him never seeing his little girl again.

But a voice in his head told him “you’ll be fine if you just drink beer. Go ahead.” There was another voice that was fainter that was trying to tell him to fight against the urge. But the urge won over. He grabbed another one and twisted off the cap. He went back out to the living room where his roommates were playing video games. They didn’t know about his DUI or probation. He was safe then plus they wouldn’t tell on him even if they did know.

The rest of the evening they played video games and poker. The original twelve pack had run out somewhere in the beginning of the evening and they were starting on another. He had lost track how many he had had but he didn’t care. He was feeling that euphoric feeling he loved so much and he was happy.

Then one of his roommates came out of the kitchen with shot glasses and a bottle of Wild Turkey. He eyed the bottle warily. He wasn’t going to have any. He’d just tell them no and stick to the beer. When it came to his turn to do a shot he did just what he told himself he would do. He said no thanks. But his roommates weren’t going to let him slide by on this one. They teased him and egged him on. But their taunts weren’t as bad as that bottle sitting in front of him. He gave in and took a double. That burn hit his throat and it felt like pure ecstasy. The rounds kept coming and they came fast since there were only three of them to drink this one bottle. He met his roommates shot for shot; beer for beer until the bottle and twelve pack were all gone.

Laughing they all stumbled into the kitchen to see what other alcohol they had. None of them wanting to give up the buzz they had. After rummaging through every cupboard and the fridge they realized they were all out and none of them were in good enough shape to go get more. So they headed back to the living room to find their next entertainment. His roommates got the wonderful idea of boxing. He had been a golden gloves boxer and had been trying to go pro when he got his DUI. He thought it might be a bit of fun and practice to spar with one of them. They got the gloves on pushed the furniture out of the way and met in the middle of the room. Their other roommate was the referee. They started out tip-tapping at each other. Trading soft blows and laughing. Soon though the referee roommate was taunting him. Giving him a bad time about supposedly being such a good boxer and soon the roommate he was sparring with had started in too. He hated being taunted and he hated pressure. He didn’t do well with pressure. But he breathed and controlled his temper the best he could.

He decided he would just quit to end the match. This did not help stop the taunting from the roommates. He just ignored them and turned around to go to his room to pass out. Halfway down the hall his roommate ran up and sucker punched him in the back of the head. He felt the heat rise in his veins. His blood felt like it was going to boil. He wheeled around and stepped up to his roommate. He was going to finish this match. No way was he going to let some punk like this think he was better. Their other roommate started the match again. But this time there was no tip-tapping or friendly blows. He ducked a punch and came up with a hard right hook to his roommates jaw. There was the loud smack of the punch connecting and then a thud as his roommate hit the floor out cold.

All of the anger ran out of him at that moment. He stood there in disbelief of what he had just done. He hadn’t won this match…..the devil in the bottle did.