Page 23 of Whiskey Lullaby
“Fine,” she grumbled, nestling down into therecliner.
The sun heated my skin the second I stepped onto the old porch. I breathed in the fragrant sweet shrub. There was something tranquil and lazy about Alabama summers. No matter how old I got, standing out on her porch and staring across the fields made me feel like a kid. The sounds and smells offered a sense of nostalgia. When you’re a kid you still have something called hope, you have dreams. You think you can do anything. And that’s a train of thought I’d pay good money for thesedays.
12
Hannah
The chorus of “Living on a Prayer” woke me up, and while I loved Jon Bon Jovi’s voice, it’s not what I wanted to hear at—I glanced at the blue block numbers on the clock—oneAM.
I grumbled, fumbling around for the ringing phone on my nightstand. Bo’s name flashed on the screen and my heart dropped to mystomach.
“Are you okay?” I blurted, already swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and searching with my feet for someshoes.
“Can you come get me,” he slurred. “Please,Nanner?”
Oh, the nickname. He’s drunker than Cooter Brown.I sighed, trying to calm my racing pulse. “Where areyou?”
“I don’t know, some… place.” He huffed. “Jerod said some guy came and took people’s keys. Someone said something about cops, so I ran into the woods. Come getme.”
“I should just make you sleep in Jerod’struck.”
“Jerod’s screwing some girl in it, so I can’t sleep in there.” He groaned. “Please. I love you. Don’t leave me drunk and stranded in a smelly, sextruck.”
“Well, I can’t come get you if I don’t know where youare!”
“Hang on.” A rustling came over the line. He swore, and seconds later, there was a ping on my phone. Up popped a text with his location pinned by a little red dot.He’s all the way out in Sylacauga? Jesus!“And, you might wanna bring Pop’s truck,” he said. “I’m like, in the woods or someshit.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I groaned before I hung up, already slipping a pair of jeans and tennis shoeson.
______
Thirty minutes later, I was in the middle of the woods, gripping the steering wheel to Daddy’s truck so hard my knuckles ached. The truck bumped over a rut. The headlights bounced over the tree trunks. Branches slapped against the window. A deer darted across the path and I slammed my brakes on. I wasn’t even sure if I was headed in the right direction. I kept cruising over the uneven path, glancing at the phone to see if I was anywhere close to that little red blip on the map when the right side of the truck suddenly dropped. My phone clattered to the floorboard and I screamed, closing my eyes as I prepared to go into a ravine. The tail slid around when I hit the brakes, and the truck thankfully stopped. My heart hammered against my ribs, a jolt of adrenaline buzzed through me, and my hands shook on the steeringwheel.
When I shoved the gear into reverse and floored the accelerator, all the tires did was spin, slinging mud and gravel into the wheel well. I shoved the gear into drive and floored it. But it didn’t budge. Sighing, I pressed my forehead against the steering wheel. “Shit.”
I was literally going to strangle mybrother.
I glanced through the window. Nothing but woods. Dark woods. That is how horror movies start. Every single time. I threw open the door and hopped out. The distant sound of music and people laughing at least told me I was in the vicinity. “I’m going to kill you, Bo,” I whispered, using the flashlight on my phone to navigate through the overgrown brush. The distinct smell of burning timbers filled the air and I stopped at the top of a hill. From there, I could see the orange glow of a bonfire, embers flitting into the open sky. A circle of pickups and Jeeps filled with teenagers drinking surrounded the fire pit. Shaking my head, I started down, grabbing onto the branches of shrubs and trees to keep myself fromsliding.
On my way through the caravan of vehicles, I spotted Jerod in the back of one of the trucks with Britney Swinson’s youngest sister Darlene wrapped around him like a vine. He tipped back a bottle of something—most likely his grandad’s moonshine— his eyes locking onme.
“Where’s Bo, Jerod?” I shouted over the music blaring from the cab of thetruck.
“Puking somewhere,” he laughed. God, that kid tried my nerves. Darlene rolled her eyes before swinging her leg over Jerod’s lap and straddlinghim.
“When it starts to burn when you pee, Jerod, come see me in theER.”
Darlene scowled over her shoulder at me, and I smiled before making my way between the trucks to look for Bo. Most every truck’s windows were fogged over, some of the vehicles rocking back and forth. The music faded out and the low notes of another song started which left it quiet enough that I could hear the awful retching coming from the bushes a few feet away.That’s got to be him.“Bo?” Ishouted.
I followed the sound and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw none other than Noah Greyson knelt beside my little brother, shoving a bottle of water at him. “You need to drink something,” he said before glancing up at me. “He’sshitfaced.”
“Yeah, Iknow.”
Bo held a finger in the air. “I’m…” he gagged. “I’m fine,Nanner.”
One corner of Noah’s lips curled into a devious smirk. “Nanner?”
“Don’t…” I glared at Noah when I knelt beside Bo and swiped my hand over his forehead. “How much did youdrink?”
