by Evans, Bryce
The black label whiskey would make Mr. Murphy happy as a clam. He always had some clever ditty about the Irish, and sometimes even the Scottish, when his glass was hoisted during the few get-togethers she had attended in the past three years.
As she expected, the house was lit up with colorful Christmas lights, and a balloon Santa was waving at visitors from the front yard. The icicle lights hung over the eaves, and ribbons were wrapped around the porch railing. The snow fell lightly helping to create a beautiful Christmas scene. Julie was glad she was wearing sturdy boots and jeans topped with a bright red Christmassy sweater. It showed a little cleavage, but she loved the feeling of the knit fabric. On her head was a Santa hat with warm faux fur framing her blue eyes and pink cheeks. She refused to call herself pretty, even if others told her so many times. Her blue eyes and pale milky complexion were complimented by the straight as a stick dark blonde hair on her head. And while she would never be a supermodel, she felt comfortable with her curvy figure. At a whopping five feet seven inches tall in her stocking feet, she learned to embrace her inner and outer chubby. Yes, all things considered, she felt her twenty-eight years looked pretty good on her.
The big screen TV had been set up in the family room of the house. It was a big hit as far as presents go. Her brother kept looking at it, and she knew as soon as everyone left tonight, that TV would be on. The dinner was strictly buffet and the conversation was, as usual, easily flowing. Etta, Andrew’s wife, refused to allow Political or religious discussions at her gatherings. It was a good rule in general to keep heated debates from erupting into arguments. She expected her house parties to run smoothly and luckily they almost always did. Julie was presently being trounced in the rousing game of charades. Out of the group someone made the snide remark that for an author it was a shame she never read other books by a famous author. Then she heard “she doesn’t write real books, she writes sex books”.
Julie knew who said the nasty remarks, and she let it go. After all, they were right in a way, she wrote erotic romance books. It did irritate her when she thought of all the trouble she had been through to obtain that bottle of tequila for the couple. If they were invited next year she would find the cheapest bottle of rot gut she could find for their gift. The fact she never once saw Hailey Daily with a genuine smile on her face, gave Julie the impression the marriage was not very happy. And unhappily married people tended to be more critical of unmarried happy people. It was no excuse for their rudeness, but still could be part of the reason.
When it was time for presents to be exchanged, Julie was tickled to find out she was soon to be an aunt in the form of a framed picture of an ultra sound. The baby looked like a bean in the blurry picture, but Andrew and Etta proudly beamed as she hugged each of them. “Well I guess you will have to put this away until after the little one is born,” she said as she handed them her presents. Etta laughed and told Andrew that he would have to drink for both of them, but he took the bottles of liquor and put them in the cabinet. Mr. Murphy, Julie’s usual partner at these parties, was grinning by the time she handed him his present.
Mr. Murphy was Andrew’s other neighbor, and had no other family to spend the holidays with. His wife had died a few years ago. When Etta and Andrew moved in next door, they kept an eye on the elderly man. Julie was happy her brother had a man’s influence, and knew Andrew had learned a lot from the old man. Their mother had done her best after their father ran away with his local bartender, but she was too busy to pay attention to her kids while working two jobs to keep food on the table, and a roof over their heads. Julie had to smile when she received the smoked salmon that her brother caught during one of his fishing trips with Mr. Murphy.
Andrew had smiled widely when he brought the tasty treat to her, and shyly admitted that he was the angler, this was also his first foray into learning to smoke fish. Now, with a new baby on the way, Julie finally could breathe a sigh of relief, Andrew hadn't been the most stable of men until he had met and married Etta. At the time he told Julie that, “She makes me want to be a grown up, Jules, she makes me want to give her the best husband in the world”.
Julie received a beautiful scarf from Mr. Murphy and she loved the bright pink color. When it was time for her to give the Dailys their gift, she handed the package to Hailey, and waited for her to open it. The woman handed it off to her husband, and he almost dropped the bottle when it was revealed. The shock on his face was surprising. “I hope it is the brand you like, when I was at your home last spring I had seen the bottle on your sideboard and thought you might like another one.” Hailey looked at the bottle as if it would bite her, and she put her hand to her mouth in what appeared to be fear.
Jorge Daily looked at Julie and demanded, “Where did you get this?” His voice was hoarse and low. While Julie tried to think about what she was seeing and didn’t immediately answer him, he got up, pulled her from her seat by the arms, and shook her, “Tell me where you got this.”
Andrew watched his neighbor manhandling his sister and started toward them. Julie stomped her foot on the man’s toes and he let go but not without cursing a blue streak and calling her some pretty filthy names.
“You couldn't have purchased that bottle anywhere in the world, there is only one place that you could have obtained it, unless they gave it to you, and if they gifted you with this, then you must have done something to deserve such a gesture of goodwill.”
“Look you ungrateful ass, I paid a lot of money to a truck driver who lives next door to me with his wife and kids. He drives a semi truck all over the southern states and into Mexico. So when I saw the bottle at your home, I thought Miguel might be able to help me find a bottle of the stuff. I looked in two liquor stores for it, and no one had heard of the label around here.” Julie stepped back and held out her hand, “You can give it back and I will be happy to drink it myself since you are so upset.”
Jorge immediately regretted grabbing the girl and shaking her. It obviously wasn't her fault, she had only been giving them a gift. She couldn't know what she had just cost him—all the planning, the hiding, everything—for nothing. What was he going to do now? When he'd left years ago, he realized he couldn't stand being alone without others around him, that's when he made friends with some members of a neighboring clan, just for the camaraderie. That is why he stayed under the radar with the leaders there. Them never knowing the true Jorge. Now, that would be questioned. He was disgusted with himself and Hailey on their behavior. He curled his lip and grabbed Hailey’s arm in his other hand then hauled her out of the front door, barely taking the time to yank their coats from the hangers. They needed to leave, their plans had changed in one small gesture of kindness.
Julie stood there wondering what in the hell that was all about and when she heard Mr. Murphy start to tell Andrew what started the problem she shook her head and sat back down. “This is what I get for thinking I was so smart, buy everybody a bottle of their favorite beverage”, shaking her head and throwing up her hands, she laughed, “Etta is pregnant, so the vodka is out, and the bottle of fancy private label tequila caused the Dailys a panic attack. Next year it’s gift cards, or movie tickets.” At the look of horror on Mr. Murphy’s face, she assured him, “I would never stop supplying you with your Black Label whiskey Mr. Murphy, I know you won’t get pregnant or throw a fit if I give you your favorite libation. Then she laughed. “I think I need to get going, it looks like I will be skiing home if I don’t leave soon.”
JK Publishing, Inc.
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