AllFreeNovel
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“She hasn’t answered any of my phone calls all week. Why isn’t she answering?” He mumbles as he lifts the bottle to his lips and takes another drink then puts his head back down.
He smells foul. As I’m closer to him and more observant, his clothes are the clothes that we went to dinner in three nights ago. He’s pulled his sports coat over the shirt, but even that is dirty.
The front door opens and closes, and Dane enters the kitchen. His eyes are wide and he’s out of breath.
“Man, you look incredible.” He straightens himself and says to Max.
Max lifts his head and he’s got a lopsided grin. “Dane, buddy ole’ pal! Whadya doin’ here?” He slurs.
“I was worried about you, I haven’t seen you all week.” He puts on a smile, even though you can see he wants to cringe as he gets closer to Max.
“Have you talked to Bets? She hasn’t answered my calls all week.” Max slurs from his head down position.
“I’m sorry buddy. Betsy hasn’t been around lately. I haven’t spoken to her. But I’ll tell you what, let’s get you showered and I’ll have Davis call Sterling to see if he can get her to call Betsy. Okay?” Dane lies.
Max lifts his head and takes another chug of his bottle and nods. Dane wraps his arm under Max and helps him up. He nods at me and shuffles Max down the hallway to his bedroom.
I take advantage of the moment and drain the bottle that Max was drinking from. I then gather every other bottle in the cupboard and drain those as well. I’ve wipe off the counter, take a bite of the uneaten bread and then take the bottles out to the side of the house and drop them in the recycling bin. By the time I walk back inside, Dane is quietly shutting the door to Max’s bedroom wearing different clothes than he arrived in. He has a wet bundle of clothes in his hand. I imagine Max wasn’t too easy to get out of the shower.
“I haven’t seen him that fucked up since college.” Dane breathes out wiping his brow. “Plastic bags?” He asks holding up his wet clothes.
“Under the sink. I got rid of all the alcohol in the house, well except the few beers in the fridge, which I can take care of tonight.” I laugh uneasily.
“I got him in the shower; fucker is heavy when he’s loaded. He’s passed out naked in bed now, don’t go in there unless you need to see a full moon.”
“Thanks man. I appreciate you coming over. He wouldn’t listen to me, said that I’m the brother, not the mother.” I explain.
“He’s a prick sometimes. He’ll be hung-over as hell tomorrow. How much did he drink?”
“No clue. Haven’t seen him since last week. Even then he seemed totally fine. Then, tonight he stumbles in and yeah.”
“I’ll check in with you tomorrow, but I’ve got to get back home to Sterling. He should be fine in the morning.” Dane pats my shoulder and then leaves me to my kung-fu movie and Chinese food. My mission for the remainder of the evening, if I should choose to accept it, is to drink the 4 beers sitting in the fridge. Challenge Accepted.
