Once, Mom spent three minutes at the liquor store. One minute to pick up a good Merlot, and two to check out.
Then Dad left unpaid bills, crumbling drywall, and half-promises about child support, deflated like balloons.
Now she spends half an hour, picking up and setting bottles back before she decides. Sometimes, she buys two. Her usual Merlot and something light, like Moscato.
“Sweetness goes fast,” she says. “Have to stock up.”
Some nights, I listen to the glug of wine meeting her increasingly voluminous glass. Watching things drain, I think bitterness is the most dependable taste of all.
Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University's MFA program. His stories, "Soon," "How To Be A Good Episcopalian,” and "Tales From A Communion Line," were nominated for Pushcarts. Yash’s work has been published in The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Write City Magazine, and Ariel Chart, among others. Twitter: @dudesosad.