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How To Write An Alcoholic: A Short Story

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guy could have been talking about anything at all. He broke up with his girlfriend who moved out of state and told him never to contact her. He owed his grandma an amends and she died before he could make it. But the guy was different too. Denny had the strongest vibe that he didn’t belong. I mean, come on, the guy didn’t even seem like an alcoholic. So could he have...could he have killed Rashida? A streets and sanitation truck dropped its snowplow on the street outside the club and the boom shook Denny from his reverie. He realized that the guy next to him was done commenting, and the young woman leading the meeting was asking if he wanted to speak. “Uh, uh,” he said. “Uh, my name’s Denny O. and I’m an alcoholic...” “Hi Denny” came the chorus …show more content…

Yeah, he was losing it. He knew it. But with all the uncertainty surrounding Rashida’s murder, with all the rumors swirling, and with his having been in the blackout when she was killed, it was making it impossible to think, to sort things out. And yet he had to sort things out. He had to before he was arrested and Rashida’s killer got away for good—or killed again. He grabbed his coat, said goodbye to George at the Serenity Club and drove to Aunt Elizabeth’s. Maybe she had new information from the private investigator, and at the very least he could apologize for hitting on Gabriela. Murphy’s law. Wouldn’t you know it? Gabriela was super friendly, all smiley when he walked in. He couldn’t help it—a beautiful woman being so friendly always lit him up. “Welcome Zen master,” she said with a wink. “Yeah.” He laughed. What was he supposed to do? Ignore her? He nodded toward Aunt Elizabeth’s office. “Can she talk?” “I think so. Give me a minute, okay?” Gabriela picked up the phone. “Your nephew is here.” She nodded a few times and hung up. She smiled at him again and said, “You can go …show more content…

Could he help it if Gabriela was so beautiful? And that she was flirting with him? Aunt Elizabeth was on the phone. She waved him to sit. She looked tired, her brow furrowed, eyes bloodshot. Denny was psyching himself to be more aggressive about finding Rashida’s killer. The scumbag was still out there, walking around free and could kill again. Yeah, he was going to find the guy. But first he needed to apologize for hitting on Gabriela. Still he was thinking—Summer was acting so crazy, maybe he ought not give up on Gabriela just yet. He sighed. Like everything else in his life it was complicated. Aunt Elizabeth hung up. “Well?” “Aunt Elizabeth, I wanted to apologize for the whole Gabriela thing.” She looked at him for a while and then exhaled. “Okay.” “And I wanted to touch base. To see if anything new came up.” “I’m glad you did.” She slipped on eyeglasses and picked up a document. “It seems your friend Orson has a serious problem telling the truth.” Here we go, Denny thought. “Like I was telling you, the guy’s been acting really strange lately.” “The private investigator checked into his background, about his having to quit medical school.” Denny nodded. “Yeah, his mom got sick and he had to quit to pay for

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