ERNIE AND ERNESTINA: Searching

Book Two, Chapter 135: The Six-pack

At the grocery, I see Joshua standing in the produce aisle, a puzzled look on his face as he stares at fresh ears of corn. I go up to him.

“What are you doing here?” he asks.

“I’ve come for chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies. I’ve developed a taste for them. They’re a cross between candy and cookie and taste good with a cup of tea.”

“I’m going to buy three ears of corn,” he says, “and salad fixings. Healthy food.”

I trail behind him as he picks up a baguette and a wedge of Brie. Then I leave for the cookie aisle. I pay at the self-service checkout and see him in another line just as he’s being carded. This grocery cards everyone.

I go up to him, look over his items.

“Yes, I’m buying beer,” he says. “It’s a hot day, and I have a taste for it. I won’t drink them all at once. It might take me a week or two to finish this six-pack. My friend Gary drinks twenty or thirty beers every weekend.”

I’ve never seen Joshua buy beer before. I’ve only seen him drink it once, when he ordered beer with a fish sandwich.

“Daddy knew I drank an occasional beer. I have since I was twenty-five years old. Daddy never judged me.”

We head out to the little red car.

“Your daddy was an alcoholic, Joshua, who stopped drinking eight years before I met him. His father was an alcoholic who stopped drinking cold turkey. On my side of the family, my brother is an alcoholic in Recovery. You’ve lived with Christy. She’s a binge alcoholic. Your friend Gary’s an alcoholic.”

His voice turns hard. “I’m hungry. Traffic’s getting bad. I need to be going.” He stashes his groceries in the small trunk of the car.

“Alcohol is a poison. It’s toxic to the body,” I say.

He drives off.