Whiskey in the Jar
Who are you?
She stared at him intensely from afar but he wasn’t aware. He was too busy drinking every last drop of all the drinks around him, making sure none of the alcohol was wasted. His name was Brian and he had a drinking problem that no one ever talked about. Her name was Jordan and she was hired to make sure he didn’t end up in a ditch somewhere. Jordan anonymously watched him waste away most days for the past two months but did not interfere, that was not in her job description. Their current location was a dingy old bar in the bad part of town, a bar that no one would think to find Brian at. A vibration had interrupted Jordan’s stare, she looked down at her phone to see a text message from her employer.
‘What is he doing? –M’ Jordan looked up from her corner table to take a quick glance at Brian who was sitting at the bar trying to get the barman’s attention.
‘Same old shit. What do you want me to do?’ Jordan replied annoyed that she had the same conversation every day. Although she was hired to be Brian’s watch dog, he had no idea she was there. He would know if he wasn’t so damn drunk as to not remember every time she helped him get into his house and eventually to bed.
‘It’s time to do something about this. I’ve had enough of his shit! – M’
‘Why don’t you just send him to rehab?’
‘I’ve told you this before, if he’s in rehab we won’t be able to record the album. Everyone’s inspired and we need the label off our backs. –M’
Jordan rolled her eyes, she had no interest in the label, she’s had plenty of clients and they all ended up in rehab thanks to her. Putting her phone back into her pocket, she finished her glass of water and started to make her way to Brian. Today it looked like Brian was in the self-pity mood –well more than usual. When he’s like this he doesn’t speak much he just drinks and occasionally you can hear a sob escape his body. Even though, Jordan didn’t know him it hurt her to see another human experience so much pain. She took a deep breath and sat next to Brian at the bar. Upon smelling the stench of whiskey she regretted the deep breath and gripped her necklace tightly to remind herself of her strength.
‘Three years’ she muttered to herself. Brian heard this but did not care to question the woman by his side instead he finished another drink and signalled the barman for another drink.
‘I’m cutting you off now. No more drinks for you,’ Josh, the barman explained as he scooped up glasses from the bar ‘I trust you’re gonna get him home safe?’ this time he addressed Jordan. It wasn’t the first they were at this bar and it probably wasn’t going to be the last time.
The pair of them sat in silence for a second in the half empty bar until Jordan heard a small gasp of air and a whimper coming from Brian. She got off the stool and prodded his arms to get his attention. He was so wasted he couldn’t hold himself up so Josh and Jordan had to hold him up to lead him to her car. But just before they got to her small Fiat, Brian threw up all over his leather jacket.
‘Well isn’t life just full of rainbows and butterflies’ Josh said solemnly. They sat him in the passenger seat and took his leather jacket off of him to get rid of the smell.
‘Thank you so much for the help, Josh’ Jordan hugged the barman goodbye before sitting into the driver’s seat of her car.
As she was driving away from the familiar surroundings she heard soft snores coming from Brian. It was so saddening to see how much someone cares so little for themselves but it was her job to help people realise that they matter and alcohol is not the solution. After all, if she didn’t have someone do this for her then she wouldn’t be here at all.
After finally arriving at Brian’s mansion, Jordan managed to help Brian walk into his house and into a spare bedroom on the ground floor of his home.
‘Who are you?’ those were the first words that he has said to her that night. Jordan looked into his reddened wet eyes and didn’t bother replying as he started to snore just seconds after. Normally, she would leave at this point and repeat the same actions a couple of days later but since Matt, her employer, was sick of Brian drinking so much Jordan decided to stay the night and have chat with Brian in the morning. Finding herself a comfortable spot on the couch in the spare bedroom, Jordan fell asleep.
The sunlight combined with loud snoring woke Jordan up, she checked her phone to see it was 9 in the morning. She got off the couch and fixed herself up in the bathroom before finding the kitchen to make breakfast. Before doing that she searched for alcohol throughout the house and disposed of every drop she found. She then played music and sang whilst preparing pancakes with bacon. The noise coming from Jordan’s actions had caused Brian to wake up. It’s been exactly four and a half months since anyone played any music in this household. Brian’s heart started thumping erratically in his chest and his palms were sweaty. Ignoring the banging headache he had, Brian started to believe everything that happened was nothing but a bad dream. He walked out of the guest bedroom clad in last night’s smelly outfit anticipating to see her bright smile and her coconut scented blonde hair tucked in a messy bun. Brian felt a smile creeping on his face and the feeling of relief was beginning to warm his almost lifeless body but when he entered the kitchen his breathing stopped. He didn’t see her, this was a different woman; she didn’t have blonde hair, she wasn’t tall and her smile didn’t have the capacity to stop war. She wasn’t her. The second Brian saw Jordan his body went cold, his vision blurred and breathing seemed like the most difficult task. Flashbacks of that fateful night were flooding his brain and he had to clutch the stool at the breakfast bar to ensure he didn’t fall.
“Brian? It’s okay, everything’s alright” Jordan rushed to his side and helped him sit down. After a moment Brian looked up at her face which switched from hopeless to angry.
“Who the fuck are and what are you doing in my house?!” he grabbed the remote and just about managed to turn the music off before throwing it at the iPod dock.
“I’m so sorry. My name’s Jordan and I’m here to take care of you,” Jordan backed away from him and returned to her pan which was now filled with burnt pancake batter. “Your friend, Matt, hired me.”
“I don’t give a shit who you are, get the fuck out of my house now and you can tell Matt to mind his own business!” As he was shouting Brian started to wonder around to find his poison.
“You’re not going to find any booze”
“Why are you still here, bitch? I said get the fuck out!”
“I’m not leaving until you sort your life out, so you might as well sit down and have some breakfast.” Coincidentally, Brian’s stomach rumbled loudly and as much as he hated to admit it, pancakes and bacon sounded so good in that moment.
“First of all you don’t know anything about my life and second of all you have no right to roam around my house and third of all get the fuck out!”
“I’ve been told what happened, Brian, and it’s time for you to stop punishing yourself for it. It wasn’t your fault.”
Brian didn’t want to get physical with the woman he thought he just met but all he wanted was to be alone and drink himself into oblivion to make his feelings easier to bear. He decided to grab the woman by her arm and drag her out of the house.
“When I said I want you out I meant it. We could’ve done this the easier way but it looks like you’re nothing but a nosy bitch.” Jordan yelped when he forcefully grabbed her but didn’t fight him.
“Brian please don’t do this, I can help you. Your friends are so scared and worried for you.”
“No they’re not, they just need me to play some solos for the stupid album” he opened the front door, pushed her out and slammed the door in Jordan’s face. Brian sighed and walked the master bedroom which was left untouched for months. The thought of sleeping in that bedroom alone was enough for Brian to want to find a bridge to jump off of. He laid down on the four poster bed and deeply inhaled the welcoming scent of happy memories. For the second time today Brian experienced a pinch of happiness only to be met with the earth shattering pain of reality.
‘What is he doing? –M’ Jordan looked up from her corner table to take a quick glance at Brian who was sitting at the bar trying to get the barman’s attention.
‘Same old shit. What do you want me to do?’ Jordan replied annoyed that she had the same conversation every day. Although she was hired to be Brian’s watch dog, he had no idea she was there. He would know if he wasn’t so damn drunk as to not remember every time she helped him get into his house and eventually to bed.
‘It’s time to do something about this. I’ve had enough of his shit! – M’
‘Why don’t you just send him to rehab?’
‘I’ve told you this before, if he’s in rehab we won’t be able to record the album. Everyone’s inspired and we need the label off our backs. –M’
Jordan rolled her eyes, she had no interest in the label, she’s had plenty of clients and they all ended up in rehab thanks to her. Putting her phone back into her pocket, she finished her glass of water and started to make her way to Brian. Today it looked like Brian was in the self-pity mood –well more than usual. When he’s like this he doesn’t speak much he just drinks and occasionally you can hear a sob escape his body. Even though, Jordan didn’t know him it hurt her to see another human experience so much pain. She took a deep breath and sat next to Brian at the bar. Upon smelling the stench of whiskey she regretted the deep breath and gripped her necklace tightly to remind herself of her strength.
‘Three years’ she muttered to herself. Brian heard this but did not care to question the woman by his side instead he finished another drink and signalled the barman for another drink.
‘I’m cutting you off now. No more drinks for you,’ Josh, the barman explained as he scooped up glasses from the bar ‘I trust you’re gonna get him home safe?’ this time he addressed Jordan. It wasn’t the first they were at this bar and it probably wasn’t going to be the last time.
The pair of them sat in silence for a second in the half empty bar until Jordan heard a small gasp of air and a whimper coming from Brian. She got off the stool and prodded his arms to get his attention. He was so wasted he couldn’t hold himself up so Josh and Jordan had to hold him up to lead him to her car. But just before they got to her small Fiat, Brian threw up all over his leather jacket.
‘Well isn’t life just full of rainbows and butterflies’ Josh said solemnly. They sat him in the passenger seat and took his leather jacket off of him to get rid of the smell.
‘Thank you so much for the help, Josh’ Jordan hugged the barman goodbye before sitting into the driver’s seat of her car.
As she was driving away from the familiar surroundings she heard soft snores coming from Brian. It was so saddening to see how much someone cares so little for themselves but it was her job to help people realise that they matter and alcohol is not the solution. After all, if she didn’t have someone do this for her then she wouldn’t be here at all.
After finally arriving at Brian’s mansion, Jordan managed to help Brian walk into his house and into a spare bedroom on the ground floor of his home.
‘Who are you?’ those were the first words that he has said to her that night. Jordan looked into his reddened wet eyes and didn’t bother replying as he started to snore just seconds after. Normally, she would leave at this point and repeat the same actions a couple of days later but since Matt, her employer, was sick of Brian drinking so much Jordan decided to stay the night and have chat with Brian in the morning. Finding herself a comfortable spot on the couch in the spare bedroom, Jordan fell asleep.
The sunlight combined with loud snoring woke Jordan up, she checked her phone to see it was 9 in the morning. She got off the couch and fixed herself up in the bathroom before finding the kitchen to make breakfast. Before doing that she searched for alcohol throughout the house and disposed of every drop she found. She then played music and sang whilst preparing pancakes with bacon. The noise coming from Jordan’s actions had caused Brian to wake up. It’s been exactly four and a half months since anyone played any music in this household. Brian’s heart started thumping erratically in his chest and his palms were sweaty. Ignoring the banging headache he had, Brian started to believe everything that happened was nothing but a bad dream. He walked out of the guest bedroom clad in last night’s smelly outfit anticipating to see her bright smile and her coconut scented blonde hair tucked in a messy bun. Brian felt a smile creeping on his face and the feeling of relief was beginning to warm his almost lifeless body but when he entered the kitchen his breathing stopped. He didn’t see her, this was a different woman; she didn’t have blonde hair, she wasn’t tall and her smile didn’t have the capacity to stop war. She wasn’t her. The second Brian saw Jordan his body went cold, his vision blurred and breathing seemed like the most difficult task. Flashbacks of that fateful night were flooding his brain and he had to clutch the stool at the breakfast bar to ensure he didn’t fall.
“Brian? It’s okay, everything’s alright” Jordan rushed to his side and helped him sit down. After a moment Brian looked up at her face which switched from hopeless to angry.
“Who the fuck are and what are you doing in my house?!” he grabbed the remote and just about managed to turn the music off before throwing it at the iPod dock.
“I’m so sorry. My name’s Jordan and I’m here to take care of you,” Jordan backed away from him and returned to her pan which was now filled with burnt pancake batter. “Your friend, Matt, hired me.”
“I don’t give a shit who you are, get the fuck out of my house now and you can tell Matt to mind his own business!” As he was shouting Brian started to wonder around to find his poison.
“You’re not going to find any booze”
“Why are you still here, bitch? I said get the fuck out!”
“I’m not leaving until you sort your life out, so you might as well sit down and have some breakfast.” Coincidentally, Brian’s stomach rumbled loudly and as much as he hated to admit it, pancakes and bacon sounded so good in that moment.
“First of all you don’t know anything about my life and second of all you have no right to roam around my house and third of all get the fuck out!”
“I’ve been told what happened, Brian, and it’s time for you to stop punishing yourself for it. It wasn’t your fault.”
Brian didn’t want to get physical with the woman he thought he just met but all he wanted was to be alone and drink himself into oblivion to make his feelings easier to bear. He decided to grab the woman by her arm and drag her out of the house.
“When I said I want you out I meant it. We could’ve done this the easier way but it looks like you’re nothing but a nosy bitch.” Jordan yelped when he forcefully grabbed her but didn’t fight him.
“Brian please don’t do this, I can help you. Your friends are so scared and worried for you.”
“No they’re not, they just need me to play some solos for the stupid album” he opened the front door, pushed her out and slammed the door in Jordan’s face. Brian sighed and walked the master bedroom which was left untouched for months. The thought of sleeping in that bedroom alone was enough for Brian to want to find a bridge to jump off of. He laid down on the four poster bed and deeply inhaled the welcoming scent of happy memories. For the second time today Brian experienced a pinch of happiness only to be met with the earth shattering pain of reality.