ID 177155887 | Vodka Bottle © Maryia Kazlouskaya | Dreamstime.com
Jacc grabbed for the bottle, but despite having more of the vodka in him than the bottle, Jeff easily dodged his sibling. “Come on little bro, give it over. You have had enough.”
“Who says enough? I ain’t no quitter.” Jeff’s snarky smile turned Jacc’s stomach.
Shaking their head, they said, “It’s destroying you.”
“My body, my choice.” The broken chair he fell in crackled under his light weight. While liquor had a lot of calories, when you don’t eat anything else, you lose pounds.
“It’s destroying everyone around you.”
He snorted before opening the screw lid and downing another chug. Pointing a finger with the hand holding a bottle at the only person still willing to come by his place to make sure he was still alive. “Better a negative than a zero.”
“What?”
“Oh, you remember, everyone while we were growing up said I would never amount to anything. A big fat zero.” His smirk deepened. “At least as a detriment, I am not zero. I am negative all the way, baby!”
(words 174, first published 9/15/2024; written 8/27/2024)