I shrugged. Luke handed me the bottle. "Your turn again." he said.
"I don't think I want anymore," I told him.
"Sure, you do. It will help you relax." He squeezed my shoulders, drawing me against him. "I can feel how uptight you are. You have to loosen up to get with it," he said. "Join the party."
"That's the surprise!" David cried. "We're having a party."
Luke brought the bottle to my mouth. "Hey, you hear that? That's great. Open now," he said. laughing.
"Go on, take a little more," Jenna said. "You'll love how you'll feel.
I let Luke put the bottle's neck to my lips again and swallowed as he held it up. It was like a father feeding his baby or something. It made me feel foolish. so I took the bottle out of his hands.
"I can do it myself." I snapped at him.
"That's the spirit. Scooter," David said. "Don't let him push you around."
"Look who's talking like a big shot. Mr. Henpecked," Luke told him.
I did take another long sip, and then I handed the bottle back to Jenna, who immediately drank. I thought to myself, since they were all doing it, it couldn't be so bad. I could feel it traveling quickly to my head, and either because they told me it would happen or I wanted it to happen. I felt myself loosen and relax.
David pulled off at the next exit and sped around the curve. I didn't know where we were. He made another turn and then another, each one sharply, causing us all to scream. As silly as it sounds. I started to enjoy the wild driving.
"Where the hell did you get your license?" Luke cried.
"License? What's a license?" David replied, and when they laughed. I did, too.
He slowed down and turned into the driveway of a tired-looking two-story Queen Anne--style home. There was a small square of neglected lawn on each side of the driveway. David stopped before the detached garage. The house was dark, the windows looking stained and grimy.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"This is my granddad's house," David said. "He's in the hospital. He had kidney stones or something. I'm supposed to be looking after the place. Gives me a good excuse for getting my father to give me the car," he added. "Now you got the whole story, Scooter. C'mon," he said, opening the door.
"I hope there's something to eat," Jenna said. "I'm hungry." "I have something you can eat," Luke said, opening his door.
"No, thank you," Jenna said. "C'mon, April. We girls have to stick together," she told me. and I got out.
I felt warmer and even a little numb all over. For a moment, the earth turned and then settled down. It made me laugh, the laugh coming unexpected, as unexpected as a burp. Jenna laughed, too. David went to the front door, looked under a mat, and produced a key. He held it up for Luke to see and then opened the door, and we followed him into the house.
The house had a musty odor that almost turned my stomach. It was gurgling anyway from all the vodka I had consumed. David turned on a lamp in the hallway and then another in the small living room on the right. All the furniture looked old and worn, the area rug threadbare.
"How long has your granddad been in the hospital?" I asked. "I don't know. A few weeks. He had other problems. He's about eighty."
David flopped on the sofa, and it looked to me as if a small cloud of dust rose when he did.
"Make yourself at home," he told us.
"C'mon," Jenna said, tugging me. "Let's look in the kitchen and see what's to eat."
I followed her into the small kitchen. There was a pale yellow Formica table with four chairs. I could see someone had spilled sugar over the top of the table, and there was a party of ants enjoying their discovery. Whatever David was supposed to do at the house, he hadn't. I concluded. The garbage can was full, the sink still fall of dim dishes, some caked with food remnants, and there were dirty glasses on the counter. I saw an open pizza box with pieces of crust still in it. The ants were all over that as well. On the floor below the counter was a bag frill of empty beer bottles.
Jenna opened the refrigerator and held up a package of what looked like some sandwich meat. She held it with two fingers as if it was contaminated.
"Ugh: she said. "It has some kind of mold on it." She dropped it into the sink.
Then she sorted through whatever else there was in the refrigerator and concluded there was nothing interesting or edible. The pantry proved as disappointing. She did reach into a box of crackers but determined they were quite stale.
"David!" she screamed, "There's nothing good enough to eat here. and don't make any wisecracks."