Her speech was already sounding slurred, and her whole demeanor was that of somebody who’d had a few, so I figured she’d been drinking quite a bit. She didn’t show any sign of stopping, though, as she poured herself a full glass of brandy, filling it up as if she was pouring lemonade.
“Uh, mom… take it easy, please?.” I said concernedly.
“Yah…” she just sighed and slumped down on the couch, glass in hand, spilling some of it in the process.
She put the glass down on the table and started licking the brandy off her hand. Then she noticed the small pools on the floor and did something I really hadn’t expected: she slid down on her knees and started licking it up!
“Mom! Come on, let me get a cloth for that…” I interjected, hurrying to the kitchen.
As I came back to the living room, mom had gotten back on the couch and pulled her legs up under her, sitting there and drinking with a dejected look on her face. I wiped the floor with a damp cloth and then went to the wash room to put it away. When I returned, mom had emptied her glass completely…
“Okay, mom, let’s… I mean… should you get to bed early, maybe?” I said, sitting down on the couch next to her.
“Nah… I wanna… fffind the remote…” she said, picking it up off the table and leaning back as the TV screen came on.
She started clicking through the channels, not really paying attention, as if she wasn’t really looking for anything in particular. Sighing and snorting derisively into the air, she was clearly upset.
“Are you okay, mom?” I asked.
“Fuck, yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” she replied with a clear tone of sarcasm in her voice. “There I am, ready for fun and the guy’s got no game. Fuckin’ George… Talks big, sayin’ I look hot… He’s all like: “Hey, baby, if we’d been alone I’d do you right now… I’m man enough for you, are you woman enough for me… I got what you want, I got what you need…” Then, when a girl actually wants to fuck in the copier room, he’s all like: “Oh, my wife, I love her so much, I gotta get home…” Fuckin’ loser… all talk, no action… I mean, what’s a girl gotta do to get some cock in her pussy ’round here?”
I felt a hot flush spread across my face and ears. The hairs on my neck were standing up. It was really shocking to hear my mother talk like this. Normally, she was so grown up, so professional and proper. I started to get it now. She wasn’t like this when she was sober. When she got drunk enough, her whole personality changed, turning her into what seemed like a horny college girl. She became much more direct, no longer using any kind of diplomacy in her words. Throwing around words like ‘fuck’, ‘cock’ and ‘pussy’ – she didn’t do that normally, certainly not when talking to me.
She leaned forward and picked up her glass from the table, finding it empty and looking disappointed. Just as she seemed like she was going to get up and fill it again, though, I got an idea and jumped to my feet.
“Let me get that for you, mom.” I said and snatched the glass out of her hand.