Written by John Davis Frain

Quittin’ Time, LLC

flask

A Drink to Die For

I stashed the bottle under my driver’s seat. Two mints. No, three. Left the garage, walked across the yard to the kitchen door. She was waiting for me. I saw it instantly. In my wife’s hand, her hand with three fingers, she held a receipt. “What the HELL is this?”

One thought bounced in my head: I’m a dead man.

 

90 days earlier

These were my boss’ exact words: “I can’t tell you to quit drinking, Frain. Probably some law against that. I can tell you we otherwise like your performance. We’ll evaluate you in thirty days.”

84 days ago

Friend Bill told me about Quittin’ Time. A 100% success rate, he said.

Yeah, right. I called references. Each one I got hold of had quit drinking. I signed the contract, swore I’d never touch another drop.

60 days ago

Kept my job. Promotion. Fat bonus.

44 days ago

Stressful day at the office. I slipped. Drove around the block, chugged two shots in my car. After work, my car was gone. Text message read: Another drink and we move to #2. Thought it was a joke.

9 days ago

Another bonus, but my boss is riding me. Hid in the restroom and pulled out my flask. On the way home, my wife called from the ER. Freak accident. She’d lost two fingers. I found them in my office the next day. Wrapped in the contact. “#3 is your last chance.”

Today

Couldn’t take the pressure anymore. I checked the garage. Nobody nearby. Took a pull straight from the bottle. Couple more slugs. Then the mints. I was sweating. Walked in and saw my wife. Somehow she’d found the receipt from Quittin’ Time. Signed contract on the back. If I’m caught a third time, it’s my life. It’s how they guarantee a 100% success rate. All their clients quit drinking, one way or another.

Only question now: Who’s gonna kill me first?

Q     *        *        *

Okay, astute readers may complain here because I went into the challenge saying I’d write my murder scene using weapons (albeit unconventional) from A to Z. Technically, Quittin’ Time ain’t a weapon. But here’s what happened. I wrote a story where somebody ran over Frain in his Audi Quattro, but that tale died on the side of the road. Tried another where my wife smothers me with a quilt. Then Quittin’ Time came to my mind, so I decided to cheat a little. What are you gonna do, kill me? Take a number.

 

27 thoughts on “Quittin’ Time, LLC”

  1. This is my favorite death so far. Put a bit more meat on this and I bet you could publish it and get paid for it. Simply superb even if it stretches your own rules.

    That said, for some reason, I thought Queen would be the weapon and we both know which queen we mean.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I’ll forgive you for “cheating” on your own rules, because I cheated with letter X. But then, taking a number sounds intriguing. Do your blog readers get the honor of killing you during May?

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  5. I agree with E.M—I think it’s the best one yet. Funny how the best stuff comes out when you decide to bend the rules a little.

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  6. You could have pulled your Quattro into the garage, closed your eyes while taking a big swig out of the flask – the last one you swear – and not seen your wife coming at you with the quilt to smother you! Death by triad? Too weak, huh… LOL

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  7. I got number three. Don’t know who numbers one and two are, but if they can’t finish the job, I’ve got a dilapidated copy of DON QUIXOTE I’d like to shred–figured you could choke on Quixote. 😉

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  11. As I read I thought what others have said – this could be made into something bigger. Great concept!

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  12. That’s how I sold my first piece of fiction that published in January. A 100-word story in one of the Reef contests. I added 650 words to flesh out the story and sold it to Flash Bang Mysteries. Maybe I’ll see if I can make it work for this one. Only one way to find out!

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