by: Marty Chrisman

Bo came home shortly after one and was surprised to find Luke lying face down on his bed sleeping. He hadn’t even bothered to get undressed. Then Bo noticed the empty glass overturned on the floor beside the bed and he realized that Luke wasn’t just sleeping. He was passed out. He’d been in Jesse’s shine.

Bo smiled faintly and tugged off his cousin’s boots. Luke mumbled something but didn’t wake up. Luke was the cousin with the most self control and he seldom drank more than a few beers. He’d gotten drunk a couple of times as a teenager but not that often that just wasn’t his style. Bo knew he’d regret it in the morning. A moonshine hangover was worse than a regular one. Getting an extra blanket from the closet, he covered Luke with it, then stripped down to his boxers and climbed into his own bed.

Luke’s bed was empty when Bo woke up the next morning. He quickly dressed and stepped out into the hallway. He smiled faintly when he heard the sounds of someone getting sick in the bathroom. He knocked lightly on the door and then opened it to find Luke standing at the sink, splashing water on his face.

“You okay, cuz?” he asked in a slightly amused voice

“I’ve been better…” Luke muttered quietly, glancing over his shoulder at his cousin with a feeble smile. His head was pounding and his stomach felt queasy. Luke knew that he’d pay for drinking that much moonshine for the rest of the day. He just hoped that Uncle Jesse didn’t have anything too strenuous planned for them to do today.

“We better get downstairs to breakfast.”

Luke’s stomach churned uneasily at the mention of food. He knew it would never stay down even if he did eat. Hopefully, he could by with just drinking some coffee this morning. He just hoped that would stay down. He followed Bo downstairs and into the kitchen where Uncle Jesse was already sitting at the table. The boys sat down and bowed their heads to say grace.

Luke held up his hand and shook his head when Daisy started to set a plate of pancakes in front of him. “Not this morning, darling…” he said “I’m just not hungry….I’ll just have some coffee.” Daisy looked at him closely but didn’t say anything. She sat the plate in front of Bo instead.

Jesse looked at him sharply and Luke quickly looked away. He wasn’t fooling Jesse none. He knew that Luke had a hangover but he kept silent. He figured that being miserable most of the day would be punishment enough for Luke’s foolishness. The only concession he made to Luke’s condition was to tell the boys that after they finished their regular chores he didn’t have any extra work for them to do that day. Bo grinned happily at that news and Luke breathed a soft sigh of relief.

After the morning chores were done, Bo decided to go fishing. Luke begged off. He still didn’t feel up to par. He went back to the house and flopped down on the couch, throwing one arm up over his eyes to block out the light which hurt his eyes and only made his headache worse. Daisy ignored him as she went about her daily chores inside the house. She knew that it was out of the norm for Luke to get drunk and she felt sorry for him because he had such a lousy hangover.

She was hanging some wash out on the line when Lynn’s car pulled into the driveway. She had almost forgotten that Lynn was stopping by to pick up some of Daisy’s candied peaches. Lynn climbed out of the car and walked over to where Daisy was hanging up clothes.

“Where is everybody?” Lynn asked noticing that Jesse’s truck and the General were both gone.

“Uncle Jesse went into town to get some things and Bo went fishing.” Daisy told her as she picked up her empty basket and headed for the house. Lynn followed her into the kitchen. She glanced at Daisy, arching an eyebrow questioningly when she saw Luke lying on the couch with his arm up over his eyes. “Luke isn’t feeling too well today.” Daisy said with a slight smile.

Unable to resist, Lynn walked into the living room and walked around behind the couch. She leaned her arms on the back of the sofa and looked down at Luke. “What’s wrong, Lukas….haven’t you learned to handle your alcohol yet?”

“Very funny…” Luke muttered without moving his arm from over his eyes

“Go away.”

“Why? You mad at me cause your little girlfriend took off on you last night? I didn’t start anything, she did and I would have finished it too if you hadn’t interfered.”

Muttering something unflattering under his breath, Luke shoved himself to his feet and went upstairs to his room. Lynn smiled faintly and went back out into the kitchen with Daisy.

“Are you doing that on purpose?” Daisy asked her, as she sat four jars of her candied peaches on the kitchen table.

“Doing what?” Lynn asked innocently

“Trying to piss Luke off.”

“Would I do something like that?”

“Yeah, you would.” Daisy told her in a mocking voice “Cause you do it so well.”

“That’s cause he’s so easy to piss off.”

“Only by you. You know exactly how to push all of his buttons.”

“Hey, he pisses me off too.” Lynn said defensively, crossing her arms across her chest and looking at Daisy as if daring her to tell her she was wrong.

“But not as much as you do him and he doesn’t do it on purpose. You do.”

“You think I really do it on purpose?” Lynn said in a surprised voice

“I know you do….” Daisy told her “At least sometimes you do.”

“What the hell are we fighting about?” Lynn asked trying to lighten the mood so she wouldn’t have to admit that what Daisy was saying was true. Sometimes, she did deliberately try to piss Luke off.

“I don’t know.” Daisy said with an exasperated look. She smiled at her lifelong friend “I guess all I’m saying is take it easy on him, okay?”

“Okay… I’ll try.” Lynn promised. She grinned as she picked up the jars of peaches “I’ll see you later. I gotta get home. Mr. Lumis is bringing over a calf this afternoon and I gotta get a stall ready in the barn.” She turned and let herself out.

Daisy sighed and got a glass out of the cabinet. She poured herself a glass of lemonade and sat down at the table. She needed to finish the laundry but she decided to take a short break first. She thought about checking on Luke but quickly decided against it. He was already in a bad mood and Lynn had probably only made it worse. She had an uncanny knack for knowing just what to say and how to say it to get underneath Luke’s skin. And since she’d been back she seemed more determined than ever to piss him off every chance she got. But Daisy hoped she’d back off a little. Lynn needed to talk to Luke instead of trying to bait him all the time. If they talked without arguing, they might actually be able to work things out and make it right again. Daisy couldn’t but wonder if that was what Lynn was afraid of and maybe Luke too.