Once in a Blue Agave Moon: A Convergence of Many Things, Part VI, Chapter Twenty Three

Elliott quickly produced six “perfect margaritas” using the Dragon Drops.

As the four women and two men held their glasses aloft, Jed announced “To better days and happier endings; to old friends and new alliances alike wherever it should lead us from here.”

“I’ll second that.” As Chianna spoke, all eyes turned to her. Perhaps it was her eagerness that everyone detected by the change in the tone of her voice that betrayed the thoughts that she found herself entertaining that caused her to blush so floridly, and as she felt her cheeks warming she became even more embarrassed; as if suddenly everyone else knew the fantasy she had been brewing in her mind while Jed had been speaking.

There comes a time in almost all relationships that one, the other, or both parties come to believe that they’ve already heard every joke, every quote, and every opinion that their significant other has to offer before.

Often, it is because there has been nothing new in either of their lives to provoke original thought, inspiration, or even lurid fantasies. Instead of another year, it is more like three hundred and sixty five of the same days passing without notice or challenge other than having to suppress the desire to change your name, forge a new set of credentials for a career you’ve never attempted before, and move to another state at least five hundred miles from your current location.

(Or maybe that’s just me….)

Both Chianna and Elliott already knew that they were deep within the horse latitudes of their lives, and no matter how much they loved each other, it would take some sort of personal growth (and there is no growth without pain), and the sort of challenge that takes you so far past the limits of what you ever dreamed you were capable that you find yourself facing your deepest secret fears, as well as monstrous amounts of humility to possibly succeed.

In situations like this it is understandably difficult to resist the impulse to judge, or accuse, but the friendship and love that they had developed over the years had enabled their abilities to support each other.

And most importantly, the trust that they had nurtured between them demanded it.

Six adults; four women and two men; one of the men has had the distinct privilege of the most intimate knowledge of all four, but with the exception of one of the women, not recently. The other man has known only three of the women.

All these facts were about to change.

As they continued to drink, they kissed, fondled, and teased each other provocatively.

Aimée and Rebecca were enjoying how titillated Elliott was becoming as he watched the women kissing and petting each other before taking turns playfully touching and teasing him. Although both of them had slept with him, it had been more than ten years since he had seen Aimée before he ever met Rebel, and another five years before Aimée Rogers was to meet Jeanette Rogers (Rebel’s birth name) only to discover that although the only relations that they had in common were purely sexual and emotional, and with Elliott.

Although Leigh-Anne had been playfully aloof with Elliott, Chianna soon discovered that Leigh-Anne seemed to be encouraging her and Jed by flirting and teasing each of them, at first separately and then jointly, yet all the while subtly pushing them together.

Both women had felt a natural affinity for each other just by the nature of their personalities, as well as the fact that they both were nurses.

Chianna did not feel the same way about Aimée and Rebel, which could have been awkward, were it not for the fact that they were effectively distracting Elliott sufficiently as to allow her to pursue her growing lust for Jed without guilt or embarrassment.

The only real lack of congruency between her and Elliott had been polyamory. Swinging, or an open relationship was quite natural for both of them, but it was Elliott who had introduced the concept of being open to possibly loving the same people they were fucking.

Chianna had felt a strange, decidedly uneasy stirring within herself almost from the minute she and Jed had met, and it was clear that Jed was similarly affected by Chianna.

The only time she had ever felt that before was when she and Elliott had met.

And for the first time ever, Chianna had to admit that maybe…just maybe…Elliott had been right all along.

Namaste

नमस्ते

Chazz Vincent

copyright  ©  March 13th, 2021  

Fish swim with the tides, in and out of the lagoon as it empties itself, receives from, and flows back into the sea.

*ALL REFERENCES TO ANY PERSONS CONFIRMED STILL LIVING IS PURELY CO-INCIDENTAL…AND THE DEAD ARE TOO BUSY LAUGHING AT US TO CARE.

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Once in a Blue Agave Moon: A Convergence of Many Things, Part V, Chapter Twenty-Two

Elliott next produced a large growler of remarkably clear, dark green liquid. He held it aloft for dramatic effect with the flourish of a circus ringmaster.

“Ladies and gentleman…I bring you the famed Dragon Drops. While Absinth may be known as ‘The Green Fairy’ it would be better to regard my Dragon Drops as ‘The Green Monster’.

He revolved slowly as he spoke to make eye contact with everyone in the dining room, just a pleased as a proud father of a newborn child as he continued.

“I began the mash with cattail root and sugar beets to make the mash which was so sweet that it required very little sugar, and brewed it in a two-stage fermentation process using first a champagne yeast, which is highly alcohol resistant, followed by a very bright ale yeast that I fortified with Vegemite, and Barr’s Liquid Amino acids to additionally nourish the yeast cells. Back when you could buy it commercially, they called it ‘Turbo Yeast’. All the brew-related yeasts are very difficult to obtain so I now keep batches of both growing continually, much like a sourdough culture.”

As he continued, he lowered the bottle until it was cradled in his left arm, as one might hold an infant.

“The final pitched wort was almost twenty percent alcohol by weight…not twenty proof, which is only ten percent…but twenty percent equals forty proof; as strong as a fortified wine, ‘like Mad Dog 20/20’.”

Elliott clearly loved an audience, especially this one, and he had their total and undivided attention.

“By using a thumper during the distillation process, it is for all intents and purposes double distilled and yields approximately one hundred and fifty proof on the first pass, which represents seventy-five percent alcohol by weight. The second pass yields about ninety-five percent alcohol, or one hundred and ninety proof…almost pure alcohol.”

He stopped for just a moment for effect as Jed whistled and Aimée reacted with a “yikes!”.

“Remember Everclear? Just about the same thing, except my version is still alembic, or ‘pot-distilled’, rather than column-distilled, like most commercial vodkas, which strips most of the taste from it” he added.

Rebel, almost dead-pan most of the time, seemed to be enjoying a bit of nostalgia as her normally sloe-eyed expression betrayed a faint smile. Most men never noticed these moments because they were usually too preoccupied with staring at her gigantic tits. This often allowed her to indulge herself to stretch out her few words so slowly that it was like waiting for ketchup to pour.

“My Daddy blew up his still trying to make a batch of ninety proof. I used to beg him not to drink when he was cookin’ but he was one hard-headed som’bitch who thought he already knew more than any woman could ever learn, and saw no reason to heed the words of a thirteen year old girl.”

With that, a dark cloud passed over her face as she said “It cost that dirty bastard his life…as much as I loved him, I can’t say I missed him being drunk all the time and sneaking into my bedroom after Momma fell asleep…the night before he got killed was the last time he ever fucked me….”

Suddenly, the sound of several crickets outside doing their two-legged sonata of the ‘Ode to a Woolen Sweater’ seemed much louder than before.

“Every year on the anniversary of his death, I would go to the grave site and wait ’til no one was around, and piss on his grave…what stage of the grieving process do you think that would that fall under, Doc?”

“Revenge and Reconciliation…that’s one you won’t find in any books, but sometimes it is necessary…and certainly justifiable, if you ask me, my dear Lola.”

The pall that fell over the room was suddenly so dark that it seemed like the temperature in the room had fallen ten degrees. Whether you knew her as Rebel, Rebecca, or Jeanette, any tears shed by her in front of anyone were far more rare than either fossilized chicken teeth or copies of “Self-Defense and Marksmanship for Democrats (and other Dummies).”

As Aimée wiped away the solitary tear, Elliott kissed her on the forehead.

“At the risk of sounding insensitive, I believe you were telling us about the Dragon Drops…?” Leigh-Anne was sometimes more passionate than most, but she had an uncanny knack for keeping almost any situation on track.

Elliott continued. “Well, extracting decarboxylated THC requires at least seventy-five percent ethanol to work best, and once I added the other ingredients to help mask the somewhat grassy taste that the marijuana left, I wanted to be sure that the resulting mixture wasn’t excessively diluted.”

“As it is, the orange tincture tastes much like Cointreau, and is usually about one hundred and ten proof, or fifty-five percent alcohol. The lime tincture is made from soaking crushed Key Limes, which grow all over the property in the same one hundred and ten proof alcohol, plus a fair amount of simple sugar syrup (which we also make here) but the alcohol content of the lime tincture is about ninety proof.”

“In short, Dragon Drops enable us to make a perfect top-shelf Margarita that contains enough Tetrahydrocannabinol to equal the effect of smoking about a half-gram of the finest Kush (which we also grow here).”

“I do not recommend more than four, unless you wish to experience something approximating an acid trip. I have considered diluting the Dragon Drops a little, but I rarely drink more than two of these in an evening. It has been many years since I would drink half a liter of tequila shooters in one sitting….”

“Thank God for that! I remember those days…and not especially fondly.”

Leigh-Anne was the first to volunteer an opinion, which was quickly seconded and re-affirmed by everyone except Chianna.

“It sounds like I should be grateful for that.” she said.

“Let me put it this way…” Aimée winced slightly as she spoke. “Elliott was never what I would call a ‘mean drunk,’ but he could get to be very reckless to the point of being dangerous, and well….”

“A real asshole…not mean, just stupid.” Rebel interjected. “…No disrespect intended, Doc.”

“And none taken, but OK, we get your point. Even sober I still have fairly shitty judgment, and if I wasn’t one of the luckiest people on the planet, I would have been dead years ago.”  Elliott laughingly conceded.

“So who wants Margaritas?” he asked.

Namaste

नमस्ते

Chazz Vincent

copyright  ©  March 13th, 2021  

Fish swim with the tides, in and out of the lagoon as it empties itself, receives from, and flows back into the sea.