Nate's Crown Liquor

I was living at The Tower at Speer in Denver,

a government subsidized apartment for low

income people. It was a decent place as those

places go, good management and maintenance.

After separating from my wife and having moved

from place to place from Denver to St. Louis and

back to Denver again, I was in one of my daily

heavy drinking periods. I was alone with my two

dogs, and just wanted to make it through the day.

I was uninspired by my art and writing at the time.

A cold and snowy February morning and half an

hour before its 9AM opening, I slogged the four

block distance to Nate’s Crown Liquor on Santa

Fe to purchase my alcoholic fix for the day, a fifth

of E&J Brandy, a decent drunk for the cost.

I waited across the street in the heavy snow-

fall as a line of desperate alcoholics lined up on

the sidewalk in front of Nate’s.

Funny, the cold and snow didn’t deter me from

exposure to inclement weather, but I’d be damned

if I would be seen lined up with a bunch of hope-

less drunks.

When they opened, I waited a few extra minutes

for the crowd to clear, then I made my way into

the store.

The woman behind the counter recognizing me

as a daily regular, smiled and asked, “The usual?”

I pulled out my wallet, handed her a tenspot,

nodded my head, yes.

She knew I was like all the rest of her early morn-

ing customers, an alchy with either a hungover or

the DTs (delirium tremens).

I suppose I was okay with her knowing that I was

one of “them.” Hell, I had a drunk to get on, and

she had a business to run.

                              -30-

Chris Hanch 7-23-2020