Installment V: Lock your medicine cabinet

Mikey didn’t know the details of the “relapse”. But he wasn’t sure what had happened in the first place. The weeks turned into months and Don was spending more and more time at home. Mikey didn’t miss him or his temper. If Don was frustrated or just feeling mean, he’d start a fight. Because of the size difference, Mikey always lost. The boys slept in their grandmother’s room and she bunked in with grandpa. With Don gone most of the time now, Mikey had a full-sized bed to himself. That was a big upgrade from his cot at home.

Most nights he woke up with a nose bleed. At first he thought Don was responsible, but it happened even when he wasn’t around. One night while Mikey sat in the bathroom waiting for his nose-bleed to stop, he decided to explore the medicine cabinet. It was packed with all sorts of interesting stuff. There were bottles of methiolate and mercurochrome (that looked 100 years-old), Listerine, peroxide, rubbing alcohol, various tubes of ointments and creams, and lots of prescription bottles.

Mikey knew to leave the prescriptions alone, but he decided to experiment with some (most) of the other stuff. He wondered what disease he might be able to cure if he found the right combination. He put a little water in a Dixie cup and then, like a mad scientist, started adding chemicals—a little bit of everything. He used the end of his toothbrush to mix it all up and prepared to sample his creation.

Had he found a cure for cancer? Or might the serum turn him into Mr. Hyde? As he started to take a drink, the smell of the concoction made him gag. It was disgusting! He may have found a cure for something, but there was no WAY he was drinking that mess. He washed it down the drain and went back to bed.

When Mikey got older, he remembered that night whenever he smelled something foul. He would smile at the thought of how lucky he was that his “serum” reeked—and that he gagged easily in his youth!!!