LOVE POTION

There is an old apothecary shop on a narrow cobblestone street. It isn’t easy to find but it has a good number of regular customers. It’s small, it’s old, but it seems to have everything one needs. “Step in and we can help you,” reads a faded sign in the window.

Peggy Sue is desperate. The man she loves is slipping through her fingers and has started paying attention to other women. His heart belonged to her alone and that’s how she wants it again. A friend told her about a shop that could help her but she forgot the directions and the last three passersby never heard of it. For an hour she searches, and then a man walks out of a small door and she reads the sign above it, “Abel’s Apothecary.” Then she sees the small sign in the window, her heart begins to pound, her hands perspire but she steels herself and steps in.

“What can I do for you, Miss?” a man asks with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

She gulps a deep breath. It’s now or never. With her hand she beckons him closer and whispers into his ear.

“I have just what you need. You’re problem is not as unusual as you think.” He turns around and takes something from a shelf behind him. “This will do it,” he says with a conspiratorial smile as he hands her a small bottle. “Give him the whole thing.”

“What is it?” Peggy Sue asks wide-eyed. “The bottle’s so tiny. It looks like a thimble full of syrup.”

“It’s a love potion. Be careful, don’t lose it. It’s my last bottle and I won’t be able to make more for two weeks.”

“Should I give him the whole thing in one drink?”

“Yes, It’s almost tasteless but you should give it in some liquid. It’ll last for three months and then you need to give him a new dose.”

***

Jim works hard at the restaurant he opened a short time ago, and she always has drinks ready for them when he comes home to the house they share. She fluffs up the pillows on the sofa and prepares two drinks when she already hears Jim’s key in the lock. She uncorks the bottle with a twist and pours the contents into Jim’s glass. She hears voices and two men enter

“This is Billy Bob.” Jim introduces the strange apparition next to him.

“Howdy Ma’am. Ah ‘ope ah ain’t intrudin’.”

Peggy Sue stares at Billy Bob. She has never seen anyone like him before. He’s tall, stoop shouldered, and has bushy dark hair on his arms, chest and hands. “He looks like an ape. Evolution seems to have passed him by.”

“Hey, these for us?” Billy Bob asks picking up a glass of rum with his paw.

Peggy Sue watches in horror as he drains Jim’s glass with a noisy slurp.

“Thanks,” he says wiping his mouth with his hairy forearm, “goes down real easy.” He looks at Peggy Sue with a grin that reveals his discolored teeth.

“Take it easy, Billy Bob.” Jim pats him on the back. “We have all night to drink.”

“Oh Lord, he drank the potion,” Peggy Sue thinks, aghast. “What am I going to do? Tomorrow...tomorrow, I’ll see Abel.”

Billy Bob turns to her with a love sick gleam in his little, close set eyes. The intensity of his gaze nauseates Peggy Sue who, unable to hide her revulsion, takes a step back.

“Don’t be ‘fraid of me, Miz Peggy Sue. Ah juzz thinks yer the purdiest woman in the whole whorl’,” he sayss with conviction, making an awkward little bow.

Peggy Sue shudders and looks to Jim with a plea in her eyes.

But Jim just leads Billy Bob around the coffee table to the sofa and motions for him to sit down.

“Where’s that rum bottle, Peggy Sue?” Jim asks without looking at her.

“I’ll get it.” Peggy Sue dashes to the kitchen where she throws up into the sink.

“Yer so lucky to be width a gal like her.” Billy Bob’s voice is soft and tender.

“She’s not mine. We just share the house.”

*******

“What’s the matter with you,” Jim asks in the morning. “You were rude to my guest.”

“Oh, Jim, I couldn’t stay. Did you see how he looked at me? Like I was a side of beef?”

“You’re imagining things.” Jim leaves for his restaurant, slamming the door.

She grabs her keys and rushes out of the house. Billy Bob lurches toward her in clean jeans, clutching a fistful of flowers with the roots dangling .

“Ah bin waitin’ fer ya.” Billy Bob grins.

She suppresses a scream and runs in the direction of the shop with Billy Bob grunting close on her heels. She manages to make it to the apothecary and dashes inside to see Abel.

“I have a problem,” she begins and Abel looks up past her at Billy Bob coming through the door.

“Do you see that... that thing that just came in?” she points at the gorilla. “He drank the potion and now I can’t get rid of him. Do you have an antidote?”

“Oh, my,” laughs Abel. “That’s some mistake you made. There’s no antidote for a love potion.”

“What? You mean I have to wait three months for this to wear off?” Peggy Sue shouts.

Before Abel can answer, Billy Bob speaks up. “Yer so sof’ an’ purdy juzz like me momma. Ah’s gonna marry ya.”

Peggy Sue gives him a disgusted look and leaves the shop in exasperation. Once she gets to her home, she sees Billy Bob is settling in ready to camp on her doorstep for the duration.

Jim comes home and steps over Billy Bob’s sleeping form. “What’s he doing here?”

“I told you he won’t leave me alone,” Peggy Sue cries in despair. “Why won’t you help me?”

“Because I’m leaving,” he says in a cold voice. “Hanna and I are getting married next week.”

Peggy Sue stares at him open mouthed and sits down. She hides her face in her hands and weeps. “I have a week,” she thinks. “If Able can make me more love potion now, I can prevent the disaster.”

***

The next morning, groggy with fatigue, Peggy Sue makes her way to Abel’s Apothecary again. Rounding the corner in front of the shop, she looks towards the door. It's dark inside and the blinds are drawn. Just as she feels Billy Bob’s hot breath on her neck, she sees the large “For Sale” sign in the window. She feels a heavy, protective grip on her shoulder, and her hope droops like an unwatered flower.

©Amy Thompson. Sept 27th 2010