INGREDIENTS
- orange wedge
- sugar
- pink gin
- pomegranate seeds
- cream
- coffee grounds
- Grenadine
- Blue Curaçao
- activated charcoal
- vinegar
PREPARATION
- Chill a hurricane glass with liquid nitrogen. The vapors should recall the heavy morning fog obscuring the crosswalk outside the school where the accident happened.
- Dissolve the charcoal in vinegar, stirring until the liquid is as black and bitter as the memory of that morning. The spoon clinking against the glass should sound like the text message notification that distracted the driver.
- Add alternating splashes of Grenadine and Blue Curaçao, the colors of the police lights reflecting off the wet asphalt.
- Pour a layer of cream on top, then sprinkle in the pomegranate seeds, just enough to mimic the drops of blood splattered on the homework papers that fanned out from Jilly’s hand as she fell.
- A pinch of coffee grounds added to the cream will remind you of the dirt you brushed from her open eye, dirt she should have blinked away, but didn’t. Couldn’t.
- Add pink gin, the color of her Hello Kitty backpack. Don’t be afraid to over-pour—the backpack was too big for her, after all. But she loved it so much, you let her wear it anyway.
- Garnish the drink with an orange wedge dipped in sugar, sweet and bright, like her smile when she left for school that morning.
- Take the orange from the glass, then pour the rest of the drink down the drain.
- Hold onto the orange. Don’t let it go. Never let it go.
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Warren Benedetto 