Ronnie's Dad, Lewis, was the Church of Christ preacher at Vaughn, NM. The Merritts kept "homemade" grape juice, which was used for communion in their basement at home. Ronnie and I liked to search for a fermented bottle to drink.
| Soon after we moved to Portales, we returned to Ramon to attend a party at one of the Merritt's neighbor's house. While Ronnie and I were playing out side that night, we discovered a case of hot beer in the back of a Jeep. We swiped a can; when it came my time to take a swig, I got a big mouth full of beer, got tickled, and blew foam out of my nose. I also learned some interesting terminology that evening, i.e. "Church" and "Church key." |