Gin for Christmas

my ex father in law
would hide his liquor from
his wife
under the kitchen sink,
behind the bottles
of bleach and canisters
of ajax.
bars of lava soap.
he nestled the pint
of old crow
in the moist
shadows under towels
and what not.
but his wife always
found it.
she spent the day looking
for it, knowing
it had to be somewhere,
sniffing brown whiskey
in the air he walked in.
he just needed a pop
now and then but
he was running
out of hiding places.
I may have made a mistake
when for Christmas
I bought him gin.