None of us Boutelle kids liked tomato juice. But Moop liked V-8, so there was usually a can of it in the refrigerator. And that was never a problem for anyone—until one day.

Moop made macaroni and cheese for dinner, which was great. We loved her macaroni and cheese, made with fresh Velveeta and elbow noodles, baked to a delightful golden brown. But that day she also made a bunch of vegetables to go with it: Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli. And all four of us kids really hated all three of those particular vegetables. So we didn’t eat any of them. We shoveled down the macaroni and cheese and said, “may I be excused?”

This made the Geezer very grumpy. He said if Moop went to all the trouble to make us vegetables, we should eat them. With no fuss and no complaints. He told us no one was leaving the table until their vegetables were gone.

I joined my brother and sisters in simply staring wordlessly at our plates.

After half an hour, no one had budged. But the Geezer was weakening. In a tired but irritable voice he said, “If you won’t eat your vegetables, you can have a glass of tomato juice instead.”

In light of this conciliatory gesture, we didn’t have the nerve to tell him that we all hated and despised tomato juice even more than those vegetables. So we watched mutely as he poured each of us a glass of V-8. And we continued staring at the full glasses as he sat down to watch us drink it.

A few minutes passed and the Geezer snapped “Why aren’t you drinking your juice?”

The Heff broke the silence. “We hate V-8,” she said.

The Geezer very calmly said the following. “Just… drink… your god-damned juice.”

This shocked all of us because he never swore. Even though he was in the Marine Corps we never heard him say anything stronger than the occasional “damn” or “hell,” and if you heard that you knew he was about to blow.

Spazz was the first to try the V-8. She took a small sip, then gagged and dry-heaved.

That did it. The Geezer slammed down his fist on the table. “Be excused!!!” he yelled. “All of you!! Right now!! Get out of here!!!” We scattered and ran, but it was an important victory and we all knew it. No tomato juice, ever again.