Jenny Mason 3: Afternoon Delight

Jenny Mason 3: Afternoon Delight 
By: slimv 
April 2005 

Author's Note: This is the third installment in the Jenny Mason stories.  The
first is "Jenny Mason: Just Like Mom". The second is "Jenny Mason: Afternoon
Delight. This is a 'G' rated story about a seven-year-old girl named Jenny who
starts smoking and is treated as an adult by her family 



Jenny sat on the bed and played with her dolls as Barbara fixed her face in
front of the mirror. Barbara smiled nervously as she kept one eye on Jenny's
reflection and another on the task at hand. 

Jenny often played with dolls on the bed while she did her make-up, but this
was the first time she'd ever seen her daughter play with a cigarette burning
between her lips. That's not something you see every day, she thought to her
self. 

As a mother, it pained her to watch as Jenny ruined her lungs with one
cigarette after the other. But what else could she do? Jenny needed her
cigarettes. Besides, the damage had been done and there was no undoing it.
The best thing she could for Jenny was to encourage her to feel good about
herself while funneling her own efforts into preventing her sons from taking
up the habit. 

Every now and then she'd catch a glimpse of Jenny watching her self smoke in
the mirror. Barbara laughed to keep from crying. She lit a cigarette of her
own and smiled back at Jenny through the mirror. As difficult as the situation
was, there were also benefits. Barbara enjoyed having another smoker in the
house to keep her company. And they had bonded in a way she never would have
believed possible. 

"Hey sweetheart," said Barbara. "Would you like Mommy to show you how to wear
make-up?" 

"You mean I can wear lipstick like you do when we see your friends?" asked
Jenny excitedly. 

"Of course you can. Sit here on my bench and I'll show you how to do it." 

Jenny took her mommy's place on the bench in front of the vanity while Barbara
explained and demonstrated each piece of make-up. 

"Look Mommy! My cigarette has lipstick on it, just like yours!" 

"I see," said Barbara. "Would you like to put a tube of mommy's lip stick and
some other things in your big girl purse?" 

"What? You got me a big purse?" 

"I'm giving you one of my old ones. That little pink plastic purse isn't going
to be big enough for all the things you'll need to carry now that you're an
adult. You barely have room for one pack of cigarettes and a lighter. You'll
like this one much better," she said as she got it down from her closet. 

"Wow Mommy! That's so cool! 

Barbara smiled at Jenny as she struggled with the purse. It was half as big as
she was and looked like a suitcase. 

***** 

Jenny rode in the front seat with her mommy on the way to the mall. It was the
first time in her life that she had gotten to ride in the front seat. 

"You can sit up here from now on," said Barbara, "so you can share the ashtray
with me." 

"What about Daddy?" 

"He doesn't smoke, so he can sit in the back with your brothers." 

Jenny grinned as she thought of her big daddy squeezing in the back seat with
her two brothers. But it was only right, after all she was an adult now, and
adults ride in the front seat. 

Jenny pulled a pack of Virginia Slims from her big purse and lit one as her
mommy pulled up to a red light. 

"Look Mommy. There's a policeman." 

Barbara looked over to see a young male officer stopped beside them at the
light. Great, she thought. He could give me a ticket for letting her ride in
the front seat, and who knows what he could do about the smoking," she
thought. 

She watched as Jenny took a big puff from her cigarette and exhaled while
waving to the policeman. To her surprise, the policeman smiled, tipped his cap
and waved back. 

Barbara acknowledged the officer with a warm nod and followed the car in front
of her through the red light. 

***** 

The mall was crowded. It took Barbara almost ten minutes to find a parking
space close to an entrance. She stopped in the middle of the lane and waited
for a Volvo to back out of a space before taking it's slot. 

Jenny loved going to the mall. Without fail, she always saw at least one or
two of her friends from school. Being summer, she wondered whom she would see.
She opened her door and met her mommy at the front of the car. 

A young attractive mother of three was touring the parking lot in her SUV.
Her three daughters, all under the age of ten were fighting and bickering
behind her. The mother's nerves were frazzled and she took a drag of relief
from her cigarette before extinguishing it in the SUV's generous sized
ashtray. 

"The fighting stopped as the oldest of her three daughters pointed out the
woman and the young girl lighting cigarettes. 

"Hey Mommy," she shouted. "Look at that little girl. She's smoking a
cigarette." 

The mother shook her head and continued her search for a parking space.  She'd
caught her daughter smoking several weeks earlier and this was her first day
of freedom after restriction. Rather than take her lumps and put the incident
behind her, the young girl continued to pester her mother for permission to
smoke. 

"Right there Mommy. Look!" 

The mother's eyes followed her daughter's finger to a young girl who couldn't
have been any older than eight and a woman who was probably the girl's mother. 

The mother gasped as she eased down on the break. Her daughter wasn't kidding.
The little girl was smoking. 

"See Mommy. I told you. I'm not the only girl that smokes. Please let me have
a cigarette!" 

The young mother looked back at her daughter and her two other sisters who had
become mesmerized by the sight in the parking lot. 

Smoke billowed from the little girl as she walked along side her mother with
the big purse slung across her shoulders. The angelic looking little girl
seemed so happy and confident. She envied the other mother for having such a
well-behaved and mature child. 

"We'll talk about it when we get home," said the mother as she drove past the
young girl and her mother. 

***** 

Barbara walked nervously beside her daughter as she gauged the shopper's
reactions. Every now and then she would look down to see a cloud of smoke
trailing from her pretty little girl's mouth. The cigarette looked oversized
and out of place as she brought it to her painted lips. But it was the
expression of confidence she wore that nullified her age. 

People for the most part were polite. Many smiled while some cast frowns of
disapproval. Barbara wondered if she'd see anyone she knew. Would she have to
explain? Would people understand? She didn't know. 

Barbara stopped in front of the directory, quickly finding Ruby Tuesdays in
the index under restaurants. She was matching the colored coded reference to
her location when she felt a tug at her elbow. 

"I see Megan from my class. Can I go to talk to her?" 

Barbara looked up to see Megan Coulter and her mother, Anna, about 10 paces
away. They were sitting on a bench with their bags on the floor in front of
them, while Anna took a smoke break. 

"Okay dear. I'll be over in a minute." 

Barbara hung back at the directory, within earshot, and watched as her
daughter marched off to reunite with her classmate. A part of her wanted to
hold her daughter's hand as she lit up for the first time in public in front
of someone she knew. She remembered her first public experience as being both
exciting and terrifying. She would run to her daughter's side if she saw the
situation was getting out of control, but she knew it would be good for Jenny
if she could handle this by her self. After all, this would be the first of
many such encounters. 

Anna Coulter had just lit her cigarette when Megan started pulling her arm
excitedly. 

"Look Mommy. There's Jenny from my school. She's coming over. I'm going to
talk to her. Is it Okay if I ask her to spend the night tonight?" 

"You can ask her honey, but her mother will have to say its Okay too," said
Anna as she emptied her lungs in the store. 

The two girls squealed with delight and ran to meet each other. Anna smiled as
they hugged and jumped up and down. She remembered what it was like to have
such a good friends when she was younger. 

Megan broke the hug excitedly. She looked at her friend kind of funny and
said, "Your wearing makeup and you smell just like my mommy." 

Jenny giggled because it was true. She was so excited about telling her friend
all about how she had become an adult. 

"Can you sleep over at my house tonight," asked Megan. "My mommy says you can
if it's all right with your mommy." 

"That would be so fun," squealed Jenny. "I'll ask her!" 

Anna tapped an ash from her cigarette into the big ashtray. She smiled warmly
at Jenny and asked the normal questions that adults asks a kid. How is your
summer going? Did you get a good report card? Did your family go anywhere for
vacation? "What have you been up to," she asked? 

"I started smoking," said Jenny proudly. "These are my cigarettes," she said
as she reached into her big purse and pulled out a pack of Virginia Slims. 

Anna's smile quickly faded as her mind processed the little girl's show and
tell account of her summer. "You shouldn't be carrying around your mommy's
cigarettes," said Anna flatly. 

"They look like my mommy's but hers are menthol and mine are regular, like
yours," she said as she pointed to the pack of Marlboro 100s peeking out from
Anna's purse. 

Anna and Megan gasped as Jenny placed a long white cigarette between her
painted lips and lit it expertly with a Bic lighter. 

Megan was in awe of the way Jenny's smoke looked it as it exited her young
friend's mouth. "Wow Mommy. Look at Jenny. She's smoking like a grown up.
She's just like you!" 

"Jenny, I think you should put that cigarette out now, before someone sees
you." 

Barbara Mason, who had heard and seen everything, walked up on the group and
asked Anna if they could have a word in private. 

Anna, who was still shocked, looked at Barbara and said nothing. Barbara
reached into her purse and took out a handful of change. "Here sweetie," she
said as placed the coins in her daughter's small hand. "Take Megan over the to
fountain and the two of you can make some wishes." 

Once they were on their way, Barbara joined Anna on the bench and lit a
cigarette of her own. 

"You look like you've seen a ghost," said Barbara. 

"When did Jenny start smoking," asked Anna? 

Barbara told Anna the whole story about Jenny in the woods and how her
daughter had given her the surprise of her life the night before. 

"She's really a smoker, isn't she," asked Anna? 

"I'm afraid she is. But that doesn't make her a bad person. Look at us. We
both smoke and we're not bad." 

"But she's only seven," said Anna as she took a deep drag from her Marlboro
and watched Jenny and Megan throwing coins in the fountain. "She looks so
grown up and happy." 

"Yes, she does," said Barbara. 

"Was it difficult, giving her permission?" 

"What else could I have done," asked Barbara? "Forcing her to quit would have
been pointless and painful. You know what that feels like?" 

"I do," said Anna as she took a deep purposeful drag from her Marlboro and
exhaled. "For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing." 

"I'd completely understand if you didn't want her to play with Megan any
more." 

"Nonsense," said Anna. "I've already invited her to spend the night with
Megan, and they're both looking forward to it. I'm not about to let you be a
party pooper." 

***** 

"Barbara! Over here!" 

Barbara followed the sound of her name across the restaurant. 

"Look Mommy," said Jenny as she pointed toward the smoking section.  "There's
your friends." 

"That's them. Come on. I'll introduce you to them," said Barbara as she led
her daughter through the crowd of diners to the smoking section. 

Jenny smiled shyly at the four women who greeted her mommy by name. She
recognized all of them. The woman she knew as Mrs. Gardner asked how she was
doing and said how happy she was that Jenny could have lunch with them today. 

"Hi Mrs. Gardner." 

Mrs. Gardner laughed politely and insisted that Jenny call her by her first
name, as did all the other women. 

"Okay, Tammy. I will." 

Jenny beamed as she took a seat beside her mommy. All of her mommy's friends
were smokers. She looked around and saw that they all had their cigarettes out
on the table in front of them and all of them were smoking.  This made her
feel very comfortable. It also made her want to have a cigarette too. 

"Your mommy told us you're a big girl now," said the woman named Brenda. 

"That's right," grinned Jenny. "I smoke cigarettes!" 

"Oh you do not," teased the woman that Jenny's mommy called Mary Ann. 

"I do so," argued Jenny. 

"Show them honey," said Barbara. 

Jenny reached into her purse and pulled out a pack of Virginia Slims and a
lighter. 

"How sweet," said the woman named Debbie. "She smokes Virginia Slims, just
like her mommy." 

"Like mother like daughter," said Tammy with a smile. 

Jenny excitedly placed a cigarette between her lips and lit it. She pulled
hard on the filter and smiled as she pulled the cigarette away and opened her
mouth so the women could see she was really inhaling just like an adult. 

All the women, including her own mommy made oohing and aweing noises as she
exhaled. 

"You really are a big girl," said Debbie. "Welcome to the club." 

Jenny felt a shiver of pride and acceptance race up her spine. "Thanks," she
said as she trimmed her cigarette in the ashtray. 

Mary Ann told her how pretty she looked and made a comment about the boys
beating her door down. 

"Do you like boys?" asked a woman named Tina. 

"I think boys are cute," said Jenny as she blushed. 

"Do you have a boyfriend," asked Tammy? 

Jenny nodded shyly. 

"What's his named," asked Tina? 

"His name is Tommy," said Jenny, suddenly feeling less self conscious about
her confession. "He's eight and he lives down the street. Sometimes we play
hide and seek and he holds my hand. He's always trying to kiss me." 

Barbara raised her eyebrow. She knew Tommy Jerguson well, but she had no idea
the little tyke had a crush on her daughter. "Do you ever let him kiss you,"
she asked?' 

"Sometimes," said Jenny as she exhaled. 

"Does he know you smoke yet," asked Brenda? 

"Not yet. I always brush my teeth and things like that before we play," said
Jenny. "Do you think he'll like kissing me more, now that I'm an adult?" 

"Maybe not at first," said Mary Ann. "But he'll get used to it. All guys do." 

"Mommy says I should blow smoke in boy's faces," said Jenny. 

"That's right," said Brenda. "That's the way an adult woman lets a guy know
she likes him." 

Jenny had just lit another cigarette when he waiter came with their food. 

"Do I have to put my cigarette out Mommy? I just lit it." 

"Of course not honey. It's perfectly acceptable for a woman to smoke and eat
at the same time," said Barbara. 

"But you don't smoke at home when we eat." 

"That's because I don't smoke as much as you do honey." 

"How much do you smoke Jenny," asked Brenda? 

"Four packs a day," said Jenny proudly. 

All the women, except for Jenny and her mommy, gasped excitedly. 

"Oh my," said Tammy. "The boys are really going to love you." 

This made Jenny feel very good about her self, so she ate her lunch with a
fork in one hand and a cigarette in her other. 

To be continued.