It's Been a While, Part 2

Been Awhile
an4@anon.lelnet.com
Part 2

It was just after midnight when Kirsten heard the car pull in. 

She had just finished drying her hair and was studying for her psychology 
final. From the way the car doors closed and the somewhat loud sound of her 
father's voice, she guessed that they'd had a pretty good time. Daddy could 
drink quite a bit when he was in a good mood- it was actually kind of fun 
when he was a little bit drunk because he was- Mom's word was jocular. 

The front door opened and Kirsten got up to go downstairs and say hello. 

"Hey pumpkin," Daddy said, his voice cheery but his words crisp and clear, 
although he was making an effort. "How's my favourite little girl ?" 

She gave him a solid hug. "Great. Did you have a good time ?" 

"Oh," he said, smiling, "I'll say we did. Maybe too good. I need to get 
some sleep if I'm going to write my letter of resignation in the morning." 

Kirsten stepped back. "Resignation ?" 

Carol reached out and took her daughter by the shoulder. "We need to have a 
little talk, pumpkin. Dave, why don't you get ready for bed. I'll be up in 
a few minutes." 

Dave looked at his two favourite women and smiled. 

"Will do." 

He headed straight up the stairs. 

"Daddy's a little drunk, huh ?" 

Carol smiled. "You know Kelli. One bottle of wine after another. With me 
driving- well, Daddy took a few for the team, if you know what I mean." 

"What's up ?" 

Carol squeezed her shoulder. "Let's go into the kitchen. I need a beer to 
unwind. It's been a long day." 

They walked into the kitchen and Kirsten sat down at the table. Mom reached 
into the fridge, pulled out two Bass Ales, uncapped them, and handed one to 
Kirsten, who looked at her wide-eyed. She never was allowed beer on a 
school night, especially after midnight. 

Carol took a long pull on hers and then lit a cigarette. Kirsten watched 
her with longing. She took a long drag on the Marlboro Lights 100 and then 
exhaled. Kirsten could see that she was trying to find the right way to 
start." 

"Daddy's quitting his job ?" 

"It's a little more complicated than that. And this is going to affect you, 
so I thought you should hear everything right away." 

Mom took another long draw on the cigarette, exhaled. 

"The company is sending me to Germany for the next three months. We're 
opening a branch in Bayern and I'm the only marketing person with German 
language skills. We're leaving in ten days." 

"We ?" Kirsten asked. Her heart sank. She was supposed to take classes over 
the summer at university. 

"Well, Daddy and I. Now, you know since his company was bought out Daddy 
hasn't been very happy, right ?" 

"Well, they laid off two of his best friends." Kirsten watched her mother 
smoke and she wished right now she was having a cigarette as well. 

"Kelli needs a lot of people for this start up and she was very impressed 
with the consulting work he did on our database. She wants him to set up 
the data systems and integration in the German office. It's kind of temp to 
perm. Assuming he does a good job- and that's a lock, he'll be offered a 
permanent position." 

"Here or in Germany ?" Kirsten asked, finally taking a sip of the beer, 
hoping it would calm her racing heart. 

"We don't know. If he does a good enough job, back here. But three months 
might stretch to six. It's a great opportunity for both of us and I think 
Kelli's really looked for a way to make this work for the family. But-" 

"What about me, right ?" 

"Exactly. I'm sure we can afford to take you and I hate the thought of 
being away from you for the summer- or longer- but you're already enrolled 
in classes at the university and then there's school in the fall- we'll be 
there until at least October. Then there's the house." 

"But you don't want to leave me alone, either, do you ?" 

Carol reached out and patted her daughter's hand. 

"It's- hell, I trust you, but that's a long time and Aunt Jesse is two 
hours from here." 

Without knowing why she said it, Kirsten blurted out, "JC will keep an eye 
on me." 

"Honey," Carol said, pausing to smoke, "JC is a very nice woman, but I 
couldn't ask her to do that." 

"I don't think she'd mind at all, Mom." 

"Really ? Have you been getting to know JC ?" 

"Yeah. In fact today I just agreed to mow her lawn the rest of the summer." 

"Well, we can't let JC's lawn go unmowed," Carol said, laughing. 

"Mom, I'm serious. I mean, I don't like the idea of being away from you and 
Daddy all summer, but I don't want to miss my summer classes and I 
certainly can't miss a month of my senior year." 

"Honey, she's just a neighbour. I couldn't think to ask her that." 

Carol drew on the cigarette again and Kirsten wanted to be smoking so 
badly. That and the beer made her a little bold. 

"Mom's there's something I have to tell you and I hope you won't be mad, 
because this will make our conversation go a lot smoother." 

"What ?" Carol said, confused. Her daughter was almost trembling, on the 
verge of some major revelation. It must be about a boy, Carol thought. 

"I need a cigarette." 

"Is that all ?" Carol asked, trimming the ash from her own. "Like I don't 
know that you smoke. It's about time you were honest about it at least." 

She pushed the pack across the table. 

"Indulge yourself." 

"I have my own," Kirsten said, and bolted out of the kitchen. 

As she darted up the stairs she was trying not to cry. 

Germany ? The idea of spending a summer in Europe was nice, but the thought 
of missing out on senior year or even a part of it- 

That was too cruel. 

She grabbed her own cigarettes, lit one right in her room, and walked back 
down the stairs slowly. She was taking another long draw on the cigarette 
when she walked back into the kitchen. 

"Well, it's nice to finally see you being honest about your smoking, 
pumpkin." 

"How long have you known ?" Kirsten asked, trimming. 

"Six months. Ever since you started. I've been waiting for you to ask for 
permission." 

"Are you disappointed ?" Kirsten was glad to be talking about anything but 
Germany right now. 

"A little. Well, in myself. I know the fact that Daddy and I smoke-" 

"I smoke because I like it, Mom." 

"Really ? It's not just because Ursula smokes ? I notice you're smoking 
those VS 120s she smokes." 

"Well, I started smoking them because that's what she smokes and that means 
that was what I tried first. I've tried other cigarettes but I like these 
best." 

"There's something about a long cigarette in the hand of a pretty young 
woman, isn't there ?" 

"Mom !" 

"No, I mean it. I have to admit that it looks good." 

"I can't believe we are having this discussion. I expected you to be mad at 
me. I mean, I haven't said anything because you and Daddy seemed willing to 
overlook the fact that I've been smoking. I thought we were all just kind 
of ignoring it and maybe you were hoping I'd stop." 

"Well, yes. I suppose that it's our fault for not being honest with you. 
Dave- Daddy and I have talked about it, considered confronting you- but 
it's not like you're a bad kid. We were sort of holding our breath, 
thinking maybe you were just experimenting or something." 

"Well, are you just letting me smoke now because of the Germany thing or is 
this a decision about me smoking in general ?" 

"I-" Carol finished the cigarette, paused, lit another one while thinking. 

"That's a tough question. I'm not sure Daddy and I are comfortable with 
letting you smoke. You are our little girl and well- we don't want to be 
too permissive. I mean, we already let you drink beer on the weekends-" 

"Or when you tell me you're leaving for three months-" 

"Touché." 

"Are you afraid I'm going to think that it means I can do whatever I want 
?" 

"Well, one thing leads to another. We wouldn't want to find out you were- 
like- smoking pot or something." 

"Mom ! I hate pot." 

"So you've tried it ?" 

Kirsten almost choked on her inhale, but she recovered and exhaled. 

"God no. I hate the smell." 

"So you know people who smoke pot ?" 

This was going the wrong direction. Kirsten trimmed, inhaled, exhaled. 

"I go to parties, Mom. I've seen people smoke pot, yes. Are they friends ? 
No. Ursula and I both think it's gross and I don't like what it does to 
people, either. Those little pot cigarettes smell terrible and they are 
nasty. Look at what I smoke ? Do you think I'd be caught dead with some 
little nasty hand-rolled cigarette in my hand ? Or sucking on a bong ? 
That's not me. Getting a little tipsy on beer is as far as I want to go. 
One of the things I like about smoking is how focused it makes me feel." 

"I could always study better when I was smoking," Carol said. 

"I'll be honest. It would be so huge if you would let me smoke at home." 

"And I suppose if we leave you here you're just going to smoke anyway. Aunt 
Jesse told me she's planning to let you smoke when you go visit ?" 

"Aunt Jesse told you I smoke ?" Kirsten said, feeling betrayed. 

"No. I asked her point blank if she was going to let you smoke and she said 
yes, of course and asked why I hadn't done the same. I think Daddy and I 
can get used to it. It's not like watching you smoke is nasty. You have a 
nice style." 

"Mom !" 

"Do you really think JC would look after you ?" 

"I'm sure of it." 

"We're not letting you use the cars. We'll have to get you some old junker 
and- god, I can't believe that we'd even think about- look, let's finish 
our cigarettes and go to bed. It's going to be the ten longest days of our 
lives getting ready for this. 



JC had gotten up early. She was sitting on the front porch, enjoying the 
cool morning air and smoking a cigarette. She was trying to decide whether 
or not she was going to start smoking at work. She was holding off on 
taking a shower until she decided. It was around six-thirty and the 
neighbourhood was quiet, so she was surprised to see Carol come out of the 
house and walk across the lawn towards her, holding a cigarette of her own. 

She was a little embarrassed to be sitting there smoking. The truth was, 
she had never really talked to Carol much, and she wondered now if they'd 
never really become friends because Carol and Dave were smokers. 

"Hi, JC," Carol said, noticing that she was also smoking a VS 120. 

Interesting. 

"Hi, Carol. You're up early." 

Carol inhaled, exhaled. 

"I love smoking in the morning. There's nothing like a good cigarette in 
the crisp morning air. Speaking of which, I didn't know that you smoked." 

"I just started a few days ago," JC said. "Well, I used to smoke, and I 
guess I've always been a casual smoker, but I kind of caught the habit the 
other day." 

"There are better habits, but none more enjoyable. Look, I- god, this is 
awkward but, well, I wanted you to know that Dave and I are going to 
Germany for the next three months. I know we don't know each other that 
well-" 

JC was sorry to hear this. She felt like she was making a friend in 
Kirsten, although that was silly. Adults didn't need high school friends, 
did they ? 

"I'll look after the house if you want. No problem," JC said, trying to 
make it easy.

"I was actually going to ask you something a little more- I feel really 
weird doing this, but Kirsten said that she and you were getting to know 
one another and-" 

"Yeah. Kirsten's a great kid." 

"Well, for the most part. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about her 
smoking, but-" 

"Did she tell you she's been smoking ?" JC asked, trying not to sound too 
interested. 

"Last night when I told her we were going to Germany." 

"So she's going with you ?" 

"Well, that's actually what I wanted to discuss with you. God, I feel like 
I hardly know you. Dave and I barely have said hi and bye to you since you 
moved in." 

"Well, I'm sure that will change. I'm buying the place." 

"Really ?" Carol asked, interested. 

"Yeah. Decided to settle in. So what's up ?" 

"Well, Kirsten is already enrolled in summer classes at the University and 
she- she doesn't want to go to Germany for three months and miss the start 
of school. I was- jesus- if I asked you to look after her, how would you 
feel about that ?" 

"I think that would be great," JC said. "Kirsten's a good kid. I don't 
think it would be a problem at all." 

"Are you-" 

Kirsten trimmed the ash from her cigarette, drew on it, exhaled, and 
smiled. 

"I'm young, I don't have kids. You've invested sixteen years of your life 
in your daughter. I'll bet you're wondering if I can be a- temporary 
parent, right ?" 

"The thought did cross my mind." 

"I think I can handle it." 

"We'll leave plenty of money with her for food and books and whatever and 
she'll be with her aunt for two weeks." 

"Aunt Jesse ?" 

"Yes. I guess we'll have to get her a car, though." 

"Actually, I just bought a BMW. If Kirsten wants to borrow the CRX for the 
summer, I have no problem with that." 

Carol was shocked at how easy this was and with herself for even 
considering it. 

"Maybe the four of us should, I don't know, have a few dinners together to 
get used to each other so you and Dave are a little more comfortable with 
the idea." 

"That would be nice," Carol said. "I have to get to work early. Lots of 
plans to make." 

"I'm looking forward to spending time with Kirsten. You don't have to 
worry. I'll do more than knock on the door every few days." 

Carol said goodbye and tried to relax and convince herself one thing had 
been taken care of, if absurdly. 



Maureen walked by the door to JC's office and JC called out to her. 

Maureen stuck her head in the doorway. 

"What's up, JC ?" 

"Going out for a smoke ?" 

"Yeah. Want to join me ?" 

"Sure. Where's Jill ?" JC grabbed her purse and the two women headed 
outside. 

"She says she's not going to smoke with me anymore. Her boyfriend laid down 
the law. Either she stops smoking or she finds a new boyfriend." 

The smoking area was a nice shaded area behind the building. There was 
picnic table hidden inside a hollow surrounded by trees. It was private, 
even pastoral. 

"So did you have something you wanted to talk about ?" Maureen asked as she 
lit a Marlboro Lights 100. 

"No, I just wanted a smoke." JC took out the pack of VS 120s and lit one. 

"Wow," Maureen said. "I didn't know you were smoking." 

"Come on," JC said, exhaling, "You're about the only one who ever sees me 
smoke." 

"Yeah, you smoke like two cigarettes on Friday night when we go out. That's 
not smoking. That's being social." 

"Well," JC said, pulling hard on the cigarette, "is this smoking ?" 

"Let's see, you have your own cigarettes, your own brand even, you're 
smoking in the middle of the day on a workday. Yeah, you're smoking. What 
happened ?" 

Before JC could answer, Jill and Barbara came out into the smoking area. 
Barbara was new to the University and neither JC or Maureen knew her very 
well. But she had become friends with Jill, who wasted no time lighting a 
Salem Lights 100 and pulling on it deeply. 

Maureen glanced at her watch. "Hum- seventeen hours. Is that a record, Jill 
?" 

Jill blew a defiant cloud of smoke. "I can't do it. I don't know what to 
do. You guys can joke about it all you want, but I really like Gene. Why 
does it have to be smoking he wants me to quit ? I could give up Ally 
McBeal or Godsmack. He doesn't like them, either. But it has to be 
smoking." 

"If I didn't love Jim so much, I'd suggest you and I trade boys," Barbara 
said. She looked at JC taking a sensuous pull on her VS 120. "I wish I 
could do that-" 

JC exhaled. "Do what ?" 

"Look as gorgeous as you do." 

JC blushed. "Well, I'm sure that you could ? What's going on with Jim ?" 

"You know how we have these half days on Friday. Well, Jim had last Friday 
off and it was my first half day, so I thought I'd sneak in and surprise 
him. He was in the den, listening to some godawful racket, Disturbed or 
something, when I came in. He didn't hear me. I walked into the den and he 
was-" 

She paused. The other three women smoked. 

"He was looking at porn on the internet. But not just any porn. It was porn 
of women smoking." 

"Really ?" Maureen asked. 

"Yes. I confronted him immediately. He didn't even try to deny it. He just 
told me that women who smoke really turn him on- he even suggested that I 
should try it." 

"I guess that it took you by surprise ?" JC asked. 

"Totally. I mean, I have never smoked. Not even to try it. We dated for two 
years and now we've been married for three. He never once said anything to 
me about smoking." 

"Has he ever even seen you, say, holding a lit cigarette ?" 

"Yes. About three months ago my younger sister Juliet came to visit. She's 
been smoking since she was fourteen. She was having trouble opening a beer, 
so I took her cigarette for her. But that's it. Just once." 

Maureen, never one to be overly delicate, asked the question they were all 
thinking. 

"How does he get along with Juliet ?" 

"You know, I had never really thought about it until last Friday, but he's 
always saying that we should spend more time with her- I thought it was 
because she's well, she's always between boyfriends. I thought he was just 
taking pity on her for my sake, but know I wonder if he just likes watching 
her smoke." 

"How's your sex life been ?" Maureen asked. 

"Mo !" Jill admonished. 

"No," Barbara said, "it's a fair question. Not that great. They say after 
you get married it's never the same but the last few months- he has no 
interest in sex at all. Now I know why." 

"But you are considering maybe giving him a taste of what he wants ?" JC 
asked. 

"Well, he does things for me. God, this is all embarrassing-" 

Jill reached out and touched her friend's shoulder. "Hey, we all need 
someone to talk to, you know ?" 

"I like to put him in handcuffs. Pretty standard stuff. But he's always 
cooperative. He knows I get off on it. I hate talking about this, burdening 
you guys, but I just- I can't talk to Juliet about it. That would make 
things awkward. I just wish I could smoke." 

"Well, you could try it-" Maureen said.

"I'm twenty-seven and I have never smoked. I can't just start all of the
sudden." 

"I did," JC said. "Just a few days ago I went from being a once a week 
social smoker to the real thing." 

Maureen looked at her watch again as if remembering something and then 
there was panic on her face when she saw the time. "Shit- if you and I are 
going to get up to that conference by noon, Jill, we have to leave now." 

Jill nodded. 

"You know, Barbara, maybe JC would take you out for a couple of drinks to 
get your courage up and-" 

Maureen grabbed Barbara's arm and they were off. 

Barbara looked at JC. "You really don't have to do that. This is my 
problem. I can handle it, I guess." 

"I'm sure you can. Really, I don't mind at all. But maybe you should just 
swing by my house after work. In your case, I think a private setting makes 
a lot more sense." 

"I have to be honest, JC. I don't know that I want to smoke." 

JC drew on her cigarette again. Her exhale was slow and patient and Barbara 
watched the whole act. The way JC's lips parted to accept the cigarette, 
then closed around it. The draw of air into her lungs that made the 
cigarette hiss and glow orange at the tip. She would then take the 
cigarette from her mouth, savour the smoke with her lips closed. The 
cigarette was held upwards, angled away from her face, held between first 
and second finger. All four fingers curled, thumb gently meeting the third 
one. Then she moved the cigarette down, and holding it between second 
finger and thumb, she tapped the ash from it with her index finger. 

The exhale through pursed lips, head upturned, exposing the slender, creamy 
neck. 

Her blue eyes were playful as she lifted the cigarette to her lips, inhaled 
again, held in the same stylish position. 

Barbara groaned. She would never be able to do all that, even if she did 
want to. 

It was like watching Juliet smoke. The same hold, the same sensuous 
interaction between the lips and the cigarette. The creamy exhales. The 
playfulness in the eyes. 

It was discouraging. Barbara had a sweet face- sweeter than Juliet's. the 
same blue eyes and reddish blonde hair. Her breasts were the largest and 
most well-formed in the family- in fact, until recently Jimmy had loved 
playing with those breasts. And how many men had told her that her legs 
were to die for ? A small, pert behind. 

But not this. 

"Well, come on over and find out. At least you can say you tried. What more 
could he ask for ?" 

"I don't know. There's always my sister." 

"Well, look at it this way. Since you have never smoked, you don't know you 
don't like it. Your sister likes it." 

"Well, Dad smokes cigars, and I'm not sure that one is going to run in the 
family. If you really don't mind, I'll stop by and we can talk some more. 
I'd like to hear more about your- well, about your smoking. Is that weird 
?" 

"No. And think about this- if you can just tolerate smoking, it could 
change you sex life." 



In the afternoon, Barbara joined JC for another smoke break. JC didn't try 
to get Barbara to smoke and Barbara settled for talking to JC about her 
decision to start smoking again. 

"At first, I didn't understand it. I'd been casually smoking when I went 
out with Maureen and Jill- sometimes they would badger me into having one 
and sometimes I'd just come out and ask. But I never went home and said `I 
want to keep smoking.' Then a few days ago I was talking to a friend at the 
coffee shoppe and this high school girl offered me one of these." 

She held out the just lit VS 120. "I don't know why I said yes. But as soon 
as I got that cigarette in my hand- that and I was watching her smoke hers 
and I just knew this was something I wanted." 

"It's like that picture you showed me. Talk about great advertising. God, I 
would love to look like that." 

"That is a GREAT idea," JC said. 

"What do you mean ?" 

"I liked that look so much I bought an outfit like that at a second hand 
store. Come on over and- oh, this will be great." 



"I feel kind of silly," Barbara said. 

"Have little more wine and try to relax." 

Barbara sat back, holding the unlit cigarette. She wasn't going to smoke 
it, at least not right away. She gulped half a glass of quality Rhine, felt 
her stomach go warm and her face flush, and then she did feel a little more 
relaxed. 

"Hold it close by your head." 

JC shot a pair of pictures and Barbara moved the cigarette to her mouth, 
trying to emulate. 

More pictures. 

Holding the cigarette and the glass of wine in the same hand. Smiling. 
Serious. 

Finally, JC had filled the flash card with pictures. She quickly 
transferred them to her G4. 

"Wow," was all Barbara could say. The pictures spoke for themselves. Even 
she was impressed. 

"What's his email address ?" 

She gave it to JC, but then put her hand out. "I don't know about this." 

"Try to think about something else," JC said as went ahead and sent the 
email. 

"Well, this is a nice house. Do you own or rent ?" 

JC smiled. "Own. Or actually, rent. But I will own as soon as I can find 
someone to do an house inspection for me." 

"My best friend does house inspections." 

"Well then, if she's good, give me her number." 

"She's great. When she inspected our house, it hadn't rained in a month, 
but she figured out the basement leaks. She found these microscopic cracks 
in the foundation- took ten grand off the purchase price. Only cost us 2500 
to fix. She's great, but-" 

"But ?" 

"Well, she's a little psychic." 

"Like 1-900 psychic ?" 

"Like you shit your pants and don't sleep for a week psychic. The real deal." 

"Well give me her number anyway. I'll just make sure I'm wearing Depends 
when she comes over. Now, the big question. Are you going to let me light 
that for you ?" 

Barbara decided that she would. 

Twenty minutes later, Barbara was headed out the door, smoking a second 
cigarette. Hopefully, her husband was looking at the second set of 
pictures, the ones where she was actually smoking the first one. 

"I want details, Barb." 

And fourteen hours later, she had then. But by then, it was not exactly the 
first item on her mind. 



JC was standing in the basement. It was a little after eight and while 
she'd been surprised that Ellen had been willing to come over and inspect 
the house on fifteen minutes notice, she'd been even more surprised by what 
Ellen had just said. 

Drawing deeply on her cigarette, JC exhaled and then asked Ellen to repeat 
what she had just said. 

"Someone was murdered in this basement. Maybe three years ago." 

Depends indeed 

And that was when it all started getting a little weird. 

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