Jenny's Thanksgiving, Part 3

     JENNY'S THANKSGIVING
     PART III -- DINNER TIME


     Gretchen and Grace were in the kitchen making gravy, mashing
potatoes, steaming vegetables, smoking, and gossiping like only two
sisters can do.  "You know, Grace," Gretchen said, "you guys ought to
drive here more often.  Christie just adores Jenny--really looks up to
her." "I know." Grace replied, "I was a little concerned that Jen would
lose interest in Christie, now that she's beginning to mature and
blossom.  But apparently that's not the case.  They still seem as close
as sisters."  Grace held her cigarette butt under the faucet to douse it as
Bruce crashed through the kitchen door, out of breath.  "Mom!" he
screeched, "Aunt Gretchen!  Get down to the game room ASAP. 
Jenny and Christie are smoking cigarettes in there!" 
     Grace's brain tried to digest this newsflash.  Gretchen smiled,
then lit a fresh Virginia Slim and said, "Oh, that's right.  There is
something I forgot to tell you, Grace."  Grace, with a slightly perplexed
look on her face, queried, "And just what might that be, Gretchen?" 
Gretchen exhaled two lungs full of smoke and said, "Christie is a
smoker.  For about eight months now.  I guess I'm so used to it that I
forgot to tell you."  Bruce butted in. "If you don't go down there right
now, Mom, I'm gonna go tell Dad."  "Stay right where you are, young
man."  Grace shot back, "And you're not telling anyone anything." 
Then to Gretchen she said, "Tell me more about this revelation.  How
can you allow that sweet, innocent child to smoke?"  Gretchen replied,
"Innocent is the right word.  We used to have this baby-sitter, Rebecca
Moore, from over on Birch street, watching Christie.  Becky asked us if
she could smoke in the house while she baby-sat.  She seemed like a
pretty mature and responsible fifteen year old, so we said OK, as long
as you're careful about fire."
     Grace fired up another Salem Ultra while Gretchen went on
with the story.  "Will and I didn't have a clue as to what was going on
until last Easter, when Christie, the poor child, just blurted it all out on
the way home from church.  She was only nine at the time, and I
thought she had been acting a little uptight and nervous.  "Mommy,
Daddy," she had said, "Becky has been showing me how to smoke, and
now... now I get all jittery and funny feeling inside when I can't do it
for a while.  I'm sorry.  I know its bad, but I just can't help it."  Then
Christie had burst into tears.  "After our initial shock and anger
towards Becky," Gretchen went on, "we just couldn't stand to see our
little angel suffering so much, so we allowed her to smoke five
cigarettes a day."  Gretchen dragged on her cigarette, inhaled deeply,
and continued, "Well, that quickly escalated to ten a day, and she began
searching for a brand to call her own.  Saying that the cigarettes Will
and I smoke are too mild or something.  So I went to the store and
bought her twenty packs.  All the different popular brands.  After
smoking all of those, she still wasn't satisfied--said she was fond of
Camel regulars, except they were too short.  So, in the end she settled
on Pall Mall regulars."
     Gretchen continued to smoke and talk.  "Look at me, Gracie, I
mean who am I to object to anyone's smoking habit, even if its my only 
little girl.  I'm doing four packs a day now and Will smokes about a
pack a day.  Christie must be over a pack a day.  The three of us are
going through five cartons a week."  Bruce, more appalled than ever,
rolled his eyes up and looked at the ceiling.  Grace asked, "Bruce,
sweetheart, are you sure you saw Jenny smoking, as well as Christie?" 
"Yea, Mom." he said, "There's no doubt about it.  I saw both of them
smoking.  It was really gross."  Grace stirred the gravy, took a couple
drags on her cigarette, and thought about Jenny, trying to put herself in
the adolescent's shoes.  My God, she thought, if Jenny has been
experimenting with my cigarettes, like I expect she has, she must be
terribly jealous of Christie right now.  "Bruce, take this spoon." said
Grace, "Help your Aunt Gretchen get dinner ready.  I must go and
have a talk with Zack right now!"

     The two families finally sat down for Thanksgiving dinner, with
plenty of turkey, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts,
cranberry sauce, green beans and fresh baked rolls. The food was
delicious, except the gravy was a little burned.  Jenny's pulse was
almost back to normal, although after smoking two Pall Malls with
Christie, she had more nicotine in her blood than she ever had before in
her short life.   Jenny, who was seated directly across from Christie,
made note of the fact that Christie had brought her pack of cigarettes
along and set them on the table to her left.  Also, there were two
ashtrays on the table.  One near the adult smokers, and one within an
arm's reach of Christie.  Oh God, Jenny thought, Christie is going to
light up right here at the table after dinner.  Gretchen didn't wait for
dinner to be over, opting instead to smoke four cigarettes while she
was eating.
     Grace's pumpkin pie was well received by all, and while coffee
was being served, Bruce and Zack decided to go downstairs to watch
the Redskins-Cowboys football game.  "I'll be down to join you guys
in a few minutes." Will said, "First I'm going to have a smoke with my
coffee."  No sooner said than done, Will lit a Marlboro, blew out a
stream, and sipped on his hot coffee.  Grace was next to light up,
flicking her Scripto and firing up her Salem Ultra-Light in one smooth
graceful motion.  She was keeping a close eye on Jenny and Christie,
ready to make a quick decision if necessary.
     Christie finished the last bite of her pie and pushed her dessert
plate to the side.  She wiped her lips with her napkin and tossed it on
top of the dessert plate, then nonchalantly reached for the Pall Mall
pack and shook it, offering one to Jenny.  Jenny was mortified.  She
quickly shook her head while staring sternly into Christies eyes and
hoping nobody could see the flush of embarrassment that she could feel
rising in her cheeks.  Grace was watching all of this out of the corner of
her eye, but remained silent.  Christie mumbled softly, "oops," then
proceeded to stick a Pall Mall between her lips.  She half stood up,
leaning across the table and stretching her thin neck to light her
cigarette with the candle that was burning there.  She continued to pull
hard on the cigarette while sitting back down in her chair and arranging
her skirt.  Jenny watched with envy, embarrassment, and awe as
Christie finally reached up with the first two fingers of her left hand to
snatch the cigarette from her lips.  She inhaled deeply, then with the
thumb and ring finger of her cigarette hand, she picked a small piece of
tobacco off of her tongue.  Christie tilted her head up and exhaled a
long, straight stream of blue-gray smoke which rapidly met with the
ceiling and dissolved into a cloud.
     Grace was rather astonished herself by the sight of Christie
smoking like this.  It seemed to her like yesterday that Christie was just
an infant, and now there she sat holding her cigarette like a veteran
smoker.  She had her elbow on the table, forearm pointing straight up,
the cigarette near the tips of her fingers and parallel to the table top. 
Grace watched her daughter while Christie smoked.  Jenny was
mimicking her younger cousin, puckering her lips as Christie took a
drag, and inhaling (air) as Christie inhaled smoke, and pursing her lips
to exhale as Christie exhaled the smoke.  Grace made her decision. 
"Jenny, honey, if you would like to smoke, its alright with me.  Here,
you can have one of my Salems."  Jenny wasn't sure she had heard
correctly and her gut reaction was denial.  "Mom, are you crazy?  I
don't smoke."  "Sweetheart," Grace said softly, "Its OK.  I know you
smoke and its OK.  Don't ask me how I know, but I know.  I've
already talked about it with Daddy and even he understands, so, if you
want to smoke like Christie, just go ahead and do it."
     Jenny couldn't believe her ears.  She was thrilled and excited
and embarrassed all at the same time.  Then she thought, hey, what the
hell, this is what I wanted so go for it.  "Er--er Mom," Jenny babbled,
"I don't know what to say... except thank you, and, if its all the same
to you, I'd rather have one of Christies cigarettes." "Oh, Honey!"
Grace was appalled, "Those are kind of strong for a beginner!"  "I'm
not really a beginner," Jenny replied, "I've been practicing for a while
now."  Grace smiled, "I kind of suspected that, sweetheart.  Well, then
go ahead and light up.  I'd like to see how you smoke."  As Jenny was
plucking a cigarette out of Christies pack, Uncle Will, who had been
following all of this keenly, stood up and walked over to where Jenny
was seated.  "Allow me the honor of lighting your first `official'
cigarette, my precious niece."  He flipped open his Zippo, flicked the
flint wheel, and held the flame to the tip of her Pall Mall.
     Jenny was nervous, with everyone watching, but she took a
medium size drag and inhaled. "Thanks, Uncle Will." she said.  "My
pleasure, pumpkin." Will answered.  Now all the smokers were
smoking.  Jenny began to relax a little and took a large Christie type
drag on her Pall Mall, held it in her mouth a second, just like her mom,
and inhaled all the way.  "I can see that you've been doing a little more
than just practicing, sweetie, "Grace remarked, "We'll stop at a
convenience store on the way home and get you your own pack.  Do
you want to continue with those Pall Malls?"  Jenny thought for a
moment, exhaled a huge cloud of smoke, and said, "No, I think I'd like
to try Newport 100's, Mom, if that's OK."  Grace laughed, "That's
funny, because I've been thinking about trying those myself.  I'm tired
of these super mild ultra-lights.  I'll buy a carton of Newport 100's that
we can share."  "I love you, Mom." Jenny beamed.
     Jenny Costello smoked the rest of her cigarette and considered
herself a very fortunate young girl.  This day sure turned out differently
than she could ever have dreamed.

		THE END

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