Kate's Candy, Part 2

Kate's Candy
by an02
Part 2 of 3

When Kate awoke the next day she wasn't quite sure what to expect. Both her
mom and her dad were moving slowly, suffering the effects of overindulgence
the night before, and Kate took it on herself to clean up the place. All day
she expected her mom to talk to her about the smoking experience the previous
night, but no mention was made of it. She watched her mom and dad smoke
during the day and was envious of them, but it was as if what happened the
night before never occurred. She found it frustrating, because she knew that
she wanted to be able to smoke and was eager to discuss the subject. 

Late that afternoon, her dad had fallen asleep watching bowl games on TV down
in the family room.  Anne had laid down on the sofa in the living room,
nursing a hangover, and was in the middle of taking a nap. Kate was walking
thru the kitchen and spotted her mom's pack of Max 120s and her lighter
sitting there. She checked and realized that she could take one and no one
would know. Her heart pounding, she decided to relive her experience of last
night and took the opportunity. Quietly, she slid one out of the pack, took
her mom's lighter, and silently made her way upstairs to the bathroom.

She locked herself inside and turned on the exhaust, her heart still pounding
in excitement. She looked at herself in the mirror, the long cigarette
between her fingers, and felt excited beyond belief. She grinned back at
herself, and worked the lighter. She brought the cigarette to her lips with
one hand while she brought the flame to the end with the other. A little
suction and the cigarette was alight. Kate quickly blew out uninhaled smoke
and settled herself on the edge of the tub in a position where she could see
her reflection in the mirror. The excitement she felt was almost
overwhelming. She smiled as she posed for herself with the cigarette, loving
the sight of her holding a long, lit cigarette between her fingertips. She
thought it made her look remarkably adult.

She watched herself bring the cigarette to her lips and begin to take a puff.
Like last night, she drew on it lightly for about 2 seconds, then opened her
mouth and inhaled. Again she felt the burn at the back of her throat, though
perhaps slightly less intensely than last night, and again the feeling shot
thru her body as the smoke went into her lungs and began to yield its
nicotine to her system. After a couple of seconds she released her exhale,
giving her only a slight urge to cough that was easily overcome, and she was
thrilled to see the long jet of smoke coming from her mouth in the mirror's
image. A broad smile spread across her face and it was all she could do to
keep from laughing out loud.

Her mouth was still watering a lot, but she controlled that as best she could
and decided to try another puff. Again she watched herself pull on the filter
and could see herself make the end of the cigarette glow brightly. She puffed
a little harder this time, but when she inhaled the cough sensation was
replaced with a different kind of feeling, that of her feeling the smoke
slide down her throat and go into her chest, and she quite liked it. She held
the smoke inside for a couple of seconds and felt herself begin to feel a
little light-headed. But that didn't prevent her from exhaling a controlled
stream towards the mirror, and she even saw a little seep from her nose.
However, she began to feel buzzed from the nicotine, and felt the need to
breathe deeply a couple of times to steady herself.

Her cheeks felt warm, but the rest of her body began to feel cold. She
trimmed ash from the cigarette into the sink, and took a minute to recover.
But she wanted to try it again, so after a time she began another puff. Again
she watched herself draw on the cigarette, puffing longer this time, and the
inhalation sensation felt almost pleasant, but shortly after the large volume
of smoke went into her lungs she began to feel as if the top of her head was
floating away. Kate quickly exhaled downward, trying to get rid of the smoke,
and had to brace herself on the tub with her free hand. The nicotine was
beginning to get the best of her.

She closed her eyes to keep the room from spinning and took several deep
breaths. She opened her eyes to look at the cigarette and realized there was
no way she could come close to finishing it - it seemed barely a quarter
consumed. But it seemed a waste to stop just yet, so after a minute she took
another puff. As soon as she inhaled, she realized she had one too many. Her
stomach did a flip, her body felt flushed, and she became quite dizzy. She
dropped the cigarette into the toilet bowl and leaned forward on her knees,
trying to keep from passing out. Kate was breathing deeply and deliberately,
wishing the air in the room wasn't still full of smoke because she really
needed some fresh air. She ran the tap in the sink and took a drink of cold
water. Still unsteady, she flushed the toilet and was able to see the
cigarette disappear down the bowl. Slowly, she opened the door, leaving the
fan on, and staggered into her room.

She still had her mom's lighter and knew that was a problem. But she couldn't
possibly go downstairs to replace it - it was all she could do to make it to
her bed. She collapsed face-down on the bed, having enough awareness to slide
the lighter out of sight underneath her. But that was about the last thing
she remembered, and shortly thereafter she passed out. She was out for about
15 minutes before awakening. 

Kate awoke feeling remarkably better. The effects that had made her
unconscious had completely passed, and aside from a tobacco taste in her
mouth she felt totally normal. She saw the lighter and hoped that her mom
hadn't awakened yet to look for it. She went into the hall, turned off the
exhaust fan in the bathroom, and made her way downstairs. Luckily, she found
her mom still asleep and she was able to return the lighter to its resting
place. She had gotten away with trying her first illicit cigarette. But she
had mixed feelings about the experience. Not only had she been overwhelmed by
the strength of the Max, but she felt bad that she did exactly what she had
heard her mom say she didn't want her to do, namely, sneak around. What she
really wanted to do was to be able to smoke with her mom, like she had the
night before.

Classes at school were out until the following Monday, so Kate and Anne were
at home the rest of the week. On Wednesday, Jim was back to work so the two
of them spent the day together. They went shopping in the morning and arrived
home in time for a late lunch. After eating, Anne reached for her cigarettes
automatically and Kate watched her mom light up and begin to smoke. Again,
she felt the frustration of not being able to do, or even discuss, what she
had done the other night. Encouraged by her experience, she decided to raise
the subject herself.

"I really had a good time at the party the other night," Kate said.

"Yeah, it was fun, wasn't it? Although I had way too much to drink," Anne
answered. "I sure paid for it yesterday."

"I thought it was really neat that you let me have some champagne. And
especially that you let me try your cigarette," Kate blurted nervously.

"Ha," Anne laughed. "Yeah, well, what can I say? I was a little drunk," she
confessed.

"I really liked it. The cigarette, I mean," she probed.

"Really? Well, I was impressed, to be honest. These are pretty strong. I
expected you to cough your lungs out," Anne chuckled.

"It wasn't too bad at all," Kate said, pushing the envelope. "Actually, I'd
like to be able to try it again."

"I don't think so," Anne quickly shot back. "You're too young, honey. Maybe
later on."

"But mom, I already know what it's like. What's the harm in trying it again?"

"The harm is that you might start to like it too much. I don't want you to
start smoking at 14."

It was time to play her ace in the hole. "I already have," Kate shot back.

"What do you mean?," Anne asked, somewhat shocked.

"I had one yesterday. I took one from you when you were asleep. It was nice,"
Kate said.

"Kate! Why would you do such a thing? I don't want you sneaking around,
smoking behind my back," Anne said.

"But mom, I like it," Kate answered, in her most needy voice. "I just want to
smoke a little, not a whole lot. Maybe just a puff here and there. I don't
want to sneak around either. But I want to be able to do it. It would be
great if I could do it with you. Otherwise..."

"No otherwise," Anne said. "God, Kate... " she said, her voice trailing off.
She paused to inhale on her Max. Exhaling, she looked at her daughter.
"You've really got me painted into a corner, don't you?"

"I don't know," Kate said, trying to look vulnerable. 

"How would you suggest to do this?," Anne asked.

"I'm not sure," Kate answered. "I'm not talking about smoking all the time. I
was just thinking that maybe, sometime when you're smoking, you might let me
have a puff if I asked."

"Like right now?," Anne asked.

"Well, yeah," Kate repled, with a sheepish grin. "I wouldn't mind."

Anne trimmed ash from her cigarette and laid it in the ashtray. "Go ahead,
then," she said, somewhat disgustedly, leaning back in her chair to watch.

Kate's heart jumped in anticipation. Quickly, before her mom changed her
mind, she reached for the cigarette. Adjusting it between her fingertips, she
brought it to her lips and began to puff on it. After a two-second drag, she
released it and inhaled, holding the cigarette upright beside her face. The
smoke felt tremendous as it flowed into her lungs, and after a couple of
seconds she was able to release a long exhale towards the ceiling. "Wow,
that's great," she said, smiling. "Thanks, mom."

"Don't thank me," Anne said, sounding upset. "I'm not at all happy about
this, Kate. I can't understand why you want to smoke so badly. You must know
how bad it is for you. Don't they teach you that in school?"

"Sure, I know all about that," she answered. "But I always watch people
smoke, and they seem to enjoy it, like you do. So I figured there was more to
it. I was right, I think," she said, grinning.

"Yes, I do enjoy it," Anne said. "But I'm addicted too. I can't stop, Kate.
You still have a choice. You can stop any time. I wish you would."

"Mom, that's not fair. I've barely smoked at all. I like it, and I want to
try it a little more. I don't know whether I want to smoke for good," she
said, knowing it wasn't true. "If I think I'm getting addicted, I'll stop,"
she said.

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," Anne said. "You going to take another
puff on that so you can let me have it back?"

"Oh, OK, sure," Kate said. She took another puff, slightly longer this time,
and inhaled, getting that wonderful feeling again. She then trimmed ash and
gave the cigarette back to her mother. Anne immediately took a long, needful
drag of her own as she watched her daughter exhale comfortably.

"So, do you want to tell your father, or do you want me to do that?," Anne
asked, speaking out her exhale.

"Uh... I hadn't really thought about that," Kate said. "Do we have to tell
him?"

"Don't you want to?," Anne asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe not yet," Kate said. "If I do it for a while, then sure.
But for now, I'm just trying it on for size. Do you think we could keep it
between us?"

Anne thought for a moment. She could appreciate the anxiety Kate was feeling,
and knew that it must have taken a great deal of courage for her to come out
and make the admission she just did. She decided to cut her some slack. "OK,
then. For now. It'll be our secret. Just don't make me regret it," she
cautioned.

"That's great, mom, thanks," Kate said. "I won't cause you a problem, I
promise."

"No, because if you do, I pull the privilege right away," Anne warned. "A few
puffs a day, just when we're together and no one else is around. No sneaking
around or smoking outside of that. Deal?"

"Deal," Kate said enthusiastically, overjoyed inside. She had gotten exactly
what she had wished for.

Previous part | Next part