Like Mother Like Daughter

Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 07:17:17 -0700
Subject: Story

Loring,

Attached you will find a story I wrote called "Like Mother, Like Daughter".
Please feel free to include this in your story web page. 


This story is loosely based on a girl I knew in high school.  

As she lay in bed smoking her first cigarette of the day, Kirstin reminisced
in her mind about the events that had occurred that led her up to this point
in her life. At 16 years of age, life was good. She had a great relationship
with her parents and although divorced when she was 6, they remained
amicable friends. Her 19 year old sister Cindy had just gotten married and
Kirstin had gotten her room (the equivalent of the corner office) and her
younger sister Carly who had just turned 14, was still an immature little
butthead in her opinion, but all in all a pretty good kid. Kirstin was also
one of the more popular girls, not a cheerleader type, but she had a lot of
friends. 

She took a long, deep double drag on her Marlboro 100 and inhaled it as deep
as she could, attempting to satisfy her body's craving for the nicotine it
had been deprived of all night. Kirstin blew a smoke ring and exhaled the
rest toward the ceiling as she felt her cravings subside and remembered what
it was like not being able to indulge her habit. She was smoking better than
a pack a day now and loving every one. She had developed a strong smoking
habit in a surprisingly short time and even now she could still feel that
her need to smoke was continually growing stronger as time went by. Her mind
raced back to that day that she tried her first cigarette...and how she
eventually got permission to smoke.

The girls parents were both smokers. Her mom, Tammy starting when she was 14
and being allowed to smoke when she was 16, when her parents found out and
nearly had coronaries but realizing that she was going to smoke regardless.
Her Dad started when he was in high school. Her parents were both
baby-boomers, and grew up in an era when smoking did not carry the social
nor health stigmas that are so popular today, but her mom still had that
parental attitude about "do as I say, not as I do". Tammy had not attempted
to quit smoking during any of her 3 pregnancies and even complained bitterly
over not being able to smoke in the delivery room during Cindy's dragged-out
delivery. Cindy's mom had a habit of leaving packs of smokes around the
house, not as a temptation, but just because she didn't think anything about
it. Smoking was just something she did and didn't think twice about it, or
so would have liked to believe.... 

One afternoon, when Kirstin was about ten, Cindy and her were in the kitchen
having an after school snack when their mom burst into the kitchen, spitting
nails. "What in the hell are these?" she asked holding up a pack of Marb
100's. "Whose are these? Are these your Cindy because I sure in hell hope
they aren't yours Kirstin" Cindy turned white as a sheet and said that she
was holding on to them for a friend and that she had put them in her purse
meaning to give them back. "Who is your friend? I'll call her mom right
now!"  Cindy said that "her friends mom doesn't know she smokes and didn't
want to get in trouble." Her mom replied "That is one of the worst excuses I
have ever heard. If you don't tell me whose these are, you're grounded for a
month. I mean everything. I'm not stupid Cindy. School and home, that's it.
Kirstin, did you know anything about this? And you better tell the truth." 

"Honest mom, I didn't know anything about this" Kirstin replied.She had no
idea her sister was smoking, although she thought it was kind of cool. 

Cindy looked up at her mom, not knowing which was the worst of two evils,
telling her mom the smokes were hers or getting grounded for a month.

"Tell me the truth Cindy" 
"OK mom they're mine. I stole a pack from you. There are you happy?" 
"Actually Cindy, I'm really pissed off, Miss Smart-Mouth. How long have you
been smoking?"
"About a couple of months. You always leave packs lying around, it was easy
to get some. Then one day I got brave and took a pack."
"Do you inhale?"
"Yes, I've finally been able to."
"Dammit Cindy, you're only 13. You have to know that it isn't good for you." 
"Mom you smoke, you started when you were 14 and you smoke way more than a
pack a day. I don't think it's fair that you tell me not to smoke when you
do it yourself."
"How much do you smoke, Cindy?"
"Only a couple a day, usually after school, when you're at work" 
"Do you like it?"
"Yes mom I do. I like smoking a lot"

Kirstin could not believe the conversation that her mom and Cindy were
having. She expected her mom to go absolutely ballistic based on her initial
outburst.

"Girls, I have to go somewhere and calm down for a minute. My blood is
boiling." 

Tammy went up to the bedroom and closed the door. She lit a cigarette from
the pack she had acquired from Cindy and started thinking about what had
just transpired. She couldn't believe what she had just heard from her 13
year old daughter. She couldn't really blame her though, after all the
cigarettes were easy to get, with her leaving them scattered all over the
house. Tammy was more angry at herself for allowing herself to smoke,
thereby tempting the kids. As she lay on the bed, giving in once more to the
habit she had developed over the last 30 years or so, she came to a
decision..... 

Downstairs, Cindy and Kirstin were also talking about what had just
happened. "Cindy, I can't believe you started smoking. I thought mom was
going to kill you when she brought in those cigarettes. What's it like?" 

"At first it tastes kind of awful, in fact it made me not really want to
smoke anymore, but LeAnn was smoking and I wanted to show her that I could
too," Cindy replied.

"You mean LeAnn Smith? "

"Yeah, her parents have let her smoke since she was 12, and I didn't want to
let her show me up. She smokes all the time now, almost as much as her mom.
I couldn't believe it when I saw LeAnn and her mom both light up together at
their place one day. Her mom buys them for her and everything."

"What's it like to inhale?"

"Well at first, I coughed my brains out, but after a few puffs, I didn't
cough anymore. I did get really dizzy though and thought I was going to
barf. But I'm used to it now and it's neat to breathe it in. In fact I think
I'd really love to have a cigarette right now." 

"That's pretty cool Cindy. Maybe one day I can try."

"Boy, mom would really go crazy if she caught you smoking. I wonder how bad
mom is going to punish me."

"Cindy would you please come here?" Tammy yelled from the living room. She
had come downstairs and was sitting on the couch when Cindy walked in.
Kirstin was right behind her. "Have a seat. I've been upstairs thinking
about what happened this afternoon and I've come to a decision." 

"Mom I'm really sorry, I'll never smoke again, I promise, I...." 

"Cindy, quit interrupting," Tammy said. "I don't like the idea of you
smoking, after all you are young and well, I know you know the health risks,
but if you want to smoke, I'll give you permission. I can't stop you. I
think your decision to smoke was partly my fault, I made it too easy to get
cigarettes"

Both Kirstin and Cindy about fell out of their chairs. "Oh no mom, I
couldn't..."

"It's ok Cindy" and with that she tossed her the pack she had taken away
earlier. "Here, I'm giving these back to you. I just don't want you smoking
out in public right yet. After all it's illegal for you to even have these.
You can take smokes out of my carton whenever you want. She looked at
Kirstin, with a half smile and said "and don't you be getting any bright
ideas about smoking. YOU are way to young. I'll tell Carly what is going on.
Let's have a smoke together right now, ok honey? I want to see how you do
it." Cindy, still looking somewhat shocked, nevertheless shook a Marb 100
loose from her pack and nervously held it to her lips. Kirsten became
envious as Tammy lit Cindy's cigarette for her, then her own, and watched
them smoke together for the first time.  

Cindy's smoking caused no real concern to the family. Being able to smoke
freely at home she quickly developed a regular habit which grew steadily
stronger as the weeks went by. She started out by just smoking a few times
a day with Tammy but before long she began smoking on her own as well.
Tammy showed Cindy how to french-inhale and even taught her how to take
double-drags. 

Cindy began to feel the urge to smoke more often and within a few weeks she
was having another Marb 100 every hour or so. Her dad even accepted the
fact, although at first with concern about her age, but after awhile he was
buying Cindy cigarettes every time the girls went to visit. He even let her
smoke at restaurants, which Cindy thought was totally cool and Kirstin was
envious of the attention her older sister was getting. After only a couple
of months Cindy's habit was up to a pack a day with no sign of her slowing
down. She felt her desire to smoke steadily increasing and so too was
Cindy's daily cigarette consumption as the habit took hold of her. Cindy
told Kirsten that she craved cigarettes almost constantly now and needed to
smoke to satisfy herself. Kirstin found this fascinating and made the
decision then that she too was going to become a smoker. 

Over the next few months Cindy continued to freely indulge her growing
smoking habit and now smoked openly everywhere she went. By the time Cindy
turned 14 she was smoking about a carton a week just like her mom. Tammy
found her young daughter's heavy smoking habit somewhat disturbing at
first but given her own habit she really could say little about it. She
soon bacame used to the idea that Cindy was a smoker just like her and
continued to supply her with cigarettes. 

One day during the summer, right after Kirstin's 12th birthday, Cindy and
Kirstin were out sunning on the patio at their dad's apartment and 10 year
old Carly was over at a friends house for a couple of days. As Cindy lit yet
another of her daily quota of 30 cigarettes, she noticed Kirstin eyeing her.
"What?" she asked. 

"Nothin' " Kirstin replied. 
"You know you've been acting kind of weird these past few days" Cindy said.
"What's up?" 
"Promise you won't tell anyone?" Kirstin asked.
 "WHAT?" Cindy said in her most frustrated tone. 
"I've started smoking" Kirstin blurted out. 
"You what? Mom's going to kill you when she finds out. When did you start?" 
"About 6 months ago.  I've been taking them from your packs." 
"I thought my smokes were going fast, but sometimes mom bums some from me.
Have you started inhaling yet"? Cindy inquired.
"Yeah, I figured it out by watching you and mom smoke.  I like it, it's neat."
"Cool! Do you want a cigarette now Kirsten?"
"Oh, do I, I'm just dying for one... but what about dad?"
"He's taking a nap, you know him he's a sound sleeper" Cindy replied. "Here,
go ahead and have one with me." Cindy shook one out of the pack and gave it
to Kirstin and handed her the lighter. Kirstin applied the flame to the end
of the cigarette and took a long deep drag.
"Wow, I guess you really do smoke. I don't even drag that deeply. How much
have you been smoking?" 
"Only 3 or 4 a day usually, but lately I've felt like smoking more and more."
"That's what happens," Cindy said taking another deep drag. "You're going to
have to quit or you'll need to start smoking all the time soon." 
"I want to be able to smoke all the time, Cindy, just like you. But how are
we going to tell mom?" Kirstin inquired of her older sister, taking another
drag off the cigarette.

"That won't be necessary," came a voice from within the apartment. 

"DAD!" both the girls cried out in unison. "We thought you were asleep"
Kirstin said, at this point making no attempt to hide the cigarette. 

"I was, but something woke me up. Kirstin, I can't believe you are smoking
too. My God, you're only 12! You realize I have no choice but to tell your
mother." 

"Dad, she'll kill me. Can't we let this be our own little secret? You didn't
mind when Cindy started smoking, and she was just a year older. I'm not
going to quit, I like smoking too much. I'll just do it behind you and mom's
backs." Defiantly Kirstin took another drag off her cigarette just to prove
her point. 

"Whoa there young lady, I didn't say I wasn't going to let you smoke, I just
said we'll have to tell your mom. Let me handle that though. I can see you
know how to inhale, and I'm sure you must have cravings. You are absolutely
right, it would be fruitless to tell you that you couldn't smoke. So
Kirsten, you can smoke here whenever you want from now on. I just can't
believe my little girl is a smoker." 

The next few days were wonderful for Kirstin as her body got used to her
smoking more and more. Each day she would smoke with her sister and her
father and while she couldn't keep up with their pace she did her best to
try. She was surprised at how easy it was for her to slip into smoking more
heavily and by how much she enjoyed smoking on a regular basis. It seemed as
though the more she smoked, the more she wanted to smoke and she began to
understand what her dad and Cindy had talked about regarding cravings. By
the end of the week, she was at almost a full pack per day, with her dad
supplying her with cigarettes. She couldn't believe it on Friday night when
she realized that she had almost finished the pack he had given her at
breakfast. On Saturday it was time to go home. This was something Kirstin
was not looking forward to. The only time she would get a chance to smoke
was when she could slip into her sisters' room and smoke with her. On
Saturday night after dinner, both Tammy and Cindy lit up. The smell was
driving Kirstin wild. She had only one cigarette that whole day and her
newly-developed cravings had now taken over. 

"Mom"
"Yes Kirstin"
"I need to tell you something"
"What's that sweetie?"
"Promise you won't get mad?"
"I can't promise that"
"I hope you won't be upset, but I've started smoking" Kirstin said, almost
bursting into tears.
"I know. I was wondering when you were going to tell me."
"What! Did dad tell you?"
"Actually the whole thing was a setup. I was intentionally leaving
cigarettes out and counting them to see how many were missing. I told your
father before...
"Mom, I never took any from your packs. Just from Cindy's." 
"Cindy did you take any from me?"
"A couple mom when I ran out, but not more than three or four." 
"I counted about two packs worth over a period of about 3 months. If it
wasn't you then who...?"  Over in the corner, trying to hide behind her milk
glass, sat Carly. "Carly Elizabeth....!"
"Mom I couldn't help it. Cindy looked so grown-up, being allowed to smoke. I
knew that Kirstin was smoking, but I thought she was taking cigarettes from
your packs, so I didn't think I'd get caught. I'm sorry mom." 
"Carly you're only 10 years old! I can't allow you to smoke. What will your
dad say?"
"He let Cindy and Kirstin smoke..."
"They were older."
"Mom I even breathe in the smoke"
"It's called inhaling and I can't believe it."

In the midst of the conversation, Tammy heard the click of a disposable
lighter and looked over to see Kirstin lighting up. Kirsten couldn't stand
waiting any longer and had decided to force the issue by having one of
Cindy's cigarettes rght there. She took a long deep drag and knew that it
wouldn't be her last.

Tammy finally saw the hopeless situation she was in. "I guess I have no
choice now but to let you smoke Kirstin. After all I did set this whole
thing up. I just thought it would take longer to come out in the open. And
as for you Carly, lets see how you smoke. My God, I can't believe I'm going
to let my 12 and 10 year old daughters start to smoke." 

She extended the pack to Carly who took out one of the Marb 100's and lit it
like a pro. After a deep inhale, she looked at her mom and said "How'd I do?" 

She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Carly looked like she'd
been smoking for years and so did Kirsten. She knew that just as with Cindy
there was no way she could force either one of them to stop now. They both
were far too young to be smoking, but she knew that she would have no choice
now but to permit it. With a somewhat shocked look on her face Tammy just
replied "Looks like I better start buying more cigarettes at the store. I
guess the saying holds true. "Like Mother, Like Daughter"."...

"Kirstin, Kirstin!"

"Huh, what. Oh sorry Carly, I was just daydreaming about how we all came to
be allowed to smoke. It seems like a long time ago."

"Well, mom has let us smoke for four years now. I never dreamed she'd let me
smoke when I was just 10. That was so cool for her to do. Funny how she was
trying to trap you and instead she got me started by accident! Speaking of
that, I need to bum a pack of smokes off you. Mom ran out and I need some.
Good thing we all smoke the same brand, Marlboro 100s." 

"Sure Carly, help yourself."

"Thanks! I can't believe that Cindy is pregnant already. Yesterday I asked
her if she was going to quit smoking now that's she's pregnant. She
adamantly stated "No way!" She said that there's no way she can quit now so
she's going to keep on smoking, though she said she might have to hide it
when her belly gets real big to avoid people hassling her. Fortunately Rob
doesn't mind if she continues to smoke while she's expecting." 

Kirsten took another big drag on her Marb 100 and said as she slowly
exhaled, "Poor Cindy... It must be hard to quit when you smoke two packs a
day the way she does now. Funny how she started smoking even more once she
moved in with Rob. I know there's no way I could quit now either, although I
only smoke a carton a week. I wonder if I'll end up smoking as much as Cindy
some day," she said dreamily. 

"Really... I can't even imagine quitting now and I'm only up to smoking a
pack a day so far," added Carly, lighting up another of the endless Marb
100's that her young body now fiercely craved, "and already I just need them
so bad. I know I'm going to end up smoking even more. It must be hopeless
for Cindy to even think about having to quit". Taking a big double drag she 
said "I guess we are just like mom, aren't we?"