Roads Of Passage, Part 10

Roads Of Passage
by Blackbladder
Part 10

Maxine and her friends returned carefully to their seats, shocked at Jean's
tone and use of language.  Jean removed a large ashtray from the surfacetop
behind her and placed it in the middle of the table.  The mother then
proceeded to place a pack of cigarettes in the middle of the table, along
with a lighter.  Pandora watched in horror as Jake picked up the pack of
cigarettes, removed seven cigarettes,and lit them one at a time, placing a
fresh cigarette gently into the ashtray, its butt pointing in the direction
of the table's occupants.  Rose watched stunned as the smoke from the lit
cigarettes wafted overhead, clouding the small kitchen lampshade overhead.  

"Jean, we appreciate you keeping us for the night, but me and Pandora don't
smoke." Rose stated impatiently, her anxiety rising.

Maxine and Daisy sat staring in admiration of the cork-tipped cylinders
smouldering in the ashtray.  They both followed Iona's lead and took a
offered cigarette from the ashtray whilst Pandora tried to decline the offer
kindly.

Jean sat at the table, removing one of the burning cylinders from the large
ceramic and placed it between her lips for a deep puff.  By now, all
occupants of the table were now smoking constantly whilst Rose and Pandora
tried to distance themselves from this new communion.  Eventually, Jean lost
patience.

"Look hunny, I am kind enough to let you all stay.  Our lodgers, past present
and future, all have to work to our rules.  Jake and I see smoking as the
best thing since sliced bread!  We want all our guests to embrace the joys of
smoking.  This session is our tradition after the late-night meal." Jean
declared, holding her cigarette upright between her middle fingers.

Rose felt betrayed by Iona, who was inhaling unapologetically on her
cigarette.  Her eyes followed the end of the cigarette as the ember raised
from its position due to her sucking motion.  After a long inhale, she pursed
her lips, squinted her eyes and exhaled lazily into Rose's face.

"I am really sorry Rose.  I thought you all smoked when I saw Maxine earlier
on tonight..." Iona apologised sincerely at the mix-up.

This is all Maxine's fault, Rose concluded, rage building inside her.

"Smoke!" Jake demanded from the two remaining non-smoking girls at the table.
Pandora and Rose remained motionless, observing the chain-smoking at the
table from their colleagues.  

"I am sorry, Jean, but I do not smoke, and have no intention of
starting....no matter what the consequences are!"  Rose exclaimed, her rage
overflowing as she rose to her feet from the chair.  

"Well, hunny, you know where the door is!"  Jake replied angrily, feeling
insulted by this snub.  However, another puff from his smouldering cigarette
soon settled his nerves once more.  

Rose looked towards her anxious friend and pleaded for her to support her
stance.

"Come on Pandora, we can sleep in the car tonight." Rose said as she began
walking away from the table towards the front door.  Reaching the front door,
Rose realised that Pandora was not following her.  She turned round to
witness Pandora continue to plead for an exception to the rule.

"No way hunny...this is tradition and if you and your friend are not willing
to comply, then you're not welcome here anymore!" Jean mumbled whilst
dangling her cigarette.  Immediately, she pushed the ashtray with the
remaining two smoking cylinders towards the hesitant young woman.  Pandora
gazed towards Iona, then her friends Maxine and Daisy, looking for support
but found nothing but smoke escaping their lips.  

"Come on, Pandora.  I am gonna go put the heating on in the car.  Let's go
now."  Rose said walking out the front door, allowing the cold breeze to
penetrate the warm, smoky house.  With Rose now gone, Pandora had no support
at all.  She felt Rose could have convinced the people to allow them to stay
without smoking.  

Her internal deliberation was silenced by new pleas from her friends, Maxine
and Daisy, to comply with the request.  Pandora realised they did not want
their friend to suffer and felt like an elastic band being stretched to the
max.  Her eyes pleaded no more and sunk towards the ashtray in defeat.  Jake
smiled at the victory, raising to his feet and walking to shut the front
door.  The door slammed shut, closing Pandora's avenues off out of this
scenario.  

Meanwhile, Rose sat in the White Ford, jittering from the icy breeze
consuming the car, parked beside the gate towards the house.  As Rose slowly
turned the heating up in the car, she hugged herself and sat back in the
chair, hanging on to the body heat she was exasperating.  Sitting back in the
front seat with her jacket covering her small frame, the voice of Will Smith
came to her rescue as she closed her eyes...

"What do I do?" Pandora asked bluntly, removing the previously-offending item
from its resting place.

Maxine and Daisy could not help but smile at their friend, whilst Jake
returned to his seat at the table.
 

"Put it in your mouth and just suck lightly on it for a few seconds, hunny."
Jean reasoned, her tone sounding almost friendly as she watched intensively.

Maxine, Daisy and Iona watched open-eyed as the reluctant anti-smoker raised
the cigarette to her lips.  Taking a final glance around the table at the
puppy-dog eyes, she parted her lips and allowed the filter to squeeze inside.
The smoke began curling up around her nose, making her eyes water.  

This is disgusting, she thought.

Pandora immediately remembered the daydream, feeling so frightened and
alienated by the smoke, paused to hold the cigarette in place as she
contemplated what she was about to try and do.  

I am gonna cough my lungs out!  I am gonna make a fool of myself in front of
my friends, Pandora thought.

"Go on, do it...You will like it!"  Iona smiled whilst raising her own
cigarette for a long drag.

Pandora closed her eyes and took the plunge, applying pressure to the filter
and sucking very tentatively, waiting for the coughing fit to begin.  Seconds
passed as Pandora felt the river of smoke build up within her mouth,
exploring every cavity for a way of penetration.  Pandora freaked at this new
experience of a new entity invade her system, and gasped for air, dashing the
cigarette into the ashtray.  Smoke expelled erratically from her mouth as
some of it caught in her throat, mixing with the fresher air she was so
desperate for.  Pandora began coughing deeply, detesting the whole
experience.  The smoke had irritated her throat, and left a strange souvenir
of aftertaste in her mouth.  

Daisy sat there smoking her cigarette comfortably, silently watching her
friend trying to initiate into a habit she was almost violently opposed to.
Daisy beamed with envy as she raised her cigarette for another deep,
satisfying inhale.  

"Let me show you how to do it." Iona reasoned, observing Pandora's negative
experience of smoking so far.

Rose shuffled in her seat as fatigue began to wash over her body, her arms
and legs becoming limp with relaxation as Will Smith's lyrics soothed her
mind.  Rose was so relaxed that she had forgotten that someone was supposed
to be joining her...

Ten minutes passed, and the smoking group were beaming as Pandora, with
Iona's help, managed to puff on the cigarette without coughing.  At this
early stage, the smokers felt it unnecessary to teach their new student the
art of inhaling.  Still hating the taste, Pandora admitted to herself that
smoking, or pretending to be, was bearable and powerful in a social
environment.  Throughout her initiation, the group constantly spoke to her,
making her feel more welcome than she had ever been before in her entire
life.  The tension and hatred for cigarettes had evaporated with the
increasing smoke in the kitchen.  She watched her cigarette intensively with
every movement she made.  The appearance of a cigarette between her fingers
did seem oddly appealing as she followed the cigarette's latest journey to
her parted lips.  Sucking very lightly once more, she puffed the smoke out
immediately in small clouds, feeling a sense of pride for handling this new
experience so well.  The group of smokers were also on hand to reaffirm how
well she was doing as Jean was now busy preparing cups of coffee for
everyone.  The nightmare vision of her daydream soon evolved into a welcome
premonition as her negative thoughts continued to float away.  Sipping at her
coffee and conversing with Iona next to her, she soon forgot that she had a
friend waiting in a car for her...

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