Unintended Consequences, Part 2

This fictional account contains adult language and graphic sexual themes.  If
such language and themes offend you please do not read further.  The persons
and events described in this work are purely fictional.  Any similarity to
actual persons or events is strictly coincidental.  Copyright 2002 by
SSTORYMAN.  All rights reserved.  Permission is hereby granted to reproduce
this story in any form and for any purpose as long as this notice is
reproduced and no financial remuneration is received, directly or indirectly,
by the person reproducing or using it.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

2.	The Little Voices.

   As Rebecca entered into the experience of secretly smoking with reckless
abandon, Eileen began to worry.  Her cigarette supply was dwindling.  She
never imagined Rebecca was the culprit.  She simply assumed she was smoking
too much.  Initially relieved that her smoking no longer bothered her
daughter, Eileen now felt she had to do something to curb her supposedly
increased habit.  She remembered Madame Bufka's words:  "You'll be back!" She
decided to seek her help to quit smoking.  After all, if her mystic power
could cure asthma the gypsy could surely cure her of her desire to smoke!

   She mentioned it to Rebecca Thursday night.  The teenager threw cold water
on the idea.

   "Mom, don't you see?  You don't need to quit.  I'm fine.  It's always been
so hard for you to quit.  I don't think it's a good idea."

   "Honey, it won't be hard if Madame Bufka helps me.  For a hundred dollars
I can give up the filthy habit.  Gosh, think how great it'll be to save all
the money I spend on cigarettes!  Plus, it's the right thing.  Even if my
smoking doesn't bother you anymore, I want to be healthy.  It's a filthy
habit."

   "It's not so bad, Mom, " Rebecca countered, frantically trying to dissuade
her mother.  "I've gotten used to it this last week.  I really don't think
it's so bad for you to smoke.  You don't smoke that much, and it seems to
relax you.   You enjoy it.  I'd hate to see you give up smoking just for me.
It's not at all necessary."

   "No, I have to," Eileen shot back.  "See, I never could before.  But now,
if Madame Bufka puts me under the power, like she did you, there's no reason
it won't work quick and easy.  I already called her," she went on.  "I'm
going in Saturday morning."

   Rebecca continued to argue.  Eileen hushed her.  "Zip it!  It's final.
You're being nice, Rebecca.  I appreciate it.  But I want to quit.  I've
wanted to for a long time.  Now, finally, with Madame Bufka's help, I think I
can."

   "Shit," muttered the brunette teenager under her breath.

   "What did you say, young lady?"

   "Oh, nothing, Mom," Rebecca lamely replied.  "Nothing."

   "Rebecca, you're begun using words I don't approve of.  You never hear me
use obscene language, do you?  No sir.  I mean, what on earth would Pastor
Smith say if he heard you using that foul language?"

   "He wouldn't like it," she grumbled back.  "Sorry, Mom."

   "So be careful, young lady.  I won't put up with swearing and foul
language."

   Rebecca had always been timid and soft spoken.  But ever since she met
Madame Bufka she found herself continually tempted to swear and talk dirty.
The funny thing was, she hardly noticed most of the time.  It just came out,
like it was part of her or something.  But she didn't want to upset her
mother, so she determined to be as careful as possible.

   There was only one more day till Saturday.  Rebecca stockpiled all the
cigarettes she could.  By Saturday morning she'd squirreled away the
equivalent of two packs of Marlboro Lights 100's.  She despaired imagining
the house free from her mom's smoke.  From now on she had to be careful
smoking herself.  She also had no idea how to get cigarettes now.  But she
wouldn't quit.  No way.  It wasn't an option.  She loved smoking too much.
Besides, the voices in her head told her she had to keep smoking, and she
wanted to, too.

   Saturday morning Rebecca went with Eileen to see Madame Bufka.  She was
curious and concerned.  She didn't know what difference it might make, but
she had to be there when the gypsy worked her magic on her mom.

   Zita welcomed them by playfully pinching Rebecca's cheek.  "Ah, you are so
healthy now, my dear," she said in her thick accent.  "There's now nothing
you cannot do, is that not true?  There's nothing that bothers your lungs,
correct?  Even your mother's cigarettes?"

   "Yeah, that's right, Madame Bufka," Rebecca grinned sheepishly.  God, it
was like she knew!  She had psychic powers.  Did Madame Bufka know she was
smoking?  "My lungs are very strong now," Rebecca went on placidly.  "Thanks
to you I can do anything!"

   "Yes, thanks to the power," the Czech lady nodded with approval.  She
looked deep into the teenager's eyes.  Rebecca was struck by how dark and
lovely the gypsy's face seemed.  "The power has come to you strong," she went
on with a mysterious smile.  "I think you are becoming a different girl, no?"

   "I guess," Rebecca shyly agreed.  The gypsy was teasing her.  But from how
she talked she was sure Madame Bufka knew everything.  If she disapproved,
though, it sure didn't show.

   Eileen briefly repeated her desire to quit smoking.  Madame Bufka nodded
while listening to the plea.  "I can do what you ask," she acknowledged.
"The power is here again today.  You ladies are favored.  If you wish the
power will work with you to change you, Eileen, so that you, too, will be a
new woman.  But are you certain that you wish me to release the power to end
your desire for smoking cigarettes?"

   "Oh Gosh, yes," Eileen sighed.  "I tried to quit so many times, Madame
Bufka.  You can't imagine.  Or maybe you can," she said with a self-conscious
giggle.

   "In the crystal I could see your pain, dear, the pain when in the past you
tried to stop smoking," Zita nodded.  "But after today there will be no more
pain.  Only pleasure.  Yes, that I can tell you for certain.  All right, if
you're sure.  Now then, Eileen, look deep into the crystal."

   She repeated the process which Rebecca went through a week earlier.  Zita
began to chant in the foreign tongue and Eileen slowly fell into a trance.
It was then Rebecca spoke up.

   "Madame Bufka, wait, please."

   The gypsy looked up unflustered and with a sly smile.  "It's dangerous to
speak when the power is present.  What is it, Rebecca?"

   "I don't want you to let Mom quit smoking," she blurted out.  "It'll ruin
everything."

   Zita's careful smile transformed into a full-blown grin.  "Ah, that's
because you are smoking now, too, babushka.  Is that right?"

   Rebecca lowered her head and nodded shamefully.

   "Ah yes, I knew.  Inside the crystal I saw you smoking many, many
cigarettes." she went on.  "And smoking has given you much pleasure.  But
your mother wants to quit smoking, and the power only works for sincere
seekers.  I do not control the power.  I channel it.  Today your mother must
receive what she desires.  I can do nothing else."

   "But shit!  Can't you do something?" Rebecca pleaded hopelessly.
"Anything?"

   "Ah, well, perhaps," Zita coyly smiled.  "It's possible I may be able to
help you, Rebecca.  But you and Eileen must both take your destined journeys,
dear.  I do hear your request.  I can only tell you that, in the end, it will
all work out for the best.  In the meantime, your mother must discover for
herself if she really wants to quit smoking cigarettes or not.  I sense that
you don't wish to quit smoking?  You like it?  You like tobacco?"

   "Yeah, I don't want to quit at all, damn it," Rebecca blurted out.  "And I
don't just like it.  I love to smoke.  Shit, I don't want to quit, ever,
Madame Bufka."

   Zita smiled serenely.  She was apparently undisturbed by the teenager's
constant forceful use of profanity.  "Ah, yes, I see.  But Rebecca you must
let Eileen embark on her own voyage.  She asks to be free from her desire for
cigarettes.  The power will grant that request for now.  If you're unhappy
with the result, come see me again.  Perhaps I can do something for you
then."

   "I already know I won't be happy," Rebecca whined.  "Shit, the whole thing
pisses me off, damn it!  It means I can't smoke in our house anymore, and I
won't have a supply of cigarettes either.  God, Madame Bufka, are you
retarded or something?  Don't you get it?"

   Zita gave the teenager an alluring grin.  "Child, I am definitely _not_
retarded.  Quite the opposite in fact.  I feel your concern more than you
know.  But your mother truly believes that she wants to be free from her
desire for cigarettes.  I can do nothing except grant that request; at least
for now," she added mysteriously, smiling warmly at Rebecca.  "In the
meantime you'll need cigarettes to continue your journey, Rebecca.  There is
someone who can help you.  Here," she said, taking a pen and writing
something on a scrap of paper.  "Contact this woman.  She will help you if
you ask.  She will supply you with cigarettes for the time being."

   Stunned, Rebecca took the piece of paper.  "Joanne Givens?  Shit, Madame
Bufka.  She's a friend of my mom's.  She'd never -."

   "Hush!  I must take care of Eileen now before the power leaves her.  Don't
worry, girl.  Joanne Givens will take good care of you.  Trust me.  You'll
see."

   Zita turned back to Eileen and began chanting again.  "Yes, the power is
with you right now," she smiled.  "Do you feel it, Eileen?"

   The dazed and unconscious woman nodded.  "I feel it."

   "Yes, of course you do.  You feel it and it's so strong, isn't it?  The
power is here to change you Eileen.  Everything will be different from now
on.  You say you want to be free from the desire to smoke cigarettes?  Is
that right?"

   Eileen hesitated, then nodded.  "Yes."

   "Then the power will permit you to be freed from the need to smoke
cigarettes for the time being," Zita went on.  She chanted in her foreign
tongue again.  "There!  Let it be so!"

   Eileen startled awake.  "What -."  She blinked and looked around.

   "It is finished," Zita smiled.  "Do you wish to have a cigarette, Eileen?"

   The brunette opened and closed her mouth and laughed.  "No, I guess I
don't," she slowly admitted.  "It's amazing.  The desire's completely gone.
Wow!  It's the weirdest thing.  Thanks, Madame Bufka!"

   "You're most welcome, dear," smiled the gypsy.  "The power has been
gracious to you, Eileen, just as it was to your lovely daughter, Rebecca.
And like your daughter you will be changed now forever.  I promise you this."

   Eileen stood and grabbed her purse.  "Madame Bufka, you're amazing.  I'll
tell all my friends about this.  If this really works I'll refer others to
you for help, too."

   "That will be very kind of you, Eileen.  Rebecca, do not forget the paper
I gave you."

   "What's that?" Eileen wanted to know.

   Zita smiled again.  "Eileen your daughter is becoming an adult.  Many
things she needs as a young woman you can't give her right now.  Don't worry.
She's taking her own journey, just as you are."

   "Whatever," Eileen laughed.  "Okay, Rebecca, let's go."

   So they did.  The rest of the day Eileen never once wanted a cigarette.
She felt deliriously happy.  Having been a smoker since age sixteen, she
reveled in the freedom from indulging for the first time in years.  Her
nicotine addiction seemed to be utterly broken.

   Rebecca on the other hand felt depressed.  She was glad her mom was happy,
but she worried what she'd do.  She rode her bike to the park that afternoon,
taking her cigarettes along, and smoked several of them.  Smoking furiously,
she looked at the paper Madame Bufka gave her.  Joanne Givens?  How in hell
could she approach her mom's old friend to ask for cigarettes?  Mrs. Givens
didn't smoke.  It made absolutely no sense.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   For Eileen, the changes began Sunday morning.  At first they seemed minor.

   Rebecca woke up at eight.  "Shit," she muttered under her breath.  "God,
we'll be late for church today, damn it!"

   Eileen was always up by eight.  That morning Rebecca found her still in
bed.

   "Mom, get up.  We'll be late for church!  It's already eight o'clock!"

   "Yeah, I know," Eileen lazily replied from her prone position in her bed.
She smiled slothfully.  "I feel tired and completely unmotivated.  What do
you say you and I skip church?"

   Rebecca couldn't believe her ears.  Her mother never skipped church!

   "Mom, are you all right?"

   "I'm fine, honey.  But yesterday was exhausting, meeting with Madame Bufka
and everything.  I feel like a day off, taking time for myself for a change.
How about you?"

   Rebecca didn't feel much like church either.  The idea of staying home and
not listening to that idiot Pastor Smith drone on and on about sin sounded
delicious.  She laughed.  "Yeah Mom, it works for me if it works for you.
Me?  I'd love to stay home."

   "Yeah, me too," smiled Eileen.  "Let's sleep late, enjoy ourselves.  No
church today!"

   But Rebecca was desperate to smoke.  Missing church meant a chance to
smoke which she wouldn't otherwise have.  She dressed, got her bike and told
Eileen she was going to ride in the park.  She settled into a now familiar
hidden grove of trees and eagerly lit up.  She smoked two cigarettes back to
back, reveling in the lift from the nicotine.  The only troubling moment came
when she counted her supply.  Only a handful of cigarettes left.  She got out
the paper from Madame Bufka and looked at it again.  "Joanne Givens."  She
shook her head.  She couldn't imagine asking Mrs. Givens for cigarettes.  But
Madame Bufka had the power.  She had to give it a try.

   Returning home Rebecca was shocked.  Her mother was watching TV in the
living room wearing a short sleeve blouse and shorts.  Eileen never watched
TV and never wore shorts.  The church elders taught that TV was an occasion
for sin and that women wearing shorts was simply indecent.  But there sat
Eileen in a pair of shorts!  Rebecca didn't even know her mom owned any.
More surprising, the top two buttons of Eileen's blouse seemed to have been
purposely left unbuttoned!

   "Hi, honey," Eileen greeted her amazed daughter.  "For some reason I felt
like turning on the tube this morning.  I never realized it but there's
really a lot of good stuff on TV."

   "Mom, you don't approve of television!"

   Eileen laughed.  "I said that?  Well if I did I don't know what I was
thinking. There's nothing wrong with watching TV.  Come on and watch this
with me.  It's great, honey!"

   Rebecca sat down.  Her mom was watching "From Russia With Love" on TV, an
old James Bond movie with Sean Connery, the kind of thing she never watched
and never let Rebecca watch either.  On the screen several women pranced
about working to arouse and seduce Bond.  Scantily clad, they were sexy,
gorgeous in fact.  Eileen was right.  It _was_ great.  Rebecca couldn't take
her eyes off the screen.

   "God, isn't this cool?"  Eileen giggled.  Like Rebecca's her eyes were
glued to the set.  "Damn, Rebecca, all those women look so incredibly hot!"

   "Mom!  What's up with you today?  You never swear.  The other day you
yelled at me for using bad words.  Now listen to you.  What's gotten into you
talking like that this morning?"

   "Oh God, I don't know," Eileen mumbled.  "Oops there I go again.  I said
`God' again," she said sheepishly.  "Shoot.  I don't know what's wrong with
me.  And I don't know why I suddenly want to watch TV so badly.  I always
thought it was pure trash.  But now -."  She paused.  "God, I like watching
this stuff.  Don't you?"

   Rebecca nodded.  "Yeah, actually, I do," she chuckled.  "But I never
thought you'd encourage me to watch stuff like this on TV.  It does seem
cool, though.  Those actresses all look so - so sensual or something."

   Eileen shrugged.  "Yeah I know.  Watching it is so stimulating, so nice,
so - sexy actually.  And sexy doesn't seem so bad to me all of a sudden.  If
truth be told, that's why I did this!"  She proudly pointed at her unbuttoned
blouse and began giggling breathlessly.  "Rebecca, I'm tired of looking like
some nun who lives in a damn cloister."  She winced.  "Oh no!  There's
another swear word.  My God, I can't seem to control myself anymore."  She
paused.  "I feel strange, completely different, since we met with Madame
Bufka yesterday.  Does this make any sense to you?  Do you have any idea what
I'm talking about?"

   Rebecca nodded.  "Yeah, actually I do, Mom.  I feel the same way.  I like
watching these beautiful sexy women on TV.  It seems exciting and wonderfully
decadent.  I like it.  And like you, anymore I find myself wanting to swear
all the time.  I do it almost without thinking.  It sort of just comes out.
I try to be on my guard because I know it makes you mad.  But it's so hard.
All of a sudden it seems natural to express myself that way."

   "I know," Eileen nodded resolutely.  "I used to despise people who use bad
words.  But now for some reason I really, really want to talk that way
myself.  I almost _need_ to.  It's like it's inside me and it needs to come
out."  She stopped to screw up her courage.  "Fuck," she exclaimed
dramatically and began to giggle.  "God, Rebecca, that felt so damn good!"

   Rebecca laughed as well.  "Yeah, fuck is good," she cautiously agreed.
Nothing but a big smile covered Eileen's face so she continued.  "Fuck, fuck,
fuck!  There Mom, I said it too."

   "God, I don't know what's happening," Eileen gasped.  "Hearing you say the
`f' word didn't bother me at all.  I want to too.  Shit!  Madame Bufka said
people react differently to the power.  It's almost like since I'm not
smoking there's extra energy inside me that needs expression.  And now I also
-.  Well, I also like seeing this kind of shit," she added, nodding at the
TV.  "It seems wonderfully exciting or something."

   Rebecca nodded.  It _was_ exhilarating.  She noticed the little voice
inside her was speaking again.  "Yeah, you love watching sexy stuff," it
whispered.  "It makes you so damn hot!  It makes you crave doing nasty
things.  You're a sexual girl, Rebecca.  You love it.  But this shit _is_
tame, way too tame.  What you really want to see is stuff that's even sexier
and more sensual.  You want to see people fuck!"

   "Rebecca?  Rebecca?"  Her mom was staring at her.  "What are you doing?"

   "Oh, just thinking," she smiled calmly.  "Thinking how much I like
watching this kind of stuff on TV.  Thanks for letting me, Mom."

   "I've been too restrictive," Eileen smiled coyly.  "I can't believe I
didn't want you watching TV.  We should watch more movies like this, where
sexy men and women show off their bodies.  We should start watching R rated
stuff," she added resolutely.  "From now on, kid, things will change.  You
and I are going to have some fun.  What do you think?"

   Rebecca wasn't paying attention.  She was listening to the voice.  "You
also want another cigarette, Rebecca.  You can't wait.  You _need_ to smoke
again."

   "Uh, Mom, I think I'll go outside," she said lamely.  "This stuff is
happening so fast.  I like it but I need to clear my head.  I'm going to ride
my bike again."

   "Suit yourself, honey.  But let's agree on this.  If either of us feels
like saying something bad,, something nasty, from now on we can both just say
it.  Okay?  Starting immediately I'll quit criticizing you for using bad
language and you cut me the same slack.  Sound fair?"

   Rebecca beamed.  "Shit, yeah," she giggled.  "It sounds fuckin' great to
me, Mom!"

   Eileen laughed, too.  "All right then.  Now, get out of here, you wicked
little bitch!"

   Rebecca left happy and Eileen turned her attention back to the Bond movie.
A female actress was lighting up a cigarette.  Eileen didn't know why but she
moved her right hand to her crotch to begin rubbing herself through her
shorts.  She hadn't masturbated in years but a voice inside her head urged
her to do it -.

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