Smoking Dreams

Part 1: The problem.

    We first meet Carrie as she's in the psychiatrist's office, discussing 
her problem with Dr. Norris.

    "I can't take it anymore! I just can't take it! Doctor Norris: You have 
to help my family!" Carrie said just after she stepped into Dr. Norris's 
office. She noticed the view from the window, 27 floors up. She looked 
around and saw his desk, an antique oak desk. She was impressed by the 
leather sofas too. She also recognized a few Philippine artifacts in one of 
his massive bookshelves. She sat down, across from Dr. Norris, a handsome 
man who looked like he was in his late 30's. She sighed as she thought about 
why she had come.

    This was Carrie's last chance, or so she thought, to get rid of her 
family's problem. The problem was that everyone in her family smoked, but 
her. She had tried to get them to quit several times. She was able to get 
her hands on some nicotine patches, and gave some to each member of her 
family. They laughed at her. She got them in touch with smoke-enders; she 
ordered quitting smoking information from such quit-smoking websites as 
Nicoderm and Habitrol, but still nothing. She decided to see if a 
psychiatrist could help her family quit smoking. This was her first 
appointment with Dr. Norris. She had spoken to him over the phone a week ago 
to place an appointment.

    "Miss Wong, calm down." Dr. Norris said, noticing her long black hair 
hanging over her shoulders. Carrie Wong was attractive as well. Dr. Norris 
wished she could remove her glasses so that he could see her beautiful eyes.

    "Please call me Carrie. Dr. Norris: As I have told you, I've tried 
everything to get my family to quit smoking, I'd hid their cigarettes, I've 
thrown them all away at times, I got in touch with several organizations and 
everything. They just won't quit! I tell them it isn't healthy, that my room 
stinks of it, that they will die from cancer before they're 50. I complain 
every day, but nothing! They all laugh at me! I don't know what else to do!" 
Carrie shouted.

    "Carrie, before we start, I need to get some information from you first, 
since this is our first meeting. I need to know your full name, your 
address, your age, marital status, where you were born and what you do for a 
living. I need to ask you some other questions as well before we proceed 
with the matter at hand." Dr. Norris said.

    "OK, sure Doctor. Sorry...I'm just so. Ahhh! So stressed out, so pissed 
off. I wish it hadn't come to this, seeing a psychiatrist to cure my 
family's problems. I didn't know what else to do. I thought I was grasping 
at straws when I got your name from my mom. She said she'd heard of you from 
a friend who saw you a few years ago, so I said 'What the heck?' might as 
well try him." Carrie said and tried calming down. She paused & took a deep 
breath. "Sure I can answer some questions. My name's Carrie Wong, but you 
already know that. Well, I live with my family at 11 black ember lane. I'm 
19 years old, still single. I'm 5 foot 4, I weigh 112 pounds. I go to the 
state college; I'm a freshman there, studying microeconomics. Umm, I was 
born in the Philippines. I have 3 siblings. My family moved here when I was 
1 year old, I can't remember the exact date." Carrie recalled.

    "I see. But 'Wong' doesn't sound like a Philippino name, it sounds more 
Chinese." The Doctor remarked.

    "You're right Dr. Norris, my dad's from China. He met my mom in the 
Philippines and they got married there, and we moved here about 18 years 
ago, in 1984. So Dr. Norris, do you think I look more Chinese, or 
Philippino?" Carrie asked. She enjoyed flirting with men. She ran her 
fingers through her hair after she removed her glasses and placed them on 
the desk. She looked at Dr. Norris and smiled as if she were posing for a 
magazine cover.

    "I think it's a bit of both, but you look a little more Chinese, 
perhaps. Now Carrie, tell me about your family. Let's start with your dad 
first." Dr. Norris asked.

    "My dad? OK. Oh boy, where should I start? Well, my dad was born in 
China; he came from a family of 5. He quit school when he was young to help 
support his family. He became a flight attendant in China when he was about 
16. He met my mom in Manila when she worked in a hotel there that my dad 
used to stay at when he flew to the Philippines. He flew there often. My dad 
was about 17 at the time and mom was almost 16. Mom also quit school when 
she was about 15 for the same reason: Mom's family was very poor and she 
worked to help support them. They fell in love right away and got married 
within 6 months in the Philippines against my dad's family wishes." Carrie 
said.

   "I see. So when did they move to America?" The Doctor asked.

   "They immigrated here about 2 years after they were married. My mom had 
family in America who sponsored them." Carrie answered.

   "How many years ago was that?" The Doctor asked.

   "Well, mom's 37 now and dad's 39, so that was about...19 years ago when 
they moved here." Carrie answered. "Now can I talk about why I'm here?" 
Carrie asked.

   "You're referring to the smoking issue, I gather?" Dr. Norris replied.

   "Yes. Can we get to that now? I can't stand their smoking anymore!" 
Carrie asked impatiently.

   "'In a minute Carrie. Tell me about your brothers and sisters, when and 
where were they born and what do they do now?"

   "OK...I only have one brother, and he's a jerk. He's 1 year older than me 
and thinks he owns me. It's a Chinese male thing. My brother Mike works at 
Sears. Just like me, he was born in the Philippines. He was 2 & I was 1 when 
we came to America. He smokes too, and he bugs me about it. He likes to blow 
smoke in my face. What a real jerk!" Carrie said and looked like she was 
going to scream. She collected herself and continued. "Both my younger 
sisters were born here. Samantha just turned 16 and is still in high school, 
while Kristi is 15 and just started high school. Kristi just started smoking 
last year, probably hanging around Samantha and her friends too much. Those 
2 are pretty close." Carrie remarked.

   "Are you close to your brothers and sisters?" Dr. Norris asked.

   "No, not at all, I'm the black sheep of the family. Don't you know? I'm 
the only one who doesn't smoke!" Carrie replied and threw her hands in the 
air in disgust.

   "Carrie, have you ever smoked before?" Dr. Norris asked.

   "Are you serious? No way!" Carrie responded quite angrily.

   "Does your boyfriend smoke?" The Doctor asked.

   "Ugh! I don't have a boyfriend. I'm still single, hoping someday to find 
a guy who's actually normal for a change and you know what Doctor? I'm 
guessing he won't smoke." Carrie responded sarcastically.

   "You're quite attractive, I'm surprised you don't have a boyfriend." Dr. 
Norris said. Carrie just smiled. "Now, tell me more about your parents. You 
say they smoke. Do you know how and when they each started?" The Doctor 
asked.

   "Yes, in fact I do know how they started. I've heard this story a 
thousand times. Way too many times!! They are so open to tell that story to 
me! My dad started smoking in China as a teen. From what he tells me, every 
male in China smokes, although I find that difficult to believe. When he met 
my mom in the Philippines, she didn't smoke, but hanging around him got her 
started. Mom told me she started to smoke a few months after they dated, 
because of this infamous stupid bet!" Carrie said and looked quite angry.

    "Tell me about the bet..."

    "Oh, it was so stupid. Dad tricked mom into smoking! They both liked 
horseracing back then, and dad made a bet with mom that if he picked 3 
winners in a row correctly, mom would have to try smoking. If he lost the 
bet, they would have to get married right away. You see, mom really wanted 
to marry him right away, right after she became 16 years old. She never 
thought he could pick 3 winners in consecutive horse races. The thing is, 
she never wanted to smoke, in fact she tried to get dad to quit back then. 
But dad tricked mom. He listened to the horse races on the radio earlier in 
the day, and when they both watched the race on TV in the evening, my mom 
didn't know the races were taped and dad already knew the winners. Mom was 
shocked that dad picked the winners and grudgingly had to try smoking. She 
begged him if there was anything else she could do, you know, anything! Oh 
God, I can't tell you what she wanted to do to him. She was only 15! 
Shit!...And they are always so open to share everything with us, even this 
shit!...Oh, what the heck, I'll show you!" Carrie said, pointing to her 
crotch then making an semi-closed fist with her hand, moving it back and 
forth from her wide open mouth. "But he wanted her to smoke, more than 
anything in the world. Even more than sucking him! Dad kept pushing her for 
weeks prior to that to smoke, placing cigarettes in her purse, in her coat 
pockets, everywhere. Mom was upset with him, but she gave in and smoked a 
cigarette with him that night. It was over for her." Carrie recalled.

   "I see. Please continue." Dr Norris said as he was taking notes.

   "Well, pretty soon mom was smoking more and more, and, well, I'm 
embarrassed to say this too: It's really private." Carrie said.

   "You can tell me, it might be important. Anyways, remember, all of this 
is confidential." Dr. Norris said.

   "OK then. Oh brother. This is so embarrassing! Dad was really turned on 
by mom smoking one or two cigarettes a week and one night, well, he got her 
to perform for him while she was smoking, and, he got so excited and they 
slept together. It was both their first time. Yes: They had sex before they 
got married. Can you believe they tell their kids all this stuff? Have they 
no shame?" Carrie said and lowered her head. She grabbed a tissue and wiped 
her eyes. "Where was I? Oh Yeah. Well, dad got mom to smoke an after sex 
cigarette, which she enjoyed too. They had sex almost every night after 
that, right after dad prodded mom to give him some more smoking displays. 
She kept smoking for him since she knew her reward was to have sex right 
after. I think my mom's a sex-maniac! But why am I telling you all this 
shit. " Carrie said and took a deep breath. She took another tissue and blew 
her nose. She took a few moments to collect herself.

   "Well, dad kept pushing her real hard to smoke, more and more. The more 
mom had sex, the more she smoked too. Mom's smoking habit grew until she was 
addicted like he was. We even have some wedding photos of mom smoking in her 
wedding dress. How gross! She kept smoking until, well, she found out she 
was pregnant with my brother Mike. She told us she quit smoking during her 
pregnancy, in fact she told us she quit during each of her 4 pregnancies, 
but the way she smokes now, you wouldn't think she could ever quit. She 
smokes almost 2 packs a day now! I doubt she quit when she was pregnant! I 
doubt it!" Carrie added.

   "What happened after that?" The Doctor inquired.

   "After mom was pregnant, they had to get married right away, obviously. 
She gave birth to Mike only a few months after they were married and I came 
one year later. Then we moved to the states and mom gave birth to Samantha 
and Kristi afterwards." Carrie added. She reached for a glass of water and 
took a drink. She ran her fingers through her long black hair again. Dr. 
Norris could tell it wasn't easy for Carrie to share all of this.

   "I see. Tell me now when your siblings started smoking." Dr. Norris 
inquired.

   "Mike started to smoke when he was about 14 or 15, in fact all my 
siblings began smoking at that age, I think." Carrie said.

   "I assume your parents were upset with them when they found out their 
kids smoked."

   "Are you kidding Dr. Norris? They were thrilled their kids smoked! They 
encouraged Mike, and now my younger sisters to all smoke at home, whenever 
they wanted. That's the problem. They want me to smoke too and I want them 
to quit. Everyday I come home from school, I see a cloud of smoke in the 
house, everywhere, and not even my room is safe. It stinks! I can't spend 
more than 5 minutes at home without wanting to puke! I can't breathe at 
times! I hate the smell, I really hate it!" Carrie cried out and banged her 
fist on Dr. Norris's desk, narrowly missing her eyeglasses.

  "Carrie, thanks for telling me all of this. I think I understand. First of 
all, Carrie, you need to manage your anger and your stress." Dr. Norris 
suggested.

   "What the heck are you talking about? It's not my problem, it's theirs! 
Manage my anger? Are you crazy? They have to quit smoking, they have to!" 
Carrie shouted.

   "Carrie, calm down. I understand you are angry that your family smokes. 
I'll try and see if I can talk to your family, if they wish to. We will get 
to that problem, I promise. But you shouldn't be so angry; it's not healthy 
for you. Have you always been this angry?" The Doctor inquired.

   "No, I haven't always been this angry. Geez. I guess I've been like this 
for about a year now, ever since my 2 younger sisters began to smoke. At 
least I had allies before that, but not anymore. I feel angry because one by 
one, my siblings fell into the trap of smoking. I wish I could be more calm 
and less angry, but I don't know how to! Shit!" Carrie said and was biting 
up lower lip.

   "Carrie, Are you open to hypnosis, to help deal with your anger?" The 
Doctor asked.

   "Can you do that?" Carrie responded. She was very interested.

   "Absolutely, I've had great success with it. We can start right now. I'll 
try to contact your family in the next few days and see if I can see them 
individually about this smoking issue." Dr. Norris said.

   "I'm so glad you will talk with my family, thank God!" Carrie felt 
relieved. "I guess I can start this hypnosis thing now, if it can help me 
deal with my anger." She added.

   "Great! Glad to hear it. Now, when you come back and see me in a few 
days, let me know if anything happened." Dr. Norris said and hypnotized 
Carrie. After 20 minutes, Carrie went home, feeling relieved.

(End of Part 1)