|
|
Article 441 of alt.smokers.glamour:
Path: cocoa.brown.edu!cam-news-feed1.bbnplanet.com!
cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!
news.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!
newsfeeds.sol.net!ftl.msen.com!news!
From: an4@anon.lelnet.com
Newsgroups: alt.smokers.glamour
Subject: The Cameo, part 4
Date: 13 Jan 1997 21:50:19 GMT
Organization: Msen
Lines: 170
Approved: asg-sub@lelnet.com
Message-ID: <199701130637.BAA17276@mail.msen.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: conch.msen.com
X-Sent-To:
To: asg-sub@lelnet.com
The sun was long gone. It was starting to snow, making Sarah almost regret
her decision to walk home after visiting the jeweler's. But she had to get
the snap on the cameo's silver chain fixed. She wasn't sure why, but there
was no question about it that she needed to get it done right away. Besides,
the buses had left ten minutes ago, so there was no point in not going
across the street.
Sarah was just wearing one glove, inside which was the cameo. In the other
she was holding her lighter. She was just about to light her cigarette when
of all people, Pam Johnson walked out the side doors. Sarah went ahead and
lit the cigarette anyway, struggling a little with the wind. The cold moist
air and the smoke combined in her lungs and her exhale was enormous, hanging
around her head like a fog cloud. She inhaled the smoky air and found that it
had a wonderful component all its own.
"How can do that to yourself ?" Pam asked scornful. Sarah looked up and
found that she was only partially glad that the swelling around Pam's nose
was almost gone. She looked as though she might just get a black eye, but
Sarah doubted very much that would bother either of them.
"Do what ?" Sarah asked.
"Smoke, of course. Were you asleep in health class ?"
"No. Have you ever tried it ?"
Pam snorted scornfully. "My parents smoke. My brother and sister smoke. I
plan on being the first one in the family who doesn't."
"I'm sorry about your nose, Pam."
Surprisingly, she laughed. Sarah exhaled again and luxuriated in her own
second hand smoke.
"Don't be. I would have done the same thing. I just can't believe the way
you play. Every time you get the puck-"
"The ball," Sarah corrected, taking another deep inhale. There was something
special about smoking in the cold, wet air. It added something to it.
"Whatever. I swear, every time you touch it, you score."
"It's an easy game. When people aren't cross-checking me, anyway."
"Why didn't you take the bus home ?" Pam asked. Sarah saw that she was
watching her very intently. Watching me smoke, Sarah thought, the same way
that she had watched Kristen earlier. She took another deep inhale, paused,
inhaled again, and this time she tried a nose exhale. Once more the smoke
swirled around her, this time the smell faintly different as it clung to her.
"You know that chain you pulled off of me. I'm going to take it across the
street and have it repaired. What are you still doing here ?"
"My sister's coming to pick me up. We're getting our hair done downtown."
Sarah's cigarette was done. She stubbed it out in the small ashtray built
into the top of the garbage can and decided to light another.
As she took her cigarettes out she thought she caught a look of anticipation
in Pam's eyes and she decided to offer again. She opened the flip top,
careful not to expose the cigarettes to the falling snow. Rather than quickly
extract one of them, she hesitated, looking directly at Pam, who seemed to be
very interested.
"You sure you don't want one ?"
"My sister will be here any minute."
"So. She smokes, doesn't she ?"
"Yeah, In fact, if I had a nickel for every time she asked me if I wanted
one, I could probably buy you a brand new chain."
Sarah took two of the cigarettes from the pack and decided to light them
both herself. She put them both in her mouth, brought her glove up to shield
the flame of the lighter from the wind, but had trouble getting a light. Pam
stepped in front of her, blocking both the wind and the dull grey light of
the late afternoon.
When they were both going, Sarah handed one to Pam, who accepted it between
the first two fingers of her left hand. It was obvious that all of her years
of watching her family smoke had at least taught her how to hold a cigarette.
And what to do with it as well. She bought it to her lips and pulled the
smoke into her mouth. But it wasn't actually an inhale.
She held the smoke in her mouth and then blew it out, but it hung in front
of her face and the look in her eyes made it clear she knew she hadn't done
it right.
"You have to inhale, Pam."
To demonstrate, she brought her own cigarette to her lips, pursed them and
executed a text-book inhale. She smiled and rolled her eyes back, still
surprised at how heavenly each inhale could be. Then she exhaled, making sure
the smoke stayed close to her. "Try it again."
Sarah expected Pam to cough as she inhaled successfully, but living with an
houseful of smokers had apparently made her immune to that.
The look of surprise on Pam's face told Sarah that she enjoyed it. She
exhaled a bit too quickly, but she was new at it, so that was to be expected.
Right then, a car pulled up. It was a Del Sol. A cool car, but Sarah
wondered if it was really practical in this snow.
Pam's older sister got out of the car, a look of surprise on her face. Sarah
half-expected Pam to ditch the cigarette but to her credit she took another
inhale, holding it properly this time. As she exhaled she said "Hey, Donna."
"Are you smoking ?" Donna asked incredulously, walking towards them, smiling
and holding a Marlboro 100 in her hand. She took a long drag on it and waited
until after her sister had answered to exhale.
"Does it look like I'm smoking ?" Pam asked, this time pulling on the
cigarette as though she was mad at it.
"It's about time, Pammy. But we have to get going. The roads are shit."
With that they were gone, Pam mouthing a 'thank you' to Sarah.
Sarah almost laughed. It seemed as though everything had changed since
yesterday. Suddenly it was all so easy.
It was time to get over to the jewelers.
She crossed the road carefully, puffing away on a cigarette and looking
forward to a long walk home in the crisp, wet air.
There was no one else in the jewelry shop when she got there. It looked like
a surprisingly upscale place, not at all what she had expected. She walked in
and saw just one lone woman standing behind the counter, a youngish sort
about Kristen's age.
She was smoking. Virginia Slims according to the pack sitting on the counter
A little voice inside Sarah's head added 'of course.' When she took the
cigarette away from her mouth and held it the resemblance to Kristen was much
stronger.
"How can I help you ?" the woman asked, smoke trailing out of her mouth in
delicate wisps with each word.
Sarah took the glove off and held out the cameo on its wounded chain.
"Kristen said I should stop by. She thought you might be able to fix it. You
are Helena, right ?"
"Yes. Kristen and I were friends in college. Funny. We were never close when
we were here in high school, and we both came back here after spending four
years two hundred miles away."
Sarah felt odd, as though this personal information was more than she needed
to know. "The clasp broke," she said awkwardly, placing the cameo and its
chain down on the counter.
Helena picked up the cameo just before taking a long, sumptuous pull on the
slim cigarette.
The look on her face was one of pure shock. And intense joy.
"I don't suppose you'd be interested in selling this ?" Helena asked. Her
eyes were almost glowing. "I haven't seen one of these since I was a little
girl. My mother had one just like it. Never took it off."
"I'm sorry," Sarah said, thinking this was getting odder by the minute. It
sounded to her as though Helena's mother had died.
The older woman saw the look. "Oh, my parents moved down to Florida the week
after I graduated college. They gave me a choice. It was either sell this
place and go to graduate school or come back here and take it over for them."
She winked. "I never liked school that much."
"Can you fix it ?"
Helena didn't answer until she'd smoked the cigarette down to the filter,
and Sarah had an idea she knew exactly why.
"It would be best to replace the chain entirely, but I have a strange
feeling you'd rather I tried to save this one, right ?"
Sarah nodded. Whatever it was that was so special about that piece of
jewelry was something she didn't want to take any chances disturbing.
"I can try. But it may take a while. Why don't you have a seat over there."
"Do you mind if I smoke ?" Sarah asked. It was a question she'd heard her
mother ask a thousand times, but it was her first time. Still, there was no
nervousness in the question.
"How old are you ?"
Sarah considered lying, decided against it. "Sixteen."
Helena smiled at her. "Sure. I'll get right to work on this." Sarah noticed
that she picked up the Virginia Slims before walking into the back.
She was gone a long time.
Sarah smoked three cigarettes while she was waiting and although each one
was more satisfying than the last, she found herself wanting that cameo back
more and more with each one.
She took her mind off her eagerness by watching herself smoke in a mirror by
her chair. She worked on every part of it. The inhale. The exhale. Holding
the cigarette at arm's length with her wrist upturned. Holding it up by her
mouth, and to the side of her head. Standing with the cigarette below waste
level. Nose exhales. Combinations. Kristen was right. You developed a style
after a while.
By the time Helena came out from the back, Sarah even thought she had a
pretty good feel on how to tap the ash from the cigarette with one flick of
the index finger. Now that she'd started smoking she was no longer chewing
her nails and she found the short one she'd grown seemed be perfectly suited
to the task.
Her relief was so great when Helena told her that she'd been able to repair
the clasp she took it without asking how much she owed and immediately put it
on again. She then lit a cigarette and sure enough, if was perfect.
The two woman looked at one another and Sarah knew they both understood. "If
I were you, I'd take very good care of that-" Helena paused, obviously not
knowing her name.
"Sarah. It's Sarah. I will."
"If you ever want to sell it, I'll take it off your hands."
Sarah smiled. "I can't imagine wanting to do that. How much do I owe you ?"
"Owe me ? Nothing. It was-" Helena hesitated. "It was a pleasure working on
it. Besides, if Kristen sent you-" she waved her hand and Sarah understood.
Money would not be involved her. "Thanks for letting me repair it."
"Thank you. I'll let Kristen know you helped me out."
"Anytime."
Sarah walked back outside. It was dark now, probably after five. She might
not even get home before Mom.
But it didn't matter. It was a perfect night to smoke, and that would make
the walk worth it.
|