Cold Turkey, Part 9

All characters in this story are purely fictional.  Any resemblence 
of these characters to real life people are conicidence only, and are 
not meant to cause offence to anyone.  All place names and locations 
in this story are intentionally fictional.  

COLD TURKEY
by Blackbladder

Part 9

Irene awoke with a start as the phone vibrated rapidly like a heart beating.
She picked up the phone and layed it on the table.

"Hello?"

"Hi Irene, its Leo.  Got a headache?"

"Don't you realise what time it is?" Irene mumbled, her throat dry from her
chain-smoking the previous night.  This, however, did not stop her reaching
for her valuables and lighting up.

"You smoking already? Your daughter took the news well then?" Leo's voice
asked excitedly.

"No Leo something terrible has happened.  I think my daughter is suffering
from loss of memory.  She asked me last night who I was.  I am so fuckin
stressed out.  I am gonna take her to the doctors first thing to get her
checked out..."

"Hey hold on! Let's not be rash!"

"Leo, don't you care about anyone apart from yourself? My daughter's health is
at risk here! She told me she could only remember waking up on the dining room
floor, next to the fireplace."

"I am sorry for sounding insensitive."

Irene took another deep puff on her shrinking cigarette before deashing it in
the over-flowing saucer.  

"Can you come over and fix the chimney on this damn cabin? That has been a
hazard since we got here.  I told my daughter to get another cabin but she
insisted we keep this one.  She is not one for stamping her assertiveness to
strangers."

"No problem Irene, I will be over in an hour. Bye."

As Irene put down her phone on the receiver, she crushed out her first morning
cigarette.  The previous night, she had been fearing a backlash from her
daughter about the smoking, but knew she was too weak to respond.  She wanted
to take the opportunity to smoke whilst there was no opposition.  Irene leant
back on the chair, stretching and breathing in deep the ambient smoke in the
room.  This had to go to not arouse any suspicions for later that day...

"Ok Irene that is your roof done.  You feeling any better Denise?" Leo
muttered as he entered the cabin, sweat pouring off his brow.

"You are a saint!" Irene responded enthusiastically.

Irene had spent the morning filling in Denise with points of her life, up
until the holiday.  Denise took in all the information, but could not recall
any of her life from any memories.  Her mind was a complete haze if she tried
to think back before the accident.  Irene, though, was encouraged that Denise
was opposing no hostility towards her.  She was accepting all of what Irene
had been saying.  

Denise was pale, her concentration wandering into space.  She was sipping her
drink when Leo lit up a cigarette in front of the women.

Irene shot Leo an evil look as he proceeded to light up in a relaxed manner.
She instantly expected Denise to begin a barrage of abuse upon the guest, but
it never materialised.  Evidently, her loss of memory also removed any
inhibitions she had in the past.  As Leo blew smoke towards Denise, her eyes
readjusted as the smoke danced in front of them.  

"I need to go a walk or something.  I will go get dressed." Denise muttered,
almost like a computer carrying out its diagnostics. 

As her daughter left, Irene was furious at Leo for his lack of manners in a
very hostile situation.

"How dare you do that to my daughter?!" Irene retorted as Leo took another
deep inhale.

"Hey Irene calm down! Denise never bothered when I lit up.  Whats the
problem?" Leo stated, smoke punctuating his words.

"She is not herself.  All I wanted from you is a bit of understanding..."
Irene shouted, folding her arms whilst looking away from Leo.

Leo took another pull from his cigarette then leaned across to give her a
smokey kiss.  At first, Irene showed no interest but it had been three hours
since she smoked.  The smoke was a welcome friend as it entered her lungs.
She smiled at the satisfaction.

After a quick embrace, Leo took a final drag on his cigarette before crushing
it out in a makeshift ashtray - a kitchen saucer.  

"I better hit the road.  The locals will be wondering why the shop is closed.
I will talk to you later?" Leo asked.

"Ok, bye" Irene replied cheerfully, pecking Leo on the cheek immediately.  As
Leo drove away in his Land Rover, Denise made her way back into the dining
room.  Her daughter frowned at Irene as she fastened up her cycle helmet.

"Leo seems a nice guy - coming over here and fixing our roof.  He seems to
like you a lot." Denise smiled, her blue eyes bulging from enthusiasm.

Irene smiled back "Yeh, Leo is nice."

As Irene's nostrils followed the stench of smoke in the cabin, her thoughts
ignited the cravings building up insider of her.  She wanted to smoke right
now again.  

"Do you smoke, Mom?!" Denise blurted whilst fastening her gloves.

Irene's heart raced.  Had Denise's anti-smoking raport returned?, Irene asked
herself.  She did not know how to deal with this situation at present.  Irene
sat mumbling to herself, pondering her options.

"You better go now, dear if you wanna avoid the rain." Irene stated, trying to
divert attention.  

Denise looked outside, noting dark clouds slowly beginning to amalgamate like
a gang of bullies - threatening to attack at any time.  

"Do you remember anything else prior to last night?" Irene inquired, her
attention span growing towards the idea of a cigarette.  She chuckled to
herself quietly, knowing how oblivious her daughter was to her returned habit.
Irene forgot that smoking made her feel rebellious against her own
anti-smoking parents.  

"When you told me about Paul and my kids, they sounded so familiar.  I met
Paul at the Ice Rink in '85?" Denise mumbled, trying to remember her past.  

"Yes honey, your memory is coming back.  It will just take a bit of time."
Irene feigned a smile, hoping that any anti-smoking tendencies would not
re-emerge.  She knew the Denise from a week ago would never have allowed a
relative stranger smoke in her presence.  Deep down inside, she knew Leo was
taking advantage of the situation.  But she loved him...

As Irene thought admiringly about Leo, her cravings were now racing as she
stared longily at the saucer with the smouldering, crushed cigarette in
perfect view.  

"Mom, I won't be long....I am just going into town.  I am going to give Paul a
phone as well.  I am hoping he will help me remember much more.  My mind is
still fuzzy." Denise stated, rubbing her forehead in vain.  She still had a
slight headache.  Fresh air would do her good, she thought. 

"Wanna come with me?" Denise smiled as she opened the cabin door.

"No honey, I think I will stay here and clean the cabin.  You know we only
have a few more days left here before we go back home..." Irene stated
nervously.  Her hands were tapping the table, in reach of the saucer.  

"Bye Mom!" Denise smiled as she walked out of the cabin and retrieved her
bike.  As Denise cycled down the lane into the distance, Irene breathed a hugh
sigh of relief.  In a state of panic, the Mother retrieved her handbag and
threw her pack of cigarettes onto the table in front of her.  Holding the
lighter in her hands, she removed a cork-tipped cylinder from her pack and
stuck the filter end in her mouth.  As she faced the window, cigarette
dangling, she sucked hard as she ignited the lighter and pushed the head of
the cigarette into the waiting flame.  

With her eyes staring out of the window, she put the pack and lighter on the
table behind her and sucked the cigarette, its end glowing firery red.  Before
turning away from the window, Irene inhaled the tobacco juices into her
craving lungs and removed the cigarette from her mouth.  Irene sat back at the
table, her arm leaning with the cigarette tilted.  She pursed her lips and
exhaled a large cone of smoke across the table.  Instinctively, Irene pulled
the saucer towards her.  Feelings of anxiety now faded as she basked into her
habit once more.  Whilst taking another long pull on the cigarette, she looked
towards the sink with dishes and cutlery stacked into a neat pile.  The
kitchen surfaces were cluttered, and her bedroom was overloaded with dirty
clothes.  Looking back at the cigarette in her hands, Irene smiled, exhaling
smoke towards the ceiling.  There will be time for all that housework...

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