The Play's The Thing, Part 2

The Play's the Thing (part 2)

   Chrissy and Maura were sitting in Chrissy's living room, smoking cigarettes
and sipping at beers which were getting warm.
   It had been at least ten minutes since either of them had spoken. They
alternated staring at one another, at the floor, at the green bottles, but
neither of them could find their voice. It was getting late, close to one in
the morning, yet neither was tired. Perhaps it was all the coffee they'd
drunk while sitting in the sheriff's office.
   Or perhaps it was that kiss which had brought the two young women together
tonight, just before all hell had broken loose on stage.
   It was easy to smoke. Both girls took a certain solace in the relaxation the
cigarettes brought them. But there was no true comfort in anything right now.
   Maura sighed heavily. Her mother had an habit of saying that being
uncomfortable was a good indication you were still alive. If that was the
case, Maura knew that she'd never been so alive, not at any time in her life.
Really, looking at it objectively, the kiss was the least of their worries.
But then again, sometimes objectivity was overrated.
   The utter silence, Chrissy had decided, was worse than the nervous chatter
they'd filled the car with on the way back to her house. The chatter, while
unbearable, had obviously been necessary.
   "There's only one way to be sure-"
   The two young women looked at one another and Maura asked "Which one of us
said that ?"
   Chrissy smiled, stubbed out her cigarette, and reached for her nearly empty
pack. "It was you." She flipped back the top and saw there was just one
single cigarette left. That meant that she had smoked the entire pack in one
day.
   Her eyes went to the clock over the fireplace and she saw that it was after
midnight.
   A mere technicality,  she decided. 
   "Did you see my lighter ?
   Maura held up the dark green plastic disposable. "Mine gave out about three
cigarettes ago. We've been sharing-"
   Watching Maura fold herself out of the chair, it was hard to ignore her
athletic grace. There was a certain fluidity to her movements which Chrissy
had always felt she herself lacked. She put the cigarette between her lips
and dropped her hands to her side as Maura closed in. The lighter flared and
Chrissy pursed her lips tightly, managing to get a good draw on the fresh
cigarette. She then took it from her mouth with her left hand and met Maura's
crystal green eyes.
   Their faces were no more than a third of a meter apart.
   This time the silence was not awkward.
   Chrissy exhaled slowly.
   The smoke joined them, made them as one.
   Chrissy leaned towards Maura and was met halfway. Lips brushed and were
parted. Chrissy felt her tongue against the back of her teeth briefly and
then she and Maura were once again kissing- not the stage kisses which had
seemed adequate in rehearsal but a real kiss like the one which had seemed so
obviously necessary under those bright lights.
   Both girls expected that the embrace would end quickly, that without the
adrenaline to fuel their passions what had been shocking would turn to
something merely foreign. Inexplicable.
   It didn't. Instead, the kiss became more frenetic. It turned to a series of
deep open-mouth kisses. Maura found herself running her hands through
Chrissy's beautiful, soft hair. Chrissy found her free hand wandering down to
Maura's chest. Her forefinger found a nipple and began patiently stroking it
with the sort of gentle authority no man was likely to duplicate.
   Finally, they parted. Chrissy took a long, ponderous inhale on the cigarette
and then handed it to Maura, who repeated the gesture. Before either of them
had exhaled they were kissing again, deep, smoky kisses, sweet and full.
   They continued like this until the cigarette was finished and then they
carefully remove one another's clothes. No words were spoken. It was an
unspoken agreement between them. The kisses had not proven what they had
expected and it was time to move on. Maura could see the excitement in
Chrissy's eyes, but she also saw the same fear that she was feeling.
   Soon they were on the couch and the fear was forgotten. At first they simply
continued to kiss, content to feel one another's naked skin against their
own. Finally it was Maura who began it in earnest. She found her way easily,
reached a pair of fingers into the opening and gently probed until Chrissy
began to react. Using only her index finger she began a gentle, rhythmic
stroking.
   Chrissy gave herself over to the stimulation. Her breathing grew heavy and
ragged and finally she found herself burying her head in Maura's chest. But
that didn't last long. Her open mouth tasted the warm soft flesh of Maura's
breast and she soon found herself gently suckling the stunningly erect
nipple. For the first time in her life she understood what the attraction to
a well-turned breast was.
   When Maura brought her to climax, she simply buried her head against her
friend's shoulder savoured the moment.
   When she lifted it up again she said "Your turn."
   Maura smiled. There was a certain eagerness in her eyes. "Not yet. Trust me,
there is no better time in the world for a cigarette than right after sex."
She rolled out from underneath Chrissy and sat up. Picking up the box of
Marlboro Lights 100s, she pulled two out and lit them together. She then
handed one to Chrissy, who accepted it hungrily and drew deeply.
   Immediately she realised how right Maura was.

   The morning after was the most difficult part for either girl. Chrissy
walked across the kitchen, coffee pot in one hand, cigarette in the other.
She poured a steaming mug of coffee for Maura and then inhaled casually,
enjoying the way that the smoke seemed to expand in her lungs. She knew that
she was firmly committed to smoking now, that when her parents returned the
first thing she would tell them was that she'd decided to start. After that,
she'd work on getting her mother to join her on a regular basis. It was
certainly something to be shared, and she had a feeling that her mother's
reticence had a lot to do with her.
   She looked at Maura. She was a beautiful girl- she had such a way about her.
There was a stealth to everything she did, an economy. No wasted motion. She
was holding her cigarette close to her mouth. After each sip of coffee she
would draw on the cigarette, mingling the tastes in a way Chrissy had
discovered was exquisite.
   But-
   "I really enjoyed last night, Maura, but-"
   "I know," Maura said with a faint smile. "It's hard to imagine that anything
so-"
   "Exactly. And yet-"
   "Maybe we should try it again."
   "Anytime you want to. But it doesn't change the way either of us feels, does
it ?"
   Maura's smile was even fainter, almost morose. "No. It doesn't. You know, if
I woke up tomorrow and found I'd changed my mind, it wouldn't bother me,
but-"
   "It's that word, isn't it ?" Chrissy asked, taking a deep, satisfying inhale
on her cigarette.
   "The 'L' word ? No, it's just that I like boys, you know."
   "We both do."
   Chrissy's declaration didn't stop the two girls from sharing a smoky kiss.

   Annabelle Walker was pacing back and forth in Vicki's office- no small feat,
considering the size of the office and the girth of the first selectman.
   "I expected that the play would be canceled. That you would have done more
than released Ms. Emerson on her own recognizance. Corrupting minors is a
serious charge-"
   "Which is exactly why I didn't file that charge with the DA. I want you to
listen very carefully, Annie."
   "That's Mrs. Walker-" Annabelle said haughtily. She stopped pacing and drew
herself up to her full height, an impressive six feet, two inches backed by
two hundred and seventy pounds of arrogant self-righteousness. "I expect that
you'll start doing your job."
   "I'm an elected official, just like you, Annie. You can recommend that I be
dismissed to the town council, but it takes a seventy-five percent majority
to achieve it. I've been on the phone all morning with a lawyer from the
ACLU, and she told me that I have every right to consider what those girls do
on stage to be an expression of the first amendment."
   "They were smoking, and they're underage. That's a violation of the law, and
you know it."
   "According to the lawyers, it's not. Our little anti-smoking law seems to
fly in the face of civil rights."
   Vicki leaned forward in her chair, pulled a Bensons and Hedges from the box,
and lit it with a smooth easy motion. She watched the look of distaste on
Annie's face and smiled at her as she exhaled.
   "So the bottom line here is that you're not going to doing anything about
this because of some bleeding heart lawyer ?"
   "Exactly. And don't go whining to any of my deputies, either. Tonight's
performance will go on as scheduled, and if you try to interfere with it in
any way, I'll have you arrested for disturbing the peace."
   Vicki's satisfaction at putting Annie in her place was quickly supplanted by
dread.  The woman first turned red, then purple. Her mouth was puckered up
into a tight, ugly ball and she seemed to be trying to speak, without
success. Was it rage, or an heart attack ?
   Even the woman's flesh seemed to be quivering.
   When she finally spoke, all thoughts of calling 911 faded.
   "Don't think you won't pay for this, Victoria."
   That said, the most powerful politician in Oakwood stormed out of the
sheriff's office, leaving her to smoke in blissful peace.

   Karen Emerson passed through the curtain with only faint hesitation.
Performing in front of crowds was one of the things which you did in drama
school, but this was different. Not even the summer cabaret had prepared her
for this.
   The crowd was silent.
   And large.
   Karen was pleased with that. Of course, after last night, this play was just
about the biggest news in town. Oakwood had made the 11 o'clock news last
night on all four networks. Not only that, but Good Morning America had set
up shop outside the school a few hours ago. What had started as her own
personal little statement about smoking rights- she had, after all, been the
one who sent Mrs. Walker a copy of the play- was turning into a nation
statement on the overzealousness of the anti-smoking lobby. Maybe.
   There was even a rumour- unconfirmed- that the playwright was in the
audience.
   Karen realised that she was staring at the audience and they at her. She
decided the easiest way was simply to get it over with.
   "After tonight's performance, there will be the opportunity to sign a
petition for the repeal of Oakwood's underage smoking law. See any of the
ushers for more details."
   There was a smattering of applause and about as many boos.
   Kiss tenure goodbye, Karen thought as she slipped behind the curtain. She
found it hard to believe that this was the sum total of Vicki's paln. And
yet-

   Tara was lying in an hospital bed. Helene was standing beside her, holding
herself up by the I-V stand. In her mouth she was dangling a lit cigarette,
which she pulled on occasionally.
   In the background, the gentle flat monotone hum of the monitor revealed that
Tara had died.
   Finally, Helene took the cigarette from her mouth and as she walked around
the side of the bed she filled the stage with a thick cloud of expanding
smoke.
   "I remember that argument we had about habit." She looked at the cooling
body and smiled.
   "I had said you were a creature of habit and you'd argued that you were a
creature of duty. Remember ?"
   Cold dead Tara said nothing.
   Helene laughed, the slightly off-kilter sound of a woman sliding down the
corridor to madness.
   "I remember the conviction in your voice. And how I shut you up by letting
you in on that terrible secret- that duty was your habit. And then you turn
around and die on me. And where am I ? Working in Boston. Remember, you
begged me not to go ? And I said that I had to. I was right- but I was
talking about myself, not you. Now-"
   Helene looked out at the audience, picked one of them at random. She moved
the cigarette to her mouth, planted it dead centre and pulled hard, an angry
inhale followed by a furious nose exhale which fogged her view of-
   It might have been Mr. Lankin, who ran the hardware store. He smiled as if
enjoying the display and Helene reminded herself that there was no Mr. Lankin
in this two-dimensional world.
   "Habit destroys the best of us. We believe we can tell everyone else how to
live their lives, and we go right ahead and make the same mistakes- or
worse."
   Helene took on last long pull one the cigarette, dropped it to the stage and
crushed it underneath her sneaker.
   She walked over to the lifeless body of her friend, of her lover, and kissed
her. The still lips were not wont to part at first but she insisted and they
eventually gave way.
   Tara was supposed to be dead. Then again, the audience could not see the way
that she responded to the kiss, could not guess at the interactivity.
   The curtain fell, the lights went up, and Chrissy and Maura consummated
another kiss which supposedly meant nothing.

   Both girls were standing outside the auditorium, passing clipboards to
people as they exited.
   Tonight they smoked in public without fear of reprisal.
   The response was overwhelming. There'd been almost five hundred people at
the performance, and it seemed as though all of them who were of voting age
were stopping to sign the petitions.
   One woman walked up to Chrissy and when she held out the clipboard she waved
her hand. "I can't legally sign that. I don't live in Oakwood."
   "I won't tell if you won't," Chrissy said conspiratorially.
   The woman smiled, took the clipboard, and signed it.
   As she took it back, Chrissy read the signature, which was written in a
clear, strong hand.
   "Oh my God, you're-"
   "I want to tell you that you really did quite a good job as Tara. It's
exactly how I imagined the part."
   Chrissy ran over to Ms. Emerson, interrupting what her teacher had found to
be a surprisingly congenial conversation with the district superintendent.
   "You're-" Karen immediately said, suddenly finding herself at a loss for
words."
   "Yes. I'm Lynn Gallingham. I wrote Creatures of Habit. And I have to tell
you something-"
   "We butchered it, didn't we ?" Karen said, looking distraught. "You have to
understand that we only had a few weeks to rehearse, and after last night-"
   "No," Lynn said, smiling. "It was a wonderful performance." The playwright
paused, pulled a pack of Virginia Slims 120's from her purse, and lit one
with an elegant grace which could only come from experience. "In fact, when I
heard that my little play had inspired so much dissension among the locals, I
had to check it out for myself."
   "You really liked it ?" Karen asked, nervous in spite of herself.
   "I liked the way in which you used the play. It wasn't what I had in mind
when I wrote it-"
   She looked at Chrissy and smiled. "No offence, but I hadn't really imagined
my work being performed by- by younger people. Oh, you know you're going to
get exposure in the colleges, if you're lucky, but, well, Creatures of Habit
is a little experimental for a high school drama ensemble."
   She read the looks on both of their faces. "But really, I'm impressed. You
took a work which was supposed to be geared to making one sort of statement
and used it to make another-"
   She held her hands out to indicate the throngs of people who were still
gathered around the clipboards. "As an artist, any time your work is used to
make a positive impact-"
   "You really think that encouraging underage smoking is positive ?" Chrissy
asked with a knowing smile.
   "I wouldn't be here if I didn't. I started when I was fourteen and I've
never regretted it once."
   She emphasized the point by exhaling a long stream of smoke.

   "Yeah. I'll be staying over again tonight, Mom. There are still some rough
edges to the play that need to be- well, that's sweet mom, but no, it wasn't
perfect."
   "Yes, I love you too. 'night."
   Chrissy lit a pair of cigarettes and handed one to Maura as she hung up the
phone.
   "I thought we decided that this wasn't what we wanted."
   Maura inhaled deeply and blew a tight stream of smoke in Chrissy's
direction.
   "So did I. And then you responded to that last kiss tonight and-"
   Chrissy blew a tighter stream of smoke in Maura's direction. Maura repaid
the favour and soon the two of them were locked in a war, trying to make the
narrowest, most powerful jet of smoke. They continued until the cigarettes
were gone, and then-
   This time it was Chrissy who made the first move. Her hand went Maura's
breast and found the nipple as erect as it had been last night. She stroked
it gently and soon they were kissing, deeply and passionately. Quickly they
found themselves on the couch, wearing only the last remnants of their
clothing, locked in an embrace which was anything but staged.
   Chrissy decided that tonight Maura would be first. She put her lips close to
Maura's ear and whispered "I still have to thank you for teaching me how to
smoke-"
   Maura smiled. "I think I know a way-"	

Previous part | Next part