Surrounded, Part 5

This fictional account contains adult language and 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 2003 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. 
   
SURROUNDED 
   
5. Epilogue. 
   
   Over the next week Janine slowly developed her own personal smoking 
routine. Being with Ellie made it simple for her to light up fresh 
cigarettes all the time. So Janine did. She smoked much more than she 
originally intended. Her per day number of cigarettes smoked increased all 
week long. Her drags, though modest at first, soon developed into powerful 
and accomplished ones. Likewise her inhales began to go deeper inside her 
chest and last longer. Unconsciously Janine mimicked her little sister's 
aggressive smoking style. Janine soon had to admit that she loved smoking, 
just as Suzanne, Diana and Ellie had promised! 
   
   As soon as Suzanne returned from her dad's after Christmas she 
immediately noticed the transformation. Janine smoked openly and 
effortlessly, pretty much without thinking about what she was doing, and 
she clearly enjoyed it. Little by little for Janine mere psychological 
gratification metamorphosized into genuine physical dependence. Nicotine's 
hooks sunk deeper and deeper into her each day. The blithe college student 
didn't mind. By six o'clock on New Year's Eve day Janine had smoked an 
entire pack of Marlboro Lights 100s and still was hungry for more. She and 
Suzanne celebrated at a party with Crystal that night. By the time Janine 
and Suzanne got home after two in the morning the new smoker had polished 
off her second pack of the day. 
   
   Janine woke up New Year's Day around eleven. She felt terrible from 
partying way too hard the night before. Her chest felt like lead and her 
mouth was dry as dust. She wandered down to the kitchen and smelled a 
familiar aroma. The fragrance was heavenly. In the kitchen sat her little 
sister smoking a cigarette and reading the paper. 
   
   Ellie looked up. "God, you look like shit," she laughed caustically. 
"How late were you and Suzanne out last night?" 
   
   "We got home after two," Janine mumbled as she reached for some coffee. 
"And I don't just look like shit. God, I feel like shit!" 
   
   "Ah, you college girls," Ellie sighed before hitting on her cigarette. 
"I spent the evening at Kayla's. It was fun but obviously not as much fun 
as you guys had with Crystal!" 
   
   Janine sat down at the table. "Hey, can I have a cigarette?" 
   
   "Of course," Ellie beamed. "But are you sure you want one?" 
   
   "Yeah, I'm sure," Janine groaned. "God, I smoked _way_ too much 
yesterday! I won't even tell you how many. My chest feels awful, like 
somebody sat on it all night." She accepted a cigarette from her sister. 
"But somehow none of that matters. Smelling yours suddenly makes me want 
another cigarette real bad!" 
   
   Ellie watched her big sister light up. Janine hit hard on the cigarette, 
just like a veteran. "How's that feel, Sis?" 
   
   "God, it feels fuckin' great," Janine gasped hungrily. Tiny rivulets of 
smoke reluctantly passed through both her lips and nostrils. She eagerly 
hit on the cigarette a second time and inhaled more smoke deep into her 
chest. "God, I feel like the smoke's bringing me back to life!" She pursed 
her lips and released a thick exhale. "All that heaviness in my chest's 
disappearing, Ellie. I don't know why, but this is great!" 
   
   Her little sibling grinned. "It means you're a real smoker, Janine. You 
felt terrible from smoking too much last night. Even so the only thing that 
makes you feel better is to smoke again." She hit on her own cigarette. "By 
the way, how much _did_ you smoke yesterday?" 
   
   "I dunno. I think maybe two packs, if you count from first thing 
yesterday till I got home last night," Janine admitted, still expelling 
smoke from her mouth. "I guess that's a lot, isn't it?" 
   
   "Duh, yeah," Ellie grinned. "If you still want more this morning, 
Janine, well I think we can safely assume you've become a bona fide smoker. 
Congrats, Sis. Smoking first thing in the morning after killing off two 
packs yesterday proves that you've finally arrived. I think the clinical 
term is nicotine addiction. You simply can't get enough of it anymore, can 
you?" 
   
   Janine nodded. "I like it, though." She let out a smile before she hit 
on her cigarette and inhaled once again. "Mom was right about this. It 
seems the more I smoke the more I like it. It's really kinda cool!" The 19 
year old girl tipped her head back to release another long exhale. Yeah, 
Janine was sure of it now. She _did_ feel better, much better after getting 
lots more fresh nicotine into her body. So was this nicotine addiction? 
Well, if this was what nicotine addiction felt like then she didn't mind at 
all! 
   
   The next few days Janine kept smoking at the same accelerated level, 
between a pack and two packs a day. Her habit became progressively more 
deeply ingrained. Janine didn't want to stop or slow down. She could no 
longer imagine not smoking all the time. By now Suzanne, too, had crossed 
that same threshold. There was no way she could go back to living with her 
mother in a non-smoking household. 
   
   Before the end of the holiday break Grant surprised them by suggesting 
Suzanne move in for good, at least the rest of her freshman year at the 
community college. Though Suzanne originally planned to move in with 
Crystal she decided living with Grant, Ellie and Diana was the better 
option. Grant didn't care if she paid rent so Suzanne would save money 
living with them. Given her accelerating smoking habit, the pretty freshman 
girl needed all her spare cash to buy cigarettes. 
   
   As the time neared for Janine to return to school back east, she began 
to feel sad. Fall term she'd made lots of friends on campus. But none of 
them smoked. She liked her roommate but could no longer imagine living with 
a non-smoker, given her transformation into what Ellie called being a real 
bona fide smoker. Diana advised her not to fret about it. 
   
   "Honey, you'll make new friends. Plenty of kids on your campus smoke. 
I'm sure of it. You just don't know any of them yet. But you will, once you 
start to search them out. After all, your dorm isn't non-smoking, is it?" 
   
   "No," Janine admitted. "But my roommate Barb doesn't smoke." 
   
   "Yet," Diana giggled. "Maybe you can work on her like we worked on you," 
her mom said with an evil twinkle in her eye. "But whatever. If I were you 
I'd go back to school and simply announce to Barb that I started smoking. 
Begin smoking in your dorm room all the time. It's allowed, after all. Who 
cares what your stupid roommate thinks? Barb may throw a fit, but so what? 
Eventually either Barb will adjust or she'll find somebody willing to 
switch rooms and roommates. I bet anything you'll find some other nice girl 
who smokes who's also mismatched with a non-smoking roommate. Don't worry. 
I'm sure it'll work out one way or another." 
   
   Janine sighed. She reached out to grab her pack and light up another 
cigarette. "Mom, I'm sure you're right. I know lots of kids smoke, 
including some in my dorm. I've just never hung out with them before. But I 
sure as hell will now," she giggled with conviction, releasing a thick 
exhale. "I like being surrounded by smokers. I don't think there's any 
better way to live!" 
   
   The night before Janine left to return to college Grant took the whole 
group out to dinner at his private club. It was exactly the sort of grand 
celebration Diana could never afford in the old days. They sat at a large 
table in the smoking section. Everyone, including all three of the 
teenagers who were under the legal drinking age, smoked and incessantly 
drank wine. It was, after all, Grant's private party. He and Diana 
announced they'd set an April date for their upcoming wedding. They 
purposely planned it during Janine's spring break from college back east so 
she could be sure to attend. 
   
   Grant stood to propose a toast. "Here's to the marvelous new life that's 
begun for us." He smiled warmly at his bride to be. "Yes, to my entire 
marvelous new family! And also to our lovely new friend who's now living 
with us," he added with a kind glance at Suzanne. "Salud!" 
   
   Everyone drank. Janine sipped from her glass and then lit up a 
cigarette. She stood up and raised her glass into the air to offer a toast 
of her own. "Bravo, Grant; I mean, Dad. I want to say that I totally agree. 
But there's something I simply have to add." She lifted her glass. "Here's 
to being surrounded by smokers!" She had an impish glint in her eyes. 
"After being surrounded by all you guys and your smoking this entire 
holiday season, let me just say that I never, ever want things to go back 
to the way they were before." The pretty 19 year old purposely hit 
unusually hard on her cigarette. She pulled the smoke deep into her chest. 
As she continued to speak it mixed with her words. "So here's what I want 
us to drink to now. I want all of us to drink a toast to being surrounded 
by smoke and to being surrounded by smokers." She giggled. "God, it's 
absolutely the best!" 
   
   Another misty exhale flowed effortlessly through her pretty smiling lips 
as she hit again on her cigarette. "Look, I sincerely love what you all did 
for me this Christmas; nagging me, encouraging me and basically not letting 
me go till finally I learned to smoke along with you. Thank God that I gave 
up and gave in! It's the best decision I ever made. I love smoking now, as 
you can tell, and I love all of you, too. Thanks!" She laughed out loud. 
"So here's to being surrounded by smoke! I hope it'll always be like that 
from now on, for each and every one of us. Salud! 
   
   "Here, here," everyone shouted in hearty agreement. "Salud!" 
   
   THE END 

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