Taste the Consequences, Part 2

This fictional account contains adult language and sexual 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 2004 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.

TASTING THE CONSEQUENCES

2.	First Taste.

   In five minutes Jodi returned to the living room with a pack of Marlboro
Lights 100's in hand and a disposable lighter.  "I'm ready, Mom," she
announced.  "Can I really smoke here?"

   Amanda groaned.  "Yeah, I guess.  God, I sure hate having you smell up the
house, though."

   "You know, we don't need to do this, Mom.  I can go back to sneaking
around."

   "No, we need to," Amanda said resolutely.  "Go ahead and smoke.  Your
furtive surreptitious fantasy is over.  I want you to learn what it's like to
be a smoker in the real world."

   Jodi shrugged and got out a cigarette.  She put it in her mouth.  Despite
having prepared herself for the moment she felt tremendously self-conscious.
Screwing up her courage she clicked her lighter and moved to light up the
dangling cigarette.

   Amanda watched with a combination of horror and amazement as her teenage
daughter's cheeks collapsed around the cigarette.  God, her little baby girl
was right in front of her smoking a goddamn cigarette!  It felt like a blow
to the solar plexus.  All of a sudden she felt queasy.

   Jodi was tipping her head back and releasing a thick stream of smoke.
"That's nice, Mom," she said with a big smile.  "Thanks for letting me do
this."

   Overcome with emotion, Amanda couldn't speak.  It was one thing to
theorize about letting your teenager experience negative behavior in order to
ultimately change her mind.  But it was quite another for Amanda to actually
watch Jodi do it, seeing her daughter hold a cigarette and look so very
pleased while doing so.

   "What's wrong, Mom?"

   "Nothing," Amanda bravely answered.  "It's just a little shocking to see
you with a cigarette.  That's all."

   "Gosh, Mom, I'm sorry," Jodi feigned.  She wanted her mom to believe she
cared about her negative reaction.  It was all part of her plan.  "But
remember, Mom, this was your idea.  You're the one who thinks this will
eventually change my mind about smoking."

   "And it will," Amanda valiantly agreed.  "Don't worry.  I'll get used to
the sight of it eventually.  But that's an important thing for you to
remember, Jodi, a critical thing to understand.  Seeing someone you love
smoking is a truly shocking sight.  It's not at all pleasant.  That's one of
the consequences you need to taste.  Wait till your father sees you smoke.
He'll go totally off the deep end."

   "Fuck him," Jodi whispered maliciously.

   "What did you say?"

   "I said, fuck him," Jodi repeated shamelessly.  "He's a jerk, Mom.  I
don't care what he thinks.  He screwed you over, and me, too."

   "Jodi, foul language is never appropriate for a respectable young lady
like you," Amanda lectured.  "Your father may be a jerk but he still loves
you.  He cares deeply about you.  He'll be very chagrined if he ever needs to
see you smoking a cigarette like that."

   "Well, I hope he chokes on the sight of it," Jodi spat back.  She
impudently put her cigarette back to her mouth and puffed on it again.  "If
you think Dad's negative reaction will help me decide to quit, you're wrong,
Mom.  I don't care about him anymore."

   Amanda smiled ruefully as she saw her daughter exhale a cloud of smoke.
"Well, I definitely do understand that sentiment.  But please understand that
those you love never like seeing you do something as destructive as smoking,
honey.  That's one of the consequences you need to taste."

   "Speaking of tasting, Mom, didn't you say you'll do it with me?"  Jodi
waited for Amanda to react.  "Isn't that part of your famous plan?  If so,
you should get started.  Want a cigarette?"

   "My, you're really feeling mean, aren't you?  Well, I guess there's no
time like the present to begin.  Sure, hand me one of those death sticks."

   The petite teenager handed her mother a single cigarette.  Amanda turned
it over in her hand, staring at it.  "I never in my life thought I'd be doing
this," she admitted.  "You're not gonna like watching me smoke, Jodi.  You
know that, don't you?"

   The raven-haired girl shrugged.  "Yeah, maybe eventually.  But right this
minute I think it sounds kind of cool, actually," she admitted honestly.
"Have you ever smoked in your life, Mom?"

   "Never."

   "Then I need to show you the ropes.  At first go nice and easy.  Don't
inhale the smoke like I do.  It'll make you sick.  First you have to build up
your tolerance by smoking a few cigarettes nice and easy.  If you don't,
you'll get sick and you won't ever want to do it again.  That'll be bad,
because then you won't be able to make me taste all the consequences.  Okay?"

   "Okay.  So, show me what to do."

   "At first you won't like how it tastes.  You need to get used to it.  So
just sip on it for now, sort of like sucking on a straw.  Blow the smoke
right back out of your mouth as soon as you do it.  Eventually you'll get the
hang of it."

   Amanda nodded.  God, she sighed, the things she did to raise her daughter
right!  She put the unlit cigarette between her lips and waited.  Jodi handed
her the lighter.  Obediently Amanda clicked it once, twice, finally a third
time before she got it going.

   Amanda lifted the flame to the tip of the cylinder in her mouth and gently
sucked on it as the fire touched the cigarette's tobacco end.  She heard a
soft crackling sound and felt a strange, bitter taste in her mouth.  "Ugh,"
she grimaced.  "It's terrible!"

   "I told you.  At first you won't like it.  But your cigarette got going
okay.  Now just suck on it every twenty seconds or so.  You'll get used to it
eventually."

   Amanda did keep on going.  Periodically she drew on her burning cigarette
and each time immediately expelled the smoke from her mouth.  She still
didn't like it and said so.

   "No one likes the taste of smoke at first, Mom," Jodi offered.  "Gradually
you might develop a liking for it.  But that takes awhile.  Anyway, you're
not doing this because you expect to like it.  You don't care if you like it
or not.  You only want to convince me that smoking's a stinky, obnoxious
habit.  Right?"

   "Yeah, that's right.  But it's so foul.  God, it's starting to make me
sick."

   "Don't worry.  That'll pass," her daughter predicted with a gentle laugh.
She hit on her cigarette.  "I really like to smoke, Mom," she went on
happily, pausing while she exhaled another stream of smoke.  "But I don't
expect you to agree with me."

   "That's good, because I'm sure I won't."

   Don't be too sure, her sixteen year old smugly mused.  You might not
always feel that way.  Just keep doing it, Mom.  You'll be surprised just how
quick your perception can change.

   Jodi had three more cigarettes before bed.  Her mom had only one more, and
only to underline her desire to add to the stench in their house.  For
Amanda, her second cigarette was a little less noxious.  As she went to bed
she wondered if the 'tasting the consequences' principle would ever be able
to dissuade her rebellious daughter from continuing to smoke.  But having
started down the path, she felt it was important to stay the course.  Her
stubbornness was the one character trait Jodi counted on to bring her mom's
smoking experience to a satisfactory conclusion, one that Amanda never
anticipated.

   The next morning Jodi asked Amanda if she'd be allowed to bring Kate over
after school to smoke.  Amanda was delighted.  As far as she was concerned,
the more smoking that went on in their house the better.  Fred and Claudia
were working on Kate in the evenings at their place.  But if Kate joined Jodi
smoking at Amanda and Jodi's for a change, especially inside poor Jodi's
room, she felt it'd be great for her plan.  So she gladly consented.  Even
though she hated the stench herself, she believed the addition of Kate
smoking would quicken the ultimate resolution of the 'tasting the
consequences' principle.

   At school Jodi reported on everything to her best friend.  In turn Kate
described her father's initial foray into smoking the night before.  Like
Amanda, Fred nearly choked on his first cigarette.  But believing he was
assisting his wife and daughter to leave the habit behind, he smoked, or
mostly did, like it was important.  It was, of course, but for Claudia's
plan, not his.

   That afternoon Jodi and Kate settled in at Jodi's to smoke there for the
first time.  The girls reveled in their smoky good fortune.  Whether or not
their plans had the results they hoped for on their parents, they enjoyed
freely feeding their budding nicotine habits.  And so they did.

   Ever since her first book promotion tour, Amanda had been on extended
leave of absence from her counseling job.  That afternoon she had a meeting
downtown with her publisher about a second book.  Given the success of
"Tasting the Consequences," her publisher wanted a second manuscript as fast
as possible to capitalize on the popularity of her first book.  For weeks
Amanda had been working on an outline for a new book.  At their meeting that
afternoon her publisher was unhappy with the outline and she told Amanda.
She was disappointed but promised to redouble her efforts to put together a
more satisfactory outline for a sequel.  It would mean more working at home
on the new one, and no more traveling on book tours for "Tasting the
Consequences."

   Amanda arrived home to find Jodi and Kate in the living room.  They had
books spread out on the floor and ashtrays beside them.  For a moment Amanda
almost forgot about encouraging her daughter to smoke.  She was about to
erupt when she remembered.  The air in the house was very smoky, very smelly.
That wasn't bad.  After living in it awhile Jodi would learn to resent the
smell.  Instead of complaining Amanda approached the teenagers with a big
grin on her face.

   "So, I see you two are relishing in your new freedom to smoke in the
open?"  Amanda pointed sarcastically at the overflowing ashtrays.  "How about
letting me have one of those?"  She didn't really want a cigarette, of
course.  But she intended nonetheless to contribute to the room's growing
unpleasant smell.

   "Sure, Mom."  Jodi grinned and handed her mother a Marlboro Light 100.
"Do you want to sit down and join us here?" she asked jovially as she handed
over her lighter.

   "No thanks, girls," Amanda pleasantly answered back, clicking the lighter
and bravely firing up her cigarette.  She exhaled a modest cloud of smoke.
"No, I have some work to do in the office following up my meeting with my
publisher.  I'll just smoke in there alone."  She paused.  There was no point
in stinking up the office.  But there was every reason to add to the
obnoxious smell accumulating in the living room.  "On second thought, maybe I
will join you girls," she said, as she sat in one of the chairs and gazed at
the teenagers on the floor.  She grinned at Kate.  "I'd love to hear you
explain how you started smoking, Kate."

   The tall 16 year old dragged hard on her cigarette and nodded.  "Ms.
Eagle, I know what you and my parents are trying to do to Jodi and me.  It's
not a secret, you know," she said with a twinkle in her eyes as she began to
release a lengthy exhale.  "I read your book, too."

   "Of course it's no secret, Kate.  I don't believe in parents keeping
secrets.  We're simply letting nature take its course.  You think you like
being smokers.  Fine.  We'll see if that holds true after we're all smoking
all the time."  To make her point Amanda put her cigarette to her mouth and
sucked moderately.  "Perhaps you and Jodi will change your tune."

   "Maybe," Kate said.  "But I told my parents last night that I doubt it."

   "I understand your mom really wants to quit herself, Kate," Amanda said,
telling the youngster what she figured was correct.  "I think soon your
folks' participation in this terrible habit, as well as mine, will make both
you girls feel very differently about how supposedly 'cool' smoking is."

   "Take another big drag for me, Ms. Eagle," Kate said, smiling.  "Let's try
a little experiment."

   Amanda lifted her cigarette to her lips and hit on it as requested.  She
opened her mouth and blew out the smoke.

   Kate saw that Jodi's mom didn't inhale.  It wasn't time to fight that
battle; at least not yet.  Instead she asked a different question.  "Ms.
Eagle, can you honestly say it doesn't taste a lot better than it did when
you tried it last night for the first time?"

   Amanda hesitated.  "No, you're right, Kate.  I can't say that.  I'm
getting used to it.  No, it's really not that unpleasant anymore."  She gave
a condescending smile.  "But that doesn't mean I like it, if that's what you
thought."

   "But it proves my point," Kate countered.  "I don't mean to be
disrespectful, but Jodi and I knew a lot more about smoking than you and my
dad do, Ms. Eagle.  If you keep on doing it like that you'll start to
understand exactly why we like smoking so much.  That's all."

   Amanda smiled back.  "It won't matter if I do or not, Kate.  This is about
all the peripheral unpleasantness, like the way it smells up your bedroom,
the way it makes all your clothes stink, that kind of stuff.  Before long you
girls both will see it my way."  She tapped an ash in the ashtray.  "But I
guess we'll find out, won't we?"

   "Yep, we sure will," Kate nodded.  That's right, Ms. Eagle.  You sure as
hell will!

   Claudia Coleman stopped by at six thirty to pick up her daughter.  Amanda
greeted her at the front door.  Claudia glanced at the teenagers still
studying together in Amanda's living room.

   "Hello, girls," the brunette grinned.  "Having a good time smoking?"

   "Yeah, you know it, Mom," Kate nodded happily, with a cigarette in her
right hand.  "It's so much less stressful now that Jodi and I are finally
both out in the open."

   "Listen, girls, why don't you run upstairs to Jodi's room for a little
while?  Amanda and I need to talk for a few minutes in private.  Then I'll
run Kate home.  Deal?"

   Jodi shrugged.  "Sure, Mrs. Coleman.  Come on, Kate."  Both girls picked
up their cigarettes.  Jodi grabbed one of the ashtrays and the two of them
headed up the staircase.

   After they were gone Claudia and Amanda settled into adjoining chairs in
the smoky living room.  "I realize that our girls know all about our plan to
convince them to quit smoking," Claudia began.  "But I still thought that
perhaps you and I should coordinate.  I understand from Fred that you're
going to start smoking around Jodi to hopefully shock her into quitting?"

   Amanda nodded.  "That's the 'tasting the consequences' principle.  Jodi
may think she wants to smoke.  But seeing me do it will get to her.  That,
combined with the unpleasantness of living in a constantly smoke-filled,
smelly house."

   "Correct, and that's the same approach Fred and I are taking with Kate,"
Claudia corroborated.  She lowered her voice.  "But if we're both going to do
that, then maybe you and I should smoke together right now.  After all, we
want to keep things smoky, right?"

   "Uh, yeah, sure.  Okay."

   From her purse Claudia removed a pack of Benson & Hedges 100's.  As she
put one in her mouth she noticed Amanda wasn't doing the same.  "Aren't you
joining me?"

   Amanda smiled self-consciously.  "Well, I don't exactly have any
cigarettes of my own," she admitted.  "I just take one from Jodi."

   "Amanda, we need to fix that," Claudia smiled.  "Your daughter won't think
of you as a smoker if you don't have your own cigarettes."  Reaching in her
purse she got out a second unopened gold pack of Benson & Hedges 100's and
gave it to Amanda.  "Here, I have an extra.  Keep it.  Make sure Jodi sees
you with 'em.  Tell her they're yours."

   Amanda looked over the pack.  "These are different from Jodi's."

   Claudia nodded.  "Yeah, and from Kate's, too.  These are my brand.
They're stronger than the Marlboro Lights 100's they smoke.  But that's good,
you see.  It'll freak Jodi out even more if she sees you smoke a full flavor
brand like mine."  The tall brunette lit up her cigarette.  "Smoking's such a
terrible, terrible habit, Amanda," she sighed, trying to sound as sincere as
possible.  She released a misty cloud around the cylinder that dangled from
her lips.  "I'm excited about this project, though.  I know it'll finally
give me the motivation I need to quit smoking myself once and for all."  It
was a lie, but Amanda didn't know.  She hit on her cigarette once more and at
last took it from her lips.  "I'm sure you realize just how horrified I was
to learn that my bad example started my poor teenage daughter smoking?"

   "Yeah, that's what Fred said."

   "It really opened my eyes, Amanda, I have to tell you," Claudia blithely
went on.  "But when we read your book we were _so_ encouraged by the 'tasting
the consequences' principle.  I really think it'll work on our girls.  Don't
you?"

   Amanda still held the unopened pack of Benson & Hedges 100's on her lap.
"Yeah, I do."  She gave an embarrassed grin.  "I don't know how to open this
thing."

   Claudia laughed.  "Here, honey, let me show you."  With her cigarette
hanging from her mouth she showed her friend how to tear off the outer
cellophane and open the inner paper.  "There you go," she concluded.  "Now
just tap one out and put it in your mouth.  I want our girls to be concerned
about us smoking.  Don't you?"

   Inexpertly Amanda managed to remove a single cigarette.  She put it
between her lips.  "Yeah.  Uh, I also don't have a lighter."

   Claudia shook her head.  "Amanda, I knew we needed to talk.  You developed
the 'tasting the consequences' principle, but you sure as hell don't have a
clue about how to properly scare the pants off your daughter!"  From inside
her purse she got out a second disposable lighter.  She gave it to Amanda.
"Keep this one," she offered.  "I've got lots more.  Anyway, once we finally
convince our daughters they don't want to smoke, I won't need all these
disposable lighters anymore."

   Claudia watched as Amanda clumsily lit up the cigarette.  Taking it from
her lips, the petite blond discharged an uninhaled cloud of diffuse smoke
from her mouth.  Claudia smiled.

   "Amanda, honey, let me tell you something.  You're not doing it right."

   "What do you mean?"

   "I mean, smoking like that won't scare Jodi at all.  You're not inhaling."

   Amanda frowned.  "Jodi said something about that last night.  What is it?"

   "Inhaling is breathing the smoke in.  Like this," Claudia explained,
stopping to drag conspicuously on her cigarette.  She opened her mouth and
summoned the smoke down into her lungs.  "See what I just did?  I breathed
the smoke in instead of blowing it right back out."  She pursed her lips and
began an exhale.  "You wait a few seconds before letting it out, like I'm
doing right now."

   "Oh, I get it," Amanda nodded.  "I wondered why it looked different when I
tried smoking compared to the way it looked when Jodi did it."

   "Well, that's why.  It's important for you to inhale the smoke.  It's more
hardcore, like being a real smoker.  If you really want to scare your
daughter ?."

   "Don't worry," Amanda laughed.  "I get it.  Just show me again what to
do."

   Claudia raised her cigarette to her mouth.  "Before your next puff, empty
your lungs out completely through your nose, like this."  She demonstrated.
"Then take a nice long drag, like this."  The tall brunette wrapped her lips
around the white filter and sucked on her cigarette for three or four
seconds.  As she removed it, she opened her mouth wide and breathed in
noticeably.  The smoke disappeared into her chest.  "See?  That's how it's
done.  Then you wait about five seconds before breathing it out.  Like this,"
she explained, finally releasing a steady thin stream.

   "And why is it important that I do it that way?"

   "Because that's how real smokers do it, honey," Claudia laughed.  "God,
even our neophyte daughters smoke that way.  If you want Jodi to be afraid
that you're really and truly smoking, you mustn't miss this opportunity.
Let's see you try it."

   Amanda understood.  As she put her cigarette to her lips she breathed out
through her nose.  She covered the white filter with her mouth and began to
drag.  Like Claudia, she hit on the cigarette for several seconds.  Quickly
pulling it away, she opened her mouth wide and at the same moment breathed
in.

   "Oh my," Amanda startled as she held a chest full of smoke inside.  "Ooh,
that's weird."

   Claudia smiled.  Yeah, you stupid bitch, she silently reflected, react to
that!  "But it's not too bad, is it?"

   Amanda pursed her lips and began to expel the smoky remains from her
lungs.  "Oh my God, that felt _so_ strange!"

   "Congratulations, you didn't cough.  Lots of people do the very first
time.  So tell me, Amanda.  Was it unpleasant?"

   The pretty blond noticed wisps of smoke dribbled out from her lips as she
kept breathing.  "No, not really, I guess.  But it felt so intense, like my
lungs were about to burst or something.  It didn't precisely feel bad.  Wow,
though, I'm not sure I can do it again!"

   "Oh sure you can," Claudia cheered her on.  "Don't you want to scare
Jodi?"

   Amanda nodded.  "Okay, yeah, I guess I can master this."  Raising her
cigarette again she dragged on it in the same way after exhaling through her
nose.  Once more she opened her mouth and sucked the smoke down inside her
chest.

   "Now wait a little longer this time before finally letting it out,"
Claudia coached.  "Yeah, that's right.  That's good!"  Despite herself she
almost laughed at her own inadvertent joke.  Yes, it _was_ good, and it'd
only get better the longer Amanda did it.

   At last Amanda opened her mouth to let it out.  At first nothing happened.
No smoke appeared.  Then a thin stream slowly materialized, growing thicker
each second, until at last it ended in a torrent of creamy white smoke
bursting from her lips.

   "Very good, honey.  Finally you look like a woman who's actually smoking."
Her friend sat across from her stoically.  "Your reaction?"

   Amanda shook her head.  "I don't know.  I've never felt anything quite
like that.  It's so different from just blowing the smoke out."
Unconsciously she manicured her cigarette in the ashtray between them.  "It's
making my head spin a little bit."

   "Don't worry, that'll stop," Claudia promised.  "But I promise.  If you
keep doing it that way and inhale like that?  Regardless of what Jodi might
say, she'll get scared, especially if you start to tell her you sort of like
doing it."  The pretty brunette was on a roll.  She leaned forward and spoke
with passion.  "I told Fred to tell Kate that he's beginning to understand
why she likes to smoke so much.  The more he says that kind of thing the more
it'll scare her shitless.  That's what we want, isn't it?  We want our kids
to believe that you and Fred might decide to really smoke.  Posing won't
scare them.  Yeah, it might stink up your house a little.  But the thing
that'll really scare 'em into quitting is seeing you and Fred act like you
enjoy it and hearing you talk about smoking in a positive way.  Trust me,
Amanda.  If I understand the 'tasting the consequences' principle in your
book, that'll scare Jodi and Kate faster than anything."

   "You're probably right," Amanda concurred.  "If Jodi thinks I might join
her and become a smoker, her entire paradigm will shift.  Yeah, you are
right.  Okay, I'll play it that way and we'll see what happens."

   "And that's why you need to inhale every puff," Claudia concluded.  "If
Jodi sees you smoke that way she'll believe it when you say you like smoking,
because you'll be doing it as if it's true."

   The two women finished their cigarettes and Claudia called up the stairs
to the girls.  "Kate, I'm ready.  Let's go, honey."

   Kate bounded down the stairs with her books.  "Okay, Mom.  I hope you and
Ms. Eagle got all your plans straight," she said with a devilish twinkle in
her eye.

   "You don't know the half of it, Kate," Claudia said, winking at Amanda.
"You guys will be wanting to quit smoking before you can shake a stick!"

   But outside in the car the conversation between mother and daughter took a
different turn.  "So, Mom, how did it really go?"

   Claudia was in the midst of lighting up another B&H.  As she did she
handed her pack over to her teenager, and the youngster eagerly extracted one
of the cigarettes for herself.

   "God, Kate, it was fabulous.  Perfect," Claudia exclaimed, her lit
cigarette hanging from her elated lips.  "I taught Amanda to inhale
properly."  She turned her head to exhale a thick stream of smoke around the
dangling cigarette toward her eager daughter.  "I told Amanda how important
it is to make Jodi believe she's really starting to love smoking.  To do
that, I told her she needs to inhale her smoke super deep inside her lungs
every single time and then hold it there five seconds or more before she lets
it out."  She laughed at her own wickedness and spewed smoke as she did.  "I
gave her a pack of my full flavored Benson & Hedges," she continued.  "If
Amanda pretends to smoke the way I showed her, pretty soon she won't be
pretending.  She'll be hooked before she realizes what happened.  Yeah, I
think it'll work, honey.  I really do."

   "Mom, you're terrible," Kate laughed, squirting smoke from her nostrils.
"So basically, your pitch to Ms. Eagle worked just like your encouragement to
Daddy?"

   "Absolutely," Claudia crowed.  "Amanda believes the more she smokes, and
the harder she does, and the more she talks about it positively, then the
sooner her wayward daughter will become horrified and want to quit.  As if,"
she cackled.  "God, she's playing right into our hands, honey.  It's
perfect!"

   "I'm gonna call Jodi tonight and tell her," Kate sighed.  "But if you're
right, Mom, by the time I talk to Jodi she'll already have begun to see her
mother play the part of a real smoker.  Unfortunately for Ms. Eagle, and
Daddy, we all know neither of them will just be playing for long!"

   "Kate, with the techniques I taught them and the approach they'll be
taking, before long they won't be able to wait for the next cigarette they
smoke.  Then we've got 'em!"

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