Larry came home later that afternoon and Susan greeted him as he came into
the kitchen. Susan gave him a full account of what had transpired with
Kate. Larry wasn’t the least bit surprised and said “to be honest with
you Susan, I’m surprised it didn’t happen before now. What do you think
we should do?” Susan thought for a few seconds then said “she’s so young
but yet I can’t help but think back to when I was her age. I would sneak
my parents cigarettes and it didn’t take long for me to get a taste for
it. I desperately wanted to be smoker then and it wouldn’t have mattered
what my parents told me, I would have smoked any way. I think Kate is in
that position now. She seems to like smoking and I know she is going to
smoke no matter what we tell her.” Larry replied “your probably right. I
know I did. So what do we do; let her smoke? Susan said “what if we made
a deal with her to put it off?” Larry quizzically asked “what you mean?”
Susan said “what if we tell that if she will hold off on smoking for 9
months, until she is 14, we will let her smoke if she wants to.” Larry
thought for a minute “that’s not a bad idea although if she is as
committed to it as you say she is, she’ll probably still smoke behind out
backs.” Susan replied “that’s probably true but what if we quit in the
mean time, then maybe she wouldn’t think it was so great after all.”
Larry said “I don’t know if we can quit even if we wanted to.” Susan said
“we should at least give it a try. It might be our only hope keeping her
from smoking.” Larry replied “As much as I don’t want to quit, I think it
might be the only way.” They agreed that they wouldn’t tell Kate they
were going to quit and let their actions speak for themselves. They set a
quitting date for one week away and agreed they would cut down in order to
make the process a little easier.
Kate woke up early the next morning and found her mother at the kitchen
table reading the paper and smoking one of her Virginia Slims. Kate
paused in the hallway and watched her mother smoke for several minutes.
Her mother was so graceful as she would release the smoke from her mouth
and then pull it back sharply into her lungs and hold it there for several
seconds before exhaling slowly. She thought “God that looks great, I need
a puff.” She walked in as her mother was extinguishing her cigarette in
the ashtray and said “good morning mom.” Susan looked up to see Kate
standing before her and said “hi honey.” Kate immediately sat down and
said “did you talk to
daddy last night?” Susan sat up and said “yes I did.” Kate looked at her
and replied “well, can I smoke with you guys?” Susan said “here’s the
deal Kate. As much as we don’t want you to smoke, we know it may not
matter what we say, you will probably smoke anyway. So here is the deal.
If you agree to not smoke until your 14, on your birthday if you decide
that you still want to, we will let you smoke.” Kate was a little
deflated at the proposition but she thought that it was better than
nothing and after all she had only just learned to smoke so she could
probably put it off for a while. Kate said “you mean I can’t smoke at
all?” “That’s right” her mother replied. “And when I turn 14 I will be
able to smoke all I want” Kate retorted. “That’s right” Susan said
again. Kate thought for seconds and knew it was probably her best option
and said “okay mom.” Kate knew she would not be able to go 9 months
without smoking and she reasoned that she could just sneak cigarettes from
them until she her birthday.
As Kate left for school, Susan sat on the couch with a fresh Virginia
Slims in her hand and just stared at it in reflection. She thought “how
am I ever going to give these things up.” The thought of quitting was now
beginning to set in and she wasn’t sure if she could manage with out her
cigarettes, after all, while everyone was away during the day her
cigarettes were her constant companion. She looked forward to the times
alone when she could relax enjoy the smoke in her lungs; they made her
feel so great. She pulled on the filter as long as she possibly could
until there was no more room left in her mouth. She held the smoke in her
mouth for several seconds anticipating the feeling that would follow as
she inhaled the smoke deep into her chest. How was she going to replace
her best friend in only a week.
As the week started to fly by, instead of trying to cut back her daily
consumption of nicotine, she wanted to smoke as much as possible. She
said to Larry one evening “you know the funny thing is is that I didn’t
fully appreciate the pleasure I get from smoking until I realize that I
have to give them up.” She thought for a few seconds then said “what’s
the big deal if we smoke, Kate is going to smoke anyway.” Larry shot back
“listen, we agreed to this deal and I think we should stick with it.”
Susan sunk back reaching for Larry’s hand that was holding a cigarette and
pulled it to her lips
for a long puff. As she exhaled the smoke from her lungs she said “your
right, we need to follow through with it, as much as I don’t want to.”
Larry commented “I’m actually getting quite used to the idea, it will be
kind of nice not being a slave to these things.” Susan said “I like being
a slave to my cigarettes.”
Throughout the week Susan smoked as much as she possibly could. She knew
is going to be difficult to be without the pleasure of her Virginia Slims
so she figured she may as well enjoy them as much possible. Kate figured
that there was no way she was going to go 9 months without smoking again
so she took every opportunity to take puffs on her mothers cigarettes.
Since Susan frequently had one lit it was easy for Kate to indulge her new
found taste for smoking. With each puff of smoke that reached her lungs,
Kate knew it was something that she wanted to stick with. Toward the end
of the week she became less satisfied with only an occasional puff on her
mothers cigarettes and instead chose to take several cigarettes at a time
from her mothers pack. At first she was only able to smoke about half of
the cigarette but, with a great deal of practice, she was soon smoking the
entire thing without hesitation.
The day finally arrived for the Kate’s parents to become non-smokers.
They decided on one last cigarette together that morning and by the time
Susan had taken what was to be her last puff on a cigarette, the end of
the filter had become a very dark brown from her successive puffs. As
they extinguished their cigarettes a rush of anxiety came over Susan.
They began to dispose of all their smoking materials but Susan
deliberately left one pack out for an emergency. She felt better knowing
that she had cigarettes just in case of a crisis. The first day went well
for both Susan and Larry. Neither had a moment of weakness that tested
their willpower. Kate noticed that evening that neither of her parents
were smoking but didn’t say anything. The next morning, knowing that
it was her mothers favorite time to light up and indulge herself, she
couldn’t help ask her mother what was up. She said “mom, how come your
not smoking.” Susan said “oh, your father and I decided to quit smoking.”
Kate replied in astonishment “you what?” Anxiety rushed into Kate’s
body, how was she going to smoke if her parents didn’t have cigarettes in
the house any more. Susan replied “we figured that it was time to quit
and we didn’t want to set any more bad examples for you.” Kate thought
for a second about the deal they had made and said “but what about the
agreement we made? Susan responded “well, we have no intention of going
back on the deal. We’re just hoping you’ll change your mind.” Kate then
said “mom, I have no intention of changing
my mind. I’m going to smoke when my birthday comes around so you may as
well keep smoking. I know what your trying to do and it won’t work. Mom,
you love to smoke. How are you going to give it up now?” Susan replied
“it’s just time for us to quit honey.” Kate was more than a little
distressed since she now had begun to count on the cigarettes she could
get from her mother and she didn’t know how she would be able to continue
her smoking.
Larry had virtually no problems giving up his cigarettes. Susan also
handled it pretty well with only 2 trips to her emergency stash just to
take the edge off of giving up the nicotine. The two cigarettes she
smoked felt great to her but the feelings of guilt overwhelmed her enough
to keep from smoking again. After the first week she was able to throw
out the last of the pack and she felt good about being able to do so.
Kate, on the other hand, had a much more difficult time with her parents
quitting. The cravings had just begun to take hold of her and now she
desperately needed to find other ways to get the cigarettes she needed.
One of her friends, Sarah, had parents who smoked. Although Sarah knew
nothing of Kate’s new found love of smoking, it gave Kate an
opportunity to obtain some cigarettes. They weren’t Virginia Slims
Menthol, the brand she preferred, but they had the nicotine she craved so
they would do in a pinch. She was able to find a hotel nearby that she
could occasionally buy a pack from the vending machine. One night in
desperation she told her mother about the situation she was in. She said
“mom, I don’t know if you realize it or not but I have been smoking behind
your back.” Susan said softly “I had an idea that you probably were. I
found a lighter in your jeans one day.” Kate said “I know we agreed that
I wouldn’t smoke, but I can’t help it mom. I just get these feelings that
I really need a cigarette and it doesn’t go away unless I smoke.” Susan
looked at her pretty young daughter and said “you’ve let
your body get used to smoking and it’s telling you when it needs you to
smoke. It’s very hard but that’s what I told you would happen if you
continued to smoke.” Kate said desperately “it’s hard for me to get the
cigarettes mom. Couldn’t you buy me some?” Susan replied “I wish I could
honey but we agreed that I wouldn’t do that until your birthday plus your
father would be angry.” Kate said “but mom it’s only 4 more months until
my birthday and dad wouldn’t have to know.” Susan said sympathetically “I
know what your going through dear but I can’t.” Kate was deflated but she
was determined to keep smoking.
Susan felt bad for her daughter. She thought back to when she was Kate’s
age and how it was so easy to get cigarettes when you wanted them, unlike
today. She knew what Kate was going through and how hard it was to not
smoke when you wanted that smoke so badly. After a couple days of
struggling with her daughter’s dilemma, she broke down and bought Kate 4
packs of Virginia Slims. She put the cigarettes in her top drawer with a
note saying “I know I shouldn’t contribute to your habit but I also know
how hard it is. Please make these last as long as possible because I
won’t be able to buy you more.” Kate found the cigarettes the next
morning as she was contemplating how to get more for herself. She was so
ecstatic at her mothers understanding of her
wanting smoking. Her mom had left for the morning so Kate quickly went to
the garage. As she lit her cigarette she felt her heart racing with
anticipation of what was to follow. She pulled as long as she could and
let the smoke slip out her mouth before retrieving it back into her lungs
with a quick breath. She held the smoke inside her for several seconds
savoring the cool feeling in her lungs. She smoked several more that
morning relishing the enjoyment she felt to be smoking. She thought about
how much her mother must have enjoyed smoking for all these years and she
felt a little guilty that she had given them up just for Kate’s sake.