Smoking Lounge

We first meet in the smoking lounge. Ward 3C. Psychiatric. The only place in the hospital where you’ll find a smoking lounge.

You smoke du Mauriers.

I pull on a fat Romeo y Julieta.  You like the smell so you ask for a drag. You joke I’m a juicer and wipe the nub dry. You close your eyes and pull. You blow out the smoke in leisurely whorls. I watch. I take back my Cedros Deluxe No. 3 as juiced as I gave it. But I don’t wipe it dry; I take it like a kiss pressed to my lips, my tongue, and I savour it.

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