Late Friday afternoon when I got home, I hadn't even closed the front door before Debbie asked me excitedly "Are we all set for tonight?!" She had that look in her eye that sometimes scared me a little. I think she was perhaps just a little too excited, but I have to admit that I was getting there as well.
We had just recently discovered that Al's ex-wife Linda had not been very forthcoming in her divorce from him. She lied at the hearing, and took Al for everything. She had failed to mention that she had been cheating on Al for at least a year. Probably longer. She had made his life a living hell throughout their 10 year marriage, but played sweet and innocent in court. Everyone, including Linda's soon to be ex-fiance' Rod, knew what kind of person she really was now. We all decided we needed to teach her a lesson she wouldn't ever forget.
Part of that lesson was to make her become a heavily addicted cigarette smoker. She had never once smoked a cigarette in her 31 years. She was in for a treat, and we couldn't wait.
I replied "Yeah, we're ready. Henry and Timmy are coming around 6:30. And Rod will be here with Linda at 7:00." I held up a bag with two cartons of Newport Menthol 100's in it. "I have enough cigarettes in here to get her as addicted as you!" I exclaimed.
Debbie laughed, and said "Good! I can't go 15 minutes without a cigarette. I can't wait to watch her go through withdrawal after we get her hooked. But why that brand? And eww... menthol! Not a fan!"
"I didn't want to get her hooked on the same brand you smoke. Besides, from what I've read about 'Karen' types, they all seem to smoke menthols. I've also read that these are more addictive than Marlboro." I said to her smiling.
"I don't know." She lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply "Marlboro got me pretty hooked!" she said as she exhaled, and laughed again.
I grew a bit more serious, and said "Al is coming around 6:15. He wants to talk to both of us before anyone else shows up. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not."
"I'm definitely not, but we need to clear the air." Debbie said, as she took another deep drag "I screwed him over pretty good, but I hope what we're about to do makes it somewhat right. He didn't deserve what I did to him, forcing him to become a smoker, and fucking you in your ass, but that was nothing compared to what she did to him!"
A moment later, there was a knock at the front door. Debbie looked at me, and I shrugged. She got up, and answered the door. Standing on the porch with a suitcase in one hand, and a freshly lit Marlboro Red 100 in the other, was Debbie's best friend Brenda. She squealed in delight, and hugged her hard. Brenda dropped the suitcase, and hugged back. Brenda was 23, about Deb's height, and built similarly. She had the biggest, bluest eyes I had ever seen before, and had straight brunette hair that was almost as long as Debbie's. Between the bangs on her forehead, and her big, beautiful eyes, she looked very sweet and innocent. I definitely knew better though.
"Oh my God!" Debbie exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Come in, come in!"
Brenda grabbed her suitcase, and walked in. She hugged me as I took it from her. "Terry and I broke up, and I didn't know where else to go." she said. "I was hoping it would be ok to stay with you all for a bit, until I figure out what to do." she said looking back and forth between us, taking a huge drag from her cigarette. My God, she was gorgeous.
"Absolutely!" I told her, and she smiled as she exhaled. "You're welcome to stay as long as you want!"
Debbie smiled at Brenda "Absolutely! What happened?" she asked, and pulled her over to the couch.
Brenda took a deep breath "This is going to sound crazy but... he found God."
We both looked at her with a quizzical smile. "What do you mean?" Debbie asked as she took yet another deep drag.
Brenda smiled a little, took a deep drag herself, and exhaled "He became a born again Christian. He quit smoking, and joined a church a few weeks ago. He decided to stop doing everything that made our lives fun. At least in my opinion. No more swinging, and I was forbidden to even look at another man, let alone fuck him if I wanted. He tried to make quit smoking, and renounce my evil ways. I told him I love being a 'Smoke Slut', and that there was no way that was ever going to happen. Then, last night, he told me that he had found a nice, uptight Christian woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He broke up with me, and I wasn't even mad." she said with a little laugh.
"Oh wow! What about your job? Your friends?" Debbie asked her.
Brenda answered "Well, as for my friends, I don't really have any. Working as a stripper, you don't really make too many. Too much competition, and no one in the real world wants to be friends with a stripper. My boss was a creep, who was always trying to get into my pants. Everything just kind of came to a head all at once. I decided that where I was living just didn't suit me anymore, so... here I am."
Debbie smiled at her, and gave her a huge hug. "Stay here as long as you want." Brenda smiled as she wiped away a small tear. "Are you thinking of moving back here?" Debbie asked her.
"I'm not sure. We'll see." Brenda replied. Debbie hugged her again.
Deb then changed the subject. "We're having a little party tonight, and you're just in time!" She then went into detail with Brenda everything that had happened in the last few days to lead up to tonight's get together.
"Sounds like fun!" Brenda said. "I had a good time helping you turn Al into a smoker! I can't wait to do it to someone I don't like!" she said with a laugh. "I've never met her, but she sounds awful."
"She is." I said, and had a thought. I smiled, and said to her "Linda knows everyone that's going to be here. Might be hard to get her in the door. But she doesn't know you Brenda. I think you'll be perfect as the 'hostess' who answers the door, and lets her in." Brenda laughed a little.
Debbie gave me an evil smile, and said "I'll text Rod to give him a heads up."
I nodded to her, and said. "In the meantime, it's almost 5:15, and we need to get cleaned up out here. Empty the ashtrays, open the windows, and spray some air freshener. We want Linda to feel comfortable when she gets here, and I'm sure a house full of smoke isn't going to help. We'll just smoke out on the patio for the next few hours. Hope you girls don't mind."
"The sacrifices we make." Deb said with a chuckle. "That'll be fine." and we all three started getting the house in order. By 6pm, we appeared to live in a respectable, non-smoking home.
Fifteen minutes after we finished up, there was a knock at the front door. Brenda gave Deb a half smile, and excused herself to go out to the porch. I answered the door. It was Al. I gave him a small smile, and invited him in.