The Etiquette of Smoking

Dazed and Confused

Joji bullied me in front of the entire diner when it came time to pay the check. It was literally nothing, like 20 bucks, but he wouldn't budge. He paid for our meal, fine, but I tipped the waitress with my own cash before we left.

When we pulled up to the curb of his apartment, I followed him upstairs and waited patiently while he unlocked the door. Hip hop music could be heard from the other side; not incredibly loud but just loud enough to hear from the hall. Joji pushed the door open, stepping inside and holding it open for me. A foul odor emitted from the apartment as I entered and dropped my bag on the kitchen counter. George closed the door, taking his shoes off and leaving them at the entryway before walking down the small hallway toward the living room.

"Oh, look who it is." Ian's voice called out to his friend before breaking out into a coughing fit.

"What ya been up to, Georgie?" Chad's voice added. I left my shoes at the door as well, out of courtesy, and walked down the hall where Joji had disappeared. Chad was sitting shirtless on the large L-shaped couch, holding something white between both hands. His fingers were rolling the object over while he licked the paper like an envelope. Ian and Max were both slumped on the couch as well, sprawled out lazily. Max had his hands in a party sized bag of Cheetos while Ian had a glass bong in between his thighs that was emitting wisps of smoke. Despite the beautiful sunny day outside, the blinds were closed in the living room, allowing little to no light in, with the exception of the television and a lava lamp next to Chad.

Only Ian and Max were looking at George; Chad had his eyes focused on whatever it was he was doing.

"Shut up." Joji sighed at them before he looked back in my direction and gestured at the couch. I nodded and moved from where I was standing.

"How did it go--oh," Max's red rimmed eyes met mine in surprise. "Hi Olivia." His greeting pulled the eyes of the two others who looked up at me with eyes just as red as his. I waved politely in greeting. Joji sat on Ian's left side, making himself comfortable by propping his feet up on the coffee table that was littered with trash and dirty dishes. I sat next to Joji, trying not to focus too much on the fuzzy green mound that was growing inside of a clear glass on the table in front of me.

Ian sat forward with his elbows on his knees, grabbing a Ziplock baggy from the coffee table and passing it to Joji.

"Smell this shit." He said, flipping a little blue lighter in the air and catching it again. George took the baggy from Ian, opening it and hovering his nose just above the opening.

"Oh shit. How much was this?" Joji asked, picking a small bud out of the baggy, squeezing and inspecting it closely. The scent wafted over to me, making my nose scrunch. It was putrid, like skunk spray. Not being all too interested in drug talk, I chose to focus my attention on the tv instead. Family Guy was on but the volume was so low I could barely hear it, not like I could anyway with the music that had been playing in the room.

"Liv?" Ian asked. I looked back at him and Joji and saw that Ian was offering me the large glass bong he'd been holding a minute ago. George was carefully packing the marijuana into a circular canister, paying no attention to us.

"Oh, no thank you." I declined, waving my hands in front of me. Ian pulled the bong back just as Max spoke up beside him. The entire front of Max's shirt was covered in orange dust, as were his fingers.

"Idiot, give her a joint. She can't rip a bong." Max chastised Ian as he shoved another orange chip in his mouth and turned back to the tv. Ian nodded in agreement, leaning over to smack Chad on the knee. Chad looked up from the magazine in his lap that was scattered with crumbs, or maybe it was marijuana, I had no idea.