Naima. Hey.
Laetan. Hey, Naima. What are you doing here?
Naima. Going to get something to eat, but get this. I just got you something and was planning to give it to you when we meet this Saturday, but here you are, so here you are.
Laetan. Cigarettes? You got me a box of cigarettes?
Naima. I know. I’ve always been telling you how much I don’t want you to smoke and how quitting only shows how weak we all really are, but I got these from an old woman in an alley. She was just there, sitting on some cardboard with boxes of cigarettes neatly piled into a pyramid. Call me a sucker for that instantaneous buy, but I thought of you and what the heck, right? You wouldn’t believe how much I paid for this box.
Laetan. How much did you pay for this?
Naima. I thought you were going to ask me that, but should you really? I mean, it is a gift, but before you say anything, I do understand that these are just only cigarettes and not exactly what one would give a friend as a gift, well that is if you were buying them on an international airport at the duty free shop, but this is still a spontaneous gift, and I really feel those are the best kinds, and I also understand that cigarettes are expensive with all the taxes and everything, and I have a feeling that tax had nothing to do with the cigarettes I got you, so should I tell you how much I got the box for, and even further, should I tell you where I got them from?
Laetan. Well, I would say yes, please.
Naima. I’m going to say no, though. And it’s not because I’m trying to stop you from smoking. I mean, look, I just got you a box of cigarettes, but it’s because that box of cigarettes is special. It’s a gift from me. Every time you open a new carton of cigarettes, every time you light a cigarette up, you’ll think of me and how we bumped into each other earlier than we planned, and hopefully you’ll think of that Saturday; whatever’s going to happen then. If I told you where I got that box, you’ll get more for sure. Each box that you buy will only make my box less special.
Laetan. Okay, then. Thank you. I’ll see you on Saturday.
Naima. See ya.
End. A Gift of Cigarettes
