There is no ash on the ashtray. The bathroom doesn't stink of the smoke anymore. The bins lie bereft of the cigarette butts. The minibar lies empty. He has given up.
He was my initiator. That first drag. The first sip of sinful pleasure.
I sat with the balding doll at his feet. The room full of laughter, noise, smell of food and smoke. This wasn't new for me. Tired with my mindless game I looked up at him. A cigarette dangled from his lips, he lit a matchstick and brought it close to his mouth. Watching me from the corner of his eyes, I saw him smile back at me. Satisfied to have caught his attention, I went back to my doll. He held the cigarette with one hand and took a sip of that strange-smelling liquid. The light caught the glass and it sparkled like a little pot of gold!
I had to do something. So i plotted and planned! I waited for her to leave the room. The moment I saw her make a momentary exit...I climbed on to the sofa. Sat close to him and whispered: "Eta ki? (What is this?). "Rong meshano jol" (coloured water)! "Amio khabo" (I want to taste too).
I didn't shock him. I somehow had the faith I wouldn't. "Or chotto glass ta dao toh" (Get me her glass please). She wasn't pleased at all. But well...she gave in!
He took the glass and filled it with water...till the very brim. Then he leaned over and got hold of the bottle. A fat bottom, with a thin neck - it didn't look too pretty to me then. But this was 20 years ago!
As he poured the golden liquid in his glass, he winked at me. We shared that wink, reassuring and of a secret bond! Then he dipped his finger into his glass...once, twice, thrice. And my tiny glass had three drops of that golden liquid! plop plop plop...three small drops fell on the water. As he handed me my glass, I watched the dark orangish liquid twirl its way down, slowly blending with the colourless water.
I sniffed. I drank. It certainly smelled and tasted different. (I wonder now how three drops could ever make a change to a glassful of water!)
"Tumi ek glass whiskey kheyecho" (You drank a glass of whiskey), he said. Oh wasn't I happy! Though it took me more than a decade to know how it actually tasted! And it look me longer to have my first share of more than three drops of golden liquid!
And oh...yes! The story of that first drag shall soon be shared! Till then CHEERS :)
