Testing Wyome
Men who abandon are always cowards
The following is the fourteenth installment of my serial novel, ALO & WYOME. If you missed chapter thirteen, you can read it here, or if you’re just starting out, you can read the first installment of ALO & WYOME here.
UTAYO TOOK SEVERAL PUFFS FROM THE PIPE before handing it over to Alo, who held it more like a snake than what it was.
“Take it in slow but not too deep, or you’ll lose your dinner.”
Alo took in the smoke and immediately launched into a fit of involuntary coughs. Smoke blasted out of his mouth and nose like a chimney. Utayo roared with laughter and beat Alo on the back to help the coughing fit pass.
“That was too fast,” Utayo said before returning the pipe to his lips. “We’ll try again once the color returns to your face.”
“That is horrid!” Alo said between gasps for fresh air and smoke-tainted coughs.
“Just you wait; you’ll come back for more.”
“I doubt that.”
The two men walked on once Alo’s coughing subsided. Utayo took more drags from his pipe, and Alo began to feel the effects of the smoking herbs. He stopped in his tracks; his limbs felt light, and he barely noticed the ground beneath his feet. The stars became vivid orbs in the sky for a moment, and his mind felt faintly more connected to the world around him. Utayo stopped, too, gave Alo a broad smile, and offered the pipe.
“What just happened?” Alo said, taking the burning pipe from Utayo.
“It’s the herb. The effect won’t last long unless you’ve had several good puffs of smoke.” He mimed smoking the pipe. “Slow and not too deep.”
Alo put it to his lips. He heeded Utayo’s instructions and took a slow, shallow breath. This time, the smoke stayed more in his mouth than in his lungs, and he held it for a moment. The taste was complex; unlike anything he had ever felt on his tongue. It was hot and bitter but with an indescribable sweetness that revealed itself as the fumes cooled in his mouth.
“Now let it out.”
Alo opened his mouth and exhaled. The plume of smoke trailed out of his mouth in one continuous cloud until he felt a tickle in his lungs at the very end. He coughed twice. The vivid awareness of everything immediately returned, and the lightness in his limbs increased. He smiled at Utayo and took another breath from the pipe.
“I told you,” Utayo said. “Not too much on your first night, or you’ll be sick in the morning.” He took away the pipe after Alo had one more drag.
“That is powerful stuff,” Alo said.
“It’s the best. Blue hates it, though. I can’t get her to smoke with me.”
“That’s too bad.”
Alo walked on at Utayo’s urging. He kept looking up at the wild sky above, and the old man had to regularly correct his steps.
