Originally Posted by Zwitter
Thanks you guys for all your help!
I ended up doing it earlier on in the afternoon so I'd be fine by the time I went home. And I was.
We all got there and piled into his room, which was really small. He shut his window and stuffed his hoodie under the crack of the door, and started producing all these crazy-looking bongs and bubblers. I was intimidated for a while, so I just watched and sat cross-legged on his bed. He turned to pass me the great big bubbler he had and then stopped, gave me the 'one minute' sign with his finger and started rummaging around under his bed. Finally he pulled out a small glass pipe, about five inches long, and handed it to me and smiled. Then I insisted he light it for me, and they all stopped and looked at me. They were like "I could've sworn you smoked. You seriously don't know how?" and I shook my head and they laughed, and all gave me tips on how to breathe. I took my first hit, I pulled softly and didn't think I got any smoke, but then I held it for a few seconds and let go and exhaled smoke. I tasted it in my mouth, too.
I was eager to try again, so he lit it for me again, and he was like "Pull harder this time." So I did and I felt my throat burn, and I wanted to cough but I held it for another few seconds and proceeded to hack up a lung. I felt something on my tongue and scraped at it with my sleeve, and he laughed and told me I probably sucked in ash and then everyone else laughed, and said, "Not that hard!"
Firstly I was apprehensive because there were a few people I didn't know...but the more we smoked I felt happy that they were there. I didn't notice much of anything at first, because I was looking down at my sock. Then the class jokester said something out of nowhere, it was completely irrelevant, and I laughed openly...I'm used to the hollow laugh where you're not really paying attention, but this felt like a real laugh. And we all smiled broadly at each other.
The guy who owned the room, he laid down and propped his head against the wall, so I did the same. He played Deftones from his laptop and put his head on me and I felt the warmth from his body...and it felt like the warmth echoed. I felt so serene and, for the first time in my life, I felt at peace with myself. I looked up and started recounting all the things that landed me in the situation I'm in...and it didn't hurt to recall anything. There wasn't any pain or sorrow in my memories.
I was thinking fast and loud, much faster than normal, and my thoughts seemed to have color, and suddenly, I realized that I knew how to forgive, and I made a conscious decision to forgive my mother.
The rest of the story isn't that remarkable- they all played Halo and I laid on the couch and nodded off a couple times. My ride took me on the freeway on the way home, so I shook out my hair in the air.
On Saturday I drove out to see my mother and visited with her.
I'm very happy that I had this experience. Thank you all for opening my mind and showing me truths. I've been lurking here for a couple months, since I became curious. It's amazing what simple education can do. I realize now the ignorance that is all around us and when I turn eighteen this June, I'm going to register to vote first thing and do my best to become an activist.