132 New Family Member

Dave stopped halfway. Jean was still hugging him from behind, but the girl had stopped crying.

      "Jean, can you please come down for a moment?"

      Jean did what Dave said. They stopped right in front of a bus stop. At this hour, the streets are quite quiet even though there are still a few vehicles passing by.

      Dave sat at the empty bus stop, pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and sandwiched a cigarette between his upper and lower lips. With a lighter, Dave burned the tip of the cigarette stuck between his lips, inhaled the nicotine smoke slowly while continuing to burn the tip, then exhaled the smoke into the air through his mouth.

      "Sorry, but I need to calm myself down before returning home."