Chapter 14: Raisins and Lungs
Chapter FOURTEEN
**Kieran Morrison**
I sat alone in the classroom with my cousin Vince, who was typing furiously on his cellphone. As usual, he was quiet, probably planning his next business deal. We behaved so similarly—maybe that was the reason we got along pretty well.
Only a few people knew we were actually blood related.
I took a long drag of my cigarette. This would be my third one in just an hour. I didn’t give a shit. I had a good reason to, and this was one of the few ways I knew to let it out.
Bad news was my parents finally returned back from their business trip. They seemed to finally remember that they had a son, because I had almost forgotten that I even had parents.
My mood got even more depressed with each passing second the more I thought about it. I crushed out the finished cigarette with a stomp of my boot and began to reach for another when it was snatched out of my hands.
"What the fuck, man." I looked up in irritation to find Heath and Claude. When did they arrive? I didn’t even notice.
Claude held my packet of cigarettes in his hands like he’d just confiscated contraband from a five-year-old.
"Hand it over!" I snapped, annoyance completely filling my tone.
"That’s enough. I don’t want you to die from cancer before you even turn nineteen," Claude replied with the seriousness of a concerned parent. "Do you know what smoking does to your lungs? They turn black and shrivel up like raisins!"
"Did you just compare my lungs to raisins?" I stared at him in disbelief.