The Kids Grow Up by Trish Hanan (novel24 .TXT) 📖

you are referred to as a ‘pot-head’ or a ‘doper’ or a ‘dope-fiend’ and that’s not a good thing to be. Anything in moderation is okay and this is legal back on Memphis where we came and I’m going to cut all of this down and process it and then use the seeds to plant a field.” Harry grinned.
“Some of the older members of Edenville are going to be very happy when they find out about this,” he declared and laughed. “Of course my mothers would be shocked if they found out that I smoked marijuana a few times when I was away at college. It was very nice and made me feel quite relaxed and I was able to think clearly. The only trouble was that it gave me an enormous appetite and I ate almost the entire contents of the snack machine one evening.” He giggled. Then he began cutting down the plants and there were tons of them and he kept finding more.
Harry brought all of the plants back to the Mill and processed them and when he was done he had a fifty pound drum of seeds and a thousand pounds of tobacco. He didn’t want the time consuming task of bagging it and handing it out so he rounded up all of his children and invited them to his house for the evening to try it. They were all curious and showed up. He also got an angry call from his mother about his confession.
“Henry Simon Talbert, I should punish you, how dare you smoke pot in college, you were only thirteen or fourteen years old,” Kate snapped, her face red with angry. He laughed.
“Mom, that was a hundred and ninety-two years ago, you can’t punish me for something I did a hundred and ninety-two years ago,” he said and she wagged her finger at him.
“I don’t care how long ago it was, young man, I would spank you if I could, I’m very disappointed in you, Henry, Barb and I never tolerated that kind of thing,” she told him. He laughed again.
“Don’t give me that, where do you think I got the stuff,” he said. She looked confused.
“What do you mean?” she asked weakly.
“From that fake book in your bedroom where you and Barb used to hide your stash, I stole it from you, Mom,” he confessed and her face got redder.
“You knew about that?” she asked. Behind her Barb giggled. Kate turned around to glare at her. Her partner shrugged. Harry laughed.
“Pot has a distinctive odor, you can spray all the air freshners you want but you can’t hide the smell,” he informed them and they both sighed.
“Still you admit what you did was wrong, Henry,” Kate said. Harry shrugged.
“I was a thirteen year-old smart ass, I was going to do what I wanted,” he admitted. Kate laughed.
“So you admit you were a little smart-ass,” she said with satisfaction. He grinned.
“I was thirteen with an I.Q. of 217, of course I was a little smart-ass, what did you expect, I was smarter than everyone around me,” he told her and she smiled with pride.
“Simon was the only one who could keep up with you,” Kate said and sighed.
“So when are you going to share this find with us?” she asked eagerly. Harry grinned.
“As soon as I can convince one of my kids to take on the job of handling it, I don’t want to bother with it and I’m certainly not just going to just give it out like the coffee and the tea,” he told them. Kate looked surprised.
“Why not?” she demanded. Harry laughed.
“Because this stuff is valuable like the alcohol and whoever gets it is going to make a fortune with it and maybe Jackson, Cassie or Adam will want that opportunity,” he informed his mother. Kate sighed.
“I suppose you’re right, the others won’t appreciate it if you just give it to them, and they certainly won’t like you, they’ll just think you’re a chump,” she admitted. Harry grinned.
“I’ll heal them if they were sick or dying but that doesn’t mean I have to like them or give them anything more than I have to,” he said and she nodded.
“So what is this stuff anyway?” Cassie asked as her dad brought out plastic bags of green leaves that looked like cat nip. He handed each of his seven children their own bag and a package of cigarette papers and put eight little pipes on the coffee table. They all looked interested.
“These are called pipes and these big bottle type things are called bongs and they’re all used for smoking grass,” he explained. Then he showed them all how to roll a cigarette. They all clumsily rolled one laughing and making fun of each others attempts.
“That looks like the size of your thing, Sean,” Ryan teased him. Sean made a face.
“You only wished yours was this big,” he taunted back. Cassie rolled her eyes.
“Prick jokes are always so amusing,” she said and they all laughed.
“Now a word of caution,” Harry said. “You don’t want to smoke this stuff and drive at all and you definitely don’t want to smoke and fly ever. This stuff is just like alcohol and you would probably crash into the side of a mountain or a building and kill yourself and someone else. I’ll bring you back but then I’ll kick your stupid ass afterward.” They all laughed.
“Okay, Harry, we understand, we won’t smoke and fly or drive, we promise,” Adam declared and they all nodded.
Then they all lit up and Harry showed them all the correct way of inhaling and holding the smoke in their lungs and they did that and waited but they didn’t feel anything.
“I don’t feel anything, are you sure this stuff works?” Jackson said. Harry grinned.
“You’ll feel it in a minute, take a few more totes,” he instructed and they did. Then Cassie began to giggle.
“Oh, wow, I feel dizzy, Harry, you have two heads,” she laughed and he grinned.
“I think you’re high, darling,” he informed her and she giggled some more.
“Oh, wow, I feel great, so relaxed,” Danny declared and they all agreed this was fun.
“Sex on pot is terrific, at least I heard it was, I never tried it, I didn’t have sex until I was fourteen,” Harry told them and a flash of pain fluttered over his face then was gone. Ryan patted his knee.
“Oh, man, I don’t know about you but I want a donut like really bad,” Sean exclaimed and that sounded wonderful to all of them. Harry giggled and raced to the kitchen. He came back with seven dozen donuts. They all grabbed for them.
“Hey, that box is mine,” Emma yelled at her twin as he grabbed two. He graciously handed her one and they kissed. Everyone opened their box and dug in. Then they began to talk about customers in the stores and Gertie and Bo got some of the food and Harry brought out sandwich stuff too and sodas and they had a big party. Then everyone wandered off to bed and he cleaned up.
The next morning he and Danny milked the cows and they talked about who wanted to handle the pot. Jackson immediately raised his hand.
“I’m getting sick of selling books, this stuff could be fun, do you have a tobacco store left I could put it in?” he asked and grinned when Harry nodded. Cassie frowned.
“I want to help, can I be your partner?” she asked her brother who nodded.
“Of course Cas, we’ll be partners,” he said. They all looked at Adam who shrugged.
“I’m happy with the booze,” he declared and they all laughed.
“I’m happy with the toys,” Danny told them.
“We’re fine with the soda,” Ryan and Sean said at the same time like they always did. Emma grinned.
“I’ve got the jewelry store and that’s great for me,” she said.
So it was settled, Jackson and Cassie would get a tobacco store and the pot. They began building it the next day after Harry came back from Sherwood with it and within two weeks everyone was smoking and having a good time. Dr. Jackson who owned a tobacco store was angry when his grandchildren refused to share some of the pot with him so he could sell it in his store and called them selfish and greedy.
“Those damned kids, they won’t share any of the marijuana with their own grandfather, that’s greed, pure and simple,” he complained to his wife. Sissy sighed.
“They’re still blaming us for Harry and Jake splitting up; why can’t they understand we didn’t do anything wrong, it’s not our fault Jake isn’t gay like Harry, he’s bi-sexual,” she stressed the last word. Dr. Jackson glared at her.
“My son is straight, he’s not bi anything, he’s married to a woman, that means he’s straight, he was confused, that’s why he was with that fishy freak,” he yelled. She sighed again.
“Well, you calling them fishy freaks isn’t going to get you some of that marijuana, they’ve heard you calling them that and it hurts their feelings, Jackson, they’re our grandchildren and I love them,” she stated. He glared at her and slammed his fist down on the table.
“They are fishy freaks just like Harry and as soon as Jake and Violet give us some real grandchildren we won’t need them,” he declared and she was shocked.
“You can’t mean that, what about Jackson, you’ve loved that boy since the day he was born, he’s your namesake,” she said. He looked uncomfortable.
“As soon as Jake and Violet have a son, they’ll name him Jackson and he’ll be the real Jackson Henry Jackson, just like me, the way it’s supposed to be,” he said and got up and walked out the door leaving her in shock.
The next few years passed and everyone watched Harry and his animals explore Savannah and soon there was nothing left to see and he ended that portion of the program. He said goodbye to the Dark Continent with a special two hour show highlighting the things they had witnessed and delighted the viewer by announcing that he was taking the show to the continent of Sherwood with its majestic mountains.
He was looking much better these days and had a little beard to go with his mustache and looked quite rugged and handsome. The cats had grown to an amazing forty pounds each, Bear was forty-five and everyone loved them. They obeyed Harry’s commands instantly and no one worried when they saw them walking along the street, they were very friendly animals and loved to be made over. They always caused a scene and Harry the travel guy had to stop, talk and sign autographs wherever he went but he never minded; he loved talking to his fans.
His mothers worried because after five years he still wasn’t dating anyone and turned down all invitations to go out whenever he was asked. The most persistent of his gentlemen callers was the minosian Chan who greatly admired the handsome man and wanted to seduce him. But Harry wasn’t in the mood to be seduced, he didn’t even masturbate, it was like that part of him had shut down completely when Jake had closed the front door. But he was content with his animals and his