6. Not Just Any Smoke
AN: Cohiba Esplendido cigars are the second finest cigar made in Cuba. For years they were made only for the pleasure of Cuban high officials and diplomats but in 1982 were released to the general public.
Hannibal leaned against the comfortable overstuffed cushions of the couch and flicked open the humidor on the side table. Extracting a cigar and closing the lid, he bit the end off and lit it.
He drew his first puff and raised his eyebrows at the Lieutenant who waited expectantly for his opinion.
"Why, Lieutenant! I do believe you've outdone yourself this time. A Cohiba Esplendido? Are we celebrating something or planning for our next mission?" The blue eyes acquired a twinkle of amusement and a hint of danger.
Face burst out in a huge dazzling smile that showed his perfectly capped teeth. "I knew you'd enjoy that, Colonel. These premium cigars are compliments of Senor Oliva, the head of the child slave labor ring we're going to break up. The humidor comes straight from his desk."
"An involuntary gift, I presume? At thirty dollars apiece, the Senor pays me a high compliment indeed." Hannibal matched Face's grin while B. A. wrinkled his nose.
"Cigars are cigars. They all smell 'bout the same to me," he grumbled while waving a hand to dispel the smoke drifting in his general direction.
"Ah, but there's where you're wrong, Sergeant. And, Face, you were right to liberate these from Oliva. Thank you. I'm already envisioning what our next course of action should be."
"Hope that smoke that smells like you're burnin' a cedar swamp means we don't need the fool's services an' the plan's gonna go right this time, Hannibal." The black man crossed his arms and waited for the Colonel to divulge his thoughts.
"B. A., B. A. When has a good cigar ever given me a bad idea? And Murdock has every right to be involved in the mission. He does more than fly us to and from places, you know. Let me savor this and then I'll tell you what we're going to do."
Hannibal closed his eyes to block out the Sergeant's frown.
Instead of thinking about the current mission, the Colonel's thoughts strayed to the first cigar he had ever smoked. And the second, because without the first to compare to the second, John "Hannibal" Smith would never have become a cigar afficionado.
His father had been entertaining a bank manager, trying to get funding for a new office building in the heart of Detroit. The rich dark chocolate aroma of the cigars they smoked wafted out the door of the elder Smith's home office and into the path of fourteen-year-old John. An hour after his father went to bed for the evening, having concluded his deal, the teen sneaked down and shut the door.
The humidor on the desk held his father's supply of good cigars. He took one out and held it to his nose, breathing in the fragrance he had smelled earlier. His gaze fell on the engraved brass case of his father's Zippo lighter.
Did he dare?
Listening for any movement in the house, he bit off the end of the Saint Luis Rey Cuban cigar. He stuck it in his mouth, lit it and drew in a long breath. Smoke exploded from his mouth as the first draw choked him and made him cough violently. The second draw was much nicer. He could taste the dark chocolate flavor of the tobacco and he plopped down in his father's chair, propping his bare feet on the worn wood of the desk top.
A minute later he frantically stubbed out the stogie as footsteps approached the office door.
The stern unsmiling face of his father loomed above him before he knew it.
"If you're going to begin smoking cigars, you don't start with the most expensive I own." The elder Smith whipped the Saint Luis Rey out of John's hands and replaced it with a three inch long White Owl stub from the ashtray. "Here, allow me."
He lit it for the young boy and crossed his arms while the teen coughed and gagged his way through the remainder of the cigar.
"Until you can afford the Saint Luis Rey Cubans for yourself, you can smoke these." Without another word, his father left the office and went back to bed.
"Uh, Hannibal? The plan?" Face brought his thoughts back to the present and the wonderful taste of the Cohiba Esplendido in his mouth.
"Okay, men. Here's what we're going to do." And Hannibal smiled around the stub of his truly magnificent cigar.