(Spike and Will are brothers.
Today, Spike goes to Will's bedroom to ask Will to give him
the money he lent Will last month.)
Spike:
Will, do you remember the money you owe me?
Will:
What money?
Spike:
The cigarettes I bought at the duty free shop in the airport!
You asked me to buy them, remember?
Will:
Oh yeah, sorry about that.
(When trying to get the money
from his wallet, Will begins to cough so hard as if he is
going to cough out his lungs.)
Spike:
Are you alright?
Will:
I'm fine. Don't worry, mate. It happens.
(Then, Will takes a few deep
breaths and gives the money to Spike)
Will:
There you go. I'll give you the rest the other day, alright?
Spike:
No worries.
Will: Ta....
well, I've really coughed
up the money, haven't
I.
Spike:
That's no joke, mate. It's been a long time! The cough,
I mean.
Will:
Well, just on and off; on and
off; though sometimes it gets more serious in winter. Anyway,
it's fine; it's not gonna kill me.
Spike:
No, not now maybe; but it will someday. You can't turn
a blind eye to your
health problem! Why don't you just quit smoking?
Will:
Quit smoking? Don't pull my leg!
Asking me to ditch the durries is
like asking me to ditch my good old mate. We've been side
by side for almost 10 years. We've always stuck together
when I got the rough end of the pineapple. You know, it's
like he lit up the darkness that once surrounded me.
Spike:
Yeah, light up the darkness, and it's gonna burn you down
soon. You've gone troppo.
Your good old mate is devouring my
brother's lungs and burning his money.
Will:
That's not a serious problem.
Spike:
But that's still a problem. Let's get it done once
and for all.
Will:
Once and for all? What do you mean?
Spike:
Well, not really once actually. It's gonna take a while,
I reckon.
Will:
What do you mean?
Spike:
I mean you're currently having trouble to make
ends meet,
right?
Will:
Yeah. So?
Spike:
Since you're still in debt to me,
and you have to
count for every single penny, I'll deduct the
money you owe me 500 bucks per week if you start to quit
smoking from this arvo.
Will:
500 bucks per week. But that'll last for only 4 weeks at
most.
Spike:
Then after that, I'll give you 300 bucks per week untill
you actually quit smoking.
Will:
Are you bribing me to give up smoking?
Spike:
Yes, I'm bribing you to ditch this bad old mate.
Will:
Eh... 500 bucks, right? That sounds pretty attractive!
Spike:
So you'll do it. Good! But don't forget the only rule. That
is, if you should be caught smoking, you'd have to give
me back all the money.
Will:
Ok, fair enough! That's the deal. I'll go for it.