what is the word

Last nite was the sultriest it's been in ages. I went to meet S. at Diner but the bartender told me she was next door at the oyster place. She & N. were sitting outside wearing all black & looking terribly good looking & brown-skinned & it felt like we were in the Mediterranean with the tables all bumped up against each other & the talk & laughter heavy in the air. It was very hot & we sat there drinking clear icy things & S. ordered a plate of soft shell crab & when A. showed up he took a bite of it, swished it in his mouth for a moment, got up from the table & spit it out into the street.
I thought about how all of us had been single years ago & then we'd all been in love & subsequently had our hearts broken or broken someone else's or a little of both & then here we all were single again as if none of it had ever happened. I liked it that way & my heart felt happy.
At the end of the evening we were drunk & A. announced he was finished with cigarettes forever. "Anyone?" he said, holding up the box of Camels.
"Sure," I said, extracting one from the pack.
Then he gave it to S. & said "Destroy these." There were only about 5 left & with her right hand S. crushed the box slowly, closing it in upon itself, turning it into crumpled cardboard full of flattened paper & loose tobacco.
"Oh..." I said, staring.
I don't know if A. will smoke again or not. Either way it was a great dramatic gesture, like grandly spitting the crab out onto the street rather than ejecting it coyly into a napkin. I only wish I had rescued more than one.