As much as I would like to believe that picture of the hands is accurate.... after looking at the blown up closeup..I don’t think it is two hands.
Anyone that has tried to draw hands correctly knows they are complicated.
Here is what I think is going on in that picture.
Obamas friend is the one with the cigarette. His center finger is lifted up with the cigarette under it,the cigarette goes out over his right ring finger.
..the light area that appears to be a finger on the far left is actually the base of the pinkie where it attaches to the palm. You can actually notice if you look close the first knuckle of the pinkie is bright (probably from a flash?) then you can see the next knuckle running back (dark shaded)where it drops down to the base of the pinkie and palm (bright)
There is a bright area between the pinkie and the ring finger that appears to possibly be a finger but I think its the light flashing of the skin webbing between the pinkie and the ring finger.
The whole right side of the hand picture is the bent facets of the thumb..
This pic has horrible resolution by todays standards, but I truly believe that is what we are seeing..I had to look at it a long time, and position my hand that way to even convince myself. I think this a matter of the eye and bad lighting/resolution playing tricks on us.
I will be interested to see if any of you agree after checking it closely again.
The one thing I noticed in the pic, is an absense of ANY ash trays. I’ve smoked for years (not in the last 4 months) and a lighter and an ash tray are usually required in an apartment or home setting to “have a smoke”.
And back in the day (when folks still “lit up” inside a dwelling, if seated on a couch, you sometimes needed to actually “hold” your ash tray.
IMHO, Obama’s “buddy” looks like he could be holding an ash tray with his right hand. Notice the height of the “cig fingers” the TOTAL height of the hand from the leg, and the extention downward and out of his thumb and remaining fingers, which appear to be grasping or clutching something square.
Usually when holding someone’s hand, your fingers are not “required” to remain straight and stiff, and most people “curve” or “curl” them with their grasp to show “closeness”.
That looks like an “ash tray” grip to me.