HEROIN
Strum came back at five. They were straight. They sat in the front of the television smoking, shooting the shit, and talking about tomorrow.
They drove over to the west side. It was early in the morning, and they were worried that there would be no one out. They pulled up to the house and into the alley. They beeped the horn and a woman looked out of the second story window. She came out of the front door and walked up to Marlene's side of the car and asked what they wanted. Marlene said four packs and two rocks. The woman said there were no rocks. Marlene said that was cool and to give her four packs anyway. The woman asked if Marlene wanted mix or raw. Marlene said two of each. The woman reached into her pockets and pulled out four packs. Marlene gave the woman forty dollars, took the drugs, and rolled up the window. Strum drove off.
Back at the apartment they got high. Strum asked Marlene how much money they had. Marlene said thirty dollars. Strum got mad and wanted to know where all the money had gone. Marlene explained that they just spent forty dollars on blows. Strum said he wasn't stupid. Marlene said she knew.
Ma wasn't around at noon. She wasn't around at one either. Ma had promised she'd be around at noon. They went over to the east-side looking for her. At two thirty they stopped by Stash's. They asked Stash if he'd seen Ma. He said that she'd been by earlier. They asked Stash if he knew where they could get any rocks. Stash said on Chalmer's where Ma probably was. They said they were going to look for Ma. Stash wished them luck.
They pulled up in front of an apartment building on the lower east-side. Marlene said she hated coming down here because it was hot. Strum told her to calm down, that it hadn't been busted in a while and that she should go in and find Ma. Marlene asked why she had to go in and Strum said that he needed to stay with the car. He wanted to know why Marlene was arguing with him. Marlene said she wasn't arguing and got out of the car. After about five minutes, Marlene came back with Ma.
It was five o'clock. Marlene pulled the syringe out of her groin, wiped her hand across her face, and looked at Strum. "I don't know," she said suspiciously and handed the syringe over to him. Marlene looked at Ma who was busy getting high. Strum cleaned the syringe by sucking up water from a glass and shooting it on the floor. On the table next to the glass of water was a bottle cap from a forty-ounce beer bottle. It was filled with white powder. Strum filled the syringe halfway up and shot the water into the bottle cap.
"You don't have to give that shit too much flame or you'll cook all the dope up. It ain't like mix," Ma said, exhaling a deep cloud of smoke.
Strum put the lighter under the bottle cap. The water inside bubbled from the heat for a second. He grabbed a cigarette and pulled off part of the fiberglass filter. He rolled it into a tiny ball and dropped it into the bottle cap. He pulled the liquid out of the cooker, through the rolled fiberglass, and into the syringe. He turned the needle upside down, flicked it a couple of times with his fingers, and pushed the heroin to the edge of the needle. Marlene watched him carefully.
Strum undid his pants and felt his groin for the vein. Pushing on his inner-thigh a couple of times with the syringe gripped between his teeth, he found his site. He took the syringe from his mouth, positioned it over the spot, and pushed it into his body. He pulled back on the plunger and a small mushroom cloud of blood appeared inside the tube. He pushed the cloud of blood back into his vein and let the freshly cooked dope follow. The plunger fell to the bottom of the tube. He yanked the syringe out of his groin, grabbed some toilet paper, and stuffed it into is crotch, pushing it down hard to keep from bleeding. In a moment, Strum's eyes became tiny pinholes and he scratched his nose with his free hand. "Good shit," He said, his voice course with drugs. "Good shit…" he repeated. Marlene leaned over the table, kissed Strum, and looked at the crack pipe that Ma was holding. Strum handed Marlene a baggy. Inside was more crack. Marlene threw the bag at Ma, who caught it with her free hand.
"That's my babies," Ma crooned, "Always taking care of their Mama."
