A coffee can filled with cigarette butts sitting in the corner. An alarm clock radio tuned to WKCR is turned down low. The time 3:15 keeps flashing in red. Charles Mingus playing Ah Hum as Ben nods his head to the music.

He takes out a small piece of tin foil and forms a makeshift pipe with it; placing small white rocks into one end as an orange flame heats up his friend, his  nemisis.

Ben inhales the thin smoke deeply into his mouth, swallows, and coughs a little. He goes into a trance.

Give me some, Meg demands. Come on, share now. He hands her the shiny pipe and lighter. His face is blank, gray. The smell of burnt long hair stinks up the room; feeling like he was hit by an aluminum baseball bat, he motions to the girl.

Good shit, Ben says.

Yeah. Uh huh. What’s with the music?

This is Mingus. Charles Mingus. Don’t fuck up my experience.

Meg laughs and inhales the sweet cooked rocks. Charles Mingus? Never heard of him. She starts turning the dial on the radio, whizzing past classic rock stations, smooth jazz, and heavy metal.

What are you doing?

Just seeing what else is on.

You’re fucking up my experience that’s what you’re doing.

Your experience? Why don’t you just call it your buzz or your high like every other crackhead does? He stares at her. Don’t look at me that way, she tells him. Stop it. Gives me the creeps. Where’s Frank?

Came and left.

He was supposed to bring me some.

He did. We’re smoking it.

Sonofabitch. She swings wildly, and he grabs her by the long hair she has. That’s my shit.

Did you earn it?

What do you mean?

Did you blow him? Give him a hand job?

This ain’t right. This is not right. You said from day one you’d look after me.

And?

This ain’t looking after me.

You gotta place to sleep. A place to rest. He motions for her to hand the crack pipe back. Come on now.

Get away from me.

We gotta good thing going here, kid. Don’t fuck it up.

Am I free to go?

Yeah. As soon as you hand me back that pipe. She throws the silver and blackish piece of foil at Ben. You’ll never see me again, she says. Never. She runs out of the house through the space that once was a door.

Come back here. Come on now, he yells. Don’t leave me. Just don’t leave me. Please.

Frank walks in.