Chapter One
One Year Earlier in Flint, MI
“Yo, when I catch you . . . I’m going to kill you. I put that on everything,” Rico whispered under his breath as he stood completely naked with both of his hands up. His head was cocked to the side as Millie held a blood-filled syringe to the side of his neck, almost piercing his skin. Rico was being held up in the backroom of a dope house and he couldn’t believe what was happening; he had just got caught slipping. He clenched his jaws as tightly as he could, displaying his anger as the veins formed in his temples. Millie, on the other hand, was smiling as she thought about how her plan had worked perfectly. She had caught Rico slipping and now the only thing on her mind was shooting some of Rico’s good smack into her veins. Millie was almost twice his age and had outwitted him. Rico’s young sixteen-year-old mind fell for the okey-doke.
“Yeah, yeah. Save all that talking for somebody else. Hazel, check in his back pockets too,” Millie instructed as she watched Hazel rummage through Rico’s pants that were sprawled out on the floor along with his other clothing.
“I can’t believe this shit,” Rico spat angrily as he rolled his eyes and hated himself for being so naïve to Millie’s game. What he thought was going to be a ménage à trois with a couple of dopefiends, ended up being a robbery. He watched as Hazel nervously looked through his pants and coat pockets searching for his bundles of heroin. Hazel continued to search frantically while frequently peeking at Rico to make sure Millie had him under control. Millie had Rico in a chokehold and wished that Hazel would hurry up, because she was growing more nervous by the second. Millie told Rico that the syringe was filled with her AIDS-infected blood, but that was far from the truth. Well, at least Millie hoped that she didn’t have the deadly disease.
“Got it!” Hazel yelled as she held up the small bundles of heroin that were inside the inside pocket of Rico’s down coat. She held the dope up in the air as if she had found a hidden treasure. Hazel also grabbed the wad of money that Rico had in his pockets and quickly stood up. Hazel stuffed the money and dope in her bra and headed for the back window. Before she reached the window she saw Rico’s gun on the dresser and she grabbed that too.
“You got everything?” Millie asked as she shook nervously while still having a firm grasp on Rico. He only stood five feet four inches and weighed a buck thirty at the most, so Millie was in complete control.
“Yeah, I got it. Let’s go!” Hazel said as she put one foot out of the window and sat on the windowpane with half of her body inside of the house, waiting for Millie.
“Hurry, pass me that gun,” Millie ordered as she held out one hand so that she could get it. Hazel placed the gun in Millie’s hand and could barely place it in her palm because she was shaking so badly. Millie finally got the gun and took the syringe from Rico’s neck. She then pointed his own gun at him. She slowly walked backward until she reached the window. Rico just watched her as he kept both of his hands up and watched them escape. He had a small grin on his face as he thought about how he would kill both of them when he caught up with them.
Millie quickly jumped out the window along with Hazel and they took off running full speed down Wood Street. The sounds of their feet crunching the snow and their heavy breathing were the only sounds at the early hour. They tried their best not to slip on the icy streets as they hauled ass. They heard the voice of Rico yelling as they cut through houses and finally got out of earshot from him. They dipped into a low-key spot that they had used a couple times before. It was a boarded-up house that only a few other fiends knew about. For some odd reason, the electricity and the water were still on in the house, which only worked as a plus for them. It was their warm, secret get-high spot.
They came in through the back door and without even catching their breath they both headed to the small, dusty table that sat in the middle of the floor. They both took a seat in the old wooden chairs as Hazel reached into her bra and pulled out the dope. Millie quickly sat the gun down that they had gotten from Rico and rubbed her hands together, knowing she was about to get a treat. Millie’s eyes lit up as she began to feel the tingling sensation in her arms, pure anticipation for the good smack that she was about to inject into her body. Both of their stomachs were bubbling and agonizing pains shot through them as their bodies craved the drug. Millie had even caught the runs earlier that morning, jonesin’ for the drug. Hazel gripped her stomach and slightly bent over trying to get the pain to subside. “Hurry, Millie,” Hazel begged.
Millie grabbed the spoon that was on the table along with the dope. She poured the dope into the spoon and the strong odor from the heroin filled the air and only made them more impatient. The smell slightly resembled vinegar and it was like heaven for their noses. Hazel watched closely as Millie set them up. Hazel never “set-up,” she always let Millie do it. Millie was ten years Hazel’s senior and had had much more experience than her, so it made sense.
“You smell that? This that Lady Luck right here,” Millie bragged as she gently thumped the baggy. Lady Luck was the latest, top-of-the-line heroin in the hood. “Rico always got that good shit on deck,” Millie stated as she never took her eyes off the dope and smiled in awe, similar to a small child. She opened a second pack and poured that into the spoon also. She then gave Hazel a bottle cap.
“Go put some water in that, Hazelnut,” Millie said, calling Hazel by a nickname she had given her when she was younger. Hazel snapped out of her daze, grabbed the cap, and quickly headed to the kitchen to put some water in it. She quickly returned and Millie pulled a syringe out of her pocket and soaked up the water through the needle. She quickly squirted a small amount in the spoon. She then raised the spoon up, while Hazel held a flame underneath it. They both watched as the drug melted into the water and began to bubble. Both of their hearts began to race as they were about to get their breakfast, a.k.a. the first shot of the day. Once the contents were fully melted, Hazel quickly grabbed the belt that was on the table and wrapped it around her right arm. She tightened the belt around her arm and placed the leather in her mouth to maintain the tightness while also freeing her left hand. Hazel began to smack her forearm with two fingers repeatedly, desperately searching for a vein. A big, green vein finally began to form in Hazel’s forearm and she smiled as the belt was held secure in between her teeth.
“It’s too hot. You gotta wait,” Millie said as she held the spoon up and slowly shook it.
“Fuck that. I’m good. Let me hit that,” Hazel pleaded as she pulled out her own syringe and placed it in the spoon. She sucked up the heroine and immediately placed the needle to the bulging vein that had formed in her forearm. The sizzling sound of the metal touching her skin sounded and her skin began to blister, but Hazel didn’t care that she was burning herself. She just wanted to feel the “magic” of the drug. Hazel slowly injected the smack into her veins and her body became limp as her eyes rolled in the back of her head. It seemed as if she was having a sexual orgasm by her body movements, but it was the euphoric effect that heroin had on a woman. Hazel began to nod off and Millie quickly took the belt from around Hazel’s arm so that she could get her fix.
“This shit is . . . .” Hazel mumbled, but before she could even tell Millie how good it was, she nodded off completely.