Once, Ciarra had been afraid of needles. The first time she shot up instead of smoked it, she had to have someone else do it for her while she looked away. Now she was addicted to watching the blood draw back in the needle. It was the rush of knowing that once she saw it, she was guaranteed to get that amazing feeling that would wash every last scrap of her pain away.

The second it hit her bloodstream, the taste of ether took over her mouth. The sound in her ears changed to a ringing and throbbing. Her heart started pounding like a piston, pumping a wave of energy through her being. For once, she felt like she could do anything and go anywhere. She felt like she had been lifted out of the prison of life and instead was on top of the world. But the sound in her ears scared her. She had been told that the sound in her ears was what you heard right before you were about to OD. Being unfamiliar with the blow she had procured, she had overestimated her tolerance. Ciarra was afraid that if she sat down, she would die, so she didn’t. She spent hours running around and doing things until she was sure the risk had passed. But now, in the low of the comedown, those hours had caught up to her and she felt even worse than usual.

Aria watched Ciarra stumble toward the van as if fighting a vapor of exhaustion trying to suck the life from her veins. It was obvious that she was high. The shackles of the futility in her life, which the cocaine had freed her from, had been put back on and were heavier. Ciarra didn’t care to live anymore. She couldn’t care about anything. She felt like giving up. All she could do in a state like this was sleep.

DeShawn jogged to catch up to Ciarra, slamming the driver’s side door that she had just opened, preventing her from getting inside it. She spun around to face him with her back against the side of the car. “You get the fuck back on the track,” he yelled, pointing a finger so close to her face it grazed her nose.

In an attempt to defend her, Aston tried to get between their legs and push DeShawn away from her. “Don’t hurt my mommy!” he yelled. DeShawn immediately punched the side of Aston’s head, knocking him to the ground.

Aria watched him turn his attention back to Ciarra, preventing her from getting between himself and Aston. The boy struggled to get back up off of the ground. When he did, again he tried to get back in between them. DeShawn yelled something Aria couldn’t hear at Aston and proceeded to beat him.