_{ORIGINALGRILLA :   bugs.}

_{‘     ain’t nobody messin’ with it up in here.    i am  clean  as a whistle.    all i’m sayin’ is,   you’re gonna be  beggin’  for them painkillers before sun - up with this cold turkey shit.    believe that.    ’       weight shifts,   exhale releasing plumes of smoke that don’t quite settle in the dim,   yellowish light.       ‘     y’ gotta slow it down,   you know,   wean  yo’self.    like  cats.     ’}

_{like he didn’t do a few lines just weeks ago.    like the pressure of  NOT KNOWING  didn’t have him climbing the fucking walls and knocking back ten drinks too many.    she woke up :   that’s what counts.    she  lived.}

_{‘     —    again with that processed,   reprocessed,   artificially flavored carcinogenic crap.    i’m talkin’  real  food,   not the kind you been chokin’ down with a little five - finger discount.     ’}

_{❛     –––––     ain’t that what they  all  say ?     ❜     fronts like she  hadn’t  bought dope off the street,  dejected and broken - hearted,  mere hours before she made one last desperate attempt to help.     (     like she didn’t have the intention of loading herself up with poison,  only to find a better use for it.     )     didn’t even know the slang when poochie asked if she wanted  points,  or something else.}

_{truth is,  she wanted numb.    wanted to relieve the pressure of anger and betrayal crushing her sternum.}

_{❛     cats sometimes kill and eat their kittens.    the ones that’re sick ‘n stuff.    but,  like …  okay,  so you’ve got this queen,  right ?    feelin’  threatened,  can’t  hide  no where ‘n so she  eats ‘em  ‘cause that’s the only way she can protect ‘em from predators.    ‘n she’ll also eat the dead ones so the others don’t get no diseases.     ❜}

_{she pauses,  eyeing the cigarette hanging from his mouth.}

_{❛     quit trippin’.    i’ll eat what i eat.    ‘cause unlike your crusty ass,  youth’s  still on my side.    bet you couldn’t even scarf down  a double cheeseburger  without bitchin’ ‘bout your  cholesterol  or somethin’.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA :   bugs.}

_{junkyard little bitch.    i don’t give a shit about you.    there’s no 12 step program to atone for what was said,   and an apology would most likely be met with a well - deserved  fuck you.    he shakes a cigarette loose,   lights up as he leans back against the counter island.       ‘     don’t judge a book by its cover,   li’l man.    gonna mess up your chi.    i got hooked,   i got clean,   blah blah blah.    at least take ‘em,   uh,   antibiotics    —    you hungry ?     ’}

_{trust your instinct,  girl.    nothin’ else.    that’s the piece of profound advice she’d been given her first week living on the streets,  free of charge.     (     what you see is what you get ‘round here.     )}     

_{he says not to judge a book by its cover and she can’t help but think it’s a little too late for that.    wants  to tell him to shove the philosophical bullshit up his ass.    she doesn’t feel for him.    doesn’t have enough sympathy to spare for tweakers.    figures he wouldn’t want it,  anyhow.     ❛     you ever go back t’ that crap,  i’ll kick your skinny white ass up ‘n down th’  block.    i don’t mess with that shit.    don’t even like messin’ with the people who do.     ❜     it’s hard to avoid,  though.    everyone’s got their  addictions.}

_{❛     –––––    nah.    already ate.    lays dill pickle chips are the  bomb,  yo,  f’real.    you ever tried ‘em ?     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA :   bugs.}

_{‘     ain’t too late t’ give cps a call.    few days in,   my dojo be lookin’ like  club med.    hey,   they’re your pills    —    dump ‘em,   sell ‘em,   whatever.   just don’t wake up itchin’ for a fix the next time those ribs start achin’ like a motherfucker.     ’}

_{❛     go ahead.    ain’t that what you were  plannin’  on doing before,  anyway ?    buryin’  my ass in the foster - care system ?    or did’ja  pussy out ?     ❜     she scoffs at him,  scowling the entire time it takes to situate comfortably on the couch.     ❛     –––––     morphine ain’t worth  jack  on the fuckin’ street,  yo.    ‘n what the hell would  you  know about itchin’ for a fix ?    y’ don’t look like no tweaker.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA :   bugs.}

_{‘     chill out.   ’m not your  PAROLE OFFICER.   you,   uh    —    take your meds tonight ?     ’}

_{❛     nah,  you’re just the stupid  sonuvabitch  they stuck me with ‘cause no one  else  could deal.    …  don’t need t’ take ‘em anymore.    whatever.    dump ‘em.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA :   bugs.}

_{‘     you don’t gotta keep  sneakin’ around,   bullet.   there ain’t no curfew.     ’       @junkyardteen.}

_{❛     –––––     !    the hell are you  talkin’  about ?    i wasn’t sneakin’  nowhere.     ❜     she plays off being startled with relative ease.    didn’t even  swing on him  this time.}