Chapter 5

Needing a place to stay, Cindy agreed to move in with Rip. He had a small apartment just off the strip, and she was getting to know a lot of his friends, along with making friends of her own.

For Cindy, life was fun and exciting, just as she thought it would be. Sleeping all day, she would be up all night. Sometimes they would all get together to party. Other times, they would just sit around the place and quietly get stoned. Afterward, they would almost always fuck.

One month later, Cindy was broke. The money that she had saved was gone. She had spent some. Rip and his friends had spent the rest. It all seemed to happen so fast. In the beginning, Cindy didn’t mind. When she saw what was happening, she didn’t know how to stop it. After all, he was letting her stay with him.

“Hey, wow, we gotta get some bread together,” he said one morning, looking at Cindy.

“I know. I’m busted.”

“Hey, that’s cool. It’ll work out. It always does.” Rip didn’t seem to mind. He never did. To him, life was a downhill slide.

“What are we gonna do?” Cindy asked, looking at him.

“Same thing I always do. Come on, get dressed, and we’ll make the rounds.”

Getting out of bed, a mattress on the floor actually, the two of them got dressed and left the apartment. Outside, the afternoon sun was shining.

“Not a bad day,” he said, walking down the street. “What’s happening, man?” he nodded to a buddy, not missing a step. Cindy followed. A man in a business suit was walking toward them.

“Say, man, any spare change?” Rip asked.

“Buzz off, punk,” the man replied, not even looking at Rip. Rip mumbled under his breath.

“Spare change, man?”

“Yeah, here.”

Rip pocketed the quarter and continued on his way. After two more scores, he looked at Cindy.

“Think you can handle it?” he asked. “It’s a lot easier for a chick to score.”

“I don’t know. I guess so.” Cindy was not at all sure she liked the idea of begging.

“Good. Give it a try.” Rip moved off to the side of a building, leaving Cindy alone on the street.

“Sir, do you have any spare change?” She tried not to stumble over her words.

“Yeah, sure, kid. Here.”

“Thanks,” she said, looking down at the sixty-five cents in small change.

After the first time, it became increasingly easier for her to ask for money. Soon her pocket was bulging with change. On a side street, she and Rip counted up. Seven-eighty.

“Not bad,” said Rip, pocketing the money. “Yeah, you’re gonna do okay. Let’s see if we can make it an even ten, and then we’ll split for the day.” By four o’clock, Cindy had garnered the ten dollars, and she and Rip headed back for the apartment. On the way, he stopped to convert the change into bills.

“Yeah, you’re all right,” Rip said again, inside the apartment. “Come on, let’s light up to celebrate.” As he spoke, he took a joint from a bowl in the sink and lit it. After inhaling, he passed it to Cindy, who followed suit.

It wasn’t long before they were sitting on the couch and giggling at each other, lost in their euphoria.

By the time darkness fell, both of them were bombed out of their skulls. “Come on, let’s go look at the people,” Rip said, laughing.

Staggering slightly, Cindy got up from the couch, and the two of them walked out onto the strip. It was starting to get crowded, both with cars and people walking. Rip nodded to some dudes, occasionally stopping to talk.