In the early 1980s, John Spacely is an unemployed heroin addict living on the streets of New York City’s Lower East Side, where he is known by the nickname, “Gringo.” He describes heroin as a “love affair” that started great, then devastated him. Every day John tries to hustle enough money to buy drugs and can usually scrounge $10, but he does not resort to violence to keep up his habit. One night, someone steals John’s skateboard and other possessions. When street acquaintances ask why he does not fight back, John replies that previous injuries remind him retaliation often leads to more trouble. In one of the derelict buildings John frequents, he estimates over $100,000 worth of drugs are regularly bought and sold. He complains to a girl friend that he stumbled over barbed wire fences and other obstacles to escape a police raid at a popular hangout, only to return and discover that the “junkies” had reclaimed the place as soon as the officers left. At the entrance to a building, a young woman stands guard and urges drug users outside not to loiter. One addict claims illegal drugs are a significant contribution to New York City’s economy and attract buyers from other areas. The big earners in the city can bring in $20,000 a day, far exceeding drug revenue in the suburbs. Young kids unable to find a job are tempted to sell drugs because they can make $200 to $300 per week, and “the smart ones” will work their way up to being managers while avoiding violence. The addict notes that a few smart ones can afford to retire in their twenties, but most of these young millionaires fall prey to addiction and lose everything. John says dope brands are often named after popular movies, such as Black Sunday or E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. At 4:00 a.m., John visits the apartment of Suzanne to borrow money, but she refuses. Leaving, he passes the body of someone who was just shot dead in the hallway, and he flees before the ambulance arrives. John describes heroin as a “cruel mistress” that makes you forget about the rest of your life. At a “shooting gallery,” a place where illegal drugs are prepared and injected, a group of women discuss being addicts, as some of them struggle to locate a vein in their arms to insert the needle. They want to stop using, but drugs control all aspects of their lives. However, one addict says she will not sacrifice cigarettes for dope. Before selling, a dealer asks to see a user’s “tracks” or arm scars to make sure the customer is not an undercover cop. John observes that being a heroin addict is similar to “a treasure hunt.” First, he must locate money, then dodge police, and navigate a war zone to find good drugs that are properly “cut.” Finally, there is the satisfaction and release of getting “high.” Another addict discusses the beauty of cocaine and says he will use it as long as he can. John, however, hopes to get away from the “merry-go-round” of being on heroin. One night, he visits a friend who keeps an assortment of rabbits, hamsters, mice, and tarantulas in her apartment. During their discussion of youth and poverty in America, John tells the woman he is an anarchist, who has never filed income tax and only recently secured a birth certificate, his first identification in twelve years. John recalls growing up in Southern California and sleeping with a prostitute at the age of fifteen. He characterizes himself as a hippie during the Vietnam War and part of a gang of similar radicals, who were also drug users. He recounts being in the emergency room after a violent fight, when the doctors refused to give him anesthesia while suturing his stomach because he was too high on drugs. After the agonizing procedure, John took a piece of flesh the doctor removed and hid it in his pocket when the hospital staff was not looking. Later, John negotiates to buy a new skateboard for $20 from a man on the street. When John telephones his mother in California from a payphone and explains he needs immediate cash for rent, she offers to send him $100. He recalls being assaulted with chains by a group of “drag queens,” angry that John had insulted them. Although police arrived to intervene, the lens of John’s right eye was scarred. Unable to afford an operation, he wears an eye patch instead. One day, John shaves, shines his broken shoes, and sells some items at a pawnshop. He discusses the events that precipitated his heroin addition. In a spur of the moment decision, he and his girl friend Cindy got married, and were soon expecting a child. Early one morning at home, Cindy experienced a miscarriage, and John, unsure how to react, discarded the aborted fetus in a garbage bag. Afterward, Cindy left to visit her mother in Washington State, and a few weeks later, she was killed in a motorcycle accident. John started injecting heroin to quell the nightmares over her death and the miscarriage. In a motel room, John prepares to inject heroin and realizes he was given a lower grade “brown dope.” He says the best intoxication resembles “a movie in your mind” involving people you love. Later in the room, John becomes sick from withdrawal symptoms and vomits. He would prefer to ease off the drug gradually. After recovering, he appears carefree again and skateboards through the streets of New York City.