“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I met a guy, Jesse. He’s really great.”

Shane smiled, glad that he was doing well. “That’s great man.”

Clive nodded. “Thanks…”
There was a moment of awkward silence. Shane looked around at where
they were standing, getting an all too familiar feeling from the scene.
“What are you doing out here Clive?”
“I’m waiting for someone…”

Shane frowned.

“It’s not what you think,” Clive insisted, seeing the look on her face.

“Then what is it?” Shane asked.

“I’m selling.”

Shane furrowed her brow. “Selling what?”

“Blow.”

“Since when?” Shane demanded.

Clive shrugged. “Since I started seeing Jesse. He’s a dealer.”

“Is that why you’re with him?” Shane asked. “You sell his shit and he
hooks you up with a place to stay and as much coke as you want.

“It’s not like that Shane. He really loves me.”

“Okay…” Shane said, not buying it.

“Fuck you Shane,” Clive replied. “Who are you to judge me? You let your
roommates throw me out on the streets. I had no where to go. What do
you think I did? What do you think I had to do?”
Shane stepped close to him, her face mere inches from his. “Don’t you
ever blame me for what happened,” she told him, her voice oddly calm.
“I begged you to stop this shit, but you wouldn’t. You’re where you are
because this,” she grabbed the hand that he was palming a bag of coke
with. “This shit right here is all you care about.”

Clive pulled his hand away from her and stepped back. “You act like
you’re so much better than me, but you’re not. You’d still be out here
in Santa Monica turning tricks if Richard hadn’t paid for you to go to
hairdressing school. Who paid for me Shane? Who took care of me?”
Shane looked away.

“You didn’t earn the life you have,” Clive went on. “It was given to you. So don’t you fucking judge me.”
Shane stared down at the cracked concrete, remembering the way things
had played out for each of them after Richard had entered her life. The
promise they’d made each other to quite turning tricks didn’t seem fair
thinking back on it. Shane had been given an opportunity to turn her
life around, something Clive had never been offered, yet Shane had
thought at the time that since one of them was getting out, that it
meant they both were. That just wasn’t how it worked.
“We were friends Shane,” Clive said, in an accusing tone.