Righteous Dopefiend

Tina, a woman who is addicted to alcohol and crack, splits her time between the streets and her cousin’s place in the nearby projects. When both Reggie and Carter vie for her romantic attention, she chooses to pursue a relationship with Carter, getting into a physical altercation with Reggie to take control of the situation and express her disinterest. Reggie is arrested for brandishing a broken firearm in a crack exchange, and is sentenced to eight years in prison, removing him from the community.

Tina has engaged in sex work, and much of her income is based on sexual favors she provides male “friends”—a setup that causes trouble once she has entered a relationship with Carter. She discloses early childhood trauma and sexual/physical abuse, which led to her viewing intimate relationships as inextricable from material or monetary gifts. Her lack of control over nonconsensual sexual experiences, and the other violence she experienced to from people in her life and institutions she had contact with, led Tina to leverage her body as a means of making an independent income and being as self-sufficient as possible.

Tina and Carter form a more serious relationship, leading Tina to end her relationships with her “friends” and to take on a more traditional gender role by taking care of the encampment her and Carter share.