"Piph, PIPH!! Epiphany wake yo stupid ass up! Watchu still here foh huh?!? Ain't you got a job?!?" The first sign of the dawn of day is the menacing voice of a crack cocaine addict known simply as Trey, and by job he means the strip joint down the block. Bottles after bottles litter the floor and the stench of last night's aftermath lingers on. "Damn it I'm up! Don't yell at me alright?! I'm the only one with a damn job in this shit!" My voice comes out groggy, pathetically weak as I climb my five foot frame off the mattress. It's twelve in the afternoon and my day has just begun. "Now who the fuck you think you talking to huh? Just because you make a little bit of cheese ain't mean nothing watch ya tone" Trey's slender fingers latches onto the mid section of my neck. Squeezing with every emphasized word, and with a sharp jerk of his hand, he lets go and my body is flung to a near by wall. "How am I going to find a decent job if you keep this up?!? Huh, all this abuse. You said you wouldn't hit me anymore, Trey, what's up with that?"
" You call that abuse? You haven't seen abuse!" Before I can perceive the nature of the situation a shadow hovers over my line of vision and once again my neck is the victim. Trey squeezes and I latch onto his oversized hands, scratching them to no avail. "Stop Trey!" I managed to muffle out a scream. "See what you make me do Piph? SEE WHAT YOU MAKE ME DO?!" He yells. Seconds pass and I feel my eyes begin to shut only to be pulled back into the arms of the one responsible for the infliction. " I'm sorry babe. I love you it's just like you make me feel like I'm going to loose you babe and I just don't want that to happen. You are my life! Remember sugar plum?" Trey sobbed cradling my lithe body . A clear indication that he has taken his daily sniff of crack and the drugs are kicking in. He hugs me as if his life depends on me. As if I'm more than just a paper trail that leads him to a bag a drugs every night. He hugs me with passion. Passion that once resided within the depths of is hazel eyes. "Baby don't go, stay with me an I'll make it all better. Hmmm whatchu say?!? Let's make up, because you know I'll never hurt you right?!" Trey searches my eyes for an answer but finds nun. My mouth is silent but my conscience is speaking and what she says is loud and clear.