Lullabies for Little Criminals

Baby now lives with Alphonse in a hotel and is addicted to heroin. Staying high keeps her numb to reality: “When I was stoned, I wasn’t cold or sad. I saw things in a lovely way, where everything was brand-new and meaningless” (286). She feels an affinity for heroin because she remembers that Jules always loved her most when he was on it.

Alphonse’s addiction to heroin has overtaken their lives: he makes Baby prostitute herself constantly for drug money, and whenever they’re together he’s high. She hates him, but the little bit of heroin he gives her each day keeps her complacent.

One night, she has sex with Harvey, one of her regular clients. Afterwards, she doesn’t feel like working anymore that night, so she asks him if she can have the money for next time tonight. He agrees, and she decides to take the rest of the night off before she’s supposed to meet Alphonse later. On her way out of the hotel, the woman at the front desk tells her that Jules has been looking for her and that he’s staying at the homeless shelter. Baby feels torn: “It made me sick to my stomach with guilt to think about Jules.