There’s a body on the Gurney Street tracks. Female, age unclear, probable overdose, says the dispatcher.
-- Narrator (Now)

Importance: This opening sentence is jarring in the information that it includes, quickly informing the reader that this will be a story about drugs and overdose. The opening is even more impactful when the reader learns that Mickey, the main character and narrator, worries that each time she gets a call like this, it will be her sister.

The first time I found my sister dead, she was sixteen. It was the summer of 2002.
-- Narrator (Then)

Importance: Another jarring statement involves Mickey’s claim that she found her sister dead. While Mickey admits that neither she nor Paula checked Kacey for a pulse, she would certainly have died of overdose if she had not been revived with Narcan. The reader should note also that Mickey indicates this was the “first time” she found her sister dead, a...