Homicide Detective Regina Jackson is faced with an investigation into the murder of a young crackhead named Short Stuff who grew up in the same neighborhood as she. As the investigation unfolds, she is forced to face some disturbing realities about her own inner-demons that lead her to an overwhelming addiction of a different kind. Are the afflictions within her similar to those of Short Stuff? Are her cravings more or less contemptible?

The answers to these questions plague Regina. She tries to avoid ugly truths about her own troublesome character by continuing to indulge in a constant craving for demeaning sex with suspects in the very cases she is trying to solve. She obtains useful information in the process leading to arrest after arrest, making her the city's top homicide detective.

Regina flirts with trying to come to grips with her emotional problems as the story unfolds. Three murder cases. A