Narrated by Mark, Chapter 14 opens on a grim note. Having run out of veins to shoot up in, Mark is shooting heroin through his penis. He seems to be at a new low; he’s also behind on the rent. He used to get away with scamming the landlord, for instance by breaking a window and claiming someone else had done it to get the price knocked down. The landlord is dead, however, and his son is tougher about collecting payment.

Tommy stops by and reveals he is newly single: Lizzy and he split up. He talks to Mark about heroin, which he’s never done before, genuinely expressing curiosity as he asks what it’s like and why it’s so appealing. Mark speaks on the apparent pointlessness of life: “We fill up oor lives wi shite, things like careers and relationships tae delude oorsels that it isnae aw totally pointless” (90).

He goes on to say, “Smack’s an honest drug because it strips away these delusions. Wi smak whin ye feel good, ye feel immortal. Whin ye feel bad, it intensifies the shite that’s already thair” (90). Tommy subsequently convinces Mark to give him a hit of heroin—his first.