Contrary to his promise to his family, Perry is still using drugs, but he has gone from frequent marijuana use to amphetamine addiction to cocaine addiction. At first, he managed to fund his drug purchases with the money from Aunt Shirley’s will, which Becky decided to split with her brothers. He quickly ran through his $3,000, and then proceeded to steal Clem’s share. He has a plan to replace the money before anyone notices: On the Crossroads trip, he will find a connection in Arizona from whom to buy peyote wholesale, then sell it at a high markup to his Midwestern peers who have never had access to it.

Perry’s peers notice his erratic behavior and speech during the Crossroads trip, but no one confronts him about it. During some free time after working one day, he finds some young men playing basketball near the work site and asks them if they know where he can buy peyote. They schedule a late-night pickup time to take him to a dealer.

The car ride passes in a whirl, the driver speeding down the road at breakneck pace, which feels even more dangerous to Perry since he took several hits of cocaine before getting in the car.