Tree
His street name is Tree, because he’s very tall. He’s from Dixon, Illinois, a town of just 15,000 people 100 miles due west of Chicago. I took this photo under Lower Wacker Drive, where many opioid abusers camp. His hustle is “working cars.” His sign is “Hungry As Fuck.” When you hold your sign up, they call that “flying your sign.” He spends all the money he makes from working cars on heroin. People trust me because I bring them cigarettes and clean needles. And I carry Narcan, too. I injected someone with Narcan once. I try to avoid giving cash — I might buy someone a burger — but sometimes when I take them off their hustle spot and they can’t make money, it’s quid pro quo.
