The cocaine

The cocaine first surfaces in Las Vegas as Xandra Terrell's personal stash, a substance she uses openly and frequently. Boris Pavlikovsky, with his keen eye for such things, identifies her use by her talkativeness and teeth-grinding, and later confirms it when he sees her straightening up from the coffee table with a sniff, holding her hair behind her neck. This discovery opens a new dimension of the household's dysfunction, as Xandra's cocaine use is tied to her work at a bar and her stressful life with Larry Decker.

Boris's Cocaine Enterprise

After Theo flees Las Vegas, Boris remains and transforms Xandra's cocaine into a lucrative business. He takes the stash they found in her room and, rather than selling it, uses it to establish himself as a major dealer at their school. The cocaine from Xandra's supply, which Boris describes as being of high quality, becomes the foundation of his brief but spectacular criminal career. He sells to senior football players, the basketball team, and wealthy girls like KT Bearman, making so much money that he loses track of it, with hundreds of dollars falling from his pockets. This enterprise, however, leads to a dangerous escalation, as Boris becomes entangled with more serious criminals and eventually has to flee Las Vegas to work for Naaman Silver.

Cocaine as a Marker of Moral Decline

The cocaine also marks a turning point in Theo's own relationship with drugs. While he initially refuses Boris's offer to share Xandra's stash, his resistance weakens over time. The substance becomes part of the chaotic, hedonistic atmosphere of his Las Vegas years, where drugs and alcohol are used to numb the pain of his mother's death and his father's neglect. The cocaine, like the other drugs in the novel, represents a temporary escape that ultimately leads to greater danger and moral compromise. Its presence in the narrative underscores the theme of addiction as a coping mechanism for trauma, and the ease with which casual use can spiral into a destructive lifestyle.