Character Analysis
Up in Smoke
Stevie Hamilton is a minor character in two major ways: 1) he doesn't have a whole lot to do with the story beyond meeting Leroy at the new shopping center and selling him an ounce of marijuana, and 2) he actually is a minor, the teenage son of a prominent doctor, who lives with his family "in one of the expensive subdivisions in a new white-columned brick house that looks like a funeral parlor" (2.2). A further sign of the family's relative prosperity is that "[i]n the phone book under his name there is a separate number, with the listing "Teenagers" (2.2).
So, what's this rich drug dealer dude doing in Leroy's story, anyway? It turns out Stevie's father was two years ahead of Leroy in high school, and seeing Stevie makes Leroy realize his son, Randy, who died in infancy, would have been about Stevie's age now. That starts a train of thought that fills us in on how Leroy and Norma Jean's son died.
Leroy's connection with Stevie highlights his own arrested development. Leroy's an adult but he behaves more like someone Stevie's age. Their encounter adds to Leroy's sense of feeling foolish, depressed, and cut off from others. He and Stevie are described as two people who "pretend to be strangers" (2.2), while in fact, they are strangers. Sounds like both Steve and Leroy should be hanging out with folks their own age.
Chattahoochee Super-Rat
Clearly, Stevie doesn't need to deal drugs for the money, but the way he dresses, talks, and behaves suggests that he's impersonating a character, maybe someone from a movie or TV show he's seen, who seems way cooler and more dangerous than a rich, suburban doctor's kid. He is described as "slit-eyed and skinny" (2.4) and wears "orange jogging shoes and a T-shirt that says CHATTAHOOCHEE SUPER-RAT" (2.2).
Stevie tries to sound tough and mysterious by evading Leroy's questions. When Leroy asks where he gets his drugs, Stevie responds, "That's for me to know and you to find out." When Leroy asks what other drugs he has, he answers with another question, "What you interested in?" (2.6).
Finally, when Leroy tries to open up about his life, Stevie makes it clear he's not interested, cutting him off with "Well, let me know when you want me again" (2.9). Then, like a young Marlon Brando or Al Pacino playing a New York City street punk, Stevie "has a cigarette in his cupped palm, as though sheltering it from the wind. He takes a long drag, then stomps it on the asphalt and slouches away" (2.9). Pure Hollywood—quick, somebody get this kid an agent.