Nathaniel Kennon Perkins

Cactus Nathaniel Kennon Perkins

"I looked at Little Guy face down in the dirt with 200-plus pounds of correctional officer on his spine.

"Depending on dosage, a typical mescaline trip can last anywhere from eight to 12 hours.

"It was the American West on a Friday night."

In Cactus, correctional officer and ex-punk rocker Will Stephens works guarding prisoners who pick up trash on the side of the highway. One of them, a hardened inmate with a tattoo of the Black Flag logo right beneath his eye, seems oddly familiar, but Will can't quite place him.