Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13 talks about how everyone had given up on helping Josh with his addiction, so he decided to turn to his grandmother. Everyone else had given up because they believed Josh was a hopeless cause including his parents. However, Josh's grandmother believed it was not too late to help him. She believed that she could get Josh back to what he used to be before drugs.

Katie had given up on Josh and decided to leave him. She got a restraining order against him and decided to sell their house without worrying about him. Josh went to stay with his grandmother, but he had not seen her in two or three months. When he showed up at her house, she didn't even know he was coming to stay with her. He was a mess so his grandmother suggested that he come get something to eat and take a shower. Josh went to bed, and his grandma sat on her bed and cried until she fell asleep.

His grandmother had a set of rules for Josh if he was going to stay with her. First of all, he was not allowed to go more than twelve hours without something to eat and drink. Also, he would not be allowed to sleep past ten-thirty in the morning and would have to go to bed before it got too late at night. Josh began to feel to better and thought he would be able to stop using drugs. He felt comfortable at his grandmother's house, and it made him feel good. However after three good days, Josh went out and bought more crack and brought it back to his grandmother's house. When he got back, his grandma caught him smoking it, and he felt terrible. The addiction of the drug was more powerful than the guilt he felt, so he continued to use drugs. One morning when Josh finally came out of his room, his grandma stopped him dead in his tracks. She told him that she couldn't stand to watch him kill himself anymore, and if he planned on using drugs, she would kick him out of the her house.

All of this made Josh think, and finally he decided that he was going to make a honest effort to turn his life in the right direction. He understood that he was was hurting people that he loved and didn't want to do it anymore. He realized that he wouldn't be able to this by himself, so he prayed and asked God for his help. He knew all the pain he had caused everyone and really wanted to change. He also realized that he would need his grandmother's help if he was going to recover from all of this. His grandmother stood beside him and supported him. It took a lot of resistance and strength to stop using drugs. He would have nightmares of the devil trying to persuade Josh to use drugs. However, no matter how large the cravings were, he would somehow resist the temptation. Now step by step, Josh continued to progress and get back to his old self.