Beautiful Boy: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Nic continues going through the program, expressing his gratitude to David for getting him there. During his third week, he asks David if college is still an option in the fall. Nic promises to attend AA meetings regularly, to work with a sponsor, and to request a substance-free dorm. David says tells Nic that he thinks he can do it. He is secretly glad that Nic wants to return to college and may be fine from here on out.

Nic tells David about two other events: Stephen left the program, walking out and immediately relapsing at a bar. The other news is that Kevin, the GI, asked Nic to “stand up” and speak for him at his graduation from the program, to send him out into the world. Kevin said that he respected Nic and wanted to prove him wrong. Nic agreed to do it, and afterward, Kevin and his wife hugged Nic and left holding hands.

Following Nic’s graduation from the program a week later, David picks him up from St. Helena. Nic speaks brightly about the future and wants to commit to stay away from drugs. Then, at the end of the summer, Nic sets off for Hampshire. When they drop Nic off, David meets with the head of the college’s health service, who can help him find a 12-step meeting and introduce him to other students. She assures David that there is support for people who want it.

Nic calls from school, excited about his classes. A month later, he still sounds okay. He has had regular sessions with a drug and alcohol counselor, attends meetings, and has found a sponsor. David start to feel his worries ebb as Nic speaks about new friends and things get back to “seminormal.”

After another month, Nic stops returning David’s calls, and David assumes that he has relapsed. David asks a friend visiting Amherst to check in on Nic, and the friend reports that Nic was high in his room. David calls the Hampshire health counselor, and her response surprises him: “relapse is part of recovery,” she says. At Nic’s rehab programs, David heard that it can take time and mistakes for a person to understand how easy it is to relapse—like smokers who need multiple tries to stay off cigarettes. Treatment is conceived of as an ongoing process.

David worries, however, as every relapse is potentially lethal. When Nic calls, he admits that he screwed up and promises to stop using—he had to go through it to learn. He keeps in touch and comes home for winter break. Nic seems to be doing much better, and David thinks that perhaps he simply slipped. Nic goes back to school for the spring semester, getting into a competitive writing course by writing a story with fictionalized versions of the people at the rehab centers. The teacher asked if Nic is an addict, and when Nic said he was in recovery, the teacher said that he would continue to teach him as long as Nic stayed sober.

David visits Boston in late winter, where Nic and his new girlfriend, Julia, meet David for a fun dinner. David is traveling with a friend who lives and works in Shanghai, and the four of them have coffee afterward. The friend is impressed with Nic and Julia and ask if they want to teach English in China for the summer. They are enthusiastic and grateful. It is easygoing and assuring to David that Nic is moving on with his life, putting his problem behind him.

As the school year winds down, Nic plans his trip for China. He is overjoyed to be coming home for a bit before he heads out. But when he returns, he confesses that he has been using the whole semester and leaves, slamming the door behind him. When Jasper and Daisy come home, they see that Nic is gone. David is in tears and dissolves into a panic. The next morning, Jasper comes into the living room holding a satin box in which he keeps his savings of $8. He is confused and says that he thinks Nic took his money.