My Friend Leonard

After collecting himself after hours and hours of sobbing over the death of Lilly, James Frey in My Friend Leonard puts himself in one of the most challenging positions yet. As he is walking through the streets, he founds himself surrounded my bars and cheap liquor stores. In order to get rid of his unimaginable pain, James decides to try to drink his problems away. In the past, when James would feel any kind of unpleasant or strong emotion, he would cover it up with drugs and alcohol. That's the only thing he knows how to do. With such an horrific event occurring, he sees this as his best option. Determined to follow through his plan, James buys a cheap bottle of wine that most alcoholics use to get wasted quick. He calls it the "quick trip to hell" or "liquid death". This potent alcohol actually eats away at the lining of the stomach.
As James gets into his car and risks being caught illegally drinking and driving with the wine in his hand, he cannot drink it. The bottle of wine sits beside James all night as he curses at everything possible and passes out. I think this event in the book truly shows how much James has grown. Although I think tempting himself and carrying alcohol with him is silly, I'm somewhat proud of James at this point. Even with such a great loss, he is learning to make the right decisions to gain his life back.