"Look Daddy, I drew a picture," Aniya said showing her picture to her father.

Michael chuckled and bent down to see. He took the picture and looked at it. 

He smiled at the stick figure drawn pictures on the page. 

"See, this is you and me," she said pointing to the two sticks in a big house. 

Michael furrowed his eyebrows. "Who is this person in this little house to the side?"

She smiled. "That's Mommy. I put her in the hospital because she's sick. When she's better she'll come back. That's why I drew the path from the hospital to our house."

Michael's eyes grew watery. He hugged his daughter and kissed her cheek. 

"I love you baby girl."

"I love you too daddy."

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"When's Mommy coming home?"

Michael really didn't know how to answer that question....

"She's coming home soon, I hope."

********************

The three of them were sitting in a circle...or more like a triangle. 

"Hello everyone how are we this night?"

They both said "good".

"That's great so how about we tell our names and the reason why we're in here," said Dr. Fabian. 

Tasha wasn't all too comfortable with telling strangers about her problems so she decided to be in a small group of two. 

"Hi, I'm Tasha and I am a recovering crack addict."

Next was Tasha's good friend Leslie whom she'd found out was going the Rehabilitation Center too. 

Leslie's life was really messed up. She had been so intoxicated that she left her three month old baby unattended in the bath tub and he drowned... Leslie began being even more depressed and began drinking more. Her ex-husband came to get the rest of his things and found her passed out on the floor....

"Hi, I'm Leslie and I am a recovering alcoholic."

"Alright, let's get started."

*******************

They put Tasha in a white room with only a bed that was bolted to the floor. 

She was going crazy. Sweat drenched her body and clothing. She was suffering brutal withdrawal. The longest that Tasha had been without her drug was the few hours in between hits. 

She began seeing dark figures. They had menacing teeth and crazy eyes. What was going on with her? 

She needed to get out of this place. 

She tried to move but the figures followed her. 

"Guards! We gave a runner!"

"No! You can't take me!"

The guards grabbed hold of her.

Prick!

Everything faded to black and there was silence. 

********************

It was mid afternoon and Tasha sat down in the Rehab center's park. Dr. Fabian came over and sat next to her. 

"What's wrong?"

"I can't do this anymore..."

"Why?"

"I don't know...but I just can't."

Tasha got up and walked away. 

"Ms. Jackson, please wait."

Tasha stopped but still had her back turned. 

Dr. Fabian spoke. "If you aren't going to do this for yourself. At least do it for your daughter. Just think of all the children who needed their parents but no one was there. Tasha, she needs you..."

As Dr. Fabian talked, a little boy rode down the sidewalk on his bike by them. 

"Ma'am, not to be in your conversation, but that lady is right. My mom died of a drug overdose and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her. It makes me think 'if only she had the help she needed'"

The way the boy spoke brought tears to Tasha's eyes. 

Tasha turned around. "I'm going to make it....for my daughter."