Vicki is David’s first wife and Nic’s mother. David and Vicki divorce when Nic is three years old, after David falls in love with a family friend. Vicki subsequently moves to Los Angeles and remarries. David and Vicki agree to a custody arrangement whereby Nic spends summers and holidays with Vicki, and the school year with David. Nic begins flying between them alone at five years old, and David worries that their divorce contributed to Nic’s addiction. Vicki loves Nic and shares David’s concern over Nic’s increasing drug use during his teens and twenties, and Vicki also experiences a lot of pain at Nic’s hands. Nic treats his mother much like he treats his father: he breaks into Vicki’s home and steals from her, asks her for money, and rarely heeds her advice about getting help.