Reuben Kellar swings on a rope outside of Ben’s house in New Straitsville, Ohio, where he has been staying since January 2021 under his care on March 13, 2021. Having moved houses from his now deceased mother, grandparents and multiple foster families throughout his childhood, the fleeting nature of a home for has always been a challenge for him to overcome. “This is my third time trying this, I tried it once, didn't work out so I ran and I tried it again, it didn't work out, so I ran every time. It turns out with me running every time I try to live the domestic life and being part of a family. I don't know how I just always seem to fuck it up,” says Reuben.

Reuben smokes a joint with his close friends (left) Damon McGee and (right) Ethan Rudder at Ben’s home in New Straitsville, Ohio, on March 26, 2021. “I think about what I had before compared to what I have right now and it's like, I had so much more materially. But when it comes to like having support and people there for me, I didn't have none of that.” Reuben finds weed to help calm his mind, “I overthink like crazy. It helps me when I overthink something that I'm about to do,” says Reuben.

Reuben wears a heart pendant around his neck containing his mother, Genevieve Brown’s, ashes after she died from cancer in February 2020, on May 25, 2021. “When my mom was dying, she was on her deathbed crying begging me to get off the needle, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I just got worse and worse, and I was like how the fuck can you continue doing that, while your mom was on her deathbed begging you not to? Because you're going through so much pain inside that you just wanted to replace it with a physical type of pain,” says Reuben. It was then when Reuben felt he came to terms with his addiction and sought to gain control of his life.

Reuben takes online classes at home in Ben's room to work towards his high school degree on May 5, 2021. When I'm here, I don't worry about nobody coming up in my house and stealing my shit. I'm not worried about nobody kicking my door in and stealing my money… I don't worry about fucking waking up in the morning to a fucking fiend outside my house, “I need my fix…” I wake up in the morning, first thing on my mind is I gotta’ log in and do some schoolwork,” says Reuben.

Reuben sits together with his sister Debra (middle), his cousin Carlee (bottom) and his dog Patches on the hill behind Ben's house on March 13, 2021. Having his family torn apart during foster care, Rueben never wants to experience that separation again, tying him to southeast Ohio and New Straitsville where most of his family lives. “I actually think about getting out, making it out of here a lot, and I just can't bring myself to leave my siblings,” says Reuben.

Reuben visits his father James and his uncle Kevin's grave at Hilltop Cemetery in Millfield, Ohio on April 4, 2021. “The first traumatic experience I experienced in life was the loss of my father. He drowned in his car… He’s a drug dealer and stuff so when he died, I got a lot of shit that people gave me… people talking about good riddance, another drug dealer off the street. It's pretty tough going through that, it actually caused a lot of mental disorders.” At the age of 7, Reuben lost his father and uncle in what he says was a drug related car chase. At the age of 15, he was introduced to methamphetamines. “Six months after that was the first time I ever seen a needle or used the needle,” says Reuben.

Reuben Kellar rolls a joint on his favorite psychology book, The Body Keeps the Score, in Ben’s living room on March 26, 2021. “The most fascinating thing is brains, like how they work… it's crazy like how minds work like psychology is going to be my thing… extreme loss, or any type of trauma can cause your brain to do all kinds of crazy things,” says Reuben. Reuben hopes to one day go to college, Ohio University being his dream school, so he can learn to help people who have gone through similar experiences.

Reuben dances on a pool table with his friends in their “trap house” in Corning, Ohio, on March 16, 2021. “I came here to enjoy my childhood that I didn't get. I’m almost 18 now. So, this is the little bit of time that I have to be a child, and I'm taking advantage of it. Even though I think about it a lot and I hate it, like for real I hate being a kid, I haven't been a kid for a minute,” says Reuben.

Reuben builds a tape web to run through at the “trap house” in Corning, Ohio, on March 16, 2021. Written on the wall is the nickname “pizza roll,” his closest friends gave him and call him by.

Reuben takes in the sunlight while walking in the forest to get out of the house at Robinsons Cave in New Straitstville, Ohio, on April 4, 2021. “I've come to find out that trying to live up to my last name is not going to get me anywhere but prison. I mean I don't want to say I look forward to prison, but I definitely see it in my future,” says Reuben.

Reuben cuts the lawn on one of Ben’s properties in New Straitsville, Ohio, to earn his keep while friends come up to check on him on May 21, 2021. “I know if my dad was here now, he'd be disappointed, but I know he'd be proud of me at this point in time,” says Reuben.

A drawing that Reuben made at his Intensive Outpatient treatment (IOP) hangs on the wall in his room.

Reuben celebrates his graduation from IOP (intensive outpatient treatment), a rehabilitation that counsels him on his trauma and past drug usage, with Ben and his counselor Amanda Jennings in New Lexington, Ohio, on May 25, 2021. “I’m so proud of him,” says Ben, hoping that this will be one of many steps forward for Reuben.

Reuben smokes at a gas station in Shawnee, Ohio, while Ben goes to grab another pack of cigarettes on April 4, 2021. “That was the best thing about it, I didn't have to go and ask, “hey can I get some money to go buy me some cigarettes…” When I was at the peak of my money, that's when I was at the rock bottom of my addiction, and I was so far gone that I didn't have anybody. I was happy because I had the money to make my siblings happy by buying them shit, but it was not making me happy,” says Reuben.

Reuben takes a moment for himself after celebrating his graduation with friends and family at Burr Oak Lake in Glouster, Ohio, on May 25, 2021. “It’s really hard to be proud of myself because I don’t feel like I made myself happy… I have experienced failure so much that my brain just automatically preps me for failure, and I failed before I even try,” says Reuben.

Ben looks out to the road off of his balcony in New Straitsville, Ohio, dry heaving from stomach pain he gets from anxiety on June 21, 2021. The night before last on Father’s Day, Reuben ran off and reconnected with Daniel L. McKee, a “dangerous drug dealer,” “father figure,” and “role model,” to Reuben says Ben. Reuben was apprehended by authorities while attempting to flee a car chase with McKee, hospitalized, and relapsed. Reuben did not want to return home in fear of putting Ben in danger nor face authorities before he knew about what would become eight charges against him from that night. While on the run, Reuben wanted Ben to know, “you didn’t deserve any of this in your life.”