There were times when Joseph felt he was the only thing standing in the way of total destruction. This, from a man who only had wanted a family, a home in the suburbs, a job he could feel good about.

When he slept at night it was with Satan whispering in his ear. If he was more awake than asleep all he could hear was his wife's soft feathery snoring. He'd open his eyes to stretch out the images of towering brick walls that flickered with night lights, of women garish and painted pale green, of his mother, still as sleep in the dark.