RE: My mother's hope.

Your decision to narrate this story from a first person POV works well. It reads like nonfiction. As we progress through the story, we almost feel that Peter is in the grips of a compulsion he is having trouble controlling. He wants to stop his careless ways, and realizes they are destructive. Not until he has a crisis does he find the will to change.

Your arc is strong here as is your character motivation. The scene where he tastes his own tears is very effective.

Thank you for sharing this with us, @lightpen.