What is the main conflict in Rule of the Bone: A Novel by Russell Banks?

Rule of Bone is a coming of age story, set partly in the teenage wasteland of upper New York, and partly in the sunny and seedy paradise of Jamaica. Chappie is a thirteen-year-old misfit with a burgeoning drug habit, living with his mother and his abusive stepfather Ken in Au Sable, a small town in upstate New York. Chappie's flight from his abusive home is a tale of delinquency, crime, friendship, and heartbreak.