The Card: Story Written by James Ross

The Card

The story is written by James Ross. ,,The Card'' which is the title of the short story, is all about a young boy and his time figuring out what this card really means. Thats why this is a good title for the story. It's all about the card. The things happening around Mickey, explains the words in it.

 It all started with a simple texture ,, No one has your back''.

 A young boy, received a card from his father on his 10th birthday. At the end of the letter he said, “no one has your back.” Even though the young boy had been through a lot, growing up without a dad, and living with drug addicts, he learned to take care of himself and knew that there would not be a bright future, if he let more bad things come in to his life, for example; His mother's boyfriend.

 The boy often looked and re-read the card, wondering what his dad meant by “no one has your back.” As he got older, and life wasn’t getting better he concluded his dad was right, no one had his back. He was on his own.

Mickey the main character, who is also the narrator in this story, is a very confused person, he can barely remember his father,  and has this negative personality which reflects and make sense, when you look on his house hold. His sister Laura, a very honest and smart person. But although being a junkie, she managed to keep the family together. ,,line 54-60''. And then there is Mickey's mother, a total flake (they call her), who is always doing everything wrong ,,line 66-72''.

Mickey and his family were sitting around the table talking about their day. However the story leads into a conflict when Mickey wants to know more about his dad, which his mom won't tell him anything about. Now the only way Mickey can get information about his father, is through his sister. Soon the conflict is realized fully, when Mickey discovers that the only words from his father, are words of advice: "no one's got your back". Mickey's mother had found a new boyfriend. Mickey knew the guy had his own troubles, being involved with drugs. Mickey tried to convince his mom to believe him, but it did not work. ,,line 74-85''  That is when he realized that his father was right all along. The relationship between his mother and her un stabile boyfriend had come to an end after the man was arrested by the police, who had received a phone call from Mickey upon the discovery of a packet of cocaine hidden under the stairs of their house. Mickey was so much relieved after the man was arrested and he sincerely and deeply wished that his father would come back home.

The themes in the story can be described as a broken home, distrust, drug addicts, bitterness and more identical tragic words. It is shown a lot, that this is not a happy and healthy family, neither physically or pyschologically.

The reason for his father's disappearance is never known to the reader. The reader is left to guess for the cause of his disappearance. Mickey had always asked his mother about his father, but she had never given him a satisfactory answer to all of his questions, and he had never received a convincing reply to all his inquiries about his father from any member of his family.