Previous Next

part three: Trying Times for Ed Kennedy, A♠, 2♠, 3♠ 

Summary: A♠ the game

On the day of the annual Sledge Game, Marv treats Ed to breakfast, his uncharacteristic generosity intended to make sure Ed shows up. Ed takes Doorman with him to the game. The players come to drink beer, rough each other up, and win bragging rights for the ensuing year. No one asks if Ed made a police report on the beating that he endured. Ed asks a boy named Jay to look after Doorman during the game. Ed’s defensive position covers an enormous fellow everyone is calling Mimi for his resemblance to a character on The Drew Carey Show. After being tackled twice, Ed knocks Mimi unconscious. Ed vomits and leaves the game to find that Doorman is gone. 

Summary: 2♠ twenty dollars for the dog and the card  

Ed and Audrey search the park for Doorman before spotting him and Jay back at their original spot. A young woman is with them, giving Jay something. Ed is sure it’s the new ace and he unsuccessfully chases her. Jay refuses to hand over the card and Doorman until Ed pays him twenty bucks. The card is the ace of spades. 

Summary: 3♠ dig  

The ace of spades has three names, Graham Greene, Morris West, and Sylvia Plath. Ed dreams about Plath’s “Barren Woman” poem and realizes the names are writers. Audrey comes to Ed’s house to watch a movie. Ed contemplates kissing her and convinces himself he’s owed some compensation for all the messenger work. He impulsively kisses Audrey, the sores from his beating opening up and bleeding on her lips. Ed immediately apologizes. She graciously explains again she doesn’t want a physical relationship with Ed and smooths over the situation. 

Ed researches the writers at the library and writes the names of their book titles on a napkin. He checks out eighteen of the authors’ works and is prepared to read them one by one until he finds a different napkin in his house telling him he’s overthinking the process. Ed compares the titles of the works with the street names in an atlas of the town. He determines the house numbers by paging through the associated book for the page numbers that have been marked with a spade. 

Analysis of A♠, 2♠, 3♠ 

Ed’s friends aren’t alarmed by his obvious injuries inflicted by Gavin and Daniel Rose and their four companions. In their town, getting beaten up is commonplace, to be dealt with by retaliation or submission. In this environment, the Sledge Game brings out the local blue-collar workers who have plenty of muscle and aren’t afraid to use it. Ed’s team manager uses the strategy of man-to-man marking where defenders are assigned a specific player to cover. Ed gets the brawny Mimi and after his initial alarm, Ed surprises himself with his calmness. When he knocks Mimi unconscious, Ed’s revulsion signifies his evolving sensitivity to others’ pain. Ed’s panic when he finds Doorman gone reflects the deep bond he has with his dog. The mercenary kid Jay is an object lesson in exploiting others for profit, and this supposed innocence symbolizes the casual cruelty prevalent in Ed’s world. 

Ed has been dreading the ace of spades. In many card games, spades is the highest-stakes suit and the ace the most valuable card in the suit. The names on the card are professional writers—clues designed to intrigue the avid reader in Ed and add significance to the mission. But he doesn’t immediately recognize the names as authors. It takes his subconscious informing him through a dream about Sylvia Plath’s poem “Barren Woman.” Ed tells Audrey about the card and the names. Thinking about the risks he takes, the care he shows, and the investment he makes without reward motivates him to breach the platonic agreement he and Audrey have. Their kiss evokes a ritualistic pact sealed by the exchange of blood. But Audrey refuses to deviate from the status quo.

At the library, the titles of the authors’ works engage Ed’s imagination, showing his enthusiasm for reading. Finding the napkin note at home after having written down the authors’ titles on a napkin at the library is another eerie signal the mastermind sends that he watches everything Ed does. This omniscience gives the narrative an air of deus ex machina, a story in which a person suddenly appears who provides a remedy or solution to an extremely difficult situation.

Previous section part two: The Stones of Home, 7♣, 8♣, 9♣, 10♣, J♣, Q♣, K♣ Next section part three: Trying Times for Ed Kennedy, 4♠, 5♠, 6♠, 7♠

Take a Study Break