Abandonment

The young protagonist of the story, Jamie, had experienced the sting of abandonment too often in his young life. The only reference to his biological father was his mother's comment that he had left long ago. Jamie filled the vacuum of a fatherless life with his hopes that his mother's best friend, Earl, was really his secret father. When she assured Jamie that Earl was just a friend, Jamie kept the dream alive by believing that Earl was probably at least his uncle.

Even though Patty was smart and was behaving as a good mother by removing her kids from an abusive situation, Jamie faced yet another emotional abandonment from the split. While Jamie feared Van, he had an emotional connection to him. His confused emotions were obvious when he showed sympathy for Van when Patty later rejected him. To Jamie, it was the same feeling he had...