I Am the Messenger: 2 of Diamonds Summary & Analysis

Ed wants to tell the reader about his life. He plays cards with his friends a few times a week. His friends are Marv, who never shuts up, Ritchie, who is quiet and has an awful tattoo, and Audrey, who is beautiful and also a cabdriver like Ed. Before Ed describes himself, he explains that at the age of 19, Bob Dylan and Salvador Dalí had begun their groundbreaking careers and Joan of Arc was already leading a revolution. Ed at 19 is just an underaged cabdriver.

Ed became a cab driver because Audrey was one, and Ed is in love with Audrey. She does not love him back, however, and he constantly questions his life and his lack of accomplishments. Whenever he tries to talk about his insecurities with his friends or his Ma, they all dismiss him.

Ed rents a cheap shack for a house. He works for a sketchy taxi company that didn’t question him when he lied about his age. His describes his suburban town as average, with good and bad neighborhoods. He grew up in one of the bad neighborhoods. Ed stayed in his childhood home until his younger brother, Tommy, left for college. Ed was too lazy to get accepted into college, so now he drives a cab.

Ed’s one roommate is a 17-year-old named the Doorman who spends all day warming his fur in front of the door. The Doorman is an incredibly smelly mutt who used to belong to Ed’s father, before his father died six months ago. The dog’s happiness at simple things like sunbathing makes Ed happy. Ed knows he’ll be sad when the dog finally dies.

Ed’s other possessions include a TV and a family photo. The photo shows Ed’s Ma, his father, his two sisters, and his younger brother. Only half the people in the photo are smiling. Ed describes his father as a kind and reserved man who was also a lonely and lazy alcoholic. He was a furniture delivery man who died from liver failure. Ed’s brother, Tommy, is in college in the city. His two sisters, Leigh and Katherine, have also moved to the city, leaving Ed the only sibling still in town.

Ed has dark hair and an average build. He likes to walk the Doorman around town or to his father’s grave. He imagines Audrey walking beside him. Unlike Dylan or Dalí, he has accomplished nothing and enjoys spending his time playing cards and driving his taxi from the city to the town.

Ed restates that he is hopelessly in love with Audrey. Audrey, on the other hand, is busy having sex with many people who are not Ed. She tells Ed she won’t have sex with him because she likes him too much. Ed is too shy to make a move on her anyway, because he knows from past relationships that he is horrible at sex. He wishes sex were like math, where he could openly admit being horrible at it, but instead society expects men to be good at sex.

Audrey comes over to Ed’s home whenever she feels sad. They drink and watch movies together until she falls asleep. Ed knows she comes from an abusive family, which is why she refuses to let herself love anyone. Ed longs to be with her anyway.