I Am the Messenger: 8 of Diamonds Summary & Analysis

One day, while Ed is visiting his Ma, he realizes she has replaced the coffee table she got him with one Tommy, Ed’s brother, bought her. When Ed expresses offense at this, Ma insults his personal taste and his abilities until he leaves. Ed thinks about how he prefers being Jimmy over being himself.

Later that evening, when Ed goes to visit Milla, she asks him to read to her. He reads Wuthering Heights to her until she falls asleep. In the book, Ed finds a love note dated back to 1941, addressed to Milla from Jimmy. At the next visit, Milla shows Ed a photo album and points out how handsome he used to be. Suddenly, she asks him if she treated him right. Ed assures her that she was the best wife anyone could have. Milla cries and laughs.

A few days later, Ed is playing cards with his friends at his house when the phone rings. The caller asks Ed, “How’s it going, Jimmy?” before hanging up. Stunned by the call, Ed returns to his card game. Audrey looks at him with concern, and Ed wants to tell her what’s wrong, but he knows her opinion won’t change what he has to do. He knows he has fulfilled his mission for Milla by giving her companionship, but now he must move on to the next address.

Later, Ed takes the Doorman to the cemetery to visit Ed’s father’s grave and look at the other tombstones. There, Ed runs into the cemetery security guard and asks him if he knows a grave with the name Johnson on it. Eventually, Ed finds the grave of James Johnson, who died in 1942 serving his country. Ed realizes Milla has been waiting all this time for Jimmy to finally return to her.