Hunger
This is the evening Dave has nowhere to go. His mother told him to go away, his father did nothing to stop her. An initial feeling of euphoria is replaced with worries and hunger now. For now, Dave stands in front “of a pizza bar” and “the smell of pizza” makes his head “turn.” He opens the door and makes his way, “in a daze,” to the back of the room. There are “the sounds of beer mugs clashing together and laughter.” Dave feels “stares from above” him and it makes him stop. His eyes dart in search of “abandoned food,” for the feeling of hunger is overwhelming. This imagery evokes a feeling of exhaustion, for the boy is both tired and hungry. It is very painful to read about sufferings of the child whose parents are so cruel and careless that his son’s problems don’t bother them at all.
Mommy
Like any other child, Dave wants to be loved by his mother. He imagines his mother “sobbing in Father’s arms,” wondering where he is, whether he is “alive.” He can almost see his “mommy running up to” him “with tears in her eyes” as she “wraps” him in “love,” “showering” him with kisses, “tears rolling down her face.” Dave can almost hear his mommy say “the tree most important words” he longs “to hear.” And he is “ready” to say back “the four most important words: I love you too!” This imagery evokes a feeling of great sadness. In spite of everything, Dave continues to love his mother while she denies him her motherly affection.
Just a kid
As soon as Dave repairs his bike, he feels elated. He pedals down the street “so fast” that it seems to him that he is “flying.” “Minutes later” he pops his feet “on the center bar” and coasts through “the freshly cut grass of the play park.” After parking his bike, he scrambles “through the immense trilayered wooden fort.” The boy climbs “all the ropes,” he runs and jumps “on the chained drawbridge.” He feels “the warmth of the sun’s rays” and feels free. This imagery helps readers to understand how much such trivial things like playing, running, riding a bike etc. mean for Dave. After several years of non-stop abuse, constant humiliation and despair, he can be just a kid.
