A To Z

[Former Member]

Well, here is one thing bugging me

 

Mr Stevenson says to the judge: There may be living relatives, but that would take further investigation.

 

and later the judge asks Andy: are there any resources or family you didn’t tell me about? 

 

What about Uncle Ray? Is he simply dismissed as family due to him molesting Andy?

"Uncle" Ray is not legally related to Andy. The "Uncle" title is an honorary one as is often the case with older friends of the family. Ray was a partner of Andy's father and is probably the least honorable person in this story..

[Timothy M.]

"Uncle" Ray is not legally related to Andy. The "Uncle" title is an honorary one as is often the case with older friends of the family. Ray was a partner of Andy's father and is probably the least honorable person in this story..

 

Ahh, that explains it, I couldn't remember. But why would Andy then be worried about Uncle Ray getting custody?

[Former Member]

Ahh, that explains it, I couldn't remember. But why would Andy then be worried about Uncle Ray getting custody?

 

Who knows what Andy's father might have written in his will?

[Timothy M.]

Who knows what Andy's father might have written in his will?

 

I very much doubt he would have thought that far. Men like him are convinced of their own invulnerability. But of course Andy may not have known any better, and in any case if Ray turned up and claimed responsibility, he could have gotten away with it then. But I hope Mr Stevenson sees to it that he is persecuted if possible. Right now the most importan matter is Andy's safety and well-being though.

[Parker Owens]

Well, here is one thing bugging me

 

Mr Stevenson says to the judge: There may be living relatives, but that would take further investigation.

 

and later the judge asks Andy: are there any resources or family you didn’t tell me about? 

 

What about Uncle Ray? Is he simply dismissed as family due to him molesting Andy?

Your question is a good one, and I wrestled with it for a while. The question for the Judge is: does Andy have family he can contact and count on? Andy says no, so the Judge understands it as Andy can't find him, count on him or know of his whereabouts.  That clearly comes through in the journal. Finding Uncle Ray would be part of the investigation  referred to in the quote. For Andy, he wants nothing to do with Uncle Ray. He do anything - including lie to the Judge - to avoid his uncle. I suspect his answer was automatic and unthinking.

[dughlas]

I've come to this story later than most of you and even binge reading yesterday have only completed the first 31 chapters ... I was leary of this story because of the abuse issues but several of the readers/reviewers are folks I know and respect. I read the entire forum before actually beginning the story so I had a sense of where things were going. The beginning was rough had I not known a bit of the future I might have stopped. I was a weeping wreck at one point but I persevered.

Someone questioned Andy going back to school. It makes perfect sense to me ... he was subconciously looking for normalcy, and kids his age go to school, it was a return to what he knew, even the mistreatment of his peers. He thinks he deserves this.

A for the pace and direction ... it works for me, life meanders directionless at times for teens, it feels natural if frustrating. Of course I also have the benefit of reading alot of the story in a short time so there is a progresson.

Now I need to get back to reading so I can catch up with the rest of you.

Edited December 31, 2015 by dughlas

[Paqman]

"Uncle" Ray is not legally related to Andy. The "Uncle" title is an honorary one as is often the case with older friends of the family. Ray was a partner of Andy's father and is probably the least honorable person in this story..

Chapter 2. But I know that Mom and Dad fought about Uncle Ray. I heard them yelling about his visits. They were arguing a lot back then, and I can still hear Mom shouting that she wouldn’t have Uncle Ray in the house. I also remember Dad yelling that he wouldn’t turn away his own Flesh And Blood, and that Mom would damn well welcome Ray the next time he came to visit – or else.

Eric said the thinks he's his dad's younger brother.

The police or school principal knew about him as an uncle, they wouldn't call him that as a family friend.

The judge knew about Ray, he read the journal before asking Andy about any other relatives. He's not going to send him to the man that raped him

[Paqman]

Oops, still Stephan at that point, not yet Eric.

[Timothy M.]

Oops, still Stephan at that point, not yet Eric.

 

You can edit your original post when you realize a mistake like the one above. But on the other hand posting is good, so you can get to 5 posts and access more of GA.

 

Thanks for going back and finding out for us, I was too lazy to do that. I wasn't sure whether Andy had actually written about uncle Ray in the journal or we only knew about him from his thoughts.

[spike382]

You can edit your original post when you realize a mistake like the one above. But on the other hand posting is good, so you can get to 5 posts and access more of GA.

 

Thanks for going back and finding out for us, I was too lazy to do that. I wasn't sure whether Andy had actually written about uncle Ray in the journal or we only knew about him from his thoughts.

Not to be annoying, but the way the story is written, we are reading Andy's journal, so the only reason we know about Ray is cause it's written in the journal. :-)

[Former Member]

Sorry. I thought I remembered Ray as being Andy's father's partner. Maybe I'm 'remembering' from one of the other stories I'm reading. (Oops!)

[spike382]

Ok, so at the end of chapter 3 Andy encounters the "preppy" girls who are giggling and talking about him. One of these girls tells him he's cute and sort of asks him out on a date. Andy then gives her a firm no. It was a bit of a random event, and Andy (then Stefan) was very suspicious of the entire incident. Granted we only see this incident through Andy's eyes, but the behavior of the girl was a little strange and she a perfect stranger asked him out without even introducing herself. Andy felt like he was being set up for something and the girl seemed more frustrated than hurt when he said no.

 

For some reason this even has bugged me ever since. At first it seemed like we'd get back to it at some point, but then everything went really bad and Andy soon left Carlsburg behind. I still wonder what the purpose of this incident was. Just a glance at a typical day in the life of Andy? A way of illustrating his general awkwardness and mistrust of others due to his abuse? A little character building moment where we see that Andy's view of himself is not entirely the way everyone else sees him? It's clear that Andy is actually very good-looking and has no clue about this. Is that all this was, a girl who was attracted to Andy and him being clueless?

 

For whatever reason, I can't get it out of my head that this girl was up to something. Someone recently brought up the smoke bomb in Andy's locker, did this girl have something to do with that. James Ackerman planted it for sure, but that girl was looking over Andy's shoulder when he was putting in the combination. Will this incident ever be revisited in any way? Or maybe I'm just a bit too fixated on that hahaha.

[Parker Owens]

You have got to remember that all we ever really get is Stefan's experience. And I doubt that girl was going to tell Stefan what her agenda might have been.

[spike382]

Oh I get that. Also for sure she wouldn't have told Stefan what the heck her deal was, but did she in fact have an agenda? Was this just some random event that I should just forget about? Will it ever come up again?

 

C'mon Parker! Gimmie gimmie gimmie! I must know!!!

[Parker Owens]

I think that must make me possessed! 

[spike382]

Well there may be a bit of obsession, and Parker knows I love his story. But I actually am obsessed with a few stories so it helps spread it around.

[Parker Owens]

Oh. And I was staying in this lovely hotel that has an exorcise room...!

[Parker Owens]

Earlier we speculated just for fun about who would play certain roles if A to Z ever made it to the silver screen. So, question:

 

Who would play Monica?

Who would play Garrett?

 

Who might play Judge Harrison?

 

Any ideas?

[spike382]

Ok for Monica, somebody who can be sweet yet kinda bitchy at the same time...

 

Sandra Bullock

 

For Garrett somebody kinda laid back and yet could also be convincing as a lawyer with a farm...

 

Bradley Cooper (not 100% on this one)

 

Ok for Judge Harrison, John Voight springs to mind for some reason

[GayEssex]

Just want to say thanks for the story. Really enjoying it so far.

 

I'm really curious as to what's happened back in Carlsberg, whether Uncle Ray will show up, and of course what the fate of Andy's mother was. I have my suspicions about her. Andy only knows that she left because his dad said so - she never said goodbye, not did he see her leave. Andy's dad was such an evil bastard. I wonder if he lied and the police might end up finding something gruesome in the back garden.

[Parker Owens]

There is lots to be curious about in a long story like this one. Some loose ends are bound to stay loose. I do appreciate your speculation, but I can't really say...

[skinnydragon]

There is lots to be curious about in a long story like this one. Some loose ends are bound to stay loose. I do appreciate your speculation, but I can't really say...

 

pure evil 

[Parker Owens]

No, evil would be Christopher Walken as Judge Harrison. 

[Parker Owens]

This is a public apology for the cliffhanger in Chapter 57. Please put away your Parker Owens voodoo dolls. And your pins.

[skinnydragon]

Nope! David needs them on his shelf for the good pastor's impending visit.