The story of Balto is about a dysfunctional family. The father has an addiction problem with alcohol and has trouble with committing to being a stable parent for his kids. Alan, the overworked father, meets his beautiful and flighty new girlfriend for lunch on the marina in order to ease the stress of the week. After ordering too many bottles (and a cognac, just for the taste), he regretfully realizes he has to pick up his two daughters from soccer practice after school. Typically this is not his responsibility, for even as a single father, he makes a sufficient enough wage to afford an Au Pair whom nannies his daughters. Unfortunately, it is her day off, and Martine (his estranged wife) "is off in Paris, doing whatever she wants." He chooses to drive his car to retrieve his daughters. It was at the point immediately after the conversation with the valet that Alan succumbs to his own drunkenness. He manages to pursue the drive to the school, but upon arriving, asks his twelve year old daughter to drive the car home. He acknowledges that it's a straight shot home, and that even though Angelle should not be driving, she is mature for her age. This little part shows how a family can fall apart in seconds. How could the father let his innocent twelve year old daughter drive the car. I get it he was really drunk but couldn’t he just have parked the car somewhere near the school and rest. The daughter acts impulsively upon on her self-absorbed want. She wants her mother to return home, for her father to become a stable member in her home, and for her well-doing in school to be admired. She is just as guilty as all the characters introduced but she is really matured for her age and refuses to be talked to.

In court,  his daughter must decide between being honest about her father drinking and driving and defending him in order to for him to keep custody of his children. His attorney states that “ there are two kinds of truths…. Just like lies. There are bad lies, we all know that, lies meant to cheat and deceive, and then there are bad lies, little fibs that don’t really hurt anybody…”(866).  His attorney wants the daughter to differentiate between good and bad, truth and lies. The daughter now has to make the big decision. The decision she makes will affect her for the rest of her life. This moment will show whether she has been raised right by her parent. Her mom left them for Paris and his father has an alcohol addiction. She has been waiting for her father to quit drinking and now she has the chance to make it right but it will come at a big consequences. If she tells them the truth about what happened then the father will lose custody of his daughters. If she lies then she will get her father back but the problems of the family that has been going on for years will only continue. Does she want to go through the struggle again? Towards the end of the story, she made the decision to defend her father. Maybe he was humiliated enough. Maybe she was close enough to eighteen that custody wasn’t an issue. Whatever it was, she walked away from that courtroom choosing the lie that may not hurt anyone, and not the one that would hurt her father. We can argue all day whether she made the right decision but in the end, she made the decision that she thinks what was best for her and her family. Although, the family has many problems going on but a true loving family will always support each other in need and will do anything for each other. This story is a good example of family that always has each other back.