The Vision, pp. 101-118<\/strong><\/p>\n So, this week you get to meet Yancey. He\u2019s from New Jersey. And we need to talk about men, because in my read, this chapter is an illustration of the limits of evangelical ideas about women and assertiveness.<\/p>\n Meet Yancey from New Jersey<\/strong><\/p>\n So, Yancey. He talks like this:<\/p>\n \u201cYo! What\u2019s dis place? You guys sell anything, or you just here to smell up da town?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See, Cheyenne and Magdalene are working at the Herb Den\u2014we\u2019ve skipped two weeks, and Magdalene has settled into her position as trafficked child labor. New characters Bobby Jo (who is big boned and worried about her weight) and Julie (who is slight and generally insecure) are also there.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when Yancey walks in. We head hop with startling rapidity. Yancey notices from Cheyenne\u2019s body language that she\u2019s disappointed, which she is\u2014she was hoping it would be Asher. Then we jump to Magdalene\u2019s head. Magdalene notices Yancey\u2019s expensive camera and concludes, via \u201cher learned trait of sizing up men,\u201d that he is either a professional photographer or a wealthy tourist. Either way, she doesn\u2019t like him.<\/p>\n She\u2019s right not to.<\/p>\n Next we hop to Julie\u2019s head. Julie looks at Magdalene and worries she\u2019ll try to steal the camera. She also recalls that \u201cfor some reason\u201d Magdalene doesn\u2019t like having her picture taken. Gee, I wonder why? But I don\u2019t think that\u2019s why Magdalene dislikes Yancey. I think it\u2019s because she knows an asshole when she sees one.<\/p>\n So. Back to Yancey:<\/p>\n Pulling his sticky shirt away from his chest, eh ran his hand over his face like a windshield wiper, dripping sweat on the floor. \u201cSwish \u2026 I had no idea it could get dis hot in May. Of course, I\u2019ve never been dis far South. And you beautiful goils must be da famous Trio,\u201d looking around, \u201cexcept there seems to be four of you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Right. Sure. Sure he says that.<\/p>\n In my experience, when a friend group creates a name for themselves, that name isn\u2019t much used by others. It\u2019s more of an internal joke. This idea that everyone in town calls Cheyenne, Bobby Jo, and Julie \u201cthe Trio\u201d because they work at the Herb Den together and often hang out strikes me as a creative fiction. And even if their families used the term amongst themselves, where on earth would a stranger have learned it?<\/p>\n At this point, Yancey is already being a problem. He started out trying to be all funny: \u201cYou guys sell anything, or you just here to smell up da town?\u201d That kind of guy is frequently\u00a0the worst.\u00a0<\/em>We all know that person. He\u2019s entitled and has no idea how off-putting his \u201cfunny\u201d comments actually are.<\/p>\n But this this actually isn\u2019t a store. At the Herb Den, they pack herbs that are ordered online, and then ship them out. It isn\u2019t a place for customers, and Yancey hasn\u2019t told them why he\u2019s here. He walked in and made an off-putting joke, and then a comment about the heat, and then set the girls off balance by showing that he knows more about them than they do about him\u2014\u201cyou beautiful goils must be da famous Trio.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s disrupting their work day and he still hasn\u2019t said why he\u2019s here.<\/p>\n \u201cMy name is Reuben Yancey, and I,\u201d he lifted his camera as though he was stating the obvious, \u201cam a professional, freelance photographer. I\u2019m on assignment for American Joiney Magazine, from New Youk City.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Okay, but he still hasn\u2019t said why he\u2019s here,<\/em> in the Herb Den, bothering them. He\u2019s simply monopolizing their time, as though he has a right to it.<\/p>\n \u201cReally?\u201d Bobbie Jo replied dryly as she continued to stare at the computer screen. \u201cYou might have fooled me. Sounds more like,\u201d tilting her head back and imitating his nasal whine, \u201cNew Joisey to me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s interesting that Bobbie Jo knows this much about accents, but I\u2019ll buy it. Bobbie Jo is the confidence one, and we learn later that she\u2019s already twenty-seven. She\u2019s probably the least sheltered of the \u201cTrio.\u201d<\/p>\n Yancey was surprised by her quick banter. Caught off guard by her tease, he retorted, \u201cWell, I am originally from upstate New Jersey\u2014and we pronounce it Jersey, not \u2018Joisey\u2019\u2014but I live in New York now, or I did til dis week when I started dis assignment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ll keep up with the next few paragraphs before I start summarizing again, so bear with me for a moment. After Yancey\u2019s completely appropriate response to Bobby Jo\u2019s comment about his accent, we get this:<\/p>\n Three of the four busy young women looked up and smiled. Magdalene continued to stare at him like he was a poisonous spider. The pale face, eyes, and hair accentuated the vacant stare she threw in his direction, making him feel unwelcome.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I wish we were given more about Magdalene\u2019s response here, but we\u2019re not. In a moment, she\u2019ll fade into the background in the back of the store. She\u2019s the only one of them who doesn\u2019t feel like she needs to play nice with Yancey, and she\u2019s also the only one Debi decides to silence. Of course, she\u2019s also the junior member of the team.<\/p>\n So then we get this:<\/p>\n Bobbie Jo fought down a grin at the man\u2019s jittery distraction prompted by Magdalene\u2019s spooky stare. Poor guy \u2026 even a jerk deserves to be treated better than that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Does he though? Does he?<\/p>\n Bobbie Jo knew her biting sarcasm would be refreshing compared to Magdalene\u2019s hexing look, so she broke the silence with syrupy mockery. \u201cOh, how interesting.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What. Yancey only told Bobbie Jo where he was from in response to her comment about his accent. That merits \u2026 biting sarcasm and syrupy mockery? I am confused by Bobbie Jo\u2019s response.<\/p>\n Still, Bobbie Jo has correctly identified Yancey as a jerk.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the thing, though: this is also a book written by Debi Pearl, who lives in a world where that kind of talk\u2014and behavior\u2014is standard, not strange. The men in my life who have talked like Yancey is right now (minus the accent, of course) tend to be in\u00a0Debi\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>camp. I\u2019d like to see Debi explore this more fully, but of course, she won\u2019t. In her book, Yancey is a jerk because he is from New York. He\u2019s a city boy. He doesn\u2019t know how to behave appropriately. Except that, as I noted, Yancey\u2019s behavior is actually very very common\u00a0<\/em>in Debi\u2019s world.<\/p>\n It\u2019s weird!<\/p>\n Anyway. Back to the book for more tell<\/em>, don\u2019t show<\/em>. I\u2019m not skipping anything yet, by the way, sothis comes directly after Bobbie Jo\u2019s \u201csyrupy mockery\u201d:<\/p>\n The change in his demeanor indicated he was resolved to start over. \u201cYou guys are real workers. I mean, no stoppin\u2019 for anythin\u2019.\u201d He was trying hard to draw the girls into conversation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Despite the show don\u2019t tell, this feels very familiar.<\/p>\n Cheyenne tries to fix things::<\/p>\n Cheyenne had been edgy since Asher left. Yancey had accomplished just what she expected: slowing down all her workers. \u201cIt\u2019s the daily grind. Work hard, finish the job, and then take a break. I you don\u2019t work hard, you don\u2019t finish the job and you don\u2019t get a break. Simply logic.\u201d She hoped her hint would send him on his way, or at least jump-start her workers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cheyenne, Cheyenne, Cheyenne<\/em>.<\/p>\n I get it. I do. She\u2019s trying to be nice, because women are supposed to be nice, but this is simply not the time. She should ask his business here, should tell him this is a place of work. Instead, she hopes he\u2019ll\u00a0get her hint.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Cheyenne, honey. He\u00a0won\u2019t.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Yancey and the Predatory Male Gaze<\/strong><\/p>\n Yancey stands and watches as the women go back to work. He\u2019s invaded their workplace and is just standing there, watching them. The result is that we get to see each of the women through Yancey\u2019s eyes as he stands there and surveys them, and it\u2019s not pretty<\/em>. Magdalene is assessed as \u201cearly teen\u201d and \u201calmost like an albino.\u201d Bobbie Jo is \u201cbigger, bolder, sexy-looking.\u201d (I\u2019m on team Bobbie Jo, for what it\u2019s worth.)<\/p>\n And then he turns to Julie.<\/p>\n Yancey could see the compassion in her soft brown eyes. She\u2019s cute, not pretty, not beautiful, not even sexy \u2026 just cute in a sweet innocent kind of way. Yancey responded to her gentle smile with a subtle invitation in his eyes. She shyly diverted her glance as a blush stole over her countenance, quickly putting her face down, resuming her packing.<\/p>\n Yancey grinned. A bashful chick, obviously not used to confident men.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n OMG, f*** this guy.<\/p>\n Yancey is bad news, and yet, no one here feels capable of getting rid of him. No one.<\/p>\n He turned his attention to the boss, deciding to make an appeal to her sense of social politeness. \u201cNow dat you know my name, how \u2019bout tellin\u2019 me yours?\u201d<\/p>\n The tall exotic beauty that had frozen him out after that first welcoming smile answered, \u201cSorry, we\u2019re just kinda busy, but my name is Cheyenne,\u201d waving her hadn\u2019t toward Julie, her voice softening, \u201cThat little blond sweetie over there packing orders is Julie.\u201d Now Cheyenne used her head to motion in Bobbie Jos\u2019 direction. \u201cThe shark at the desk is Bobbie Jo. Kiddo, back there is Magdalene.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What the fork. Cheyenne needs to just tell him off.<\/p>\n Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n Bobbie Jo hollers across the room to Julie with a question about whether she finished an order, calling Julie \u201cJules\u201d as she does so. So then we get this:<\/p>\n Yancey mentally noted the nickname of soft-spoken Julie. Then he began to quietly analyze Bobbie Jo. She was definitely a traffic-stopper: big, generously endowed, well proportioned; and with all that long, curly born hair, she was loaded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019m suddenly not sure whether we\u2019re going to need to start checking trunks for Julie, or Bobbie Jo.<\/p>\n And\u00a0still\u00a0<\/em>no one tells him to leave.<\/p>\n Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n His eyes wandered back to the quiet Julie. Meeting her glance, he noticed that everything about her seemed straight except for the soft curls that played along her brow. Her straight, narrow skirt accentuated her small figure and perfect posture. She looked clean and well-ordered. In that moment he decided he liked her.\u00a0Let\u00a0the other guys fight over the exotic\u00a0beauties or\u00a0the man-eating sharks; I like my girl to be mine and mine alone. No ogling from other men. No competition. No reason to feel\u00a0jealous.\u00a0<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh my god.<\/p>\n He sidled up to little Julie to try to start a conversation. \u201cWhat\u2019s deez enormous hay bales doin\u2019 back here?\u201d the huge bales of herbs were stacked against the back wall all the way to the ceiling. Not waiting for an answer, he continued, \u201cTo see dis place from da outside it looks run down, like it\u2019s \u2019bout to go outta business, no flashing lights or anythings. But if you guys are able to move huge bales of products, den I guess looks don\u2019t count.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why isn\u2019t Cheyenne\u00a0doing\u00a0<\/em>anything?!<\/p>\n I shit you not, Yancey next grabs the ledger and starts reading off financial records, and Cheyenne marches up to him and takes it out of his hand, then turns on her heels, and works back to where she was working. She says not a word. Bobbie Jo starts to worry that \u201cone nosy dude could cause a lot of trouble for the berry project\u201d but\u00a0no one \u00a0does anything.\u00a0<\/em>Bobbie Jo realizes they need a distraction. Yeah\u2014that\u2019s it! A distraction!<\/p>\n She stood, arching her back and stretching her arms over her head, trying to loosen her muscles, then yawned with a loud groan to lighten the mood of the Herb Den. Her ploy worked better than she could have imagined. Yancey\u2019s quick mind forgot everything as he stared flabbergasted at her full-figured body bent backwards. He tried to pull himself together to give Cheyenne the verbal cut he had already formulated, but his mouth was suddenly too dry to speak. Trying to avoid being seen gawking like a stupid teenager, he turned his back to the counter to look at the safe, empty, concrete wall.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I wish I were making this up, but Julie sees Yancey turn away from Bobbie Jo\u2019s \u201cunintentional exhibition\u201d and decides that he must actually be a decent, kind man. Girl is going to end up\u00a0in a trunk.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Yancey the Raging Anti-Semite<\/strong><\/p>\n Yancey keeps asking questions. Bobbie Jo starts lying to him to throw him off the track of the Berry Brew. She tells him there\u2019s a nationwide rat problem, and they\u2019re selling herbs that kill rats.\u00a0In cause you\u2019re wondering, we\u2019re pages and pages into this, and none of the women has asked Yancey why he\u2019s here, or what his business is.<\/p>\n Yancey tells them they should start a coffee shop in the Herb Den, since they have an area with couches and fluffy chairs (remember, this is where they have their weekly Bible studies). Julie tells him that Cheyenne actually had wanted to do that, but that there were too many health forms and regulations involved in serving food.<\/p>\n Yancey asks why they have all the couches.<\/p>\n Julie suddenly felt trapped, so her words came out a little twittery. \u201cWell, everyone wants to know what God says about Islam in the last days, and about Israel. Since last year you can\u2019t go anywhere, not even to the mall, without thinking you might get blown up, so it\u2019s on everyone\u2019s mind. If that were not enough, the news is full of a dozen different volcanoes that are threatening to blow, including Yellowstone. The Herb Den gives people a place to gather and ask questions. So basically, we do have a coffee shop minus the coffee and donuts. We just serve tea and cookies for free.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Frankly, this is on Cheyenne\u2019s head. She knows Julie is shy and won\u2019t feel like she can tell Yancey to leave her alone. Cheyenne should not be letting Yancey bother her employees like this.<\/p>\n Yancey looked interested, yet took on a cynical tone. \u201cYeah, good old Father Abraham sure produced da scourge of da earth. Da*# Jews, excuse my French, ladies. Anyway, the bombin\u2019s is why I left da Big Apple. About half da population up here have fled. Here have been 86 bombin\u2019s in da last six months alone. No sense pushin\u2019 fate. Since nothin\u2019 has happened down dis way, I figure I\u2019ll sit it out in da deep South.<\/p>\n Everyone seemed to freeze as they all tried to decide what he had almost said. For a second he sounded very anti-Semitic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sounded?\u00a0Sounded?!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n It was a touchy subject due to the White Supremacists in the area making such a big issue of their hatred for Israel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Uhhh. See in my understanding it\u2019s not Israel that White Supremacists hate, it\u2019s\u00a0Jews.<\/em> Which is actually the word Yancey used, by the way.\u00a0Jews and Israel are not<\/em> synonyms.<\/p>\n An awkward silence filled the room until Cheyenne finally muttered under her breath, \u201cMaybe \u2026 at least we hope not \u2026 not yet, anyways.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh ok, that\u2019s<\/em> her response. Ok then. She decides to ignore his blatantly anti-semitic remark and focus instead on Yancey\u2019s concern about bombings. Cool cool cool.<\/p>\n Yancey strolls around their workplace and finds a copy of the God\u2019s Story book\u2014their graphic novel Bible. He declares it quality artwork, and then:<\/p>\n Yancey suddenly looked up with narrowed eyes and his voice held question, \u201cMalachi Freeman \u2026 sounds Jewish?\u201d<\/p>\n Cheyenne had been leaning down to pick something up off the floor so she missed Yancey\u2019s expression. \u201cNaw \u2026 not Jewish. Lot son Christians use Old Testament names fo retire kids. But yeah.\u201d Cheyenne\u2019s smile showed her dimples, but her eyes remained elusive:\u00a0Why was this guy so interested in\u00a0whether they were Jewish?\u00a0<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cheyenne. Girl. You can\u2019t be this naive.<\/p>\n So then they start talking about their plan for giving the graphic novel Bibles to Muslims, with Yancey playing skeptic. \u201cHave you got a better idea how to solve the problem fo Muslim terrorists?\u201d Cheyenne asks.<\/p>\n Which. Lovely.<\/p>\n Next, Bobbie Jo invites Yancey to come to their Bible study.<\/p>\n Yancey flushed with the feeling of unexpected success.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019m just going to pause here to note that we still don\u2019t know what Yancey\u2019s motivations are as a character. Why is he here? Is he exploring a story on something related to the Herb Den? Did he come here to try to garner an invitation, or is he only excited to be invited to the Bible study because he\u2019s decided to seduce Julie?<\/p>\n We don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n This book is\u00a0awful.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The Hillbilly Woman Who Puts\u00a0Yancey in His Place<\/strong><\/p>\n At this point, someone else comes in. A hillbilly. No really\u2014this section is titled \u201chillbilly woman.\u201d That\u2019s what Debi decides to call her. To which I will simply say, I don\u2019t know enough about East Tennessee to understand the divides between Debi and her people, and the people she calls \u201chillbilly\u201d people.<\/p>\n \u201cHowdee. Kin I c\u2019mon in, or yuns onliest mail order?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I already like this person better than Yancey.<\/p>\n A young, very pregnant woman stood peeking through a small opening in the big glass door. Her clothes looked like Goodwill would have thrown them out, and her greasy hair was covered with an equally worn out old cloth\u2014an attempt to be what the locals called an Amish wannabe. When she smiled, her teeth showed several rotten spots which screamed of bad breath. Altogether, the poor girl grabbed the girls\u2019 heartstrings as someone pitiful and in need of a friend.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I feel like there are words that should be said here.<\/p>\n Always the advocate of the downtrodden, Cheyenne moved toward the front counter and smiled with welcoming warmth at the young woman. Speaking in a friendly voice, trying to put the girl at ease, she replied, \u201cWell, we are mail-order, but we can help you this once. Come in. I haven\u2019t ever seen you around here. Where\u2019re you from?\u201d<\/p>\n Stepping in heavily and moving aside for the door to shut, the pregnant girl responded gratefully to Cheyenne\u2019s friendliness as though starved for female conversation. \u201cWell, wees from up th\u2019air in the hills. We ain\u2019t got no car, so we ain\u2019t out to these parts much \u2018cep when we gots t\u2019 lay in supplies. Then we make camp oer yonder unner the bridge with our horses.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I gave you that much partly so you can see how thick Debi writes her accept. Her name, she says, is Zulla Mae. She says she\u2019s here to buy herbs, and that she\u2019s studying to learn how to use herbs. So they get to talking herbs. For a good long while. Cheyenne, of course, has loads of information to share.<\/p>\n And then we get this:<\/p>\n The pregnant lady looked highly impressed with Cheyenne. \u201cAre you da\u2019 Indian gal folks talks about that makes a stuff that can bring fold back from da\u2019 dead?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cheyenne puts her off, but she looks nervous, and Zulla Mae spots Yancey and clues in. Zulla Mae is no dummy.<\/p>\n Zulla Mae then she goes off on this whole string about needing herbs to kill rats. This is odd, because that\u2019s what Bobbie Jo had said too. Zulla Mae has this whole thing about the return of the Black Death plague in South America. It\u2019s unclear whether that\u2019s true, but it is\u00a0<\/em>clear that Zulla Mae is trying to get Yancey to forget what she said about raising the dead.\u00a0This goes on for pages. Rats, plagues, history. On and on.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Yancey is at the other side of the store snorting derisively and looking at Zulla Mae dismissively. Finally, he gets to where he is\u00a0literally shaking with laughter\u00a0<\/em>at Zulla Mae.<\/p>\n Zulla Mae finally does what Cheyenne should<\/em> have done ages ago.<\/p>\n She stands up to Yancey:<\/p>\n Zulla Mae took three long, quick steps toward the mocker, bringing her uncomfortably close. He looked up, startled, tried to jump back, but was already against the wall, so he just flattened out, looking apprehensive. Aggressively posturing herself in front of the shocked Yankee, she stared him in the eye and hissed with such vehemence that everyone was stunned. Yancey looked to the left nad right, obviously trying to decide the most favorable direction of retreat.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019uns kin mock if\u2019n you want too, but I\u2019m a telling\u2019 you a sumethins\u2019 bad is a gonna happen!\u201d Her eyes were ablaze with a strange fiery confidence. \u201cI snowed \u2019bout things like this here. I gots the gift. And I smell death. Ne\u2019er been wrong in all my bornd days, and don\u2019t spect I\u2019m a wrong now. Might not be this month\u2019s moon ner the next, but yer gonna see death within a yaar\u2014bodies a laying\u2019 in the streets. Maybe yer body, city boy. Write that down on yer calendar. Make yer mark in big red letters. Make shore you put my name a\u2019side it, \u2019cause I wont you to \u2018member it wuz me that warned ye.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yancey responds by raising his camera to take a picture\u2014as a sort of defensive reflex\u2014but Cheyenne stops him. Zulla Mae takes her herbs and tells the women to \u201cpay him no mind\u201d and that \u201che\u2019s one thems deceived.\u201d She warns Cheyenne that she\u2019s seen \u201cthe foreigner\u201d watching their building, and then she leaves.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s how the chapter ends.<\/p>\n Zip.<\/p>\n The next chapter picks up somewhere else entirely, so we never learn whether Yancey left after Zulla Mae told him off, or whether Yancey kept hanging around after Zulla Mae left. This isn\u2019t Yancey\u2019s last time hanging around at the Herb Den uninvited, though, so I\u2019m guessing he did the latter.<\/p>\n I am so freaking frustrated by this section.<\/p>\n Cheyenne is a terrible employer. She needs to learn to stand up for herself, and to be more assertive. Which is odd, because we were given to believe earlier that she\u2019s\u2014what was the word\u2014-something about southern girls being tough as nails? Well, this ain\u2019t it. There was nothing touch about Cheyenne letting Yancey waltz in, flirt with her employees, read her ledger, make anti-semitic comments, and just generally hang around uninvented.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t even know what more to say.<\/p>\n