The Vision, pp. 261-266<\/strong><\/p>\n So. Magdalene calls her father\u2014his name, we\u2019re told, is Mr. Giles\u2014and this phone call is just the worst thing I\u2019ve ever read.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m doing really good, Daddy! I\u2019ve missed you so much. Daddy, I am so sorry for not obeying you \u2026 and Daddy? I got saved and am walking in truth and have lots of good friends that love the Lord and are busy sharing the gospel over the whole earth.<\/p>\n \u201cGod has been so good to me, Daddy. I\u2019m so thankful. I wanted you and Mama to know that I am doing good and that I love you and I am so sorry for not being a good daughter to you. How\u2019s Mama and the kids? I miss them so much!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What the what what now??<\/p>\n Magdalene\u2019s father was a terrible father. Her home was dysfunctional and abusive. While I understand that people who grow up in terrible situations often still crave their parents love\u2014we seem to be wired that way\u2014the apologies for being a bad daughter and for disobeying are\u00a0not cool.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Maybe this is coming from inside of Magdalene, in which case the people around her need to tell her that the voice in her head is wrong\u2014that she was right to flee an abusive situation (her father was trying to force her to have an abortion against her will because the guy she\u2019d been with was Black), and that what happened to her was not her fault (she was conned by her brother into attending a drug-laced party, and was vulnerable to this invitation because her home life was completely dysfunctional).<\/p>\n It\u2019s also possible, of course, that Magdalene is getting these messages from the others at TLP. It\u2019s possible that Omar and Tess, or Cheyenne or Hope or someone, has been working to convince her that she did wrong by not being a proper obedient daughter, and that if she\u2019d only been good enough her parents and home life would not have been dysfunctional. This is all a lie.<\/p>\n I feel the need to remind readers that Magdalene was homeschooled. She had no school friends, or teachers, or friends parents that could have helped her, or could have offered her a respite from her dysfunctional home. She was almost certainly saddled with a large amount of childcare and responsibilities in the home, as the oldest daughter in a large homeschooling family (I think she said there were nine kids?). And being homeschooled cut her off from any hope of a support network not controlled by her parents.<\/p>\n Also, she received only a very limited education, so this wasn\u2019t even a case where she could just hold on til graduation and then she\u2019d have options. She\u00a0had\u00a0<\/em>no options. That\u2019s why she ended up on the street.<\/p>\n None of this was her fault.<\/p>\n And yet\u2014and yet we get this phone call.<\/p>\n \u201cBaby, it\u2019s been a long, long time. We didn\u2019t even know if you were dead or alive. Where have you been all this time? Did those people keep you from calling us?\u201d<\/p>\n A look of dread settled over Magdalene\u2019s young countenance. She had explained her father\u2019s paranoia to those listening in the next room. It had been this way ever since he had become involved with the White Supremacists.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is actually not a terrible question, albeit badly phrased. If one of my kids ran away as a teen and then called me\u00a0after they\u2019d been missing for a year\u00a0<\/em>I would definitely start out by asking if they are\u00a0safe.\u00a0<\/em>Runaways are at high risk of violence and trafficking. They are extremely vulnerable to harm.<\/p>\n And I\u2019d probably also want to know why my kid hadn\u2019t called me earlier to let me know they were alright, although I would probably wait to ask that sometime later,<\/em> after I was sure they were safe.<\/p>\n Back to Magdalene:<\/p>\n Magdalene\u2019s voice carried panic and frustration as she answered him. \u201cNo, Daddy! Don\u2019t be crazy! They begged me to call, but \u2026 I don\u2019t know \u2026 I was just scared you wouldn\u2019t forgive me or something. Oh Daddy,\u00a0please\u00a0<\/em>forgive me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is so terribly, profoundly sad<\/em>.<\/p>\n In the hands of another writer, I\u2019d assume that the point is to highlight Magdalene\u2019s unmerited sense of guilt\u2014and that the other characters, as I read on, will talk Magdalene through some of this and help her see that it\u2019s not her fault. But we are not in that book. We are in\u00a0Debi\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>book.<\/p>\n Magdalene goes on, telling her father about her life on the streets, about being kidnapped, about surviving and being brought to live with Cheyenne and the others.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Daddy! I am so thankful! Jesus has forgiven all my sins. I am saved, Daddy! I am really, really saved.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a long silence. Mr. Giles asked, \u201cMagdalene, what did you do with the \u2026 you were \u2026 did you get rid of the \u2026 Magdalene \u2026\u201d Her father cleared his throat then asked in a determined voice, \u201cMagdalene, I would like to see you. But, if you come home, you will be coming alone?\u201d It was understood. No half-breed would be welcomed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why is she even making this phone call?!<\/p>\n Magdalene\u2019s father hasn\u2019t changed a wit. That much is clear. Did Magdalene take time to sort through what she wants before making this call? Does she\u00a0want\u00a0<\/em>to go home? She just switched from working with the Herb Den crew to working on the publishing side of the business because she wants to help share the gospel. Did she subsequently decide that she actually wants to go home, to North Carolina?<\/p>\n Omar and Tess seem to have spent the most time talking to Magdalene about this\u2014they\u2019re the ones who finally forced the issue on her calling her parents. Did they talk through the possible outcomes of this phone call with her? Do\u00a0they\u00a0<\/em>think she should go home? It\u2019s not like going home will mean getting back to school so that she can graduate with a diploma\u2014she\u2019s homeschooled and her parents aren\u2019t exactly organized.<\/p>\n I could see Magdalene deciding that she needs to go home in order to witness to her parents, or, more realistically, in order to be there for her younger siblings, so that they\u2019re not completely on their own. It makes sense that Magdalene would feel a keep sense of responsibility toward her younger siblings, especially since she would have helped raise them, taking over more and more of the parenting responsibilities as her parents retreated into their respective obsessions.<\/p>\n But see: none of this is ever stated. We don\u2019t<\/em> learn that Magdalene is worried about her siblings and wants to go back to help them. We don\u2019t even learn that Magdalene feels guilty for leaving or that she wants her father\u2019s forgiveness\u2014those things come out of the blue during her phone call. There is no setup for any of this, no roadmap, no prep work or planning or talking through options. Just nothing but this phone call.<\/p>\n Magdalene\u2019s face flushed. A sob caught in her throat. \u201cI\u2019ll be alone,\u201d she responded flatly.<\/p>\n They all heard his sigh of relief, \u201cHa \u2026 that\u2019s good. Well. Now I can plan how to get my girl back home. It has been a long time, Maggie. I still can\u2019t believe someone didn\u2019t keep you from calling me \u2026? Something smells funny, Magdalene. I need to know, so don\u2019t you lie to me. Are your new friends Arian or not?\u201d<\/p>\n Magdalene hesitated for a moment, looking with frightened eyes through the glass at her friends for support. Dropping her eyes, she lied. \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n Asher knew her dad would guess that he was lying. He felt the cold grip of fear began to knot up in his stomach. \u201cLord, help us.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The eff is going on here??<\/p>\n This is the point, in movies, where someone pulls the phone call out of the wall to end the call and ensure that her father won\u2019t somehow trace it. Magdalene\u2019s father is dangerous. Period.<\/p>\n \u201cDaddy, I\u2019ll just hop a bus or train. My friends said they would buy me a plane ticket, so you don\u2019t need to come. I could be home in 3 days.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wait, when did this conversation happen? When, in the midst of Magdalene\u2019s passionate declarations that she\u2019s been called to work for TLP to help win Muslims with the gospel, did Magdalene decide to go home?<\/p>\n I feel like there\u2019s a missing chapter to this book.<\/p>\n Mr. Giles interrupted her with urgency in his voice that made her know he still cared. \u201cNo, no \u2026 I\u2019m coming to get you. Where are you anyway? The caller ID said you\u2019re Tennessee? How in the thunder did you get all the way down to Tennessee?\u201d<\/p>\n Magdalene looked at the group and smiled through her tears. This was the familiar, demanding, angry response that she was used to hearing. This was the daddy of her youth. In her best memories, he was always thundering this or that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Okay but that\u2019s not \u2026 great? That\u2019s clear, right?<\/p>\n Magdalene\u2019s father\u2014Mr. Giles\u2014tells her he\u2019ll be there to get her Monday morning, because it will \u201ctake him several hours of driving.\u201d Which. What? It\u2019s Saturday evening. North Carolina and Tennessee touch each other. Even if you assume we\u2019re talking the middle of one state to the middle of the other, we\u2019re talking a drive of 6 or 7 hours. Mr. Giles could jump in the car right away and be there early\u00a0Sunday\u00a0<\/em>morning.<\/p>\n This does not actually make sense.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have your stuff together, Maggie-girl, because I got to be back home for an important meeting Monday evening. It\u2019s way too important for me to miss.<\/p>\n A look of fear passed over Magdalene\u2019s face. Monday nights were reserved for the White Supremacist meetings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He adds:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ll be there early Monday. You be ready. Don\u2019t keep me waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n Okay, but picking her up early Monday morning means driving overnight Sunday night. Why do that? Why wait all day Sunday, and then leave Sunday night? If Magdalene\u2019s father wanted to drive overnight he might as well hop in the car right away, and get there early Sunday. It would make a lot more sense for him to leave Sunday morning, pick her up mid to late afternoon, and then drive home.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll see shortly that this is all subterfuge: he\u2019s going to drive in on Sunday to spy on Magdalene and her non-Arian friends. But I feel like someone would have picked up on this being odd? Also, it seems wrong to put Magdalene on the phone and no one else? Magdalene is just so dang vulnerable here. Why not put Malachi on the line at some point too, to give Magdalene\u2019s dad some straight talk?<\/p>\n Magdalene\u2019s \u201cfriends\u201d are\u00a0awful.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n But Magdalene is somewhat oblivious to all of this because she\u2019s still in the first glow of being saved and passionate for the gospel. She goes on and on bubbling over the phone to her dad about The Last Publishers ministry and the work they\u2019re doing to convert Muslims, and how wonderful it all is.<\/p>\n And then we get this:<\/p>\n A cold chill ran through Asher has he listened to Mr. Giles\u2019 carefully crafted questions. He recognized the direction he was going. In her naivet\u00e9 and desire to see her family Magdalene told her daddy information which would enable him to know those among them who had Jewish roots. When he asked for The Last publishers website, there was nothing she could do but comply.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Really? There was nothing<\/em> she could do but comply? No one could, I don\u2019t know, pull the phone cord from the wall? Was there never any discussion about whether they should give\u00a0a dangerous white supremacist\u00a0<\/em>their full info, location, everything?? This book\u2019s title should be No One Thought This Through!<\/p>\n Magdalene lifted her small shoulders, smiling at the group who sat around the table, but her smile could not cover the anxiety that filled her soul, \u201cWell, that\u2019s it then. Daddy\u2019s coming to get me. I have two days and then I will be going home.\u201d She tried to grin. \u201cBut I\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n She will? What\u2019s the plan here?<\/p>\n You know what would have helped? Reading conversations between Magdalene and Tess where Tess talks her into feeling guilty and talks her into feeling obligated to return to her father, because from where I\u2019m sitting, that\u2019s the most realistic explanation for what\u2019s happened here. No one told her to tell her father, not once, until we got to \u201cTess says I should,\u201d and Cheyenne\u2019s comment that \u201cyou sure are hanging out with Omar and Tess and their kids a lot\u201d suggests they\u2019ve gained an increasing influence over her.<\/p>\n Which is ironic, because Magdalene\u2019s dad is going to try to burn Omar and Tess\u2019s kids alive, and no I am not kidding, and no one will learn any lessons at all from this. Frankly, Asher\u2019s brother shouldn\u2019t let any<\/em> of these people into his cave system turned volcano shelter because they\u2019re\u00a0extremely\u00a0<\/i>lax on security.<\/p>\n So! Magdalene\u2019s daddy is a dangerous white supremacist and he is coming to pick her up and take her home, and she is happy because she believes she was a bad daughter and needs forgiveness!<\/p>\n Fun!<\/p>\n Ooo, section break, and then we turn to Mr. Giles.<\/p>\n Mr. Giles looked at the phone he held in his hands. Before he lay it down, eh hit a few buttons. His computer had been open and he had been reading The Last Publishers\u2019 website as Magdalene talked.<\/p>\n A deep scowl covered his face when he saw Malachi\u2019s name. \u201cFilthy Jew, pretending to be a Christian.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n THIS BOOK IS SO WEIRD.<\/p>\n Exactly four pages<\/em> ago Omar said \u201cI can sure see why some folks don\u2019t like Jews\u201d and everyone was like, I mean,<\/em> seems about right. If the bad guys in your book are the white supremacists, you probably shouldn\u2019t have your good guys saying things like \u201cI can sure see why some folks don\u2019t like Jews\u201d while everyone nods.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s this:<\/p>\n An even deeper scowl came over him when he looked through the pictures found under the Meet the Staff section. Omar and Tess with their children were front and center. Magdalene\u2019s white hair looked like light as she huddled together among their children.<\/p>\n He whispered under his breath, \u201cThey\u2019re using her, no doubt about that. She\u2019s too young and dumb to realize the truth. Probably that African heathen is cooking something up for her right now, or worse than that, some lousy Jew. Well, I\u2019ll be there by tomorrow wand then they\u2019ll know that the hand of God will not tolerate them touching a clean white thing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How did no one see this coming? The man tried to make his daughter have an abortion against his will because the guy she\u2019d been with was Black, and no one thought to wonder whether he\u2019d be upset that some of the people she\u2019s been living with are Black? Who okayed putting that picture on the website? Did they forget Magdalene was a runaway? A runaway\u00a0from a dangerous white supremacist\u00a0<\/em>father?<\/p>\n Asher\u2019s brother should\u00a0definitely\u00a0<\/em>not include these people in his little project.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to leave off quoting and do some heavy summarizing. Magdalene\u2019s mother walks into the room and asks her father about Magdalene\u2014having overheard snippets of the phone call\u2014and Magdalene\u2019s father responds by threatening to hit her, at which Debi says \u201cthe broken woman\u201d left the room.<\/p>\n They are sending Magdalene back to an abusive home.<\/p>\n What is this book even doing.<\/p>\n Magdalene\u2019s father goes into his secret locked room and boots up his private computer and types in \u201ca long list of secret codes\u201d to locate other white supremacists in the area of Tennessee where The Last Publishers is located. I don\u2019t think it works that way, but okay. He finds that the list is extensive, and includes lots of local officials, which has him laughing to himself happily. \u201cWe basically own that area of the world. Good.\u201d<\/p>\n So he starts making phone calls. And he\u2019s upset that Magdalene lied, claiming her new friends were Arian when in fact, the white supremacists he calls tell him they are engaged in a project \u201cto purge the area of undesirables, some of which were The Last Publishers leaders.\u201d No matter.<\/p>\n Mr. Giles pulled an attache from underneath the bed and quickly packed his bags, working from a mental list. \u201cLet\u2019s see \u2026 two extra clips\u201448 rounds should be enough to handle anything \u2026 my boot knife \u2026 wilderness survival kit just in case. That should do it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cool. Cool cool cool.<\/p>\n Is anyone actually in charge of TLP? Malachi is, ostensibly, but did Omar talk to him before making Magdalene call her dad? This is a security risk. But even short of that, this is a risk to Magdalene. This poor child never had a real chance in her life, and now she\u2019s going to end up dead.<\/p>\n