The Vision, pp. 266-271<\/strong><\/p>\n I am still feeling very shook by last week\u2019s installment.\u00a0As I started today\u2019s post, I looked back over the last few pages to orient myself, and the interactions between Magdalene\u2019s father and her mother were even worse than I\u2019d remembered. Oh, and when\u00a0Magdalene\u2019s mother comes in at the end asking about Magdalene? She\u2019d overheard enough of the phone call to know it was Magdalene on the line, remember. Anyway, Magdalene\u2019s father yells at her, berets her, and threatens her.<\/p>\n It is extremely creepy and malevolent.<\/p>\n \u201cYou really, really believe you are superior, don\u2019t you? You think you and your silly friends playing dress up in your bed sheets are the chosen of God! How did you ever get so stupid?\u201d She faced him in her frightened state, defiant, demanding an answer.<\/p>\n Briefly, he wavered before responding by slowly removing and then reinserting the clip in his pistol.<\/p>\n She lowered her head, cowered, and left the room.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I told you! It\u2019s bad!<\/p>\n I suppose we could see it as a good thing that Magdalene\u2019s mother still feels like she can step up and speak her mind, but there\u2019s no way to read that passage without concluding that Magdalene\u2019s father is intentionally frightening and threatening her mother\u00a0with his gun.\u00a0<\/em>Magdalene should not go back there.<\/p>\n And yet\u2014that\u2019s the plan!<\/p>\n Giles Stalks the TLP<\/strong><\/p>\n Magdalene\u2019s father\u2014Mr. Giles\u2014parks on a logging road 500 feet from the main gate of the The Last Publishers compound. One of the teenage boys Asher has in lookout stations around the gates\u2014\u201cGideon\u2019s Band\u201d\u2014sees the van\u2019s \u201csecretive move\u201d, and we get this weird bit of writing:<\/p>\n He called the other watchers and put them on alert, and then called Malachi and informed him. As Malachi started to alert the others he noticed that Omar was already leaving by the front gate. He was starting to call Asher when he got a call from Gideon\u2019s Band informing him that the panel van had driven away.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Giles watched as a middle-aged black man drove through the gates and down the road in a small car\u2014with Magdalene in the front seat beside him.<\/p>\n Hatred birthed from the loins of destruction seethed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I don\u2019t know about that last sentence, guys, I just don\u2019t.<\/p>\n Anyway, Magdalene\u2019s father\u2014Mr. Giles\u2014is real mad and starts using all sorts of words that I\u2019d rather not reprint hear, and keeps obsessing over his daughter\u2019s \u201cArian\u201d blood. Why on earth did Omar tell Magdalene that she had to call her father?? What point is Debi trying to make here??<\/p>\n Narrator swap! Magdalene is super excited because she\u2019s on her way to spend her last night in Tennessee babysitting Omar and Tess\u2019s kids, and she loves<\/em> babysitting Omar and Tess\u2019s kids. I completely buy this, by the way. After I left home, I missed my younger siblings\u2014whom I\u2019d helped raise, much like Magdalene\u2014and I often worked that out by spending time watching other people\u2019s kids.<\/p>\n And in fact, we get a mention of this:<\/p>\n The bittersweet feelings of the evening stole over her. She loved these children as though they were her own brothers and sisters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yep. She got attached to Tess and Omar\u2019s kids as a way to work through her feelings of loss regarding her own younger siblings. Poor Magdalene, there is just so much here. She\u2019s the only character in this book who feels halfway real.<\/p>\n Wait wait what.<\/p>\n For seven miles Giles trailed Omar. When he finally pulled into his driveway, Giles drove slowly past, looking the place over as well as he could in those few seconds. Then he turned around to pass the house two more times, making sure he knew the lay of the land.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What.<\/p>\n Scroll up to the top there. The Gideon\u2019s Band guys called Malachi about a suspicious truck, then Malachi went to call Asher (or Omar?) when he realized Omar was already pulling out, and then the Gideon\u2019s band called him back to say the truck was gone, so \u2026 he did nothing. Wow. Much security here. Very safe. Everyone has cell phones,\u00a0he could have called\u00a0Omar\u00a0<\/i>to tell him to make sure he wasn\u2019t followed, because there was an odd truck parked in the area that\u00a0disappeared the same time he left.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Oh well, it\u2019s only Magdalene who will have to pay the price.<\/p>\n [Giles] was pleased to see that the home was located on a lonely county highway with a deep rise in the back, cutting off all view from the west. The cover would make it easy to use fire. By the time help was alerted, it would be too late.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I deeply resent Debi using the name Giles for this dirtbag of a human. But then, I highly doubt Debi ever watched Buffy, so I don\u2019t think she was\u00a0intentionally\u00a0<\/em>sullying the name of the best Watcher ever.<\/p>\n Wait. Fire??!<\/p>\n The chlorophyll would need to be handy. It would be easier to just put her out before she knew what was happening.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wait. Chlorophyll??!<\/p>\n What is happening.<\/p>\n Quick. Someone.\u00a0What is happening.<\/em><\/p>\n Ike Knows Best<\/strong><\/p>\n So now we switch to Magdalene\u2019s mother, and Magdalene\u2019s brother Ike, the one she has especially missed (Ike was younger than her\u2014this isn\u2019t the brother who took her to that party in exchange for drugs). Ike tells Magdalene\u2019s mother that he knows where she is\u2014that she sent him a God\u2019s Word graphic novel but he\u2019d been afraid to tell her (i.e. his mother) about it.<\/p>\n To Debi\u2019s credit, she did have Magdalene send her brother Ike a God\u2019s Word graphic novel Bible earlier in the book, after she got saved, and Magdalene did include a \u201csecret symbol\u201d alerting her brother that she\u2019d been the one to send it. So this actually was set up.<\/p>\n \u201cIke, you have to help me be strong. I think your daddy\u2019s going to do something to her the people that have helped Magdalene.\u201d<\/p>\n The skinny fifteen-year-old boy\u2019s shoulders were bowed under the load of his parents\u2019 sins.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wait, that\u2019s<\/em> the takeaway here??!<\/p>\n JFC, this book<\/em>.<\/p>\n His pale blue eyes were filled with fear,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is the<\/em> most<\/em> Arian<\/em> of families.<\/p>\n but when he spoke it was with calm authority. His wisdom came form God. He knew the hand of God was on him. After reading\u00a0God\u2019s Story,\u00a0<\/em>which Magdalene had sent him, he had become enthralled with studying scripture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cool cool cool.<\/p>\n \u201cI know, mom. I heard him talking to some of the men and I can help you stop him, but once we begin, we can\u2019t turn back.\u201d He looked at her, measuring her response.<\/p>\n Again his mother covered her face with her hands as she sobbed, \u201cI\u2019m so ashamed, son. Bitterness and hatred have so poisoned your daddy that he cannot see good in anything or anybody. I tried to tell him, but it only made him angrier!<\/p>\n \u201cIke,\u201d She continued her accusations, \u201cdid you know that your daddy is a White Supremacist? Do you know what that means?\u201d<\/p>\n Ike looked at his mother, trying hard not to feel disgusted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n WTF, this book!<\/p>\n Even now her goal was to lay blame. She was so naive, it was pathetic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019m getting Bad Bob vibes.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Mom. I know all about everything. That\u2019s not the issue right now. Let me help you warn Magdalene.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n They try calling the TLP compound, but the offices are closed. Magdalene\u2019s mother suggests they call the local police, but Ike says they can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard Dad talking. That county\u2019s elected leadership is full of white power members. I overheard him say that even the judge is KKK.\u201d<\/p>\n Ike flushed bright red at his mother\u2019s expression. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019ve been using a listening device that I picked up at the pawn shop. At first, I was just goofing around to see what I could hear, but then I started to keep up with what Dad was doing. it\u2019s a good thing I did. That\u2019s how I know what Dad has been up to, and \u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Whaaat is happening.<\/p>\n He looked at her, willing her not to ask further questions, \u201cI know what he\u2019s capable of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Mrs. Giles collapsed into an emotional heap, weeping uncontrollably.<\/p>\n Frustrated with her display, Ike rebuked her. \u201cMom, your crying is only endangering Magdalene\u2019s life. it\u2019s time to start thinking about what to do. You can cry later.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He \u2026 rebuked<\/em> her?<\/p>\n Look, I\u2019m no fan of the idea that children need to be silent or obedient or any of that, but this is gross. And frankly, I can\u2019t see Debi describing a female child\u2019s interactions this way. Ike can interact with his mother like this because Ike is a boy child. He\u2019s 15, practically a man.<\/p>\n This is so gross.<\/p>\n Honestly, though, I\u2019m unsurprised that Ike reads like this. He\u2019s grown up watching an abusive father, and for all that Debi has him all converted and Bible-reading, Debi\u2019s version of good, godly gender roles is\u00a0itself\u00a0<\/em>abusive. So\u00a0of course\u00a0<\/em>Ike is an up and coming abuser in training. It\u2019s hard to read because I don\u2019t think Debi has any idea how badly he comes across. This is Magdalene\u2019s favorite brother, the one who always had her back, and he\u2019s converted now; he\u2019s supposed to be the good character.<\/p>\n And yet \u2026 the way he reads \u2026 this whole book is just such a harsh indictment of all of Debi\u2019s teachings, and I don\u2019t thinks he has any idea. It\u2019s almost sad, it\u2019s so stark.<\/p>\n Call the Feds!<\/strong><\/p>\n Next we get this:<\/p>\n Then, removing the edge from his voice, Ike continued, trying to help his distraught mother focus. \u201cWe can call the feds and tell them what we know. We can call our local police here. They\u2019re clean. We can ask them to help us get in touch with the feds. We still have time before dad gets to Magdalene. We can explain to the feds that the law in that small southeastern Tennessee town is KKK.\u201d<\/p>\n Ike\u2019s mother looked at him in disbelief. \u201cThey won\u2019t believe you. No one ever believes me. They\u2019ll think we\u2019re crazy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n