Last time in Boy Window...Amber admits
she is useless and she runs into her dad at Johnny's house. There was
also a lot of horny teen grossness, but the less I think about that
the less I want to drink.
Chapter 19
“'Amber?' the lady
repeated, looking between him and me. 'Your daughter, Amber?'”
Nah, some other teenager
named Amber that your husband is undressing with his eyes.
Johnny's mom (Ruby) says how
she feels like she knows Amber.
“'You too, Ruby'”
This is a “me problem”
but I always feel weird addressing someone who is some years older
than me in a casual setting by their given name. It always feels
uncomfortable, especially when I don't know them.
Amber narrates about how she
wants to run from the room. She says some of the right words but it
doesn't resonate with me at all. It would have been nice to have some
of this earlier to balance out all those times that PTSD meant plot
convenience. As it stands, this feels like a late in the game attempt
at character development and rising action. We only have 6 chapters
(including this one) and an epilogue left and this is the first time
the author has endeavored to give us a plot.
Anyway...
Ruby invites Amber to diner.
“She seemed really nice,
too nice for this abusive asshole.”
If only there were someone
or some people to tell her how much of an abusive asshole he is.
Ruby reiterates her offer
and Douche Bag Dad (DBD) does this
“He nodded, his gaze
travelling the length of my body, making me go cold.”
How does Ruby not notice him
making rapey faces at Amber?
Ruby crosses the room to get
medicine for the sick baby. Apparently that space of the kitchen is
in a vacuum because she doesn't hear or see the following exchange.
“My father walked a couple
of steps towards me and I shrank back against the door, my breathing
coming out in shallow gasps. I thumbed my phone awkwardly and tried
to dial Johnny – he was the closest person.”
Yes, Johnny is the closest
person. Not the woman standing 3 feet to your left. Johnny who is
upstairs getting dressed.
“'How have you been,
Amber? I've been trying to see you for years but your brother
wouldn't let me'”
What kind of sense does that
make? Because they haven't filed charges, DBD has a legal right to
see his daughter. If he really wanted to see her, he could and Jake
wouldn't be able to do anything unless Amber or her mother (on
Amber's behalf) filed charges against him. I get him not wanting to
go to prison for raping and abusing Amber for 8 years but I don't get
why he says it was Jake keeping him away. That would be like not
stealing from a certain store because you know a certain asshole works
there. It has nothing to do with the legality of the act or even the
fear of getting caught, you just don't want to possibly see that one
asshole.
Amber describes DBD's
mention of Jake as a sneer. Again, I have to wonder how Ruby does not
notice any of this.
“I looked at Johnny's
mother for help; she was putting the medicine bottle back now.”
Okay, new theory. She is
purposefully ignoring what is going on because she approves of it.
This is the only thing that makes sense.
Ruby announces that she will
take the baby to bed.
“'OK, love,' my father
replied, his eyes not leaving mine.”
Amber tries to escape by
asking to see the baby's room.
“'I don't think that's a
good idea, Amber. Matt's not well. You can see his room another
time,' my father interjected before Ruby could answer.”
No one can miss the creepy
tone to his words. Ruby has to see how desperate Amber is to get
away, and how pointedly her husband wants to be alone with her. No.
It's just not possible.
This really is
this dumb
At this point, DBD could
have a twirly mustache and tie Amber to train tracks and Ruby
probably wouldn't even notice. Seriously this whole chapter so far
could be summed up like this
DBD
Step-Mom Ruby
Amber
And it get's better.
“I stepped to the side and
almost ran out of the room after her. Just as I passed my father, he
grabbed my wrist and yanked me to a stop, almost making me fall. I
felt the scream trying to rip itself out of my throat, but I
swallowed it back down. I couldn't show him how much power he had
over me.”
This isn't a Giles Corey
“more weight” moment you idiot! Help is in the house and by the
Ligahoo's changing form, you refused to do the one thing that would
make any sense. I cannot wrap my head around why she is suddenly this
prideful. Ruby can't be far off, Johnny is upstairs, why not scream
your bloody head off? Even if DBD is able to convince them that he
was being harmless and not harassing his 16 year old daughter, there
would be other people there. She would be, relatively, more safe.
“'You look beautiful,
Amber. Just like your mother when she was your age. You always were a
fucking peach.'”
This sentence made me read
the DSM-V's entry on pedophilic disorder because it occurred to me
that Amber is now a little too old for DBD's reprehensible and
disgusting taste. And I was right. If he is a pedophile, which all
evidence points to that direction, he would be attracted to the
prepubescent Amber, not teenage Amber. The DSM-V does say that DBD
could be attracted to adults as much as children though, so I guess he
is just an all around sexual deviant.
“Luckily, my body's
natural reaction had progressed in the last couple of years...”
WHEN? WHERE WAS I WHEN THIS
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT HAPPENED? And what about the other five times
you where assaulted? Was that when your “body's natural reaction
had progressed'? Cause you went from cowering in fear most of the
time, to kneeing that Mark guy in the balls and at no point in time
were we shown how this change happened. Can I sue for a character giving me whiplash?
She knees him and runs up
stairs. But don't worry, she thought this through, unlike every chick
in a horror film ever.
“I came here in Johnny's
car so I didn't want to just run out of the house with nowhere to
go.”
Cause you don't have a
brother and boyfriend with cars and phones to come get you.
No, instead she finds
Johnny's room and walks in on him in a towel. I guess he decided to
take a shower, I don't know, don't ask me. Amber hugs him because
physical contact after your abuser tried to assault you again makes
the most sense.
She tells Johnny that she
needs to go home now. Johnny gets dressed while Amber closes her eyes
and thinks about Liam. On the way out, Ruby stops them.
“'Are you sure you can't
stay for dinner, Amber? Stephen would love to spend some time with
you.'”
That's it! I'm convinced she
knows.
They get to Amber's house.
Liam and Jake are all “WTF? Why is Amber a mess?” I'm assuming
Amber is mess. Naturally, we are not told any more than “you look
pale” which could just mean she is a vampire.
Allow me to summarize the
next 2 pages in 3 gifs
Amber and Liam
Jake
Johnny
Then Johnny, being an
asshole for the first time, reminds Amber that she promised to
explain why she was terrified of DBD instead of letting the
“obviously” traumatized girl recover from the incident.
Naturally, Amber thinks
“Jeez, this is going to be
so damn hard!”
but, don't worry. If you
think that this means we will get a glimpse into the damaged psyche
of Amber as she finally says out loud what happened to her for
several years instead of oppressing those feelings, you are wrong. We
are wrong, and I am sad.
“~Liam~”
I hate everything.
“Amber curled herself up
into a ball on my lap, pulling her knees up and tucking her face into
the side of my neck.”
Amber must be tiny and Liam
must be Andre the giant for this to work.
“I rocked her gently as I
listened to Jake telling Johnny about the abuse when they were
kids...”
YAY! Even more of a cop out.
We don't even get to hear him tell the tale and see how it effects
all the characters. We are just told that it does. Awesome.
“...how their father had
tried to attack Amber, and how we'd kicked him out three years ago.”
Then Johnny berated them for
not calling the cops and allowing a criminal to work his way into his
own family....or not.
“He left out the sexual
abuse that no one really knew very much about...”
Not even the audience.
Johnny is not surprised.
Liam puts Amber to bed. When he comes back we find out what I knew
would happen, DBD is beating Johnny and his mom.
“Three years ago I'd told
Jake that we should call the police instead of just kicking him out,
but he's insisted he didn't want Amber to go through that.”
Yeah, he would rather have
Amber live in fear because her rapist, her tormentor, and her father is out free and could come back into her life at any time. Jake is
the only reason there is any sort of plot, but because the “plot”
is stupid I hate him.
Liam mentally calls Johnny
“...a good kid.”
Liam, he is a year younger
than you and a year older than the girl you are currently having sex
with. Word choice.
“As guys, we weren't
really too good at support.”
Fuck you and your gender
stereotypes.
“Angel would be perfect
for this; she was so damn loving and kind.”
Since when? Are you just saying that because she is female? Because we have not been shown anything about Amber that makes her seem loving and kind.
“'Johnny, you need to tell
your mom that he's done this before. It could be the push that she
needs to leave him before he does anything to Matt'”
You mean, that thing I have
been saying this whole time? It feels like she is mocking me by
bringing up logic with about 50 pages left to the book.
Jake offers to house them if
Ruby decides to leave DBD. Johnny says he'll talk to her about it.
They agree not to tell Amber and only barely want to tell their mom
(not Ruby). Jake, she may notice that three extra people are living
at her house.
Johnny leaves, and Jake asks
Liam to give him a reason not to commit murder.
“'Because then you'd be in
jail, and Angel wouldn't have her big brother here to protect her'”
Or, just go with me on this,
you could call the police! Maybe even the UK equivalent to Child
Protective Services. You know, prevent him from hurting Amber or
anyone else ever again.
Jake cries and the chapter
ends with Liam comforting him.
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