Last time in Boy Window...Amber decided that there is no way that anyone would believe that Liam beat up DBD because he hit his underage daughter so hard she miscarried, so she decided to take matters into her own hands and went to DBD's house.
Chapter 24
It's here! It's finally here. The last chapter. All I have to do is survive ten pages and an epilogue. How hard can that be?
She knocks on the door. DBD answers. His face is a Backstreet Boys album, which is to say Black and Blue. DBD makes polite conversation, but Amber is having none of it. Their conversation goes like this
Amber: Admit it, you are evil.
DBD: I proudly admit I am evil because of course there is no way that you are recording this or presently in communication with the police! BWAHAHAHAHA *twirls mustache*
Before we move on, I will highlight this one sentence because it is just too much
“'Discipline? One time you punched Jake so hard in the stomach that he couldn't eat for two days. You broke his arm, and ribs.'”
This proves that there is no way no one didn't notice the abuse. If he is beating them so severely that Jake couldn't eat for two days, someone has to notice. They are middle class white folk, someone has to notice.
Amber is all
And tells him that she'll go to the police if he doesn't
DBD is all
because Amber got preggers at 16 and he is “a respected professional”. DBD doesn't seem to realize that Amber is 1 of 6 people he has abused and no matter how well respected he is, there will also be a mountain of medical records from all those times he beat Jake so hard he couldn't eat. Or hell, remember yesterday when an ambulance came to the house and how Amber probably has bruises? She is a minor and they would have to report something like that. Actually, what are the laws about guardianship and medical procedures in the UK cause she is 16 and had major surgery the day before without a parent or guardian present.
“'...besides, you have no proof. This happened so long ago that it's just your word against mine.'”
Yeah, Amber, it's his words against yours, Jake's, Liam's, your mom's, Ruby, and Johnny's. It's not like you have medical records and physical evidence to prove you were hit. I mean, what case do you have when you have both direct and circumstantial evidence?
For real though, DBD says he can hire a lawyer to tear their case to shreds but with the amount of direct evidence they have, the lawyer's only option would be to prove that all of the people involved are not credible witnesses. However, it would be hard to prove that 6 separate individuals with consistent testimony are all not credible or lying for some reason.
But this is Boy Window so, naturally, what gets the job done is both contrived and clichéd.
“'Clever things phones nowadays, they have all sort of gadgets in them – cameras, music players, calculators... voice recorders'”
Yep, she did record the whole conversation and DBD breaks it but that's okay because she already sent it to five people. She then blackmails him. Either he drops the charges against Liam or she takes his confession to the police.
This bothers me for a couple of reasons.
- Our villain does not actually get what is coming to him.
- He gets away and is given the opportunity to abuse and rape again.
- This is an unsatisfying ending to an unsatisfying story.
- There are still 7 pages left to this chapter.
Jake shows up. DBD calls the cops and drops the charges. Jake and Amber leave. Jake yells at Amber.
“'I am proud of your idea, Ambs, but that was freaking idiotic.'”
There is nothing to be proud of. She made a stupid choice that happened to pan out.
They get home and everyone is confused by the message and asking if she went to see DBD. How else would she get the confession otherwise? Amber naps and wakes up to Liam scolding her for her reckless behavior. They have a conversation where they decide that Amber will go with Liam to Boston so they don't have to be separated. A few things about this
- They will have to live off-campus because Amber is not a student, meaning both of them will have to get jobs and pay for rent.
- Amber is still a minor, and if the labor laws in the UK are anything like the US, she will not be able to work enough to make any real money
- Liam will be there under a scholarship meaning that he will have to get passing grades and go to practice and play in games all while working a job to pay for their rent, food, and utilities.
Luckily for them, this is fiction so naturally they don't have to worry about those pesky real life issues that make this a terrible idea. No, all Amber can think about it
“I needed a fresh start. So much had happened here that I just needed to go and start over. I needed to forget everything and look to the future – my future with Liam.”
Well, that is the end of Chapter 24, but worry not gentle reader! For I will also cover the epilogue now too.
Epilogue
“~5 Years Later~
~Liam~”
Liam is in a rush to get somewhere. He runs into fans because I guess the tried and true “I'm gunna make it big” life plan worked out for him because of course it did.
“Sure I play for one of the best ice hockey teams in America...”
I was going to make a comment about Americans not caring about hockey, but I know some ladies who would probably stab me if I said any such thing in earnest.
“A lot had happened in the last five years.”
Yes but it's still a great show
“Stephen Walker, Jake and Amber's father...”
If you think that we don't know who the antagonist was at this point, something is wrong.
“...got arrested about a year after we left...”
“...he'd apparently been scamming money from his clients...”
“...he was currently serving six years for fraud and embezzlement.”
There isn't a gif to explain how pissed I am. He got 6 years in a minimum security prison for a white collar crime. That's it. I'm done. The rest of the epilogue is Amber graduating college and Liam buying her a dance studio and proposing. It switches to Amber's POV for a while but I'm really done. I don't care anymore. It's over. It ended with the prescribed “happily ever after” and all I can think about is how little any of this made any sense.
Even after reading this, I can't tell you what this book is about. Shit happens but the characters never grow and even the villain doesn't learn a lesson. This isn't even a slice-of-life because it was so unrealistic. It's not even unrealistic in a believable way. I will buy that in Skip Beat, that the “fairy” Kuon that Kyoko met as a child is actually her coworker Ren even though they don't see each other for ten years and when they do meet again it's in another city, but I will not buy that ANY of Boy Window's bs would happen in real life.
Overall score: I'm giving it a generous 1 out of 6, but on the bright side its over.
Now to conquer Alice Clayton's Wallbanger!
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