Back in the present, John tries to pray. He contemplates salvation and wonders why, if God can heal all troubles, his parents, who have been saved, are not happy. John waits for the time when God will reach down and raise him up, the time when he will no longer be Gabriel's son, but instead be a son of his Heavenly Father. When this happens, John thinks that Gabriel will be forced to treat him fairly and to love him. Strangely enough, John realizes that Gabriel's love is not what John really wants. He wants to be justified in his hatred of his father and is not willing now to trade in so many years of abuse for love. He wishes his father were dead so that he could laugh at his screams in hell.
Gabriel remembers the stormy day that Deborah told him that Royal had been killed in a barroom in Chicago. During this conversation, Deborah finally asked Gabriel if Royal was his son, and Gabriel admitted the truth. He was openly angry with Deborah for her inability to bear him a son, and she said that if he had confessed at Ester's funeral, she would have raised the dead woman's son as her own. She advises Gabriel to pray for forgiveness.
Back in the present, Gabriel stands over Elisha, who is lying on the floor. Gabriel remembers his marriage to Elizabeth, an event that he believed was a sign that God had forgiven him. He looks at his wife's son, John, who returns his stare. Gabriel believes it is the Devil who looks out of the boy's eyes and would have struck him if Elisha, who is now speaking in tongues, were not between the two.
