Chapter 35: Lila's Assault and Tierney’s Confession
Spoiler Notice: This page reveals major details from Chapter 35 of Bad Bishop by L.J. Shen. Proceed only if you have read the chapter or don’t mind spoilers.
Summary
Still smarting from Tiernan’s rejection the night before—she slept on a recliner while he slept peacefully—Lila endures a baby-clothes shopping trip with her sister-in-law Tierney in Manhattan. Tierney calls Mafia men essentially rotten and chauvinistic, though Lila struggles to reconcile that with her growing feelings. After the boutique, they stop at an Italian deli. When Lila uses the restroom, a male cashier who has been ogling her corners her in the back corridor. He grabs her, boasts that her silent husband can’t satisfy her, and seizes her backside. Lila, having left her gun in her bag outside, panics. Tierney storms in, hauls him off by the hair, slaps him, and threatens him with Tiernan’s vengeance. He flees. Shaken but resilient, Lila vows never to be unarmed again. Over coffee, she feels the baby flutter and admits that while she hates her rapist, she loves the child unconditionally. Tierney then confides that she can never have children because a traumatic event at age twelve led to a hysterectomy. She urges Lila to try to understand Tiernan, insisting that their shared dark past explains his emotional walls. Lila, in turn, affirms Tierney’s worth apart from her brother, and Tierney praises Lila’s strength for breaching those walls.
Key Events
- Lila, still hurt by Tiernan’s coldness, shops with Tierney for baby items in pastel-hued boutiques.
- Tierney bluntly labels Mafia men irredeemably damaged and advises Lila not to give Tiernan power over her.
- At a deli, Lila is cornered by a cashier who gropes her, preying on her inability to speak.
- Tierney intervenes violently, slaps the man, and frightens him into fleeing.
- Lila resolves to always carry her gun; she feels the baby move and reaffirms her decision to love him without prejudice.
- Tierney reveals she had a hysterectomy at twelve due to complications from a horrific incident, tying her trauma to Tiernan’s behavior.
- Tierney admits Lila is the only person who has ever penetrated Tiernan’s emotional walls, and asks for understanding rather than forgiveness.
Character Development
Lila: Moves from passive hurt to a fiercer commitment to self-protection. She acknowledges that she will never again walk unarmed. Her candor about separating hatred for her rapist from love for the child demonstrates emotional maturity. She also shows empathy by uplifting Tierney after hearing her secret.
Tierney: Transforms from a wisecracking, cynical sister-in-law into a figure of profound vulnerability. Her revelation of the hysterectomy undercuts her flippant exterior and explains her deep bond with Tiernan. Her plea for Lila to understand Tiernan shows she is the family’s emotional mediator and carries her own invisible scars.
Tiernan (off-page): His rejection remains a wound, but his sister’s backstory recasts his cruelty as a product of shared trauma. The reader glimpses why he might resist intimacy even while Lila is breaking through his defenses.
Themes, Symbols, and Motifs
- Agency and Self-Defense: Lila’s shock during the assault, followed by her furious vow to always carry her gun, underscores the novel’s insistence that women must claim their own safety in a violent world.
- The Physical Expression of Trauma: Tierney’s hysterectomy literalizes the “dark shit” the siblings experienced. It becomes a symbol of stolen futures and the lifelong cost of abuse.
- Walls and Debris: Tierney’s metaphor of Tiernan’s walls crumbling—and the debris of that collapse—frames emotional vulnerability as both painful and necessary. Lila’s ability to penetrate those walls marks her as exceptional.
- The Baby’s Flutter: The first noticeable movement functions as a motif of hope and connection, grounding Lila’s choice to love unconditionally even in the shadow of horrific origins.
- Mafia Chauvinism: Tierney’s comment about Mafia men being “rotten” and the attacker’s predatory assumption that a silent wife is weak both highlight the patriarchal thread that Lila must constantly fight.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 35 is a turning point in Lila’s internal arc and in her relationship with Tierney. The assault crystallizes Lila’s determination never to be a victim again; it directly echoes Tiernan’s earlier warnings and gives her a raw, personal reason to embrace self-protection. More importantly, Tierney’s confession shatters the reader’s assumptions about her and casts Tiernan’s emotional detachment in a new, tragic light. By linking the siblings’ trauma, the chapter deepens the novel’s central tension: can two profoundly damaged people build something whole? Lila’s refusal to pity Tierney and her insistence that Tierney is “her own person” reinforce the book’s message that strength is found in acknowledging pain without letting it define you. This moment also sets the stage for a potential thaw between Lila and Tiernan, now that we understand his walls are built on a foundation of childhood horror.
Study Questions and Answers
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How does the deli altercation force Lila to change her behavior, and what does that say about her growth? Answer: Lila realizes she was defenseless without her gun and swears she will never be separated from it again. This shift shows her moving from a passive, trusting posture to an active, self-protective one. It mirrors Tiernan’s worldview and suggests that, in this brutal environment, she must adopt some of his paranoia to survive.
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What is the significance of Tierney revealing her hysterectomy to Lila? Answer: The revelation explains Tierney’s earlier comment that she “could never have a baby” and reveals the depth of her childhood suffering. It forges a tragic parallel between the siblings: both are damaged by the same “dark shit.” It also serves as Tierney’s request for Lila to extend grace to Tiernan, because his cruelty is a symptom of that shared past.
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Why does Tierney describe Tiernan’s emotional walls as producing “debris” when they fall, and how does this metaphor apply to Lila’s role in his life? Answer: The metaphor suggests that tearing down heavy emotional fortifications is messy and painful, not liberating. Lila’s presence is actively breaking down those walls, causing Tiernan to lash out. Tierney implies that his anger is actually a sign of his defenses crumbling, and that Lila’s perseverance is both the cause of the debris and the only hope of clearing it away.