Chapters 7-8 Summary

In chapter seven, Hickey takes Karen home and forces her directly into the bedroom. Hickey asks Karen for a drink and then instructs her to strip for him. Karen begins to dance as Hickey has requested, shedding her clothes as slowly as she can, afraid that if she disobeys Hickey her daughter will suffer. Karen watches Hickey drink and hopes that he might become so drunk that he will not be able to rape her. When Karen is naked, Hickey forces her to dance on his lap. As Karen does, she thinks about her suffering love life with Will and regrets the lack of intimacy between them. Finally Hickey has enough and he forces her off his lap, standing to remove his own clothing. Suddenly Karen is struck by the vulnerability of an aroused man, the seed of an idea forming...