Offred returns to her room and thinks over a melange of whirling thoughts: about Luke and the old way of "falling in love," about the Latin inscription in the closet, about former times, when women locked their doors to protect themselves from sexual predators. She weeps, "[oozing] like a sponge." Serena enters with a tray of food and a Polaroid picture of Offred's daughter, who is dressed in the white uniform of a Daughter. The likeness of the child, thriving without a mother, saddens Offred, who feels "erased." She eats her creamed corn and contemplates spoon, fork, but no knife.
During a night with the Commander, Offred finds him already well into his evening drinks. He affectionately presents her with a used, sequined, feathered evening garment, high heels, and makeup. Cloaked and hidden on the floor of his Whirlwind car, she accompanies him through checkpoints to the alley behind a former hotel, now a nightclub called Jezebel's. The Commander slips her a purple wrist tag to indicate that she is a paid escort. They enter a room filled with garishly dressed women in bizarre costumes and excessive makeup. The Commander shows her off to club regulars. Offred grows annoyed with his chauvinism.
Among the varied females is Moira, who signals Offred to meet her in the washroom in five minutes. During two visits, Moira fills in details of her escape from the Red Center to the safe house of a Quaker couple, whose names were among those on an underground press list. Refitted in civilian dress, Moira left the house, which was a station of the Underground Femaleroad, hid in a mail sack, and was driven into Boston and on to Salem, where she transferred to a chicken truck bound for Maine. The Quakers intended to move her across the Canadian border by boat. A contingent of "Eyes" ended the escape before Moira got to the dock.
