The first chapter of Garp’s next novel depicts a woman named Hope Standish feeding her three-year-old son when a stranger walks into her kitchen and threatens her. He holds a knife to Nicky’s throat, and Hope immediately becomes compliant. He forces her to her bedroom and makes her take off her clothes. He cuts the phone cord. A neighbor, Margot, enters the house in search of Hope, and Hope yells for her to take Nicky and run. Oren forces her into his turquoise pickup truck and ties her to the door with her bra. They actually drive past her husband’s office, and Dorsey Standish thinks idly about the unique truck.

Oren drives into the countryside until they arrive at his family’s pig farm. He consults with his relatives Raspberry and Weldon, deciding to switch out his turquoise truck for a less distinctive black truck. Hope tries to advocate for herself, and Oren punches her. He overpowers her and shoves her head down. They drive further into the countryside, and she decides to perform oral sex on him to hopefully prevent him from being able to vaginally rape her. Oren stops her after a few minutes and insists that he put on a condom to prevent himself from contracting her germs.