52 pages • 1 hour read
Stone Cold Fox
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Interlude 6-Chapter 17Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Interlude 6 Summary: “Daughter: Las Vegas, Nevada”
In a flashback, Bea’s mother brings her to Las Vegas and tells her to earn their money. Bea finds Seamus, a wealthy, married man who likes to gamble, and they begin a transactional relationship. Bea accompanies Seamus around town and occasionally sleeps with him, and he gives her as much money as she needs. Bea gives some of the money to her mother, but her mother is mad that Bea does not need her anymore. Bea comes home one day to find a repulsive man in their living room. Bea knows the man is a threat from her mother, and she is afraid of him. Bea’s mother signals for the man to leave, but Bea knows she needs to get rid of her mother.
Bea acquires some pills and plans her escape with Seamus, knowing Seamus will not want Bea to reveal his secrets. When Bea’s mother asks for a drink, Bea puts some of the crushed pills in the drink, nervously waiting for her mother to drink more. Eventually, Bea’s mother is drunk, and she stumbles down the hall. Though Bea’s mother is still breathing, Bea is confident her mother is about to die, and Bea cries, debating whether she can touch her mother one last time. Bea gathers her things and leaves, realizing she is free to do whatever she wants. She decides she wants to be like Francis—so wealthy that she can do anything.
Chapter 13 Summary
After the wedding, Bea scans the reception for Syl, finding her locked into a one-sided conversation with Gale. Collin and Bea make the rounds, greeting everyone, and they finally arrive at Dave’s table. Collin greets Dave boisterously, and Bea stays back while they discuss Dave’s plan to return to New York. Dave pushes them on their way to the next table, and Bea is frustrated by how arousing Dave’s presence is. Bea breaks away and ponders what she will do now that she has everything she has wanted, realizing that she needs to keep herself from taking risks that might endanger the marriage. Gale gives a speech that capitalizes on the humor of her and Collin’s close friendship, which upsets Bea.
Everyone gets ready to dance, and Bea dances with Collin. Then, Collin and Haven dance, and then Bea and Hayes dance, with Bea noting how Hayes has wanted to touch her since they met. Bea loves dancing because it allows her to be herself. Dave approaches Bea and asks to dance, and Bea is grateful for the next song being a slower, but non-romantic selection. Dave remembers Bea from Gale’s building, but neither of them explicitly plans to antagonize the other. Bea ultimately rejects Dave’s advances, but she finds it difficult to restrain herself. With Collin drunk and Syl already gone, Bea feels alone. She resents that she thinks about her mother laughing at her, and she worries that Gale will be a perpetual problem for her moving forward.
Chapter 14 Summary
Bea and Collin spend their honeymoon in the Maldives, having consistent sex, drawing attention from everyone, and posting regularly on social media, which Bea suspects Gale is watching angrily. Bea plans to make a concerted effort to remove Gale from their lives as soon as possible. Back home, Bea notices that Collin is becoming withdrawn, they are no longer having sex, and Collin spends most of his time watching TV. Bea reconnects with Syl, missing their former lunch schedule, and Syl reveals that Collin is withdrawn at work as well, with Hayes commenting on how disappointing Collin’s efforts have been since returning from the Maldives. Bea’s work is going well, and she likes that she is working for fun instead of out of necessity, but she worries that Collin might make a rash decision regarding their marriage if he is experiencing mental health issues.
Bea visits Haven in Connecticut to ask about Collin’s prior experiences with depression, but Haven laughs at Bea, implying that Collin is Bea’s problem, now. Bea returns to find Collin watching TV and eating ice cream out of the carton, and she tries to be affectionate. When Collin rebuffs her, she insists on Collin seeing a doctor or telling Bea how she can help. Collin says he knows how to handle his mental health in time, and he implies that their marriage might end if Bea pushes the issue. Bea gets angry, telling Collin it is ridiculous that he would threaten her and shut down their communication. Collin apologizes, explaining that he fears that Bea will leave him, and they have sex. Bea is unsatisfied, and she considers an extramarital affair.
Chapter 15 Summary
Bea is immediately successful at her new job under Christopher Underwood, largely because she brought over the Case Company, though Christopher gawks at Bea openly. Bea finally meets with Syl, but Syl is distant, complaining that John, her fiancé, has not set a date for their wedding. Syl’s father opposes the marriage, as well, and Syl tries to convince Bea that Syl’s father was wrongly convicted. Bea tells Syl that her adoptive parents, Alice and Bob, were nice, avoiding getting into too much detail about her fake life. Bea worries about Syl, but she thinks they are friends and tries to be sympathetic. At home, Collin is gone, so Bea finds Dave’s phone number on Collin’s computer. She texts Dave, and he invites her to look at apartments with him, which Bea considers to be intimate. Bea thinks about how her mother struggled to control her urges to destroy good situations, and Bea hopes she is better at controlling those urges.
Bea meets with Dave outside an apartment building, and she is overcome with a desire to have sex with him. They go upstairs to the apartment, where Dave reveals that he already purchased the property, meaning Bea is simply visiting his home. Bea criticizes Dave’s friendship with Gale, and Dave laughs about Gale and Bea’s feud. Dave tells Bea that he, like Bea, has no friends, and there is no sense of loyalty among the wealthy upper-class Bea has now joined. When Dave puts his hands on Bea’s hips, she pushes him away before revealing that she has recorded their conversation, in which Dave is clearly showing interest in Bea. Dave is impressed, but Bea thinks this method is standard for blackmail. Dave sees the blackmail as confirmation that Bea will sleep with him, but Bea says she has not decided if she wants to have sex with Dave.
Chapter 16 Summary
Bea thinks about Collin’s failures in the bedroom, but she does not think having sex with Dave is a good move, announcing her departure from Dave’s apartment. Dave is shocked, and Bea asks him about Francis’s home. Dave denies knowing about Francis’s parties, then reveals that he attended some of them, himself, adding that he would never recommend his friends go there. Bea realizes Gale must have more information about Bea’s past than she realized, and Bea rejects Dave to head home.
At home, Bea finds Gale with Collin, and they tell Bea that Gale is essentially Collin’s therapist, having helped him with his mental health throughout their friendship. Bea gets angry, insisting that Collin see a professional, and, when Gale and Collin try to reassure Bea, Bea demands that Collin choose either Gale or Bea. Bea cries, drawing Collin to her, and Collin chooses Bea, crushing Gale. Gale tries to protest, and Bea insists that Collin cut all contact with Gale, which Collin agrees to do. As Gale leaves, the look in her eye reminds Bea of Bea’s mother.
Chapter 17 Summary
Bea and Collin cry together and resolve to get Collin professional help, but things are awkward between them. The next day, Syl calls Bea and asks to get lunch, and Syl sounds like she has important news for Bea. They meet at a seedy bar, and Syl is visibly nervous. Bea is concerned, and Syl tells Bea she thinks they may be sisters. Syl’s real name is Jane Wink, and her father, Giles Wink, was sent to prison for allegedly burning down their home and killing his wife, Georgina Wink, and their unborn child, Charlotte Wink. Syl thinks her mother survived, and Bea is Charlotte. Bea wonders if Gale gave Syl information on her past, and Syl’s description of her mother matches Bea’s memory of her own mother. However, Bea resolves not to break character, insisting that her parents were Bob and Alice in North Carolina.
Syl wants Bea to take a DNA test to clear Giles’s charges, but Bea refuses, claiming that Syl is just looking for money. When Syl sees that Bea is not going to help her, she threatens to accuse Collin of sexually assaulting her, which upsets Bea as a laughable attempt at extortion. Bea outlines how Syl could never succeed in convincing others that Collin assaulted Syl, adding that the wealthy crowd will not care even if Collin did assault her. Syl is crushed, insisting that she and Bea are friends, and Bea says she cares about Syl, clarifying that Bea is not willing to risk her marriage to help Syl’s father, whom Bea does not know. Syl leaves in tears, and Bea reflects on the challenges of getting ahead through deception.
Interlude 6-Chapter 17 Analysis
Bea’s childhood interludes conclude with her attempt to murder her mother and strike out on her own. A fundamental challenge of The Struggle of Identity Construction in a Materialistic Society is in the moment in which Bea separates herself from the only reliable source of money, safety, and sustenance she has ever had—her mother. Bea is torn, knowing that the average mother/daughter relationship is built on love and trust, but she thinks, “I know I am a bad daughter. But what did she think she’d get? She’s a bad mother” (221), justifying her actions through the abuse she has suffered at her mother’s hands. In a sense, Bea’s feeling that she is a “bad daughter” is derived from the thought that her mother is “bad,” as her mother is the only role model she has. The moral implications of killing her mother are insufficient compared to the suffering Bea anticipates if she stays with her mother, such as the threat of sexual assault embodied in the man Bea’s mother brings to intimidate Bea.
Regarding the construction of identity, though, Bea finds herself at a crossroads in her youth, acknowledging both: “The future is finally mine” and “What’s another scar on my heart? Do I even have one?” (221), highlighting how the concept of self is both driven and hindered by the boundaries one has during their development. For Bea, freedom is both exciting and scary, as she knows that her life up until this point has been atypical, and the lasting damage done by her mother’s influence is revealed in her questioning whether she even has a heart. This final interlude colors the remainder of the text, as Bea constantly fights with herself, debating whether she is like her mother or different from her. Though Bea’s actions largely seem to align with her mother’s behavior, such as conning men and using deception to survive, she highlights a critical difference in the nature of her motivations, as Bea lacks the malice and cruelty employed by her mother.
Gale and Collin’s relationship becomes a focal point in Bea’s understanding of Collin’s depression, which spontaneously becomes Bea’s path to removing Gale from Collin’s life. Thus, The Consequences of Deception and Manipulation between Gale, Collin, and Bea are expanded upon in this section. At first, when Bea notices Collin withdrawing, she thinks about how people like Collin “gravitated to the sunny side of life. Until [they] didn’t. Yet another wrench for me to contend with” (241), framing Collin’s mental health as another impediment to Bea’s goals of a happy, wealthy marriage. However, upon discovering Gale’s position as Collin’s pseudo-therapist, Bea decides to turn Collin’s current experience into a boon, thinking, “The window was right there. But if I opened it, would it go my way?” (268), seeing both how turning the conflict against Gale could resolve Bea and Gale’s conflict or end Bea’s entire endeavor. The ethics of Bea’s behavior in this scene are morally gray, as her motivation is largely to remove Gale from Collin’s life, but she is also presenting a valid argument that Gale is not a professional, and Collin would likely benefit from spending time with a licensed therapist. This conflict also calls into question Gale’s loyalty, as she claims she has helped Collin for years, but this behavior could be another con, like Bea’s, to encourage Collin’s affection for Gale.
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