Chapter 2 Summary

In Chapter 2, Slake rides the subway the entire afternoon. He touches the base of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. He finally ends up in Grand Central Station. He gets out of the subway and climbs up the stairs. A bunch of boys descend. Slake runs and ducks through the turnstile. The man in the change booth yells for someone to stop Slake. But no one cares. Slake runs into the tracks, then realizes there will be oncoming trains. He looks for an alcove where the workmen stand when the trains go by. He does not find one, but what he does find is a jagged opening in the subway wall. He goes to the opening and sees it is a type of entrance. It is a room. It becomes Slake's hideout.

The room is a result of misjudgment, a hot summer day and...