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The Help Chapter 9 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • It's Saturday and Skeeter is getting ready for her blind date with Stuart Whitworth. She's trying not to get her hopes up; she knows he won't be interested in her.
  • She lies and tells her mother she's spending the night at Hilly's, babysitting her kids.
  • Her mom won't let her take the Cadillac, so she has to take her dad's work truck, which has a trailer with a tractor on top, attached to it.
  • She makes it to Hilly's late, looking a mess. She sees Stuart for a second (he's cute) before Hilly whisks her away to redo her hair and make-up.
  • Hilly introduces Skeeter and Stuart, then Hilly's husband William drives them to the Robert E. Lee Hotel for dinner. Stuart is already drunk, and orders another drink at the table.
  • He basically insults Skeeter every time he speaks to her. Needless to say, it's a disaster. William and Hilly try to get Skeeter to drive Stuart home, but she's too upset to spend another minute with the guy.
  • He realizes he's being a jerk and tries to explain to Skeeter that he wasn't ready for a date, but she doesn't want to hear any more from him.
  • On Monday, Aibileen calls Skeeter and agrees to be interviewed. She might even be able to find other women willing to talk about their experiences.
  • They plan to meet at Aibileen's house, since nowhere else is remotely safe for this kind of thing.
  • Aibileen tells Skeeter that she's changed her mind because of Hilly.