With the provocation of her lovely half-naked body and strikingly lascivious speech, Lula, a sinister, neurotic white girl, lures to his doom Clay, a good-looking young Black stranger whom she has picked up in the subway and starts mocking for wearing the clothes and employing the voice and manners of the conventional white intellectual. At first Clay sees no reason to resist Lula's advances; only when it's too late does he realise she's using him, drops his "'white' disguise" and launches a wild, bitter counterattack on her and on the entire white race.