Chapters 16 through 18 Summary

In Chapter 16, as Kaira ushers Armpit and Ginny backstage, she asks whether Armpit is Ginny's nurse, and is embarrassed when he says he's just a friend, realizing that she made an assumption because Armpit was black. Kaira, who is also black, hands them over to a technician, who seats them behind the speakers and brings them drinks. The two of them watch and listen, with increasing excitement, as Kaira does her show, singing in a passionate way that no-one (including the newly enthusiastic band) had heard her sing before. Some of her songs have special meaning for Armpit, particularly the one that Kaira prefaces with commentary about her feelings about men. As the concert draws to a close, Kaira brings Armpit and Ginny out, saying that "a lowlife scalper" sold them forged tickets, which causes the audience to boo. She also...