Chapter 18

In the present, a customer comes into the hair salon and expresses interest in a pile of Nigerian DVDs. When the women who work in the salon learn the customer is from South Africa, they praise her “extraordinary” American accent. The woman braiding Ifemelu’s hair asks Ifemelu why she doesn’t have an American accent, but Ifemelu ignores the question. 

A white woman enters to get braids, and Ifemelu sees in her the “nationalism of liberal Americans who copiously criticized America but did not like you to do so.” Ifemelu begins to doubt her choice to move home, and thinks about her “own new American selves.” Ifemelu remembers her relationship with Curt, a cousin of Kimberly’s.

It begins when Ifemelu is playing frisbee with Taylor and notices that Curt “wanted” her. Though he describes himself as a “rich white guy,” he also talks about himself “with an uncluttered simplicity.” Ifemelu teases Kimberly that her cousin has “asked out the help.” 

Curt has never dated a black woman before, and it puzzles Ifemelu that she can be “so attractive” to him. She doesn’t tell Curt anything about Obinze. With Curt, she does “things she would never have imagined herself doing before,” and happily slips into the role of his girlfriend. Curt’s optimism, happiness, and belief in goodness coalesce into an “infantile quality” that Ifemelu finds to be both “admirable and repulsive.” 

Chapter 19

Every Sunday, Ifemelu and Curt have brunch with Curt’s mother, an aloof woman whose only compliment to Ifemelu is, “Your lashes are pretty.” 

Morgan comes to visit Ifemelu and Curt in Baltimore, and Ifemelu imagines herself married to Curt and the group as a family. When Ifemelu and Curt joke about marriage, she teases that his relatives will wonder “why the help was wearing the bride’s dress.” 

Being in a relationship with Curt gives Ifemelu “a sense of contentment, of ease.” She’s been sending money home, and her father has gotten a job as the director of human resources in a bank. 

As her graduation approaches, Ifemelu thinks about what to do with her degree in communications. Curt uses his connections to get Ifemelu an interview at an office in Baltimore. For the interview, Ruther, her career counselor at school, tells her to straighten her hair. At the hairdresser’s, Ifemelu’s head burns as the relaxer sets in. Curt is horrified that Ifemelu must make this change in order to look “professional,” but it works: Ifemelu gets the job, then writes a blog post about the WASP attributes to which American racial minorities aspire. 

Chapter 20

Ifemelu happily settles into her life in Baltimore: she rents an apartment, though she spends most of her time at Curt’s. He treats her to impromptu trips and constantly seeks affirmation that she is enjoying their time together. 

Ifemelu’s hair begins to fall out because of the relaxants. She allows Wambui to cut it “short and stubby” and hates how it looks. She even calls out of work for three days because she doesn’t want to be seen in public. Using Curt’s laptop to look at black women with natural hair, she finds emails between Curt and another woman. While Curt tries to explain that nothing happened, Ifemelu packs a bag and leaves. When Curt comes by with flowers later, they take a walk together. 

A website for natural hair brings Ifemelu solace, and she finds “gratitude” in its community, though some of the black people she sees in her daily life doubt her choice to wear her hair naturally. One morning, she wakes up and finally “[falls] in love with her...