Americanah

The perspective switches back to Ifemelu. She cheats on Curt with a neighbor, a grungy man named Rob she “was not even sure she liked” (356). Curt is devastated, demanding to know the man’s name and why she has done this. He calls her a bitch, and the word “came out of his mouth sharp with loathing” (357). After he leaves, Ifemelu regrets her actions, spending days crying and calling Curt. She eventually accepts that the relationship is over. Years later, at a dinner party full of Obama supporters, she will remember her relationship with Curt as she argues with a stranger about whether interracial relationships can work, whether race can cease to be an issue. She believes it never will, that “‘we don’t even tell our white partners the small things that piss us off’” (359), for fear of being termed overreactive. She talks about Curt, how he always tried to come to her rescue, like when a spa refused to do her “curly” (361) eyebrows. She remembers how he discounted the magazine Ebony, prompting her to show him how few black women were in mainstream magazines. Soon after, Ifemelu decides to start a blog.