Chapter Twenty-one: Double A – Loother’s Inner World
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Loother Red Feather is acutely aware of the performance of adolescence—everyone pretending not to care while secretly desperate for approval. He feels see-through, and he resents that others do too. Loother is shy but wants to be cool, especially in front of the rich white kids. He has a crush on Vee, a girl in his English class, and after a burst of courage he slips her his number. She teases him but does not reject him completely, and they eventually become boyfriend and girlfriend, texting “I love you.” Loother begins writing poetry for her, though he is embarrassed to call it that.
At home, Jacquie is sober and making an effort, though she chain-smokes and walks constantly. Loother and his younger brother Lony must accompany her to an AA meeting (which Loother calls “double-A” meetings) because Orvil is at a friend’s house. While Jacquie attends the meeting, Loother plays chess on his phone and Lony texts his “AI friend.” In the dirty bathroom, Loother reads graffiti about trust the process and drinking. He remembers Lony’s campaign of making anonymous phone calls to tell strangers nice things. After the meeting, the brothers play word games in Opal’s Bronco—rhyme games where they ban words like shadow and orange, and an “opposite” game. The rhymes lead to recovery and relapse, forcing them to confront what those words mean for Jacquie. Jacquie returns, the ride home is quietly good, and they buy bean-and-cheese burritos at Mariscos. That night Loother dreams of little people trying to help him see a shoe in a glass box.
Key Events
- Loother gives Vee his phone number; she calls him “stupid” but laughs.
- Loother and Lony accompany Jacquie to an AA meeting.
- Loother plays chess and texts Vee while waiting.
- The brothers use the grimy meeting bathroom; Loother reads graffiti.
- Lony recalls his “call-a-stranger-to-say-something-nice” campaign.
- Jacquie speaks at the meeting; the brothers return to the car and play rhyme and opposite word games.
- The family stops for burritos at Mariscos and has a quiet, content evening.
- Loother dreams of twins and a shoe museum.
Character Development
Loother Red Feather: This chapter is Loother’s deepest interior portrait so far. He is self-conscious, embarrassed by his own shyness, and caught between wanting acceptance and resenting the people he seeks it from. His reflections on hip-hop and cultural appropriation show a maturing, critical mind. His relationship with Vee gives him a measure of confidence, but he remains anxiously attached to her responses. The AA meeting setting forces him to consider addiction’s place in his family—he understands words like relapse, recovery, sober—and he shows empathy for Jacquie’s struggle. His word games with Lony reveal tenderness beneath his gruff exterior.
Lony: Lony is quirky and optimistic, obsessed with ESP, AI, and spreading kindness. His phone campaign and his devotion to the rhyme game (now willing to accept multi-syllable words) show him growing but still clinging to childhood rituals. He brings up Opal’s Doberman attack, a memory that unites the brothers in shared family history.
Jacquie: Though mostly offstage, Jacquie’s presence looms. She is actively working her sobriety, attending meetings, and trying to be the mother she wasn’t when drinking. The “good quiet” of the car ride suggests a moment of peace in the family’s recovery journey.
Opal (offstage): Referenced as the boys’ grandmother figure who calls Loother a romantic and was attacked by a Doberman—a story that cements the family’s resilience and shared lore.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Privacy and performance: Loother observes that people hide behind loud versions of themselves. The “see-through” baggie sandwich is a symbol for the transparency of teenage insecurity. Everyone knows everyone else is faking, but they all pretend not to.
Addiction and recovery: The AA meeting (“double-A”) is the chapter’s literal setting. The words sober, recovery, and relapse become part of the rhyme game, demonstrating how addiction is woven into the family’s everyday language and consciousness.
Language and play: Word games (rhyme, opposite) are the brothers’ way of connecting, processing hard truths, and staying close. The rules they create (shadow has no perfect rhyme) mirror the arbitrary but necessary structures of family life.
Cultural borrowing and identity: Loother’s long internal debate about Native people rapping and wearing hats “like rappers” probes the ethics of cultural appropriation. He stops writing rap because he fears taking from Black culture—a sign of his growing political awareness.
Technology and human connection: Lony’s AI friend and phone-call campaign, Loother’s chess app and texting, and the final dream all explore how humans use technology to mend or complicate connection.
Why This Chapter Matters
“Double A” is the first chapter told entirely from Loother’s point of view, solidifying his voice as a central consciousness in the novel’s second half. It deepens our understanding of the Red Feather boys’ present lives—their schooling, their crushes, their games—while keeping the family’s history of addiction and trauma ever-present. The chapter also expands the novel’s thematic range by directly engaging with questions of cultural appropriation (hip-hop, baseball caps) and the ethics of communication (AI, anonymous kindness). The quiet, hopeful ending—a good ride home, burritos, shared laughter over dog videos—provides a rare moment of uncomplicated warmth in a story often marked by pain.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Loother decide to stop rapping? What does this reveal about his character?
Loother stops writing and recording rap because he worries that as a Native person he is stealing from Black culture. He reasons that Native people would be angry if non-Natives adopted powwow dancing, so he applies the same logic to hip-hop. This shows Loother is self-aware and conscientious about cultural ownership; he is willing to give up something he enjoys rather risk being disrespectful.
2. How do the word games Loother and Lony play function in the chapter?
The games—rhyme and opposite—serve as a mode of connection and a safe way to process difficult emotions. When Lony offers recovery as a word, Loother makes him define relapse, forcing both brothers to acknowledge Jacquie’s alcoholism. The rules they create (banning compound words, limiting syllables) echo the structure and boundaries needed in a family recovering from addiction.
3. What does the bathroom graffiti tell us about the AA meeting’s community?
The graffiti—“Hang in there, trust the process,” “The drink takes a drink,” “Trolls not welcome here”—reveals a space in which struggling people joke about recovery, mock platitudes, and police disrespect. It is a raw, authentic environment, far from a polished support group. Loother’s observation that maybe he’ll end up there one day shows his sobering awareness that addiction could become his own story.