- General Benjamin enjoys playing chess with Mr. Hosokawa, apparently. It takes his mind off the shingles he has on his face, which have caused conjunctivitis in his eye. Gross.
- Mr. Hosokawa feels his whole world has been turned upside-down, but to his surprise he's pretty chill with his current existence. In some ways he's sad that it won't last, that he probably won't get to keep listening to Roxane every day and spending time with her after the crisis ends.
- Added bonus: Mr. Hosokawa and General Benjamin are both awesome chess players and perfect partners for each other. Perfect as in they both take forever to make a move. So maybe not so great to watch if you're used to something fast-paced like soccer or, well, practically anything.
- Roxane and Ishmael don't mind the snail's pace, though. Roxane comes to watch Mr. Hosokawa play, and Ishmael hopes to play himself.
- He finally plucks up courage to ask if he can play the winner of one match, and the older men agree. Messner comes in while the match between Mr. Hosokawa and General Benjamin is going on and Ishmael is waiting to play.
- Roxane asks Messner if they're likely to get free soon.
- Messner says the terrorists and the government are still stuck in negotiations, making no progress. Roxane and Messner talk about the situation, and Messner says Roxane is the reason that the government isn't trying to starve the terrorists out. She's terribly famous in the papers right now. Just imagine what Twitter would be doing if it had existed when this book was written.
- Anyway, the government wants her to be well-treated, because they'd be overthrown if they tried to starve the terrorists out with her there.
- Roxane is astonished. They've been speaking English, but basically Messner has just said everything the terrorists need to know to literally overthrow the government. And General Benjamin missed it because he's absorbed in a game of chess. And because he doesn't speak English.
- Messner thinks about this. He knows the government will win because it always does, but he wouldn't mind if these terrorists escaped. He's never felt sorry for terrorists before, but he does for this group.
- We also find out that the military is digging a tunnel to get inside the house. Roxane doesn't know, though, because we find out through Messner's thoughts. Still, it's a key detail.
- General Benjamin makes a bad move in the chess game, and Ishmael can see that it's a bad move. Sounds like a symbol of what's happening to the terrorists overall.
- Ishmael gets a chance to play chess with Mr. Hosokawa.
- Messner and General Benjamin talk. Messner says the government seems less inclined than ever to budge, and General Benjamin says they can wait the government out. The terrorists' demands are getting more and more impossible. They include things like releasing political prisoners from other countries. Which the government is probably incapable of doing even if it wanted to.
- Messner tries to talk to General Benjamin and convince him to think about their situation, but General Benjamin wants to watch the chess game.
- Roxane walks Messner to the door. On the way she asks what the government is going to do. He says he doesn't know but she insists he must know something. Maybe she has a hunch about the tunnel thing.
- Roxane says she wants to know if she's going to be there for a very long time. She can settle in if it will be a long while. You can't blame a gal for wanting to know.
- Messner tells her that he imagines it will be a very long time.
- Gen is walking behind them in case they need him, and overhears that it may be a very long time. Just imagine all the language he could teach Carmen in all that time.
- The vice president interrupts to say that they need soap in the house. His scar has finally healed, and Messner says it will make Ruben a hero of the people. Good thing, since the president probably isn't too happy with him after he spilled about his soap opera weakness and all.
- Messner leaves.
- Roxane Coss has a ponder. She thinks that the reason for all these strange things happening was so that she and Mr. Hosokawa could meet. Intense.
- She finds Gen and subtly gets around to asking him if he'll arrange for Mr. Hosokawa to come to her room that night. Double intense.
- She does this partly because she wants to continue the relationship if they're going to be there a long time, and partly because she's almost afraid that they'll be released soon and she'll never see Mr. Hosokawa again. Gen says he'll help.
- Ruben Iglesias gives some of the leftover antibiotics that Messner brought for his face to General Benjamin. Ruben genuinely wants to help with General Benjamin's infected eye. Benjamin is suspicious, but takes the bottle.
- Never share antibiotics at home, Shmoopers.
- Oscar Mendoza is confessing to Father Arguedas. Beatriz listens in while waiting her turn, and Father Arguedas calls her on it when she goes in. He says she already has something to confess (a.k.a. eavesdropping).
- Usually none of the terrorists come to confession, and Father Arguedas thinks the Generals have forbidden them to. But Beatriz is into it. It's her first confession ever.
- Father Arguedas prays for Beatriz and gently walks her through the Catholic practice of confession. Her village is Catholic, but priests go there occasionally.
- Father Arguedas is young and kind. Uh oh: crush alert. Beatriz is conflicted, not just because she's got the hots for a priest, but also because she genuinely likes feeling that her sins are forgiven, but doesn't want to stop working for the Generals, which she sees as a sin. Father Arguedas tells her to be kind and helpful as part of her repentance.
- The narrator jumps over to Gen. He's trying to get Carmen's attention without getting in trouble. He walks through the living room, where a number of the terrorists are, including Carmen, and heads into the china closet. She's smart, and she comes to find him there after waiting a sufficient amount of time.
- They kiss. Then Gen explains what Roxane wants. Gen doesn't know this, but for Carmen this is a risky decision. She could be punished terribly if she helps smuggle Mr. Hosokawa to Roxane's bedroom.
- Gen would never have asked if he knew she could be punished. Carmen prays to Saint Rose of Lima for guidance, but as the book says, "a saint is very little help when it comes to smuggling a married man into an opera singer's bedroom" (8.160).
- Finally, Carmen decides to help. They make plans to smuggle Mr. Hosokawa to her room that night.
- When Mr. Hosokawa finds out, he feels a deep desire to be with Roxane Coss, a kind of love he didn't think he could achieve in his previous life.
- At 2 a.m., Gen brings Mr. Hosokawa to Carmen, who slowly leads him to Roxane's room. Beatriz is asleep in the nanny's room. Oops: they wake her up on the way. Beatriz sits up and points her gun at Mr. Hosokawa, but Carmen steps between them and holds onto Beatriz so she won't shoot.
- Beatriz and Carmen have a tense conversation. Finally Carmen convinces Beatriz not to tell. Beatriz is remembering her confession and thinking about forgiving other people's sins, so that probably helps.
- Carmen successfully gets Mr. Hosokawa to the door of Roxane's room. He bows to Carmen and she leaves.
- Carmen finds Gen in the china closet and leads him outside. They manage not to get noticed, and Carmen thinks she's pretty lucky. Gen hasn't been outside since the takeover happened, and the world seems incredibly beautiful to him.
- The narrator tells us about the future. Yep, in addition to tons of backstory, Bel Canto sometimes gives us glimpses of what's coming. Maybe we can call it frontstory?
- Gen will have two memories of this night for the rest of his life, very different from each other. He will remember that he did not quietly lead Carmen away, slip past the guards, and fly to Japan to live happily ever after. (This version may be a little optimistic about Gen and Carmen's getaway skills.)
- He will also remember that he did go with Carmen to a hidden place in the garden where they made love. At least there's that.
- Later, we're told, Gen will wish that he had left with Carmen and they'd spent their whole lives together. But we're also told that on that night he couldn't imagine beyond being with her at that moment.
- Miraculously, almost everyone else sleeps through all these sly romances. Simon Thibault does wake up because he's dreaming about his wife. He cries because he misses her. Too bad he couldn't sneak in some midnight hanky-panky.