Both Chapters include much of the character, Link. At first, in Chapter 16, Melba keeps getting calls from him. He tells her things to avoid and is giving her vital information about the whereabouts of those who want to hurt her, and she is deciding whether she trusts him or not. She celebrates Easter, and I found it quite funny that we both gave up Soda for Lent. We are introduced to Nana Healey in this chapter, when Link mentions her during a phone call. I think she's going to be the reason Link is helping Melba because she is also colored. Nearing the end of the chapter, a hearing dealing with the post-poning of integration in Central will be held, and the judge is a segregationist making it an unfair hearing.
In Chapter 17 there is some foreshadowing when Link tells Melba something huge that the segregationists are planning. Link also brings Melba to Nana Healey's and she then decides that he does not have dark motives and that she should trust him (later on Grandmother India does too, which I think is an achievement). At the end of the Chapter, Mother Lois informs everyone that she won't be having a job due to the fact Melba is attending Central. It was the big thing Link was talking about and it has really impacted the story.