Summary

In pages 185 - 229, Antara tells Tara what happened in 2003. While at a gallery in Bombay, she encountered Reza. They spent the evening with friends. After taking drugs, Antara felt strange. Reza seemed to turn into a spider with "fangs and spindly arms" (187). Her hallucinations worsened. Eventually they ended up at his apartment. She awoke realizing they had slept together, unable to remember how the night elapsed. Afterwards, they began seeing each other, provoking gossip. One night they went to a show inspired by One Hundred Years of Solitude, in which "a man is losing his words, and he endeavors to remember them the only way he knows how" (189). Meanwhile, Kali Mata repeatedly tried contacting Antara. One day, afraid she would lose Reza again, Antara rifled through Reza's things and stole a photo of him. Then, four years after reuniting, Reza disappeared again.

After...