Summary

Chapter 5 opens in 2004 with Khassan Geshilov. He has been working on a massive manuscript, the history of Chechnya, for years. The manuscript has 3,302 pages and Khassan has submitted it multiple times for publication. The first chapter is published as “Origins of Chechen Civilization: Prehistory to the Fall of the Mongol Empire” with plans to publish more of the book later. None of the rest of the manuscript is ever printed.

Khassan's relationship with his son, Ramzan, has never been good. As a child, Ramzan is not curious and Khassan largely ignores him. Khassan has not conversed with Ramzan since the day Ramzan and Dokka returned from being arrested. Khassan knows that the list of people Ramzan has turned in is written in an old algebra book. Khassan sometimes talks to Ramzan when he knows Ramzan is too drugged to remember. On this day...