Summary

Chapter Six, February 1974, opens with an excerpt from a story in the magazine “Parallaxe.” The article features Nila Wahdati, a well-known poet.

The story then switches to Pari, Abdullah's sister. (EDITOR's NOTE: Pari in this chapter refers to Abdullah's sister, who is now attending college.) Pari and her boyfriend, Julien, are about to go out to dinner when the phone rings. Pari knows it's probably her mother. Julien thinks she should ignore it but she goes back inside and learns that her mother is in the emergency room, having suffered a fall. Pari goes to the hospital to accompany her mother home.

The story reverts to the magazine article. Nila says her mother was French and her father was from Afghanistan. The writer says Nila offers wine though it's not yet noon. She is also “flirtatious” and beautiful at age forty-four. Nila answers...