Summary

Nen and Zaleekhah go to Uncle Malek’s house where he comments on her homosexuality as well as her career as a tattoo artist. Uncle Malek drinks more than he normally would, and he talks to Nen about how most people from the West cannot even name Middle Eastern countries on a map. He also laments how his people are always cast as the villains in stories. Uncle is from the Levant. He is proud to be British. The group speaks of their shared respect of the epic, and Zaleekhah likes how it is about resilience and human’s capacity for change whereas Uncle Malek believes it centers around the fear of death.

On the way out, Zaleekha tells Nen how much she owes her uncle. Nen tells her a story about when she first came to London and was gifted...