A Woman Is No Man

In this brief glimpse into Fareeda’s past, she sits drinking tea with other residents of a refugee camp. One of the women, Hala, gossips about a neighbor, a young woman whose child has died. While most of the community believe the child died naturally, Hala claims the woman drowned the child because she didn’t want a daughter. Married to an abusive alcoholic, the young woman acted out of fear for her daughter’s future, Hala suspects, and was driven mad by her actions. Fareeda is silent and agitated, walking away from the group. She remembers holding her first born children in her arms, two daughters, both dead, and the presence of the jinn lingering in their tent.

Deya finally discovers the truth of her parents’ deaths. As reported in the newspaper article Sarah gives her, Isra was beaten to death by Adam, who then threw himself from the Brooklyn Bridge. Riding the train back to Bay Ridge, Deya reproaches herself for not suspecting the truth sooner and for not pressing Fareeda harder for the real story. Deya cannot reconcile her happy memories of Adam with the truth of his actions.