House of Sand and Fog

Behrani sets down the iron as Lester barks orders at his family. Kathy, still unable to get up, registers Lester’s presence and smiles at him. Esmail explains that Kathy has overdosed and shows Lester the empty bottle.

Lester orders the Behranis to move Kathy to a bed and calls an emergency room nurse, whom he asks whether Kathy needs to be brought to the hospital. After learning she will recover with rest, he hangs up the phone and orders the Behranis to leave the room.

Nadi tells Behrani to invite Lester to eat, which the deputy refuses. As Nadi serves her family tea, Lester interrogates them about Kathy’s arrival. Behrani explains that he found her drunk, trying to kill herself in her car, and that his family was trying to help her. He waits for Lester to “say something or perhaps do something, for surely, the next move is his” (267).

Lester sees Behrani eyeing the pistol, which the officer has tucked into the back of his pants, as though Behrani were “keeping an eye on the only true thing he had to fear” (268). Lester is taken aback by everything Behrani has told him and wonders what drove Kathy to behave so recklessly.