But it does. Arshad finishes and falls silent. Ismail notices that Amina’s grasp has slackened. Her brother’s voice has succeeded where his had failed, although her forehead is puckered, as if she’s still concentrating on what she’s heard. He smoothes the creased skin and, rising, tucks her blanket around her.

He places a kiss on his son’s forehead. “Go to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”

When he turns off the bedside lamp, the stars and galaxies burn instantly brighter, as if the universe has come to life. And emblazoned across its skies are Allah’s verses.

21

Seema has asked her friend Fiaz to take them sightseeing around San Francisco. She’s counting on him to entertain her mother and sister and act as a buffer and deterrent. Surely the three women will have to behave themselves in the presence of an outsider.

Fiaz arrives at ten on Saturday morning, punctual as always. He’s sharply dressed, colorful: gray jacket, maroon shirt, teal jeans, brown shoes.

“What?” he says, catching Seema’s look as she lets him in. “I did tone it down.”

And he has, for he looks irreproachably harmonious. The gray in his jacket is streaked with just the right hint of the dark teal of the jeans, and his maroon shirt is echoed by the rich mulch brown of his shoes.

He gives her a peck on her cheek, before looking around and mouthing, “Where are they?” As though he’s inquiring about aliens from outer space.

Seema is forced to laugh. “Ammi, Tahera—Fiaz is here.” She’s eager to hurry everyone out of the confines of the apartment.

But Tahera is still getting ready, and Nafeesa will not allow Fiaz to leave the apartment without offering him something. “But Fiaz is being so good taking us around. It’s terrible if we don’t offer him even chai. It’ll only take a moment.”

“Don’t put yourself out, Aunty,” Fiaz says. “I like being a tour guide. That’s the only time I remember how beautiful San Francisco really is.”

Fiaz works with Seema. But he’s more than just a colleague—he’s also her oldest and best friend in the city. Nafeesa has already met him; he accompanied Seema to receive Nafeesa at the airport and drove them home.

What Seema has not told Nafeesa is that Fiaz is gay. He lives in the Castro with Pierre, his French boyfriend of many years. Seema met Fiaz when she’d moved to San Francisco the first time, at a potluck hosted by Trikone, the first South Asian gay and lesbian organization in the United States, or in the world, for that matter. It was Fiaz who’d alerted her to an opening in his firm when she was considering returning to San Francisco, after breaking up with Ann, the girlfriend she’d moved to Boston for. Fiaz is one of the few friends from Trikone who remained after she married Bill.

Nafeesa makes chai, while Tahera clears away her things in the living room. Fiaz and Seema sit across from each other at the dining table, like kids awaiting punishment.