“Hakim,” the general said without looking at the soldier in the driver’s seat, a soldier so eager to please his superior that he had forgotten to close his mouth. The general rested his hand on the outside of the car door, his fingers tapping against the white metal. On his pinky finger was a ring I recognized as my father’s. “Does this little girl not look like someone we know?”

Chapter 16

I knelt behind the bedroom door, obeying Tilly’s instruction to remain out of sight. With my eye pressed to the keyhole, I managed to catch a small glimpse of the man and woman who had settled into the sofa at her invitation. The golden-haired man’s name was Indigo. He wore a thin brown jacket and flared blue jeans. His gray paisley scarf was knotted at his neck, with its long end hanging over his chest like an elephant’s trunk. The woman with Indigo was named Patricia. She had round-rimmed glasses and fine brown hair she wore in a long braid. Patricia sat hip to hip next to Indigo, so I guessed she was his wife.

I heard cupboard doors opening and closing as Tilly told them they absolutely had to try the salty cookies from the bakery downstairs.

“Salty cookies?” the woman asked.

“They’re like biscuits—but not at all like biscuits—sprinkled with black sesame seeds. They’re flaky and bizarre and you’ll love them,” Tilly promised as she pushed a plate toward the two visitors.

Antonia walked into the apartment then. She’d been on edge ever since the general had stopped us on my street. His driver, Hakim, had shrugged and motioned to the dashboard clock that they were going to be late.

Farewell, then, the general had said with a wave. Bring healthy, patriotic Afghan children into this world, good ladies.

It was clear from Antonia’s stiff greeting that she had not been expecting visitors. Tilly made the introductions in a voice as light and cheery as a red balloon.

“I’m sorry, but Tilly didn’t mention she’d be having anyone over,” Antonia said sharply.

“Aren’t surprises grand?” Tilly exclaimed. “Now, look what I’ve gotten them to try for the first time. Why break bread together when you can break cookies?”

Antonia looked over at the bedroom door. If she spotted my eyeball, she did not react to it.

“He was in the middle of a story,” Tilly explained. “So they buy the camels?”