Summary

Ali's party, detailed in Chapter 4, is like another world to Sahar. A beautiful woman named Parveen escorts her there. The music is so loud that people down the hall from Ali's apartment would be able to hear. There is a big, burly doorman. Men wear make-up and untraditional hairstyles. There is a man in a dress there. There is heavy drinking and people smoking opium. Ali is cavalier about everything, but Sahar is terrified that he will get caught. He says the authorities rarely show up, and when they do, he pays them off. The doorman is actually a police officer. Parveen used to be a man, which astonishes Sahar. Ali explains that the government will pay for gender reassignment surgery. “Because they are trying to fix us” (50). This is another quote where the author repeats it to make sure the reader...