Summary

In Chapter 16, Mussa and Sharaf return home from the kibbutz. The pair drives in silence until Mussa parks on the roadside and demands to know what provoked Sharaf to hit the tourist boy with a pestle. When Sharaf replies disrespectfully, Sharaf slaps him. A police megaphone asking Mussa to exit his vehicle breaks their silence. Two officers approach and explain that parking on the roadside is illegal unless for emergency purposes. They ask whether Mussa intends to meet anyone and demand that he and Sharaf continue on when Mussa insists they do not.

Chapter 17 begins with Eitan researching Eritrea at the Omer house. Eitan considers his struggle to understand Sirkit though he sometimes notices similarities between them, especially while working in tandem at the illegal hospital. Because Eitan and Sirkit can guess each other’s souls, Eitan believes their souls are comparable just like...