fortune telling cards.
"I don't see much future in it" she said. "Being in love with an
elder brother. There is no future in it from what I see."
"Those are just cards. How would you know?" he whined
"Yes, those are just cards but you don't even need to look into
the cards to see something like that."
"How should I live? He's had sex in me. I should kill myself.
A boy fucked in the ass can not be a man."
"No, probably not; but you must continue to be the best of what
you are. Man, yes, some-a few-- might say. Some would say something
less than that. Whatever you are, maimed or full, you have to continue
to continue. We all should go through the whole show until the winds
carry away our ashes and the soul returns for more learning, more
suffering."







Chapter 5


Bound for his uncle's home in the far north of the city, Kazem was
forced to reposition himself in the back of the bus next to a bucket of
swishing water and rags. He swatted the mosquito that was hovering
over its sodden progeny. He beat it towards the baldheads of a couple
of monks in front of him who had usurped his seat impudently. From his
new and more uncomfortable seat, which often lost its cushion as he sat