Burnt Shadows

Hiroko arranges through Omar the taxi driver to meet Abdullah at the New York Public Library. The last time Kim tried to call Raza, Steve answered the phone and told them that Raza wasn’t coming back any time soon. Enraged at all the secrecy, Kim told Hiroko about Raza’s request to help Abdullah.

At the library, Hiroko explains to Abdullah that she is Raza’s mother and that Raza is half-Japanese and not Hazara. Abdullah believes Hiroko, and the two connect over Abdullah’s reading material: pictures of Kandahar, Afghanistan before the wars. Abdullah tells Hiroko he wishes to live in the Afghanistan of the past, a feeling she understands. Abdullah marvels that Raza was not Afghan but was still willing to join the mujahideen, and Hiroko is too ashamed to tell Abdullah the truth—that Raza was only pretending. Hiroko is devastated that Raza didn’t show up for Harry’s funeral and that she hasn’t heard from Raza since.

Abdullah explains that he was with the mujahideen until the Soviets left Afghanistan, but he returned to Karachi when the violence in Afghanistan continued as the Taliban took over. Seven years ago, he came to America to earn money for his family, including a son whom he has never met. Mid-conversation, Abdullah guides a drunk man to a seat, and Hiroko is convinced of his character. 

Raza reaches Kandahar, where Ismail lives, disguised under a burka. The men offer to take Raza to a nearby shrine, but Raza explains that he will go alone. While driving, Raza finds that Kandahar looks nothing like how Abdullah described to him when they were boys, noting the scars of war across the landscape.

Raza meets Ismail at the shrine and tells Ismail that the Americans may be looking for him, but Ismail is unconcerned. Ismail tells Raza that Abdullah’s son is named Raza, too, after him. Raza asks Ismail if he supports the Taliban, and Ismail explains that the Taliban drove out politicians who abused the women and young boys of Kandahar. Raza presses further, and Ismail admits that he is willing to make sacrifices in exchange for peace and that life without music is worth seeing his sons grow up. Raza asks Ismail about his daughters under Taliban rule, but Ismail does not answer directly. Raza turns to go, having only intended to warn Ismail about the Americans, but Ismail calls Raza, desperate on behalf of Abdullah. Ismail explains that Abdullah has to meet a ship in Canada that will take him to Europe; then Abdullah will travel overland to Iran and across the desert to Afghanistan. Raza, realizing that Steve will never expect him to go to the United States, asks Ismail to smuggle him into Canada, where his childhood fried Bilal lives, and where Hiroko would be able to meet him. 

Kim waits for the movers in Harry’s apartment in Miami, surprised to find Persian carpets, antiques, and bookshelves filled with poetry and fiction. The doorman arrives to announce the movers and tells Kim that his brother also works for A&G and that Kim should be proud that Harry died working to find al-Qaeda operatives. Kim snaps at the doorman, frustrated by her inability to get a hold of Raza. Kim finds Harry’s key to Raza’s apartment, which is in the same building because the A&G headquarters are nearby. Kim goes to Raza’s apartment and finds the cashmere jacket that James gave to Sajjad and Sajjad gave to Raza. Kim tries on the jacket and finds a handful of dead rose petals in the pocket. Kim offers Harry’s whiskey to one of the movers, who declines. Kim asks the mover if he doesn’t drink because he is Muslim, but the mover explains that he is not allowed to accept gifts from customers and that he is Italian, not Arab. Kim says that there is nothing wrong with being Arab, and the mover reminds Kim that the Guantanamo Bay detention center is just across the water.

Kim arrives home to find Hiroko talking with Abdullah. Kim treats Abdullah coldly, even when he offers condolences for Harry’s death. Abdullah leaves, and Kim confronts Hiroko, who plans to drive Abdullah to Canada herself. Kim thinks it is too dangerous, since Hiroko has a Pakistani passport, and decides it will be safer for her, a white woman, to smuggle Abdullah across the border. Hiroko doesn’t want Kim to do anything that she doesn’t believe in, but Kim asks Hiroko if she wants Abdullah “to have the best chance of being safe or not?” (335). The next morning, Hiroko remembers that James said almost the same thing to convince Sajjad to leave Delhi.