How It All Goes Down
- The Jinni is reluctant to socialize at a wedding, and Arbeely accuses him of coming across as rude.
- Exasperated, the Jinni goes off by himself into the alley; he bought some cheap gold necklaces, and he molds the gold with his hands to create a small golden pigeon.
- Arbeely brings him some kinafeh [sic]and the Jinni tries it. It's the first time he's had food: "I think I like it" (7.19), he says. Us, too, Ahmad, us, too.
- Even with the yummy food in his belly, Ahmad doesn't want to congratulate the lucky couple, so he goes for a walk by himself.
- He finds himself in Central Park, near a statue called the Angel of the Waters, which is also known as Bethesda Fountain.
- He strikes up a conversation with a young woman, but they're interrupted when her Auntie shows up. It's scandalous for this young woman, Sophia, to be speaking to a man all by herself—what a hussy.
- They leave, but the Jinni tracks her to her house, which is a large, gated-in estate.
- No bars can keep the Jinni out, though, and he melts two with his fiery hands and sneaks to Sophia's window.
- She's scared, but she lets him in anyway.
- He tells her that he used to live in Syria, in the desert. This excites Sophia, because she's always wanted to see the world.
- Someone knocks at Sophia's door, so the Jinni hides while Sophia tells Maria, the nursemaid, that she's sick and won't be coming down to the party for at least thirty minutes.
- She returns to the Jinni and asks him why he came to her room.
- He says, "You intrigue me, and you are beautiful" (7.153).
- Sophia appreciates the directness, and her balcony ends up seeing more action than Juliet's ever did.
- The Jinni leaves and Sophia goes to the party, where there's "a high color in her cheek" (7.172). Her afterglow makes her the talk of the party.
- That night, she checks the balcony. The Jinni isn't there, but he's left her a miniature golden pigeon.
- The Jinni barely makes it home, because it rains. The rain depletes his strength, and he collapses into Arbeely's shop, steaming.