A Woman Is No Man

Deya is troubled by her mother’s note. She is distracted and can’t focus on school. Walking home one day, Deya notices a woman loitering in front of the house. She drops an envelope on the stoop and walks away before Deya can identify her. Deya picks up the envelope and sees that it’s addressed to her. Later that night, in the privacy of her room, she opens it and finds a business card from a bookstore called Books and Beans. On the back is written ask for manager. She speculates about the identity of the stranger. Could the woman be her mother? Could Fareeda’s account of her mother’s death be a lie? She begins to wonder if there is more to the story than she’s been told.

At school the next day, Deya remembers her few acts of rebellion: throwing a chair off a school fire escape on a dare, secretly listening to Eminem. She borrows a phone from another student and calls the bookstore. She identifies herself to the manager, who insists on a face-to-face meeting. Possessed by curiosity and unable to remember the sound of her mother’s