Salt Houses

It is July 2006 in Beirut, and the adults are all glued to the television. There has been a bombing at the airport. Linah and her cousins Manar and Zain have been confined to the family’s two apartments even though the power cuts on and off every few hours and they are accustomed to spending these hot, un-air-conditioned periods in one of the nearby shops. The adults will not elaborate further on the events described on television, although their auntie Riham tells them that there is a war going on and that all they can do is pray. Linah and her cousins play with the other neighborhood children, but there is some friction between the kids because of their countries of origin. Although Linah has never been to Palestine and knows only Boston and Beirut, she is teased for not being Lebanese and for coming from a country so mired in strife. She does not fully understand the distinctions between Arabs from different countries in the region.

Linah sneaks out of the house with Manar and Zain to secretly purchase a pack of cigarettes from a local shop. They have seen older children smoking in the neighborhood and want to copy their antics, although they know that such behavior is forbidden.