At her weekly session with Mme. Burlaud, Doria is surprised to find the counselor smelling of alcohol and eager to gossip about Yasmina and the possibility of her finding another man. Doria has been thinking about introducing Yasmina to speed-dating, or holding “office hours” in their apartment for potential suitors. Doria imagines posting a list of desirable qualities, along with a statement that “old men, cowards, and alcoholics need not apply” (87).

She feels harsh for excluding old men but stands firm on “no alcoholics.” When her father lived with them, she had to wait for him outside the local bar, as he would be too drunk to find his way home. During Ramadan, she would have to buy beer for him at the liquor store, then drop the empty bottles in the recycling for all their neighbors to hear.

Hamoudi loses his job as a security guard after he’s blamed for things disappearing from the warehouse. Hamoudi feels he was blamed because of his race, but his own parents assume he’s guilty, as he’s been in so much trouble over the years. Doria experiences another disappointment when she overhears some girls on the bus talking about her favorite actor, the man who plays the lead character, Jarod, on the American series The Pretender.