Zeitoun

Abdulrahman Zeitoun is a Syrian-American who lives in New Orleans with his wife, Kathy, and their four children. When the chapter begins, Zeitoun is having a dream about fishing with his brother Ahmad in his hometown of Jableh in Syria. The dream is interrupted by his children waking up, and soon after, the phone begins to ring. Zeitoun operates a painting contractor company, which Kathy helps to manage, and with a tropical storm approaching, many of his customers want their houses shuttered. As storms and hurricanes are a common occurrence for the Zeitouns, however, no one is really worried about the approaching storm.

After fielding phone calls, Kathy prepares breakfast and the girls sing and dance in the kitchen. Zeitoun knows that they’re influenced by Kathy, and that she wants to give them the carefree life she never had as a child. Zeitoun prepares to leave without eating much and Kathy, reminding him about his cell-phone, also reminds Zeitoun about the time he forgot their firstborn child, Nademah. It was only for a moment, but Zeitoun had been so focused on caring for Kathy when she came home from the hospital after her pregnancy that he left the newborn outside on the lawn.