Chapter Eleven: Rāshid is infatuated with Suleimān and longs for connection, but Suleimān sweats over Diahanna, who is attracted to Dwayne, Keisha’s brother. Rāshid knew Suleimān’s melancholy because it stirred in his own heart. He remembered the day Suleimān’s serenade drew Miss Clara and Miss Floreen to their doors, drew Miss Irene to her window, and brought tears to Miss Ida Mae’s and Miss Ammeah’s eyes. They all believed his playing was about his family’s sorrows: the battered Jessie and the dying Jerome.

Rāshid knew the truth; he felt every ripple of Christoph’s flightless bow, as Suleimān did. He staggered to the CD player, grabbed a rendition of Saint-Saëns’ “Swan,” and returned to where he stood.