A hammam in turmoil, cigarettes on the sly, the fat and the skinny, gales of laughter, dreams of a dazzling wedding, forgotten false teeth, calls to prayer, a head masseuse, a picky matchmaker, an expat dressed like a blondie, kids bawling, beards growing, a love song, love for your man, men’s love for their mothers, inappropriate spermatozoids, a pregnant virgin, a princess married age 10, a cuckolded husband, a virginity certificate, a festive divorce, a bush to shave, a bomb in the water tank, open-tops and cover-ups, an assassin brother, acid burns, a hooded plumber, a pussy on fire, solitary pleasures, butts and burqas, the Bible and the Koran... before the flash of a dagger and the silence of God.