she does not believe this. She wonders how anyone could make a deformed face look ordinary—and why the Americans would be interested in improving an Afghan girl’s appearance. Baba has no answers to these questions, but he seems to believe the soldiers. He tells Zulaikha that he will arrange everything when he has the time.

Baba and Najib now have steady welding work in their hometown of An Daral and they have a chance to get more work through a rich man’s construction company in the neighboring city of Farah. The men are excited about this but Malehkah seems unhappy. One afternoon Malehkah orders Zulaikha to help her fix Zeynab’s hair. She gives Zeynab a cake to eat all by herself—which is unheard of—and tells her to stay silent and keep her eyes down when she is invited to sit with the visitors who come to the house in the evening. Zeynab and Zulaikha are both confused. They wonder about the visitors and what they would want with a fifteen-year-old girl.

That evening some women come to sit in the parlor with Malehkah and Zeynab. Zulaikha stays in the kitchen, feeling worried, until Zeynab emerges from the room looking dazed. “I think...I’m...I think I’m going...going to be married,” she says. Zulaikha is shocked. Fifteen is quite young for marriage, but Zeynab explains that Baba wants her to marry the brother of his new business partner in Farah. The man is about forty-five and already has two wives, but Zeynab tries to be positive about the arrangement. An older man will be established in his business and, therefore, capable of providing for her and her children. “Anyway, Baba knows what’s best,” she says, and Zulaikha agrees. Baba has always done what is best for his family, so he must think this man is a perfect match for Zeynab.

For the next couple of weeks, Zulaikha works harder than she has ever worked in her life, cleaning the house and preparing food for a series of traditional visits from the women of Zeynab’s new family. At these gatherings, the women mock Zulaikha’s appearance. After these humiliating experiences, Zulaikha manages to slip away for lessons with Meena, who tries to convince her that appearance matters far less than knowledge and intelligence do. Zulaikha is not convinced. She has been taught that a woman’s worth is contingent mainly on her ability to attract and please a husband. Without beauty, she can do neither.

Shortly before Zeynab’s wedding, Baba announces that he and Zulaikha will fly to a hospital in the city of Kandahar for the operation that will fix her mouth. He drives her to the American base in Farah. When they arrive, they are told to park well away from the compound and enter on foot. The soldiers claim they are welcome, but Baba is forced to let a soldier check his whole body for weapons as if he were a criminal.

When Zulaikha and Baba finally make it past security, Captain Mindy greets them and tells Baba through an interpreter that they cannot make the trip to Kandahar today. She explains that the helicopter cannot fly because of windy weather. Baba complains that he took time off his work and traveled a long way and that Captain Mindy must do the surgery. The captain laughs, which humiliates him, and asks him to come back next week, when the helicopter will make the trip again. Baba says he cannot take more time off work, and the captain shames him further by arguing. Zulaikha listens, heartbroken, as Baba says that he will not allow Zulaikha to have the operation after all. The soldiers seem upset at Baba and sorry for Zulaikha. They give her some toys and candy as she and Baba leave the base.

That night, Zulaikha lies in bed feeling devastated and cannot sleep. In her sadness, her mind drifts to her mother’s death, which she normally tries to avoid remembering. Her mother, whom she called Madar, was reading poetry to her, Zeynab, and Malehkah out of a book when some members of the Taliban arrived with Baba, who was badly beaten. Madar told Malehkah to go upstairs with the children, but Zulaikha stayed behind. The Taliban did not approve of education, so they took Madar’s books and burned them. Over Baba’s wailing protests, they beat Madar with the butts of their rifles and then shot her.

Zulaikha feels increasingly depressed through the days following her visit to the American base. She will never have her cleft lip fixed; she also has to get used to the idea of living without Zeynab. When the first stage of the wedding arrives, Zulaikha is surprised to realize that Zeynab will not even be present when her father signs the papers. “It is tradition,” Malehkah says.

The whole family attends the second stage of the wedding, the arusi, where people celebrate with music, dancing, and gifts. At the women’s side of this party, Zulaikha enjoys the food and the dancing but feels surprised by the attention people pay to the rich gifts Zeynab receives. When she mentions this, Malehkah for once refrains from criticism. “Now, you are beginning to understand,” she says.

When Zeynab’s marriage is finished, Zulaikha feels lonely and sad. However, she receives a welcome distraction when Baba announces that she will have her surgery after all. He cannot take more time off work, but nineteen-year-old Najib can escort her. Najib has always been quiet and shy, and Zulaikha has no idea how he feels about the trip. He drives silently to Farah and submits to the soldiers’ searches and strange behavior without complaint. Soon he and Zulaikha are in a helicopter flying to Kandahar. During the ride, one of the soldiers unbuckles Najib’s safety harness so he can walk around the helicopter and enjoy the amazing views through the doors.

At the hospital in Kandahar, doctors put Zulaikha to sleep. She wakes up with her face stitched and swollen but miraculously repaired. After just a day, she is able to eat without spilling and talk without much impediment—two things she has never been able to do in her whole life. When it is clear that she is healing well, she and Najib are allowed to go home. The Americans give her toys and candy as usual when she leaves.

When this trip is over, Baba and the rest of the family celebrate Zulaikha’s new appearance. Even Malehkah seems happier with her than usual—not approving, exactly, but less tense and angry. However, she is pregnant and weak, so Zulaikha’s work in the household becomes greater than ever. She still misses Zeynab terribly. She finds that Meena was right. Even with her improved appearance, her life is not much different.

One day during a reading lesson, Meena suggests that Zulaikha plan to go to college instead of just getting married the way most girls do. Meena has spoken to a friend in the city of Herat who is willing to let Zulaikha live with her and go to school for free. Zulaikha says that Baba will never allow it, but Meena encourages her to ask.

After this conversation, Zulaikha goes to the marketplace, where she is surprised to see Zeynab. Zeynab has come to see her sister’s face, and she seems happy to see that the operation was a success. However, she looks weak and exhausted, and she confesses that she is required to do a great deal of work to take care of her husband’s home and children. “I am trying very hard to please him,” she says, clearly upset for some reason and struggles to get the words out. “He is helping to teach me...every night.” Moments later, she says good-bye and runs away. This brief encounter terrifies Zulaikha, who feels that something is terribly wrong. She confides her concerns to Baba, but he brushes them off.

The next day Baba goes on a business trip. While he is gone, Najib takes Zulaikha into the countryside for a drive. When she thanks him and asks why he is being so nice, he explains that he had fun taking a few days off from welding to go to Kandahar with her. “I thought I would try to pay you back a little,” he says. He confesses that he finds his life frustrating. He has worked at welding almost every day since the age of ten, and he knows nothing else. “I wonder sometimes what I would have done if Baba had not made me a welder,” he says. Zulaikha decides to confess that she has secretly been learning to read. Najib says that this is wonderful and, like Meena, encourages Zulaikha to ask Baba to let her go to school.

When Zulaikha and Najib arrive at home, Malehkah runs to meet them, crying. She says that Zeynab had an accident and got burned. Najib drives Zulaikha to the hospital, where they find Zeynab’s husband standing outside the building, smoking and looking unconcerned. Najib cannot enter the women’s side of the hospital, so Zulaikha goes alone. She is struck by the dank darkness of the building, which is very different from the modern hospital where she was treated for her cleft lip in Kandahar. Inside she finds Zeynab, whose whole body is covered with burns.

Shortly after Zulaikha arrives at the hospital, Captain Mindy and some other American soldiers appear. She wants to take Zeynab away in the helicopter to be treated at a better hospital, but Zeynab’s husband refuses. He explains he does not have time to go along and will not allow his wife to travel unaccompanied by a male escort. It is too late anyway—Zeynab dies.

Captain Mindy storms outside and shouts at Zeynab’s husband. “These things happen,” he says with a shrug. He accuses the captain of hypocrisy, saying it is ridiculous of the Americans to pretend to care so much about one girl when they have killed so many others. Captain Mindy shouts at him in English and forces her translator to interpret her insults.

After Zeynab’s death, Zulaikha and her family sink into a fog of grief. Even the arrival of Malehkah’s new baby, a girl they name Safia, brings no real joy. However, Malehkah recovers and begins to help with the household chores again. She acts subdued, asking politely for help rather than barking orders as she used to do. Although this is an improvement, Zulaikha cannot bring herself to feel happy about it.

One night at dinner, Zulaikha gathers her courage and tells Baba about Meena and the chance to go to school in Herat. When Baba hears Meena’s name, he goes quiet. He looks scared and sad. When he recovers, he refuses Zulaikha’s request and says he will beat her if she ever goes to see Meena again. To everyone’s surprise, Malehkah speaks up: “Let her go to the school....You’ve already lost one daughter. Do you want to lose—” This question is too much for Baba. He hits Malehkah across the face so hard that she flies across the room and hits her head on the floor. Baba stares in horror at what he has done. He says, “I loved Zeynab. I love...” He cannot finish and he runs outside. Najib stares at Zulaikha, who tells him to go with Baba.

All through the night, Zulaikha nurses Malehkah and comforts the scared children. In the meantime, she realizes that she loves her home and wants to stay with her family. When Baba and Najib finally return, Baba says he is ashamed of himself. He admits that he feels guilty for not saving Madar and Zeynab, and he cries. When he recovers, he tells Zulaikha she can go away to school.

Zulaikha surprises Baba by saying she does not want to go to Herat. Instead she asks permission to go to the new school he is helping to build so she can get an education and also stay at home. Her father says:

You’re a good girl, Zulaikha. More like your mother than you will ever know. And I would be honored for you to go to the school your baba built.

After this conversation, Zulaikha also talks to Malehkah, who confesses that she has always been bitter with her fate in life. Like Zeynab, she was married very young, and she has never had any choices. Before Zulaikha’s cleft lip was repaired, Malehkah always disliked looking at her. “Your hopelessness reminded me too much of my life,” she says, and adds that life must hold something better than what she has had. Words in the Dust ends as Zulaikha sits alone, thinking about what Malehkah has said and hoping that God will be willing to grant her a better life.