Home Fire

Eamonn returns to London, and instead of posting a gift from Isma to Aunty Naseem—a package of M&Ms—he delivers it himself. On his way to Preston Road, memories of this neighborhood return to him: Every Eid, his father would insist that they go to Eamonn’s great-uncle’s house located nearby. After seeing that his family showed no interest in observing this Muslim holiday, Eamonn’s father stopped forcing them to pay the visit and instead went alone. Thus, these visits only left Eamonn with feelings of estrangement, but after spending time with Isma, he wanted to see the neighborhood again and to rediscover “a piece of his childhood—of his father—that he’d been ready to forget” (76).

Aunty Naseem warmly welcomes Eamonn, and her traditionally decorated house “brought back his great-uncle’s home, and with it the shameful memory of his own embarrassment about it” (76). As she asks him questions about Isma and fries samosas for him, Aneeka comes downstairs; Eamonn recognizes her immediately from the picture he saw in Isma’s apartment. Although Aneeka realizes right away that their guest is Eamonn, her behavior towards him is hostile, and she refers to him as “Googling White Muslim” (81). When they soon part company, Aneeka strides away as if she never wants to see Eamonn again, but she comes up to him on the train, and invites herself to his apartment.