Four months after Badar moves in, Karim decides that it is time for him to find his own place. Fauzia and Karim discuss having a baby; she fears passing on her childhood epilepsy, while Karim tries to reassure her that she is cured. Karim finds Badar a room in a house owned by a man named Hakim, who works in Abu Dhabi. The room is stark and empty, but Badar immediately accepts it. He is eager to move out to escape his guilty fascination with Fauzia and Karim’s intimacy, though he misses them afterward, especially Fauzia.

Fauzia goes off contraceptives and becomes pregnant five months later. She experiences severe morning sickness but recovers after her fifth month. She gives birth to a daughter, Nasra, with Karim present. Khadija takes over managing the household for three weeks until Musa’s health requires her attention. Left on her own, Fauzia struggles with the constantly crying baby and household chores. Karim begins dreading coming home from work.

One night, Karim insists that they let Nasra cry herself to sleep. When Nasra falls silent, Fauzia, worried that she is having a seizure, finds her tangled in sheets, turning dark and suffocating. She resuscitates the baby by blowing into her mouth. They call Dr. Khalid, who blames the tangled sheets and prescribes calming medicine, but Fauzia fears that it is epilepsy. The incident deepens the tension between her and Karim. When Badar visits, he instantly calms the crying Nasra, while Karim and Fauzia remain withdrawn and unhappy. Khadija begins visiting again to help, but the marriage continues deteriorating.

In his third year at the Tamarind, Badar learns that he will be promoted to assistant manager when Issa transfers to the new Masri Hotel that Bwana Sharif is opening. A booking arrives for a woman named Geraldine Bruno through a volunteer agency, Relief Exchange International. Geraldine turns out to be a beautiful young woman with fair hair and light eyes. That evening, Badar hears her playing clarinet in her room.

The next morning, Geraldine speaks warmly to Badar, unlike the stern Maria Caffrey, director of the volunteer agency. Issa discovers a devastating one-star review of the hotel signed “Jazzy.” While Issa suspects a French guest, Badar believes that it was written by Tina Derrick, an American woman who propositioned him in her room days earlier. He had laughed nervously and fled, and she checked out that night.

Ramadhani, the night clerk, calls in sick with jaundice, forcing Badar to cover night shifts. On his first night, a hungry Geraldine comes to the office asking for food. Badar brings her fruit and milk. She stays to talk, revealing that she is a software developer on a 12-week volunteer project to digitize government health records. The next evening, Geraldine returns distressed after a bad experience buying street food from a vendor who sold her unwanted octopus. Badar gets her tangerines, and she asks him to accompany her to dinner the following day, which he tentatively agrees to do.

Karim dreads returning home each evening to Fauzia’s withdrawn misery and Nasra’s constant crying. One night, seeking escape, he visits the Tamarind and finds Badar in the office with Geraldine Bruno. He feels an immediate, powerful attraction to her glowing beauty. When Badar explains that he cannot take Geraldine to dinner because he is covering Ramadhani’s shift, Karim offers to accompany her. They have dinner, and he walks her back to the hotel in the rain, strongly tempted by her presence.

Days later, Karim meets with a government minister and his assistant, Wakili Hassan, who offer him a prestigious position on an EU-funded sustainable green development project. The role includes 10 weeks of training in Copenhagen and a substantial salary increase. He accepts enthusiastically and tells Fauzia, omitting that he will go to Copenhagen alone.

When Badar tells him that Geraldine left her phone number, Karim calls and arranges to meet her. He brings her to the apartment, where she charms Fauzia and plays with Nasra, borrowing a book about Peru. Karim begins seeing Geraldine regularly on Friday nights, lying to Fauzia about his whereabouts. After dinner one evening, Geraldine invites him to her apartment while her roommate is away, and they make love for the first time. The affair continues over subsequent Fridays. Geraldine suggests that they go away for a weekend together. When Karim hesitates, she encourages him not to be afraid, insisting that he will not find fulfillment in his life in Zanzibar.

On a Saturday morning, Karim tells Fauzia that he is going to Dar es Salaam for the weekend with Geraldine; he then packs and leaves. Sitting alone with Nasra, Fauzia reflects that the departure feels predictable in hindsight. She believes that the decline began with Nasra’s birth and Karim’s growing self-absorption. She remembers an incident when Karim, enraged by the baby’s crying while he worked, lifted Nasra from her cot by her head, terrifying Fauzia.

She realizes that she had sensed the affair but had not wanted to acknowledge the signs: Karim’s awestruck reaction to Geraldine’s first visit, his late return from a supposed barbecue smelling of perfumed soap, and the exchanged looks she witnessed. She calls Badar, who helps her move her belongings and Nasra to her parents’ house.

Khadija greets them in tears and launches into a bitter tirade against tourists and their corrupting influence. That night, alone in her old bed, the full shock of Karim’s abandonment hits Fauzia, and she weeps, feeling that “love had fled from her forever” (257).

The next day, Hawa visits to comfort her. She admits that her boss, Sultan, saw Karim at a restaurant with a young English woman, but Hawa did not mention it to avoid causing trouble. Fauzia repeatedly says that Geraldine is very beautiful. Hawa insists that Fauzia is more beautiful and suggests that they take Nasra for a walk to visit her mother and escape their sadness.

Badar reflects that he had sensed something was wrong between Karim and Fauzia but did not know about the affair until last Saturday morning, when Maria Caffrey arrived at the hotel that morning and accused Karim of stealing money from Geraldine’s roommate, another volunteer. Maria explained that she had a duty to look after the women and threatened to go to the police. Badar defended Karim, and Issa ordered Maria to leave. Immediately after, Fauzia called asking Badar to help her move out.

Three days later, Geraldine visits the hotel to say goodbye. She casually admits that she borrowed her roommate’s money for her trip with Karim and has since repaid it. She flirts with Badar and then leaves—the last time he sees her.

After Geraldine’s departure, Badar visits Karim at the flat. Karim appears untroubled and announces that his promotion is confirmed. Sensing disapproval, he suddenly launches a vicious verbal attack on Badar. He calls him ungrateful, servile, weak, and pathetic, cruelly reminding him that he rescued him from Uncle Othman and accusing him of having no ambition or self-respect. He shouts that his marriage was miserable, that the baby ruined their lives, and that he has learned not to be afraid and to take control of his life. He calls Badar a “useless wanker.”

Badar leaves, stunned and deeply hurt. Later, he reflects that he has “learned to endure” (288).

Four years later, on Nasra’s fifth birthday, Badar reflects on how long ago Karim’s departure seems. Karim moved to Dar es Salaam soon after for training and then went to Copenhagen. He now works on the EU-funded project with a high salary and is rumored to be on a path toward becoming a minister. Badar has seen him only once, at Uncle Othman’s funeral, where they exchanged a brief, silent greeting. Haji had called after the breakup, confused and asking if Fauzia needed anything, revealing that Karim had initially stayed with him and Raya.

Badar is now assistant manager at the Tamarind, but plans have changed, and he will soon transfer to the Masri Hotel while Issa moves to the Crystal Bay. The Tamarind will be sold and converted to a restaurant.

With time to spare, Badar uses the hotel computer to look up Geraldine’s address on a map. He virtually walks down Gemstone Street NW3, reflecting on the chaos she caused. He wonders if she views it as merely a holiday fling and whether Karim regrets it or feels released. He receives an email from Fauzia canceling his errand to collect Nasra’s cake.

Badar reflects on his long-held love for Fauzia and his patience after Karim left. Over time, their affection deepened. One day at Mangapwani Beach with Hawa and Nasra, Fauzia took his hand as they walked. They stopped to embrace among the palms. When Hawa saw them together, she smiled and said that she had long expected it.