The Pearl That Broke Its Shell

Badriya wins the election, “mostly thanks to the women’s votes, according to the local news” (231). Jahangir begins to look like Abdul Khaliq, which frightens Rahima. Khala Shaima visits. Rahima worries about Khala Shaima’s health; her breathing appears labored. Rahima is worried about aging. Life in Abdul Khaliq’s household has been hard on her. She wonders, “Maybe that is what Parwin had seen, life in ten years. Maybe it was a sight too ugly to bear” (232).

Khala Shaima suggests Rahima tries to accompany Badriya to Kabul. It would be educational and would connect her with Shekiba: Rahima’s great-great-grandmother lived in the city. Khala Shaima suggests using Rahima’s ability to read as a way to convince Badriya to let her go: Badriya is illiterate. Shanaz cannot read, and Jameela can only read a little. Rahima is excited to see the places that Shekiba had seen. She asks Khala Shaima if one can change their naseeb. Khala Shaima says, “Maybe your naseeb is there but waiting for you to make it happen” (235). Though this seems blasphemous, the idea excites Rahima. Rahima thinks of fate that night. She might not know her naseeb, but she vows, like Shekiba, to make her fate as good as possible for herself and her son. 

Shekib encounters Amanullah again and thinks, “It was naseeb that they should walk through her now, while I am on guard” (236). Shekib overhears the prince’s conversation with his friend. They discuss the conflicts with the British at the borders. Shekib again catches his eye; Amanullah nods at her. This excites her greatly: “Could Amanullah have looked past her disfigurement?” (237). She considers her situation. As a “man,” she is relatively unrestricted in her movements. After guard duty, she strolls the grounds, wondering what the interior of Dilkhosha Palace is like. Things in Kabul are very different than in her village. She wonders, “Why were they so preoccupied by these Russians, whoever they were, when villages were struggling without water?” (238). Preoccupied with her thoughts, Shekib does not see Agha Baraan reading on a bench. He greets her, startling her. This is an opportunity to speak to someone close to Prince Amanullah.

She introduces herself; Agha Baraan remembers her. Shekib asks what he does in the palace. He is an assistant to a vizier. He asks her real name and about her family. Shekib slips up and says she has no family; she recovers and says that she comes from a family whose women bore many boys. Shekib asks about Amanullah; Agha Baraan says he both is and is not important. Shekib does not see how this is possible. Agha Baran says that if she disproves of contradictions, she is “ill prepared for life in the palace” (240). She says she must get back to the harem. Baraan thinks that she is “clumsy and unrefined,” yet “interesting in an odd way” (240). He wonders about her scar and if she had been lying to him.

To get on Badriya’s good side, Rahima offers to give her a back rub. Badriya eagerly accepts. Rahima asks when she is going back to Kabul. The massage relaxes her into boasting about her new position again. Rahima takes the opportunity to offer to help with clerical work. Badriya is surprised that Rahima can read and write. Badriya seriously considers the proposition, but she becomes suspicious about Rahima’s motives. Rahima convinces her to ask Abdul Khaliq.

Badriya does not ask until two days out from her next trip. Abdul Khaliq reluctantly assents. There is one problem: Jahangir cannot go with them, and they will be gone for around two weeks. Rahima asks her about what parliamentary business entails, but Badriya brushes her off. She tells her to pack good clothes, not the ratty blue dress she wears around the house. This dress reminds Rahima of the denim jeans she wore when she was a bacha posh.

Rahima realizes that Badriya actually wants her to go, despite her apparent reluctance. She realizes, “She needs me” (246). Rahima learns that each member of parliament is given a stipend to hire an assistant. Badriya had no assistant, and the director general’s office was tired of helping her. Rahima will fill that position for Badriya. Rahima sees this as a chance to improve her naseeb. 

Shekib gradually grows more confident in her role as a man. Each conversation she has makes it easier to make eye contact. Whenever she has the chance, she brings up the “long lineage of sons in her family” (247). She has been in the palace for a year now. King Habibullah seems to be a good king to his people. He sometimes introduces new concubines to his harem. These new additions upset the older concubines. Benazir gave birth to a girl. Sakina tries to undermine the newcomers. Fatima is ill and attended by a British physician, Mrs. Brown. Despite these tensions, the women still live like a family. The unknown intruder continues to make appearances when the guards least expect it.

Amanullah visits his half-siblings in the harem courtyard. Shekib holds out hope for marriage, and she hopes she has caught the prince’s eye. The king also thinks of Amanullah’s marriage, acknowledging that he is the type of man who will insist on choosing his bride himself.

Shekib feels her time running out. She “floated in and out of genders easily now, aware of her flattened bosom and hidden curves only in Amanullah’s presence” (250). Again, Shekib eavesdrops on Amanullah and Baraan. Amanullah describes the woman he wants to marry to his friend. To Shekib, it seems he is describing her. The other guards notice a change in Shekib’s behavior. She begins to imagine her life with Amanullah. Three nights later, Fatima’s health worsens: “Fatima had taken a dramatic turn for the worse and with it, Shekib’s naseeb changed course” (251)

The night before the trip to Kabul, Abdul Khaliq visits Rahima. She is still repulsed by him. After they have sex, she takes the opportunity to ask if she can take Jahangir with her. He spends the next half hour beating her. A bruise in the shape of his hand forms on her cheek as she leaves Jahangir with Jameela. She knows Jameela will take good care of him, but she is reluctant to part with her son for the first time. Gulalai chides Rahima for leaving her motherly duties. Hashmat chides her about having been a bacha posh as often as he can, though not in front of Abdul Khaliq, who now seems unable to tolerate hearing about it. She hopes Jahangir will be spared his father’s temper while she is gone.

Kabul is as amazing sight to Rahima as it was to Shekiba. Badriya is amused by Rahima’s reaction to the city. They pass a “palace” that “surely once looked very majestic” (255). The building is Arg-e-Shahi, the presidential palace, the same palace Shekiba was taken to. They pass many American and European soldiers in the street before arriving at the European guesthouse where they will be staying. It is the biggest building Rahima has ever seen. In the lobby, Rahima sees several fashionable Kabuli women. Their clothes make her feel “suddenly unsophisticated and awkward” (257). Badriya warns Rahima that she should not expect to see much of Kabul. They are watched constantly, though this is some comfort because members of parliament—especially women—receive threats.

The next day, the two women wear burqas until they reach parliament. Rahima is impressed by the men and women in the parliament. Many of the women wear western-style clothing, and some even wear makeup. She wonders what their husbands think of this. There is a woman security guard, who reminds Rahima of Shekiba. Female guards check the women entering the building for weapons. They are greeted by Sufia and Hamida, two other female members of parliament, both older than Badriya. Hamida disapproves when Badriya introduces Rahima as her husband’s wife. They try to invite Badriya and Rahima to the resource center that night, but Badriya declines. Rahima is intrigued: The opportunity to learn something new excites her. The resource center is designed to educate women. Badriya dislikes the direction of this conversation and leads Rahima away. Rahima is “starting to taste the possibility of change here” (261).