The Other Americans

by Laila Lalami

I hadn’t realized how close we were until she died.

she had asked nicely and I’ve never minded helping the police. They have a tough job to do, sometimes, a thankless job.

Come to think of it, he always wanted to look his best when he ventured out of his work clothes, as if any trip into the wider world—the whiter world—was a test he might not pass someday, if he wasn’t careful.

I felt dizzy with loss.

I had noticed this before about Americans—they always want to take action, they have a hard time staying still, or allowing themselves to feel uncomfortable emotions—so

The two of us weren’t fighting about the war, we were fighting about something else, something that had lain unspoken between us for many years.

From the way he looked at me, it seemed the moment held some significance, but I couldn’t tell what it was. How strange the work of memory, I thought. What some people remembered and others forgot.

Growing up in this town, I had long ago learned that the savagery of a man named Mohammed was rarely questioned, but his humanity always had to be proven.

“We don’t get time off on holiday weekends.” She tucked her hands into her apron. “I always have to figure out what to do with the kids, especially during spring break or in the summer. And it’s worse now that I’m getting divorced. They have day camps over there at the community center, you know, but it’s expensive. I have to leave them with my sister. She’s on disability, so it’s not easy for her to watch three kids, but at least they’re with family.” “Right,” I said and waited a moment to bring the conversation back to my line of thought.

Nora is such an ass

“Stroke of luck,” I said, and immediately regretted the modesty in my voice. Humility had been drilled in me, as it was in most of the women I knew, and I found it hard to get rid of it, even though it was frequently mistaken for inability.

found this confusing, until she explained that she usually received form rejections, and getting a personal note with a few words of encouragement meant a great deal to her. It restored some of her confidence in her work.

but the way I see it, they’re changing this place and wanting me to be grateful for it. They didn’t ask if we wanted them here, they just came.

For years, I had wanted to be included in one of these prestigious venues, and now that I had finally been admitted into one, I felt out of place.

the country was in the middle of the worst recession it had seen in a century, but I didn’t sit back and play the victim, the way so many others do all day long. No, I borrowed some money from my folks and started my own business

Love was made of echoes like this, and now that I could hear them, I knew we could figure it out, find a way forward together.