House of Sand and Fog

Nadi returns from an outing with Soraya, bringing back several pieces of clothing that she assures Behrani were purchased on sale. Behrani is still furious about Kathy’s interruption.

He recounts the story of his 19-year-old cousin in Iran—a beautiful young woman who had an affair with a married American businessman. Her father, Behrani’s uncle, held her captive, beat her, and eventually killed her in the streets as punishment for this affair. While this family tragedy led him to abhor violence against women (although he admits to striking his wife “on occasion”), Behrani feels murderous rage toward Kathy: “if this woman troubles me again, she will simply wish she had not” (153-54).

Kathy returns to the cabin and is surprised to see a truck with an Alcoholics Anonymous sticker parked next to Lester’s car. She walks up on Lester speaking with the truck’s owner, who Lester introduces as the cabin’s owner. Lester is drinking and looking particularly sad. He had a bad confrontation with his wife, who brought their two children along to witness the exchange.

Lester leaves with his friend, saying he’s going to help his friend sell his boat and make some calls to lawyers on Kathy’s behalf. They stay out for well over two hours, and when Lester finally comes back he’s visibly drunk. He explains that the two lawyers he called told him that Behrani has the right to keep the house. He tells Kathy about a third call he made to his lawyer regarding his divorce, and Kathy does her best to comfort him. Lester suggests that he, as a uniformed officer, might be able to apply some pressure to Behrani. Still drunk, he puts on his uniform, and Kathy drives him to the house.

A peaceful evening at the Behrani home is interrupted when a uniformed officer (Lester) knocks on the door to say the house’s “for sale” is illegally placed on a utility pole. Behrani agrees to remove the sign, but Lester lingers in the house, asking probing questions about it and his family. Lester identifies himself with a false name and attempts to intimidate Behrani by insinuating he will call immigration authorities.

After Lester leaves, Nadi anxiously asks Behrani why the officer talked about deportation. Behrani tries to deny what she heard, but the argument escalates, and he slaps her. Esmail intervenes, and Behrani falls on and breaking an heirloom coffee table.

After taking down the sign Behrani comes clean to Esmail, admitting that the house is only theirs because of a bureaucratic mistake. Behrani does his best to brush Esmail’s moral protests aside, explaining that the city should bear the responsibility for the mistake. Even so, he is troubled by Lester’s visit and unable to sleep that evening.

Kathy quickly drives herself and Lester away from the house. He tells her what happened as they drive to the storage shed, where they load the car with items to bring to the cabin. Lester takes off his uniform and wears Nick’s old clothes.

Hearing music from the trucker bar across the street, the two decide to go dancing. They drink heavily, and Kathy thinks about her sobriety and Lester’s family.

She wakes up back at the cabin, extremely hungover. Lester is in a melancholy mood and recounts a time when he took pity on a young Filipino boy robbing a gas station, saying that he couldn’t help but think of his own son and how he hoped to “take such good care of him that he’d never have to get that desperate” (179). He needs to go home to settle things with his family. Kathy decides to reason with Nadi and drives to Corona, where she illegally enters one of her client’s homes to clean herself. She thinks to herself, “it’s so wrong to invade someone’s home” (183).