Yara’s Journal

Summary

• The chapter begins with Yara describing a disturbing phone call her mother receives, which informs her of Teta (Yara's grandmother) passing away in Palestine.
• Following the phone call, Yara's mother becomes extremely withdrawn and grief-stricken, staying in her room and neglecting herself and household duties.
• Yara takes on the responsibility of caring for her younger brothers during this time, trying to maintain normalcy by feeding them and distracting them with cartoons.
• Eventually, Yara's mother emerges from her room, looking disheveled and unkempt, and begins to clean the kitchen with a faraway look in her eyes.
• Yara feels the weight of their loss deeply, realizing that her family will never return to Palestine and mourning the loss of her grandmother and the impact on her mother.
• Her mother's frail and hollow appearance reminds Yara of a skeletal painting she once saw, indicating the extent of her mother's suffering.
• Yara's mother prepares coffee with an antique set given to her by Teta, and Yara notes her mother's movements mimicking those of her grandmother.
• When Yara tries to comfort her mother, she is sharply rejected, and a sense of tension and unresolved conflicts between them is implied.
• Yara's mother is hostile, blaming Yara for various problems and expressing regret over her daughter's existence while lamenting her own unmet needs.
• In an outburst of anger, Yara's mother shatters the treasured coffee cups and curses Yara with a "terrible life," a punishment for being a "terrible daughter."