CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
They ate in a room adjacent to the kitchen. Plates spread on sheets of newspaper covering a white formica table. A television box perched on a wooden shelf in one of the top corners of the room. Surprised to see an old-style CRT television set in this day and age, Sami wondered if it worked. He refrained from asking.
The room was a mass of contradictions.
A white cord dangled by the outdated TV and charged an iPhone. Small mismatched saucers, half-melted candles stuck on them, were scattered on windowsills. A shabby wooden crate held a large screen laptop with a wireless mouse. A kerosene lamp hung next to energy-saving light bulbs in the ceiling light fixture.
Sami tried to relax his stomach muscles. The main dish set before him was fit for a king. He fumbled with
