Frankenstein in Baghdad

The next day, Sultan drives Saidi’s mother and sisters to Amman, where Saidi is waiting for them. However, the car never makes it to its destination. Apparently, armed gangs are killing people on the road because of their religion. Although Saidi calls many times, he remains able to reach Sultan by telephone.

The day before, Abu Anmar left Baghdad permanently, after 23 years of living there. He bought a new truck with the money he received from selling the Orouba Hotel to Faraj. On his way out, felt glad to leave a city that had become so chaotically violent.

Faraj, in the meantime, is ecstatic about the hotel deal. He trusts that he will be able to bring the hotel to life again, because he is successful at taking advantage of difficult situations. Although Faraj has never killed anyone, some people consider him the leader of a criminal gang focused on appropriating the properties of people fleeing the violence in different parts of the city. As Faraj is watching workers remove all the furniture from Abu Anmar’s hotel, a violent explosion—the largest one so far in Bataween—cuts these activities short.

One week earlier, Faraj had struck a deal with Elishva to buy her house. The old lady agreed to do so because Daniel had returned. Although the old woman’s neighbors had spent the last months trying to see the man Elishva call her son, one day Daniel truly appeared on her doorstep. Followed by the deacon, Nader Shamouni, the 20-year-old boy walked timidly toward Elishva’s door, unsure of his surroundings. People immediately wondered if the old lady had, in fact, been telling the truth all this time. So many people had returned from war in strange circumstances, they argued, that it was possible for Daniel Tadros Moshe to come home after so long.

When Elishva opened her door, she recognized the same face and smile as those of the boy—her son Daniel—in the picture in her living room. She realized that Saint George the Martyr’s promise had finally come true. She noticed some neighbors looking in and wanted everyone to celebrate with her that a miracle had taken place. After Elishva hugged the boy with surprising strength, Nader confirmed to her that this was Daniel. Umm Salim touched Daniel to check that the boy was not a ghost.

Daniel greeted Elishva in Assyrian, and Elishva tenderly took him inside. When Nader entered the old lady’s home, he told her that her daughters, Matilda and Hilda, were currently in Ankawa. He added that Daniel was Hilda’s son—and, therefore, Elishva’s grandson. The family’s goal was to take the old lady to Melbourne. Matilda and Father Josiah had planned this event carefully. They had decided to use the resemblance between Elishva’s son and grandson as an emotional mechanism, in order to convince the old lady to follow them to Melbourne.

In line with this plan, Daniel told Elishva that she should sell her house and go live with him. The two of them talked for hours. Although Elishva knew that this boy was not her son, she was still moved by the physical contact with her grandson, which reminded her of the boy she lost. She resolved to protect their family bond at all costs and concluded that she would abide by his demands. As a celebration of this happy event, she brought Daniel in front of the picture of Saint George. However, the saint did not give any answer to the woman’s heartfelt words of gratitude.

Following Daniel’s advice, Elishva accepted to sell her house. In these circumstances, she could only revert to Faraj. Faraj did not know what exactly had happened to Elishva’s son, and why he had returned, but he was confused by the fact that the boy was 20 years too young for the story to make sense. When one of Faraj’s children suggested that Daniel might have been kept in a freezer for 20 years, Faraj slapped him, surprising everyone.

At the same time as Faraj examined Elishva’s house, Hadi learned that the old lady wanted to sell him her furniture. Although he did not understand why Elishva was being so kind to him after hating him for so long, he decided that he would borrow money from his friends to buy all the furniture at once, because this was a priceless opportunity for him. Elishva asked that he remove the furniture only once she had left, so that she could preserve an intact memory of her home.

The night before moving out, Elishva talked to Saint George, who did not respond to her. She concluded that the saint had fulfilled his promise and no longer had anything to say. Instead of carrying the heavy picture with her, Elishva removed the picture from its frame and cut the Saint’s face in a circle, keeping it with her. When she observed the faceless picture left in the house, she now saw the image with emotional distance, realizing that it was no longer familiar to her.

The next day, Umm Salim and other neighbors wept in a performative manner to honor Elishva’s move. On her way out, Elishva called Nabu, but the cat ran away, looking her with what Elishva understood as a defiant look, confirming that the cat was intent on staying even if its owner cowardly left. Umm Salim made a prediction that Elishva’s departure would bring bad luck to the neighborhood. In the meantime, Hadi spent the entire day removing the old lady’s furniture and selling half of it to locals, thus earning a good amount of money.

At the end of the day, a creature jumped onto Elishva’s roof and walked around the empty apartment. The creature was sad because Elishva had played a crucial part in giving him his identity as her son, Daniel. The Whatsitsname reflected that he, in turn, had played a role in preserving Elishva’s son’s memory. As a result, her departure made him doubt the purpose of his existence. Ultimately, the creature called Nabu, sat down, and stayed sitting with the cat the entire night.