[Discussion] Evergreen: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, chapters 11-15

Shalom and salaam to my fellow readers. I'm taking over for two weeks of discussions of this absorbing book. Let's get started.

Summary

Chapter 11

“The Sultan” buys a silk umbrella. It improves his late night walks. Conroy runs the tobacco shop that sells gold and silver on the side. Ahmad buys a candlestick. While on top of a building, a young woman propositions him. She is addicted to opium, and her mannerisms remind him of Fadwa.

In a flashback, Ahmad watched Fadwa milk goats. Her life was one of endless chores. She deprived herself of sleep waiting for the Jinni to visit again.

The Rabbi works tirelessly until he finds a formula to bind Chava to a new master. The catch is that she has to consent to it. He finished, but he was so famished and tired that he died. Chava found him that night. She takes the old instructions from his side and runs away as soon as other people hear her.

She was too restless in her room, so she walked through the city until she got lost. A man holding a lantern appeared. It was Ahmad, and he knew immediately that she was made of earth. Chava notices he was made of fire. They tell their names, and Chava runs away. Ahmad follows her.

Maryam Faddoul got Saleh work making ice cream in the winter for other restaurants. He couldn't sleep so walks the street and saw Ahmad’s glowing face.

Schaalman boards the same ship that Rotfeld and Chava boarded.

Chapter 12

Someone tells Michael that his uncle died. He is overcome with guilt. In the tenement, a man sits watch over his body. Chava knocks at the door but isn't allowed inside. She can't attend the funeral either. It's for men only.

Ahmad tells Arbeely of his encounter with Chava. He has a bad feeling about her. In Syria, Christians and Jews were pitted against each other.

It snowed in the night. Ahmad and Chava are alone with their thoughts. Chava bought a large brass locket to hide the command paper inside.

Michael feels uncomfortable at the funeral. He knows people see him as the rabbi’s apostate nephew. He inherited his uncle's estate. Michael went through his stuff and put his important papers in a satchel. Michael got sick and was diagnosed with influenza and sent to the Ellis Island hospital. A man with delirium was in the same room. Schaalman had cursed him in line so it would move faster.

Schaalman’s name was changed to Joseph Schall.

Chapter 13

Ahmad asks Arbeely about his religion. Ahmad thinks it's a story like people say about jinn, but jinni are real. And didn't he say that he didn't believe in God? That was when Arbeely was drunk, and he didn't mean it. Ahmad made him a silver owl in apology.

Chava walks the streets alone. She can feel the prayers from the synagogues like a hurricane. She spent the night mending clothes for the other boarders. Once a needle was lost, and she found it sunken in her arm. Her clay arm healed as soon as she pulled it out. She stuck pins in her arm as an experiment but stopped herself before she plunged in scissors.

The jinni was outside her window, and their eyes met. He was waiting for her. He formed something with his hands and left it under the lamppost. It was a silver bird. He came back the next night. Chava told him to leave her alone. She could sense his distress at being trapped in human form. She'll talk to him if he promises not to tell a soul.

They have privacy at the aquarium. Her having a master was different than he thought. He doesn't want her pity. The only time she went out at night was the first time she met him. Her own strength scares her. Ahmad offers to be her walking companion. Chava agrees to one night a week.

An old man corners Ahmad outside his home and asks what he is and sees he's made of fire. Boys tell him it's Ice Cream Saleh. No one would believe him anyway.

Chapter 14

Michael recovered from the flu and left after two weeks. Joseph Schall, the man formerly known as Schaalman, stayed at the Men's Home. It reminds him of when he was in jail. He had stolen the list so he could stay longer than five days. He ratted out the others who stayed longer than he did, though. While Michael was gone, he made himself indispensable to the other staff.

Ahmad showed up and escorted Chava to Madison Square Park. They window shop on Broadway. They have the park all to themselves. Chava tells him she's only six months old. He is about two hundred years old. Ahmad used to be free and independent. He thinks Chava is too cautious. Did she miss her master? It's all she ever knew, and she would have a purpose again. What if Rotfeld ordered her to kill her coworkers? She could have killed the rabbi, too. Policemen nearby think he was bothering her when Chava told him to leave her alone. She pretended that they were a couple and walked away.

It starts to snow, and Ahmad looks worried. They agree to meet again in a week.

The jinni visited Fadwa in a dream. He took her to his place where a feast was laid out for her. She told him of her father and her tribe. Her parents were in an arranged marriage.She was shocked that there was no marriage in his world. She had to get up but lived in the dream world in her head all day.

Chapter 15

Michael took Chava to visit the Rabbi’s grave in Brooklyn. She knows that Michael has a crush on her. Anna had teased her when he came into the shop and invited her on the outing.

Michael cried and felt bad for not being there for his uncle more. Chava said his uncle had said he was a good man, which surprised Michael. They go to a cafe where people are debating and arguing. Michael said that “human nature is the same, no matter the system.” Michael tells her of the man who helped run things while he was away. They should meet sometime. (Please don't!) On the way home, they awkwardly agree to remain friends.

Schaalman’s plan is working.Now he needs to find life eternal. He writes an incantation all night for him to be a dowsing rod and goes into a trance when he reads it out loud. The neighborhood gave no signs to him that his words worked. Michael looks distracted over love. Schaalman lied and said he had a sweetheart once, but she left him.

Extras

If you read ahead, comment in the Marginalia.

The Bowery

An interview with the author

The bird he made was probably a sandgrouse.

Dabke dance

Araq

Jewish mourning rituals

Questions are in the comments. See you next week for chapters 16 to 19. 🗿🧞