The prayer beads that Larbi Amrani’s mother gave him before her death break on his way to work, which Larbi worries is an omen. At work, he reads the newspaper and an old friend, Tawfiq, visits him to ask if Larbi can use his influence to get Tawfiq’s niece a coveted teaching job in Rabat. Larbi is annoyed and hesitant but eventually agrees. Larbi gets home to find a letter from his son who is studying engineering in Canada and needs money, which Larbi knows he uses for partying. Larbi gives his daughter, Noura, some magazines he picked up for her. Noura introduces him to Faten, her religious schoolmate at the public university where Noura studies English before she goes to NYU. Faten refuses to shake Larbi’s hand, and Larbi asks his wife, Salma, about Faten, concerned that Noura is “mix[ing] with the wrong type’ (27)because of Faten’s headscarf. Salma tells him not to worry in a way that irritates Larbi.

Faten frequents Larbi’s home, and Larbi overhears Faten disparaging King Hassan and advocating for more stringent Muslim morality to address societal injustices. When he asks Noura about it, she tells him they were talking about students bribing teachers to pass exams and abruptly ends the conversation.