All My Rage

In February present day, Salahudin, also referred to as Sal, rides to his high school in Juniper, California, with his father, who he calls Abu. Despite the early hour, Abu is intoxicated. The father and son agree to accompany Sal’s mother, Misbah, who he calls Ama, to her doctor’s appointment that afternoon, although Salahudin worries his father will forget to drive Ama. As they arrive at Juniper High, Salahudin’s girlfriend, Ashlee, greets him, and Principal Ernst approaches with a warning that Sal should not skip any more classes. Salahudin ducks into the bathroom to escape from Ashlee, thinking of his ex-best friend Noor, who always made sure he went to classes on time.

He and Noor fought several months ago after Noor confessed that she was in love with Sal. Sal pushed Noor away when she kissed him, saying he didn’t feel the same way, although her kiss “was a blade tearing open something inside” (11). They have hardly spoken since the fight. While in the bathroom, Salahudin overhears a drug deal between Art Britman, Ashlee’s cousin and the school drug dealer, and Atticus, Jamie Jensen’s boyfriend. When Sal emerges from a stall, Art offers to get Sal drugs to deal with the difficulty of his mom’s illness, but Salahudin turns him down.

Today is Noor’s 18th birthday, and she gets a birthday text from Auntie Misbah, Salahudin’s mom. Noor calls Misbah her auntie even though she is not her biological aunt. They used to be close, but since the fight with Salahudin, Noor hasn’t been talking to Misbah or answering her texts.

As Noor gets ready to leave for school, Noor’s uncle, who she calls Chachu, explains a math theorem to a patron at his liquor shop. Noor and Chachu both love 90s music, but their similarities end there. They aren’t close, so Noor is shocked when her uncle remembers her birthday and gives her a secondhand bicycle. Despite this kindness, Chachu also reminds her that once she graduates, she will work at the liquor store while he takes classes.

Noor thinks about how much Chachu gave up for her. When Noor was six, an earthquake flattened her entire village in Pakistan. Chachu came and dug through the rubble with his bare hands and found Noor. He brought her back to the US, left his engineering internship, and bought the liquor store so he could raise Noor. Now, Chachu has forbidden Noor from applying to college; he wants her to run the store so he can return to school and hasn’t given her any other options. Even so, Noor secretly applied to seven schools. She’s been rejected by one so far and is waiting to hear back from the rest.

At school, Noor sits in English class next to Jamie Jensen, who constantly compares grades with Noor, asks if she’s heard from colleges, and mispronounces Noor’s name. Later, during gym class, Salahudin approaches Noor and asks her to text his mom to change her doctor’s appointment to tomorrow. He got detention for being late to class, so he won’t be able to accompany her to the appointment. His phone isn’t working since his family is late paying the phone bill. Even though Noor is still angry with Salahudin, she agrees to text his mom, and the two part ways.

This chapter flashes back to a past November in Lahore, Pakistan, as Misbah consults a fortune teller about her upcoming marriage. She learns that her fiancé is “restless” and that she will “travel across the sea” with her husband (25). Misbah also learns that she will have three children but will fail each of them.

Noor volunteers at the hospital for the last two periods of her school day and works at the liquor store in the afternoons. Today though, Noor is worried because Auntie didn’t respond to her text, and she stops at the motel Salahudin’s family owns to check on her. Auntie does not look well, and Noor agrees to have the tea, halva, and puri Auntie prepared but scolds her for missing dialysis appointments for her kidney disease.

Right after Noor shares the song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with Auntie, Misbah slumps forward and goes limp. Toufiq, Salahudin’s father, walks in, and Noor yells for him to call 911. He does, even though he’s drunk, and Noor directs him to ride in the ambulance. She leaves a note for Salahudin and follows the ambulance to the hospital on her bike, even though she’s late for work at the liquor store.

When Sal arrives at the hospital several hours later after seeing Noor’s note, Ama is weak, and Abu is vomiting and belligerent in the waiting room. Salahudin must leave Ama to intervene for his father, who is now talking to police officers. When Sal tries to pull Abu away toward the exit, his father strikes him accidentally while trying to resist. Salahudin defends his father to the police, and they allow the father and son to leave.

Noor stays with Auntie Misbah at the hospital and texts Chachu that she must stay late because of an emergency. When Auntie wakes, she tells Noor that she doesn’t belong in Juniper, saying, “You are better than this place” (42). Auntie then starts to crash, and Noor calls for the doctor; Auntie says the word “forgive” (43) to Noor, and then she dies.