The Bastard of Istanbul

Armanoush settles into the routine of the Kazanci household—breakfast from 6:00 AM to 9:30 AM, with everyone coming and going from the table, as though it were a train car. Auntie Banu is the first to awake to perform her morning prayers; she sets the table. She also talks to the two djinn (genies) who sit on her shoulders—Mrs. Sweet and Mr. Bitter.

From Mrs. Sweet, Auntie Banu gets kind-hearted sympathy; from Mr. Bitter, she acquires knowledge. Normally, she only asks for information that will help her clients, but one day she asks something more personal: who is Asya’s father? Mr. Bitter, the treacherous gulyabani (ghoul), tempts Auntie Banu with the knowledge that she desires. Gulyabani know dark secrets and the world’s historical calamities. Surely, Auntie Banu thinks, Mr. Bitter would also know if Armanoush’s family was forced to go on a death march in 1915. 

Mr. Bitter claims that Armanoush’s family did indeed go on such a march and that he was there to witness it. He took the form of a vulture and circled above, “waiting for them to fall on their knees” (192). Armanoush rises late that morning. She and Asya have breakfast with Auntie Banu. Asya then asks Auntie Banu to read some roasted hazelnuts for Armanoush to tell her her fortune.