" Karim could not keep from staring at her- so exotic was this creature before him, with honey eyes and glossy lips like a candy he could lick off her face. It was as if a door had opened and he had walked through it. Everything behind him had fallen into a deep abyss and never again could he retrace his steps to that boy, the one with unruly hair and scraped kneecaps, caught roaches and mice with bare hands, who sometimes smelled like a wet sheep. What solitude he had lived in. His world expanded with Lily in the kitchen and it was all very new looking. Then, realizing his dirty nails and ugly pants, he was deeply embarrassed and hid behind Soli, his heart beating in big thumps. "

― , The Last Days of Café Leila