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it,” Layla said.
    “Work alone for some Danish man?” Kabir demanded. “You've both gone mad.”
    “But I'll learn Danish more easily,” Raihana protested. She didn't want to upset Layla and Kabir. She lived in their home and she knew they cared for her.
    Raihana wondered if the praktik was worth going against Layla and Kabir for. She had said yes and she still thought it was a good idea, but she was also nervous.
    She didn't speak Danish, she only knew a little about beekeeping, and she was shunning a job at the supermarket with her friends. But the appeal of working with bees was strong, partly because it reminded her of the smell of honey from her uncle's house and partly because Christina had suggested it. She didn't want to disappoint Christina and she didn't want to admit that she had exaggerated about her experience with her uncle's bees. She had worked only a little with the bees, a very long time ago, and most of it was a faint memory, except for the smell of honey.
    Raihana kept trying to convince Kabir and Layla the entire evening. Layla kept sighing and Kabir kept saying no. If only Layla were on her side, Raihana thought, then she could help convince Kabir.
    “Why do you want to work there?” Layla asked Raihana. They were alone in the living room, watching a Hindi movie Kabir had brought back from Hamburg. “Tell me the truth.”
    “I remember the smell of honey,” Raihana told her. “The sweet and rich smell of it. Just thinking about it reminds me of Afghanistan.”
    “But we're not in Afghanistan,” Layla said sadly. “Nothing is going to bring that time back, Raihana.”
    “I know but let me try the job for a week. If I'm uncomfortable there you can talk to your supervisor and see if they have room for one more at the supermarket. Okay?” Raihana pleaded.
    “But why? It might be hard work with the bees; have you thought about that?” Layla asked.
    Raihana smiled. “I'm not afraid of hard work. I want to do this. Let me do this.”
    “Okay,” Layla said, finally giving in. “Okay. I'll talk to Kabir. But be careful. Old or young, you can't trust these white men.”
    Gunnar couldn't believe Ole's wife's audacity. Hiring someone for him?
    They said they had just come to visit, the liars. They had brought cake along to soften him, Gunnar knew. The chocolate cake looked good, but Gunnar didn't want to bother with getting plates, knives, and forks. And he hoped that Christina would make coffee to go with the cake because he just couldn't muster the energy to do it.
    “It's not set in stone, Gunnar,” Christina said as Gunnar all but vibrated with anger when she told him about Raihana and how she could help him. “Gunnar, don't you want to help this woman? She's young and — ”
    “I'm not having some Muslim woman running around my house,” Gunnar erupted. “These people are in Denmark to suck our money and I — ”
    “You don't even have to pay her,” Christina said. “And Gunnar, don't talk nonsense. They're here to survive. Her husband was killed by the Taliban. It wasn't a picnic for her back there. And she has worked with bees before. It will be good for you to have someone around the house to maybe clean up a little and help with the bees — or do you not care if all the colonies die?”
    “I can take care of my colonies,” Gunnar said.
    “Really?” Ole asked. “How? Have you prepared frames yet? Have you done anything, man?”
    “I can take care of my bees,” he said again.
    “She can help you,” Christina said. “And it will be a good way for her to learn some Danish.”
    “You want me to hire a woman who speaks no Danish? What does she speak?” Gunnar asked.
    “Dari,” Christina said. “And maybe a little English. She learned it in the refugee camp in Pakistan.”
    “And how will we communicate? I don't speak English and I don't know anything about Dari,” Gunnar said. “This is a dumb idea, Christina.”
    “You can show her what to do,” Christina