[stirring music]
♪ ♪
ZAINAB: You good now?
RAMY: W-what do you mean?
- I think that's enough of a visit.
We've made plans. We have to go.
- Uh, well...all right, w-where are you going?
Do--could I-- could I come with you?
- Okay, we don't have plans. I just--I think you should go.
- Z-Zainab, please, I--I've barely even gotten to see her.
I've already missed so much, like...
I wasn't even here when you named her, you know?
H-h-how are you feeling about it?
Like, a-are you sure about Amina?
- Am I sure? - Yeah, like, the name.
Is it--is it sticking? Is she responding to it?
I don't know, maybe I have a bad association with it
'cause I just have this super-annoying aunt
named Amina, so I keep thinking about her.
She's, like, one of those people, you know,
that it always takes forever to leave her house.
Like, she just keeps you at the door.
It's, like, a two-hour goodbye.
Like, I remember one time, we're over for dinner.
She waits until we're leaving to tell us she has cancer.
Like, cancer is dinner conversation.
Instead, we're outside in the cold talking about cancer
that we find out later isn't even real cancer.
It's, like, uh, one of those 95% remission cancers.
It's basically like a wart.
And I'm like, "You kept us out in the cold
to talk about a wart?"
I--it's just not--
I don't know, I just keep thinking about that.
And I'm looking at my daughter,
and I'm thinking, "Annoying,
lingerer, fake cancer."
And, uh, I don't know, m-maybe there's something--
maybe it's not too late to kinda switch it up?
- Amina was my mother's name.
- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's right. That's right.
It is--I mean, look, it's a beautiful name.
Like, in our tradition, that's, you know--
and then there's your direct lineage situation, and, uh...
I see it.
- Do you know what it means?
- Yeah, of course. It's like, Amina, like, um...
like ameen, you know, like Doleen.
Ameen...na.
Ameena, so-- which is, uh, "amen" too,
so it's very interfaith.
Like, I feel like at school, that's, uh--
that's good, uh--
- Amina means trustworthy, faithful.
I'm gonna take her down for a nap.
- No, no, please, Zainab, look,
just--just give me a chance, all right?
I wanna be involved. I wanna--I wanna help.
I--I'm--I'm not like I was before.
I--I make a living now. - Oh, we don't need your money.
I know what Maktoub is built on,
and I don't want it near my daughter.
- How do you know? W-we--we haven't even talked.
- You are a diamond district guy,
and you work with Abu Bakar Miller.
Did I miss something? - [huffs]
Y-yeah, y-you're missing that
I've done what you've said, okay?
I--I--I paid the man--
- That was your Islamic duty.
- It's also my Islamic right to know my daughter,
t-to know that I even have a daughter.
- No, it isn't.
You--you basically assaulted me.
- What? - I didn't consent
to having sex with who you actually are.
You pretended to be someone else, and that...
was emotional rape.
- What? You can't throw that word around.
- Yeah, this was grounds for an abortion, but you know what?
I decided to move forward alone.
So she has a nap schedule,
and I don't want you disrupting her life either.
[lively music]
♪ ♪
KATHRYN: Um, but based on what you've got,
I could see this place going for 500, maybe even 550.
- Yeah, but this one is pretty much
the same size as our house, and it sold for 715.
- Right, it--it's just, it's a little bit more modern
in its detailing, and they have a pool.
- We have a pool.
- Well, yeah, y-you have an aboveground pool.
It actually kind of hurts the value of the house.
You'd be better off with no pool.
See, people, they would rather imagine a pool
than see an aboveground pool.
- Really?
- Yeah, crazy.
Uh...
Would you be open to a stager,
someone to dress the place up,
make it a little bit more sellable, you know,
get the right kind of art and furniture in here?
- What's wrong with our furniture?
- Oh, no, no, uh, I just--
I don't want you to be pigeonholed.
It's not your fault. It's just, it's people,
they have no imagination.
You know, they come in here, they feel the...
ethnic energy,
and, uh, they won't feel like they can live here.
But, uh, we'd get some more pastels,
some neutral pieces of art.
[whispering] You know...
[both speaking Arabic]
- Oh, uh...what is this?
MAYSA: It's a passage from the Quran.
- Oh, uh, uh, what's it mean?
- It says, "God is merciful
and will forgive you all your sins."
- That--that is beautiful.
See, that's much better.
Just, do you see how much more imaginative that wall got?
Yeah, look, I know it's very hard.
It's hard to part with things.
You've grown attached to them. I understand.
But it can also...
be very cleansing, you know?
Like Marie Kondo.
She really figured out how to deal with immigrant clutter.
Try it.
- What?
- Try.
- Maria Kondo.
[jazzy music playing over speakers]
♪ ♪
AYALA: You know, before working here for this event,
I used to buy and sell stuff for my father in Israel,
and, uh, we'd buy, like, you know,
scriptures for universities,
haggle with manuscript traders.
And one tafseer, you know, talked about, uh,
your prophet, Muhammad,
and about God wanted to communicate it to him.
He wanted Muslims to pray 50 times a day, okay?
So then-- - Then the prophet meets Moses.
- Oh, so you know this one. Listen, Selim, so funny.
So then Moses says, "Come on, I mean, negotiate, you know?"
[laughs] "You know, God is full of mercy.
He will understand."
So, uh, then they go back and forth, you know,
and then God goes down to 40 prayers,
and Moses says, "No." [clicks tongue] "Take it less."
Then God goes to 30 prayers.
Moses says, "No, take it less."
Then God-- - Yeah, they--they get to
five prayers a day.
And--and I'm really thankful to--to Moses, you know?
He--he helped us out.
50 would have been a lot.
We used to help each other.
Did you--did you even try to call?
Did you ask anyone to help Khaled?
- Who? RAMY: The Palestinian kid,
the one I told you about who got arrested.
- Ah, yeah.
Listen, there's not much I can do.
I mean, you know, it's a political issue.
It's complicated.
- Um, y-you said that-- that it would be easy,
that you knew people.
AYALA: Listen, Ramy, we need to focus.
I'm here to offer you something.
As you know, Yuval left the business,
so, uh, now I want you to get more involved,
you know, to--to work closer to us, to Selim.
- Uh, yeah, um, there's this younger clientele
Yuval used to handle,
we think you could help us with.
- Yeah, I--I don't think that I want to do that.
- [sighs]
This is small...
But this watch is worth
more than your entire business.
I want you to go to see them, okay?
It's a very important client for us.
I thought you can handle them.
Yalla.
[both speaking Arabic]
- I'll send you the address.
[indistinct chatter]
LENA: Steve, watch out. He's coming.
He's right here.
Steve, he's here.
He's here.
RAMY: What's--what's going on?
MO: Look, I'll handle this, all right?
Look, Steve's getting engaged.
He's been pretty involved in our marriages,
so we're helping him out.
As a businessman, you can get as angry as you want.
But he's buying a ring from Naseem.
- Steve, you--you're buying a ring from him?
C-come on, man.
- We support small business.
- I'm not a small business, you know?
Uh, I'm a lean business.
Lean is better--less riffraff like Walmart over here.
- Look, let's not get our emotions
involved in this, okay?
We're just helping Steve haggle,
and we should involve you, but you know what?
Your uncle gave us a price.
I'm gonna work you guys against each other.
- We're buying from Naseem.
MO: What? You're gonna ruin your market value!
I got him all worked up, caught up in his feelings.
He'll probably go low. Hell, he'll maybe go free.
- He's not even free of his demons.
- I'm not buying...
from Ramy.
NASEEM: [chuckles] Good boy, huh?
Go lean.
I'll--I'll walk you to the car, okay?
- You don't have to walk him. It's a button.
- Oh, wow, it's automatic? - Yeah, he does it himself.
FAROUK: Maysa.
MAYSA: Mushrooms.
- Shadi?
MAYSA: Mm-hmm.
- Um, some kind of medical drug.
[speaking Arabic]
After he gave it to me.
[speaking Arabic] We have to take him to rehab.
- Farouk, he said it's a drug
that maybe would help me stop smoking
and save my life.
- [speaking Arabic]
I found vape.
- [laughs] Vaping that?
You're smoking hot plastic.
Apples--organic whole food.
Natural. [speaking Arabic]
Oh, oh...
- Farouk, I know you did the cold turkey.
It's not easy, okay?
I'm not like you. I'm not a cold turkey.
[soft music playing over speakers]
♪ ♪
- Hold on with the socks.
- What?
- Are we gonna talk about the other night?
- Hey, look, I'm-- I'm really sick of talking.
I--I-- - Oh, great.
So I'm just gonna-- I'm just gonna act like
I forgot about it,
and we'll just do some role play and fix your childhood.
[sighs] - What?
- No, I--I know Arab boys.
It's like, your moms babied you,
and I'm here to discipline you to...
be able to have fun, huh?
- Uh...no, uh, this--
[scoffs] This isn't fun.
Like, I'm--I don't-- I'm not--
I don't like coming here, okay?
I just have this fucking buzzing in my head,
and when I fuck, it goes away for a little bit.
But I'm not, like--
It's never been--
Touching someone's not--
it's never been fun.
[chuckles]
Like, I--
I used--I used to think that I caused 9/11.
- What?
- Like, when I--
the first time I ever jerked off, it was...
on 9/11/2001.
And, uh, I was already really guilty about doing it,
and then I saw the news,
and I thought that it happened because of me,
like I was the terrorist that nobody knew about.
And I just--I always thought it'd be a matter of time
till they found out.
Like, I was--I just--
I thought I was gonna be arrested.
So...
♪ ♪
Yeah.
- [sighs]
You didn't cause 9/11.
- Thank you for saying that.
- I don't actually think we cause anything.
It's all written for us.
It's all planned.
- So--so you think--you think 9/11 was planned?
- Well, maybe.
But what I mean is, everything is planned by God.
- [sighs]
♪ ♪
MAYSA: Yeah.
- This is nothing like hashish.
- Not even close.
- Every year,
I have this hope that the kids will swim in it again.
Not the kids now...
but the kids when they were kids.
Like, my eyes want to see their little hands
coming out from the water, asking for a hot dog.
- [sniffles]
- I can't believe we used to feed the kids with hot dogs.
- [laughs]
- You know?
We didn't know that they were pork.
[laughter]
FAROUK: [whispering] My God.
Don't feel guilty.
It's not really pork.
It's a bunch of...
unidentified meat pieces.
And...[sniffles]
You know, halal is not really the...
Standard here, so...
it's okay.
We're in a different land.
We can seek halal as much as we can,
but we have allowances.
We're allowed a hot dog here and there.
We're in foreign territory, and...
their food is hot dog.
We're in America, Maysa.
We're visitors.
- We're visitors. - Yeah.
- We've been here for 35 years, Farouk.
[whispering] 30 fucking years.
35.
- It's been a long visit.
RAMY: Boomer was, um--
she had these eyes like-- like a human, you know.
N-not that I, you know,
needed her to look like a human to love her.
Like, I think, you know, dogs don't--
I didn't love her because she--she looked like
a--a--a person, but I just--
it was just 'cause she saw me, you know?
She really saw me.
She pro--she saw some things I really wish she hadn't seen.
I think--I think she saw too much, you know?
Like, sometimes she'd be in my room,
but I--I didn't know that she was there
'cause she was so quiet, 'cause she was so good.
But then it would be like...
[sighs]
Just...I loved her.
- Hmm.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
- Do you, uh--
Do you believe in fate?
- Oh, you mean like if she was meant to die?
- I, um--
I just found out I have a daughter.
- What?
- You're the first person I'm telling.
- Oh. [sighs]
Congratulations.
- It's a really good use of that word.
[doorbell chimes]
[Muzak playing over speakers]
♪ ♪
- Are you Muslim?
Are you a Muslim man?
- Aziz. Aziz. - I know, Aziz.
Aziz. - Aziz.
- Yeah, I'm Muslim.
- Um...
do you eat these hot dogs?
- I do, yeah.
They're pretty good.
- You don't care about halal?
- No.
- It's okay, brother.
We'll take four, inshallah.
Just, uh, choose them well.
[chewing]
I think they always tasted like this.
We pretended to?
Why did we sell our souls?
We gave it all up for hot dogs.
- I--I mean, this--
does someone really need something
this expensive to fucking tell the time?
You don't even understand how much these fucking assholes
spend on this stuff.
And--and--and Zainab's right.
Like, am--am I gonna spend my whole life just...
selling them and--and--and just--
I--I used to want something.
- You wanted God.
- And--and--and that's why I wanted to be with Zainab.
We had that.
You know what? The best sex I ever had
in my life was with Zainab.
- She was good?
- No, not--not exactly.
I mean, it was her first time, so it was kind of awkward.
And I wasn't really that good of a leader in bed.
Like, I don't--I didn't know how to...do that.
But I was--
I was really in love with her.
I never had that before.
Like, I--I grew up so...
afraid of sex that I--
I--I--I never found any love in it.
I--I was so afraid of God that I--I never...
loved God.
You--you said that everything's planned, but...
There has to be choice.
When I touched Amina's hand, I had this feeling
like I never wanted to do anything for myself again.
I wanted to do it all for her,
all for God.
[grunts]
- [grunts]
Sorry, just had to kiss you one last time.
- What?
- I don't think I'm gonna see you again.
I think you're gonna make a choice.
Maybe fate's in your hands.
- [sighs]
[owl hooting]
[soft music playing over speakers]
♪ ♪
[laughter]
[dish shatters]
[laughter]
- [speaking Arabic]
[laughs] [speaking French]
[speaking Arabic]
[laughter]
- Farouk? - Eh?
- I think I was trying to kill myself.
- The cigarettes. - Oh.
I needed to get out of this body.
I needed to exit this body.
I was trying to kill, slowly, every cell of this body.
I really need to reconnect with the truth.
- The truth...
- We're not selling this house, Farouk.
Ramy, we pay for everything for him, okay,
and now he has to pay for everything for us.
It's the circle of life.
FAROUK: Oui, mademoiselle.
- He will pay, inshallah.
- Inshallah.
[dishes shatter]
- [laughs]
[door clicks open] Ramy.
- He's back.
Oh, it's Dena. DENA: What the fuck?
Did someone break in?
MAYSA: No, Dena, everything is okay.
Actually, everything is amazing.
- Why are there broken plates on the floor?
And--and who took all this stuff off the walls?
♪ ♪
FAROUK: Ah...
MAYSA: Ya Allah.
- It's so clear now.
- I know.
- You guys...okay?
- We tried to remove God,
but Dena brought him back.
MAYSA: He's back.
- We were behaving like... [speaking Arabic]
- We are not... [speaking Arabic]
- We were wrong, habibti.
- You were? FAROUK: Yes.
We taught you how to swim...
but never really let you swim.
- We fed you too many hot dogs.
We should have... fed you God.
- I don't understand what you're saying.
- Is there something wrong with your energy today?
DENA: Actually, I wanted
to talk to you guys about something.
But yeah, maybe tonight's not the right time.
- No, no, no, no.
Tonight is the perfect night.
♪ ♪
- Yeah. FAROUK: [speaking Arabic]
♪ ♪
[phone buzzing]
- Hey, Selim.
No, I--I didn't see them.
Yeah, I'll--I'll take the watch.
I have--I, uh--
Yeah, I have. Yeah. Look, hey, uh, I gotta--
I gotta--I gotta go. Wait, uh--oh, yeah, okay.
[whispering] Fuck.
Where the fuck-- where the fuck--
where's the fucking watch?
It was in the fucking--
right with the fucking thing.
I just had it in my hand. It was my--
Did I fucking drop it? Where the fuck is it?
[clock ticking]
- So...we've been seeing each other.
- [speaking Arabic]
- Hmm. DENA: Mm-hmm.
- We, um--
we want to get married.
- You want to get married
to the person I introduced you to?
Whoa.
- These drugs...
they make everything seem like a fantasy.
DENA: And I get it if you're angry
that I skipped the test,
but I'm still focused on my career.
I'm gonna take the bar.
It's not just about being with someone.
We're not--we're not just, like, gonna have kids now.
I don't even know if I ever want kids.
Like, obviously, we'll talk about it, but, you know...
Just don't get involved, basically.
- [whispering] A very realistic fantasy.
YUVAL: You've reached Yuval.
I can't come to the phone right now
because I'm fucking your mom.
Please try again soon. [beep]
- Yuval. Yuval, dude?
You gotta fucking call me, man.
See, this shit's fucking-- it's not good.
I don't know where you are, but it's not good,
and I need your help.
I gotta strategize some shit.
Selim and Ayala, they gave me a custom.
It's the most expensive thing I ever held in my life,
and I don't know where it is.
I literally cannot find it, and I--and I--
I think it got stolen, man. Okay, I think it got stolen.
I--I was with the hooker at--at my dog's grave, right?
And--and we were-- we were fucking chilling.
It was--it was sweet, but--but she--
she knocked me off the bench.
And I think she fucking picked me, dude.
Like, she, like, tackled me.
But I--I thought it was 'cause she was horny
'cause we were so-- we were connecting, dude.
It was--it was crazy. We were sitting there,
and we were talking about God.
And then we started making out, and then we--
and then--and it was--
[exhales sharply]
[laughs]
It was God.
[laughs]
It was God.
That's what-- that's what it was.
It was God.
Dude, we were-- 'cause I told her.
I told her I don't know how to get out.
And it--it was G--
it was God.
This whole day-- this whole day.
I saw how Zainab looked at me,
and I--and I saw how she looked at me
like I was so fucking full of shit.
And--and I had this thing, and I didn't know.
I was like, I feel like I have no fucking choice.
I gotta keep selling this stuff.
But I didn't have to choose.
God chose.
[laughs]
God chose. God literally fucking--
I was--God-- I had this thing,
and God's like, "No, you don't have it.
Literally, you don't."
'Cause I don't know where this woman--dude--
I don't--I called the spa. I--I literally--
I called the spa so many fucking times.
I sent my boy. He was right over there.
I said to him, "Dude, go check out this spa."
No one's there. I'm never--
I'm probably never gonna see this woman again.
I mean, she's--dude, I don't know her name.
She told me her name's Olivia.
She's Indian.
Her name is not Olivia.
It's actually not.
And I'm-- [laughs]
I'm never gonna know what it is.
It's maktoub.
[chuckles]
Bro, I--it's maktoub.
We--I'm--we're not supposed to have this money, man.
We're-- [laughs]
[coughs]
I'll call you back-- I--fuck.
We're not even supposed to--
we're just not supposed to have it.
That's what it-- that's what it is.
And I don't fucking need them to help.
I don't need them to help get it.
[keys clicking]
I don't need them to help get it.
You know what?
This is some-- I don't even know.
We don't need--we're not supposed to have this money.
I'm not supposed to have this. That's what it is.
[laughs] Yeah.
That's what it is.
[keys clicking]
Yeah.
[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[spitting]
[breathing shallowly]
[whispering in Arabic]
Allahu Akbar!
[whispering in Arabic]
Allahu Akbar!
[whispering in Arabic]
Allahu Akbar.
[whispering in Arabic]
[sniffles, sobs]
- Allahu Akbar.
[singing in Arabic]
♪ ♪
- [whispering in Arabic]
- [singing in Arabic]
♪ ♪
Allahu Akbar.
- [whispering in Arabic]
- [singing in Arabic]
♪ ♪
♪ Amin ♪
♪ ♪
[singing in Arabic]
- Allahu Akbar.
[whispering in Arabic]
♪ ♪
[sniffles]
[whispering in Arabic]
♪ ♪
[laughs]
♪ ♪