Gerard's father had a gambling addiction and was not around very much, so he has developed an unsteady opinion of what fatherhood means. His mother works at a hotel and has a friendship with Luis, an older employee. One day, a large sum of money goes missing from the hotel and Luis is unfairly blamed, so Gerard and a friend light some cherry bombs near the hotel in protest. Coincidentally, Luis is exonerated very soon, but Gerard begins to love playing pranks and wreaking destruction. Gerard goes off to college and begins selling drugs for money. He dates a stripper, but the two break up after a short period of time. On a whim, he goes and watches Sufi dancers perform and meets a young woman named Adinah who frequents these events. The two develop a tentative, slow courtship, and Gerard learns that her family is Jewish; he also begins dealing marijuana out of their apartment. The two move in together and Adinah soon becomes pregnant. Gerard says he needs time to consider how he feels about it, but this makes Adinah angry. Eventually, the two agree that having a baby is a good thing; Adinah has a girl and they name her Becky. Gerard develops an interest in pursuing photography as a career after spending so much time taking pictures of Becky. The two of them marry. Adinah becomes more invested in the Muslim faith and Gerard falls away from religion, as his life is going incredibly well. This divide cleaves them apart and they break up, though Becky still visits Gerard on the weekends. Adinah starts a successful dog-walking business and starts a relationship with one of her employees, though this ends and she later moves to California. Gerard moves to New York to continue with his photography and ends up dating another photojournalist named Frances. She is very bold and headstrong and they are a dazzling couple. The World Trade Center is attacked, and though Gerard and Frances are unhurt, he feels he needs to get to California to protect Adinah and Becky from Islamophobic bigots. Adinah tells him that this is not necessary and that his ego is too big without religion. Adinah later informs Gerard that she wants to make the Hajj and has to ask for his permission, as they are still legally married. He refuses to let her go because he believes it is dangerous. Frances becomes angry and Gerard eventually changes his mind. However, his job has led him to photograph some of the worst brutality and violence in the city, so he is numb when it comes to religion and resists telling Adinah about his change of heart. Adinah goes to Mecca, but Gerard still feels on edge, wondering what could possibly happen to her. He has heard stories of a stampede in the past that left over a thousand people dead. One day at work, he sees news footage of Mecca and has a surreal emotional experience in which he feels deeply tied to Adinah for the first time in years; although he cannot see her on the screen, he knows she is there, having a spiritual high that he has never experienced in his life.