“On our first orientation day of the MFA program there was nothing about her that would suggest we would be good friends. She seemed suburban to me, married for the second time at twenty-six, wearing lipstick, foundation, and straightened hair that, in my opinion, all worked to hide her natural beauty. She was short and skinny, and on that first day I noticed a nervous laugh that I’d learn to stop noticing later. I like to think back to this day and my first impressions of Zainab. She grew too powerful eventually, like a monster. But on this day she was just a young nervous girl who wanted to write, like I was.”