, dead

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", dead" is the thirty-first chapter of One Rainy Day in May. It is the fourth and final chapter to be narrated by Anwar Ibrahim.

### Chapter Quote

"Who sent you?"

"You did."

- Terminator 2: Judgement Day

### Summary

The chapter opens up on May 10, 2014 at 17:49:05 in Los Angeles, California. Anwar is driving back to the spot in Venice where Xanther lost her glasses in hopes of retrieving them. Shasti and Freya are in the backseat. They all sing songs along the way. Once they make it, the three of them begin searching around. The twins are able to find the glasses. The lenses of Xanther's glasses are scratched and the frames are only slightly damaged, but other than that they are still intact.

After the glasses are recovered, they begin their drive back home. Anwar decides to drive to Silver Lake first so he can stop at a pet store there. The owner of the pet store asks about how Astair was in the store earlier to shop for a dog. Anwar buys some cat food then continues the drive home.

Once back home, Xanther tells Anwar that Astair is acting strangely. Anwar walks into his bedroom and finds Astair sitting on their bed. Anwar asks what's wrong, then makes a joke to cheer Astair up. It works and the two begin discussing the events from earlier. Anwar explains that Xanther found the cat, and he isn't sure how she did it. Anwar and Xanther took the cat to a vet shortly after bringing it home the first time. The vet told Xanther everything she needed to do to help the cat survive, but the vet told Anwar that survival through the night is unlikely. Astair comments that it is unfortunate, but she quickly changes the subject. She looks at the grade she received on her thesis, only to see that it is an F. There is an attached letter that says "Incomplete" at the top.

The family sits down to dinner. Xanther tells Anwar that Astair has helped her fill sterilized bottles with formula to feed the cat. Anwar finds a dry, clean piece of plywood and places it on the dog bed. Xanther puts a cardboard box on the plywood and places the cat inside of the box. Even though neither Xanther nor Anwar detect any hint of Astair's supposed allergies, Xanther asks anyway if her allergies are acting up. Astair tells her she simply has a cold. Later, once Anwar and Astair are alone, he asks again if she is feeling alright. Astair tells him that she does not have a cold.

Once everything is settled down, Anwar and Astair end up having sex. Once it's over, Anwar is left with the feeling that Astair is less than satisfied, but neither of them speak up about it. Anwar goes downstairs, opens the refrigerator, and grabs a bottle of champagne. Astair follows him down and tells him that the check he was expecting has still not come through. Anwar tells her that Ehtisham might have left a voicemail or an e-mail to update him about it. After they sort through the massive amount of spam they are still receiving, they are unable to find any such update.

The gaming company Enzio has a project known as "Cataplyst-1" in development but it has been on hold for a while due to having some bugs the company has not been able to fix. They have promised $9,000 to Anwar and his co-workers if they are able to fix the bugs. Anwar realizes that his family is in need of that money. Anwar contemplates putting Paradise Open on hold and focusing away from the other projects at the company he works for and instead focusing on this deal with Enzio. Paradise Open, despite having a few bugs fixed earlier, is still severely glitchy. Anwar reasons that it is because "the A.I.M. Creation Tool he put together keeps producing inconsistent logic." Anwar does not sleep, but instead decides to stay up for the next few hours coding Paradise Open. It is able to successfully compile but he still can't get it to work how he wants it to.

Anwar and Astair can hear noises coming from within the walls. They fear the house is infested with rodents. Anwar points out that they cannot afford an exterminator now. Anwar checks the box and sees that the cat is no longer in it. He is confused as to where it could have gone. It could barely move at all before. He discovers that Xanther has taken it up to her bedroom. He notices that it has finally stopped raining outside.

Anwar recalls the event that happened hours ago when Xanther handed him the cat and asked him to save it from drowning. Anwar gently placed it on its side, tilted its head up, and started pressing his fingers against its rib cage. He remembered the lessons that he and Astair learned when they took a CPR class shortly before the twins were born: look, listen, and feel. He looked to see if the cat was breathing. It didn't seem to be. He tried to listen to the cat but the noise that surrounded them at the time was far too loud. He felt the cat to see if it was able to move. It continued to stay still. Anwar was convinced that the cat was dead. As a last resort, he performed mouth-to-mouth on it. The cat began to move for a few seconds but then stopped again. Xanther had taken the cat from him and held it in her hand. Anwar suddenly thought about Dov's funeral in Arlington and how he, too, was still upset over Dov's death. After trying for a while longer, the cat began to move again.

Anwar ceases recalling the events from earlier and returns upstairs. He sees that all three of his daughters are now sleeping.

The chapter ends on May 10, 2014 at 23:10:59.