How It All Goes Down
- Sure enough, Papa arrives to an empty market at the regular time. No seriously—it's completely empty.
- In case you hadn't noticed yet, Papa is a fighter, so dude isn't going to let Mallory rain on his parade. "'Don't worry,'" Papa says. "'This time we fight'" (8.33).
- They drive to the next town over, hire a refrigeration truck and driver, and stock up. Hassan says that he has never seen Papa "so charming and so ruthless" (8.35). As true a businessman as ever, he carries on as if nothing had happened at all.
- Mallory peers out of her window and realizes her efforts to sabotage her competition have been thwarted when she sees the gaudy Indian food truck pull up in front of the house. She takes out her anger on her restaurant staff, holding them to the fire in a very reality-cooking-show kind of way. Stay classy, Mallory.
- She also takes her anger out on the town mayor (ouch) who is on his way across the street for lunch. Her argument: He's encouraging the foreigners that threaten their way of life. His comeback: He likes the change.
- Mallory begins to really freak out, and her staff is thrown into a state of panic and terror as she explodes. She also starts harassing her guests about visiting the Maison, which, um, isn't good for business, either. Pro tip: Don't give your customers a hard time about where they like to eat.
- Leblanc is the only person who can cross Mallory without getting his head bitten off; he calls her a "'madwoman'" (8.96) and tells her she's got to pull her stuff together.
- His advice works a second, until the radio cranks up across the street. She sees this as ammo, and calls the town authorities about the noise level.
- Mallory has managed to scare people away from the Maison, and the huge crowd that showed up for opening night shrinks to maybe five tables a night. Thing's aren't looking the best for the Haji family.
- Marcus, the son of the mayor, invites Hassan to go boar hunting in an effort to show his support of the family; they drive up into the mountains. There are two hunting rules: (1) Only shoot the adult boar, and (2) they all split up the meat that's caught.
- Hassan finds himself surrounded by loud, rugged, hunting men… and one woman. And who might this lady be? You got it: Mallory.
- She seems to fit in just fine with the hunters, and she completely ignores Hassan.
- Mallory is the one with the kill this time (go figure). Except she violates the rules, and kills a baby boar; the hunters are super angry about it.
- Her response is that the flesh of the young is "'so tasty to eat'" (8.146). Gulp.