Hüseyin lived in the back part of Çağlayan. With a view of the Golden Horn. It looked onto what was left of the legendary Sadabad District, that fairy-tale citadel of history books. The apartment was in a multistory building, and even though it was fairly new, it already looked worn down because of the low-quality construction materials used to build it. Two rows consisting of six nine-story blocks, identical except for their different colors. There were plenty of parking spaces, since there weren’t very many cars around. Kids were playing soccer in the parking lot. As part of so-called environmental planning, four young pine trees half my height had been jammed into the tiny space between the blocks. The Kozalaks’ apartment was on the seventh floor of Block C. There were four apartments on every floor. Before we left my place, Hüseyin had strictly cautioned me to behave properly and take great care not to reveal the “situation” to his mother. The “situation,” it seemed, was me!
