The çaydanlık never rests

People ask why I always have tea on. The answer is a stacked Turkish teapot, the çaydanlık: water boils in the bottom pot while strong black tea steeps slowly in the top. You pour a little of the dark tea into a tulip glass, then cut it with hot water until it's the color the guest wants. Rabbit's blood, my grandmother called the perfect shade. Deep red, and you can see through it.

In my family we say a guest is God's guest. So the tea is never really for me. It's for whoever might knock. Brewing it is a small dhikr: the kettle hums, I remember, I wait.

Come by. There are sugar cubes, and I'll pretend not to count how many you take.