Brother persists as a companion into Youssef’s adult life, supporting him but also stealing his memories and shaking his grip on the world. Youssef shares everything with his brothers, except for one secret: he sees a hallucinatory double, an imaginary friend who seems absolutely real, a shapeshifting familiar he calls Brother. The three boys are an inseparable trio, but conspicuous: Dayo is of Nigerian origin, Iseul is Korean, and Youssef indeterminately Middle Eastern. They are adopted as infants and share a bedroom perched atop a mosque in one of Staten Island’s most diverse and underserved neighborhoods. In 1990, three boys are born, unrelated but intertwined by circumstance: Dayo, Iseul, and Youssef.
