Her grandma (Bibi, in Iraqi Arabic) is a farm worker who, on the morning of April 26th, two days before President Saddam Hussein’s birthday, is abruptly fired—involuntarily retired—by the landlord whose property she tills. She and Lamia thus turn instantly from poor to destitute. The timing couldn’t be worse, because, later that very day, Lamia is randomly chosen in school for a great honor that’s also a grave responsibility: to bake a birthday cake for Hussein, as is done in all schools throughout the country. Bibi can’t afford even the basic ingredients—eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder—but failure to bring the cake would be a severely punishable political offense. So, the next day, Bibi packs salable possessions—a radio, a pocket watch, some plates, some tchotchkes—and, with Lamia (and the girl’s pet rooster) in tow, hitches a ride with a postman named Jasim (Rahim AlHaj) to a nearby city, where they make the rounds of street merchants and try to come up with the money.