payment page
Summary
Chapters 28-31
Chapter 28: Yesterday’s Enterprise
Darius and Laleh head to the store for faludeh and stop at Sohrab’s house on the way to invite him along. Laleh and Sohrab speak in Farsi at the store with Soheil and on the way home with each other, which makes Darius feel excluded. Sohrab admonishes Laleh, telling her it’s rude to speak another language in front of someone who doesn’t understand it. Sohrab invites Darius to hang out after they drop off Laleh, and, realizing he’s upset, asks Darius what’s wrong. Darius explains that sometimes he gets stuck thinking about bad things and can’t stop. Sohrab assures Darius that he, not Laleh, is his best friend, but Darius already understands this and feels it doesn’t need to be stated. At home, Darius tries not to be hurt that Laleh has replaced him with Stephen for Star Trek nights. From the kitchen, he hears Laleh making fun of the special effects on the show. He almost joins them but decides not to. Unexpectedly, Stephen comes in and tells Darius he loves him. Darius says he loves him too, and notices that Stephen hasn’t shaved since arriving in Iran.
Chapter 29: Father Issues
Mamou invites Sohrab and his mom for breakfast, and Darius waits until Sohrab is distracted to take his meds. While the family prepares for a trip to Dowlatabad, Sohrab asks when they will play football again. When Darius hesitates, Sohrab promises they can play somewhere else. Darius says he doesn’t mind playing with the same group, realizing he enjoyed playing up until the showers. Sohrab suggests Darius play for his school’s team when he returns home. Later, while walking through Dowlatabad Garden, Sohrab shares that his dad loved the area, and Darius asks Sohrab if he misses him. Sohrab hesitates, saying that at the beginning of the prison sentence, he was able to visit his dad, but a few months ago, his dad was transferred to a more dangerous prison in Tehran and placed in solitary confinement. Sohrab wonders if he will ever see his father again and begins to cry. Darius feels honored that Sohrab feels comfortable enough to cry in front of him.
Chapter 30: Make It So
Sohrab leads Darius to a mansion with a giant wind tower and Darius likens it to something in Lord of the Rings. Afterward, Sohrab and Darius go to play football. Sohrab offers his cleats to Darius, but feeling uncomfortable about borrowing Sohrab’s nicer gear, Darius refuses and insists his own trainers will be fine. Sohrab concedes and tells Darius he looks like a football star in his new jersey, which empowers Darius. They watch as Ali-Reza and Hossein outplay some smaller kids on the field, and Sohrab decides to join the team of smaller kids. Darius follows and Sohrab tells everyone to speak English for Darius.
Darius has fun playing even though the other guys call him “ayatollah.” Sohrab heads off Darius’s discomfort by telling the younger kids they call Darius ayatollah because he is in charge. Afterward, Darius and Sohrab wait to shower, which embarrasses Darius, but Sohrab talks comfortably, putting him at ease. Darius wonders if his ability to relax in this moment means he’s tearing down his walls. Later, he tells Mamou he wants to buy cleats for Sohrab, and she says she’ll tell Soheil to get them. When Darius asks Mamou if he can help her do the dishes, he notices she’s listening to Swedish pop band ABBA. Mamou admits ABBA is her favorite, making him wonder about her other interests. Mamou asks Darius to make tea and questions why he removes the tea leaves rather than leaving them in, and Darius explains that they get bitter after a while. They sit, and Darius asks Mamou when she started listening to ABBA.
Chapter 31: Chelo Kabob
Mamou makes chelo kabob, a common dish in Iran that Darius’s family only makes on special occasions such as birthdays or holidays. Because he is in charge of making them at home, Stephen assembles the kabobs while Darius washes dishes. When Babou asks Darius to help him set up tables in preparation for the evening feast, Darius notices Babou’s movements are slower than usual, and he recalls his mom’s stories about Babou’s strength. Babou instructs Darius to go ask Sohrab’s mom to bring more sabzi, a vegetable dish, when they come. After relaying the message to Sohrab’s mom, Darius moves through the house to find Sohrab kicking around a soccer ball and sweating in the backyard. Sohrab explains he was doing push-ups, as Darius finds Sohrab’s scant attire distracting. Later, back at Mamou’s, the family sits under the fig trees to eat. Everyone overeats, and Darius takes a second helping of rice, relieved that Stephen is too busy listening to the reviews of his kabob-making to notice.
Analysis
Darius and Sohrab’s relationship strengthens as they learn to better understand each other’s subtle social quirks, and their communication gets even easier. Darius learns that Sohrab’s squinting eyes are a sign of happiness, and they both seem to know to let some silence pass during conversations to allow the other to translate feelings into words before speaking. They begin communicating nonverbally with shoulder bumps and shared glances in between words. They are able to read one another’s moods and emotions as well. Sohrab can sense when Darius is triggered but is not saying what is bothering him, like when Laleh speaks Farsi to Sohrab or when Darius balks at playing soccer. Aware of Darius’s insecurities, Sohrab reminds Darius that Laleh cannot replace him as his best friend. He also takes the initiative to tell people to speak English around Darius and to suggest they can play soccer at a separate field. Sohrab repeatedly proves that he genuinely cares about Darius’s feelings. Without bringing up Darius’s discomfort or explaining his behavior, Sohrab wastes time after soccer so they don’t have to shower at the same time as the bullies. During the showers, Sohrab calms Darius by being relaxed and acting normal as if it was any other activity.
Sohrab and Darius help each other process their deepest struggles in several ways. By pointing out that they can play soccer somewhere else, Sohrab helps Darius realize that it wasn’t the soccer he disliked, but rather the bullying in the shower. In fact, Darius realizes, he had quite enjoyed the soccer game itself. Sohrab pumps up Darius and gives him confidence, suggesting he play soccer at home. Sohrab opens up and cries about his own feelings about his dad. In the same way that Sohrab helps Darius better understand his feelings, Darius also helps Sohrab clarify and express his feelings about his father, both giving him time to reflect and nudging him to share more, and holding him when he cries. Darius even comments that what he loves most about Sohrab is that he feels safe enough to express his feelings to Darius. Instead of offering the usual, expected advice—don't cry, or don't be hurt, or or don't feel that way—Darius simply cries with Sohrab over his father's situation in prison.
In these chapters, Darius makes some noticeable improvements on his behavior earlier in the novel. He gets Sohrab to share his raw feelings about his father and holds him as he cries. He gains confidence on the soccer field, dominating the field with Sohrab, and continuing to play even as bullies call him a hurtful name. After learning some more about Ali-Reza's background, Darius can even sympathize with his bully. Despite their ability to be completely honest with each other, however, Darius still hides taking his meds out of shame, and suggests that taking his meds in front of Sohrab would be more embarrassing than being naked in front of him. Although this may sound absurd to westerners, in Iran, showering naked in front of each other is a lot more culturally acceptable than taking medicine for depression. Darius is viewing his medication through Sohrab’s cultural lens, and he doesn't like how it looks.
