Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Darius’s mother wakes him up early the next morning for their trip to the Towers of Silence, which are in the mountains near Yazd. Babou and Laleh are both in a bad mood throughout the drive—Babou because he resents being a passenger in his own car, and Laleh because she doesn’t want to go at all. Despite his hurt, Darius finds he can’t stay angry with his sister. While walking the path up to the towers, Darius promises to take Laleh for faludeh if she cooperates. Hearing this, Babou remarks that Darius is a good brother.

Once at the top, Babou explains that his grandmother and grandfather (also named Darius) were buried on these towers, as were Mamou’s ancestors—a now banned Zoroastrian practice. Babou sadly remarks that though their family has lived in Yazd for generations, “Soon maybe there will be no more Bahramis in Yazd” (230). He puts his hand on Darius’s shoulder, and Darius feels for once that he understands Babou. 

After getting back, Darius takes Laleh to Sohrab’s uncle’s store, picking up Sohrab along the way; Laleh is alternately shy and talkative with Sohrab, whom she seems to have a crush on. As the trio walks back home with their snacks, she begins talking to Sohrab in Farsi, irritating Darius. Sensing this, Sohrab gently tells her it’s impolite to exclude Darius from the conversation.

After dropping Laleh off at home, Darius and Sohrab return to the bathroom rooftop in the park. Sohrab asks Darius what’s bothering him, and Darius explains the situation with his father, as well as his broader sense that everyone prefers Laleh to him. Sohrab reassures him that Laleh can’t take his place as his best friend, and Darius promises to try not to be sad. That evening, Darius sits reading while his father and sister watch Star Trek; he hears them talking and is tempted to join them, but doesn’t. Afterwards, his father fetches his medication for him and kisses him on the forehead, telling him he loves him.

Sohrab and his mother have breakfast with the Bahramis the next morning, and then join the family on their trip to Dowlatabad Garden. As they walk, Sohrab asks Darius if he wants to play soccer again; although initially hesitant, Darius agrees, looking forward to the thought of being on Sohrab’s team again. Sohrab tells him he ought to be on his school soccer team, and Darius considers trying out.

Strolling through the fountains in the garden, Sohrab says that Dowlatabad was one of his father’s favorite places. He explains that he and his mother were initially allowed to visit his father in prison, but that he was later transferred to solitary confinement in a Tehran prison. As the boys sit together, Sohrab starts to cry, and Darius tries to reassure him. He feels “helpless,” but also reflects that just being there for his friend might be enough: “Because Sohrab knew it was okay to cry in front of me. He knew I wouldn’t tell him not to have feelings” (244).

Walking on, Darius and Sohrab approach a mansion attached to a hundred-foot-tall baad gir, or wind tower. The boys walk inside, where Darius is awed by the stained glass and elaborate latticework: “I stared up at the ceiling: gleaming white line intersecting and weaving together into a twenty-four-sided star, which cascaded outward into interlocking diamonds as they followed the curvature of the inner dome” (246).

Later that afternoon, Darius and Sohrab go to the soccer field, where Ali-Reza and Hossein are already playing against (and easily beating) a group of younger boys. Sohrab and Darius join in on the side of the boys and turn the game around. The group eventually reassigns teams to equalize the numbers, but Sohrab and Darius’s team still wins, earning them the respect of their young teammates. The boys ask Sohrab to return the next day, and Darius realizes he’s been skipping soccer to spend time with him. He also guesses what Sohrab is doing when he lingers after the other boys go to shower, although he worries that it will be even more uncomfortable showering with Sohrab alone. Slowly, however, Darius relaxes.

After returning home, Darius tells Mamou about an idea he’s had: He wants to buy Sohrab a new pair of cleats. Mamou says she’ll ask Soheil to bring a good pair from Shiraz, and Darius agrees, although he insists on paying himself. He then helps Mamou do the dishes, realizing as he does that she’s humming along to an ABBA song on the radio. After finishing the dishes, Darius makes tea and settles down to ask Mamou more about her favorite music, books, movies, etc.