Code of Honor

Kamran and Adam wait outside the principal's office while Jeremy and his friends are disciplined inside. Kamran thinks he might get suspended for fighting, but knows it is worth it, as he and Darius have a “code of honor. We looked out for each other, no matter what” (11). Kamran's mother comes out of the principal's office in her work clothes. She uses her pet name, “joon,” (12), which means “dear” in Persian, to greet her son. She only calls Kamran this when she is worried. Kamran tries to explain the fighting, but his mother doesn't seem to know he's been in a fight. Kamran realizes suddenly that something is very wrong; his mother wouldn't normally be in work clothes this late, and she had missed his game earlier, which rarely occurs. Kamran asks his mother what’s wrong, and she tells him to follow her, saying only, “It's your brother” (12). 

Kamran and his mother share a stressful drive home in his mother's Suburban. Kamran's mother reveals that a video has been released of an attack on the US Embassy in Turkey. In the video, it looks like Darius is the one committing the attack.

Kamran is shocked, and doesn't believe what his mother says.