AMIR NERVOUSLY TAPS HIS left foot on the tiled floor. He stands in the airport looking out the large windows and wonders if he’s doing the right thing, but when another bomb shakes the earth and the debris from the war-torn buildings rises in a dusty haze, he knows he has to go far away. His own body shakes with the memory of his rape. He closes his eyes, wishes he could erase the assault from his mind forever and heal his broken body. Opening his eyes again, he clutches the railing by the windows and knows there are too many excruciating memories here. He must go. He might even find love in Canada, he thinks. After a while, he turns away from the hazy sky and looks at his family, and a feeling of sadness overwhelms him. Naji walks towards him. The two brothers embrace tightly. Amir knows he will miss him the most. After a few minutes, Amir lets go and wipes the tears from his brother’s face. “You’ll be all right.”

“You too.” Naji chokes back the tears.

Then Amir shakes his father’s hand until his father finally pulls him into his body and gives him a kiss on both cheeks; his stubbly chin tickles Amir’s clean-shaven face. When his father steps back, Amir watches him walk towards the windows, where he grasps the railing and lowers his head. At last, his mother stands across from him. She takes his face in her hands and there is a small smile on her lips and, for one moment, Amir thinks she will encourage him, give him a glimmer of hope because her touches are so gentle, but then she opens her mouth and says, “No matter where you go, you’ll always find trouble. You were trouble from day one, my son. Who’s going to feed you now? Don’t starve.” And with that prediction Amir clenches his teeth and tries not to let it worm its way into his brain. They pull apart and he walks down the terminal, only turning back once to wave one final time. He doesn’t concentrate on his mother, who now sits down with her hands together as if she is praying, but instead keeps his gaze on Naji, his young face tight as he tries to hold back more tears, but they come anyway. He wipes his eyes with his hands then waves again and again. Amir turns and quickens his pace. He suddenly feels lonely walking through the tunnel leading to the plane and he begins to cry as the realization of his departure pounds in his gut. For a few minutes, he lets the fear inside him come out in the weakness that surges in his quavering legs, but then he grasps the handle of his carry-on bag, raises his head and boards the plane. He knows he’s now free.