I didn’t think I had any tears left inside me, but I do. They pour down my face and get all over Mum and Dad and Bibi and I’ve never felt anything like it.
We hold each other for so long that the sun’s up when we finally stop for breath. When we can finally speak, we go to the tent and talk for ages.
I get the bad news over first.
‘This isn’t Australia,’ I say quietly. ‘It’s an island in the Pacific Ocean.’
Mum and Dad don’t seem that shocked. I get the feeling they already know.
Mum puts her arms round us all. ‘We’re together,’ she says. ‘You’re safe. That’s all I care about.’
She and Dad ask us about our sea journey.
‘I’m proud of you, son,’ says Dad when I tell him about scooping out the boat.
‘Selfish camel-snot,’ says Mum when Bibi tells her about the sailor who took the only bucket.
‘Exactly,’ says Bibi. Then she frowns and looks around the tent. Some people are talking happily like us, but others are red-eyed and weeping. ‘Rashida says,’ murmurs Bibi thoughtfully, ‘that sometimes people are only camel-snots because of what’s happened to them.’
We introduce Mum and Dad to Omar and Rashida.
Mum cries some more when I explain how Rashida’s flour saved our lives, and she hugs Rashida for a long time.
‘I saved his life too,’ says Omar.
Dad hugs him for a long time.
I can see Omar is getting a bit uncomfortable, so I change the subject.
‘We’ve got some good news,’ I say to Mum and Dad. ‘Bibi’s really good at soccer. She’s going to be a soccer star.’
Bibi glows. She punches me hard on the shoulder. ‘So’s Jamal,’ she says. ‘Tell them the plan, Jammy.’
I stare at her.
Jammy?
‘A soccer star needs a nickname,’ says Bibi. ‘Omar told me.’
I tell Mum and Dad our plan for the future of Afghanistan. About having soccer careers in Australia and helping form a new government at home so we can all go back safely.
Mum and Dad look at each other and their eyes fill with tears again. I know how they feel. Happiness can do that.