Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Darius’s father wakes him up the next morning, wishing him a happy Nowruz. After Darius has breakfast, his mother wanders into the kitchen with her hair in curlers. He asks if he should dress up for the party, and she says casual clothes are fine. Darius later clarifies with his father that this means “Persian Casual”—something that spans a wide range of dress and seems to Darius to involve “mak[ing] sure you and your family looked more impressive than everyone else, usually by tricking people into thinking the occasion was more casual than it really was” (169). Darius gets dressed and is feeling good about his appearance until his uncle Soheil arrives, patting Darius’s stomach in greeting. Sohrab and his mother arrive shortly afterwards. When Darius asks if Sohrab’s father or his uncle are coming, Sohrab explains that his uncle always attends a Bahá'í Nowruz celebration, but says nothing about his father.

After the entire family is assembled, they sit for photos in various configurations. In the middle of one group photo, Babou stands up and begins shouting before storming off. Mamou denies that anything is wrong, but has begun crying; Sohrab later explains that Babou’s tumor sometimes causes these outbursts.