A Thousand Splendid Suns

to be there when it happens, when Afghanistan is free, so the boys see it
too. They'll see it through my eyes."
Mammy was soon asleep, leaving Laila with dueling emotions:
reassured that Mammy meant to live on, stung that she was not the
reason. She would never leave her mark on Mammy's heart the way her
brothers had, because Mammy's heart was like a pallid beach where
Laila's footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow
that swelled and crashed, swelled and crashed.
21.
The driver pulled his taxi over to let pass another long convoy of Soviet
jeeps and armored vehicles. Tariq leaned across the front seat, over the
driver, and yelled, "Pajalmia! Pajalmta!"
A jeep honked and Tariq whistled back, beaming and waving cheerfully.
"Lovely guns!" he yelled "Fabulous jeeps! Fabulous army! Too bad you're
losing to a bunch of peasants firing slingshots!"
The convoy passed. The driver merged back onto the road
"How much farther?" Laila asked
"An hour at the most," the driver said. "Barring any more convoys or
checkpoints."
They were taking a day trip, Laila, Babi, and Tariq. Hasina had wanted
to come too, had begged her father, but he wouldn't allow it. The trip
was Babi's idea. Though he could hardly afford it on his salary, he'd hired
a driver for the day. He wouldn't disclose anything to Laila about their
destination except to say that, with it, he was contributing to her
education.