Page 180 - And the Mountains Echoed (novel)

father would push back his blanket and let him climb into bed, folding him in

and kissing the crown of his head until Adel stopped shivering and slipped back
into sleep.
“Maybe I’ll bring you a little something from Helmand,” Baba jan said.
“You don’t have to,” Adel said, his voice muffled. He already had more toys
than he knew what to do with. And there wasn’t a toy on earth that could make
up for his father’s absence.

Late that day, Adel perched midstairway and spied on the scene
unfolding below him. The doorbell had rung and Kabir had answered. Now
Kabir was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, blocking the
entrance, as he spoke to the person on the other side. It was the old man from
earlier at the school, Adel saw, the bespectacled man with the burnt-match teeth.
The boy with the holes in his shoes was there too, standing beside him.

The old man said, “Where has he gone to?”
Kabir said, “Business. In the south.”
“I heard he was leaving tomorrow.”
Kabir shrugged.
“How long will he be gone?”

“Two, maybe three months. Who’s to say.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
“Now you’re testing my patience, old man,” Kabir said, uncrossing his arms.

“I’ll wait for him.”
“Not here, you won’t.”
“Over by the road, I meant.”
Kabir shifted impatiently on his feet. “Suit yourself,” he said. “But the
commander is a busy man. No telling when he’ll be back.”

The old man nodded and backed away, the boy following him.
Kabir shut the door.
Adel pulled the curtain in the family room and out the window watched the
old man and the boy walking up the unpaved road that connected the compound
to the main road.

“You lied to him,” Adel said.
“It’s part of what I’m paid to do: protect your father from buzzards.”