Upon coming home from school, Fadi finds his relatives talking about a sighting of Mariam. One of the families that could not get on the truck took Mariam with them when the Taliban arrived. Zafoona is relieved but blames Habib for taking the family to the United States when they should have stayed in Pakistan at the border. She insults his ghayrat—his honor as a Pukhtun man, who is charged with protecting the female members of his family. This is a serious accusation, and after realizing what she has said, Zafoona recants. Fadi reveals that he told Mariam that the Nurzais have family members in Peshawar, Pakistan, who run a clinic for refugees, so she would likely know to go there. The family praises Fadi for this important information and wishes he had told them sooner.

To get away from the family drama, Fadi goes to the park with his camera. Bullies Ike and Felix nearly spot him, but he manages to evade them. There is no film in the camera, but Fadi pretends he is shooting scenes of children in the park. He thinks of his father giving him the camera even though the Taliban had outlawed photography, which makes the camera precious to him.