Summary: The whistling of the bombs is what bugged Laila the most. The fact that you could not tell when they would hit. Every time this happen Laila would run to the door praying it was not Tariq. Laila did not sleep anymore, and if she did she would dream of fire and the wounded. Everywhere you went, you would see Massoud’s men. They would just sit there on top of their tanks smoking. Most of the time Laila did not go out, but if she did it was only if Tariq went with her. Tariq bought a gun to protect himself and Laila. Tariq was Laila’s was of what was going out on the streets. Mammy’s heroes were now known as warlords and riflemen. Laila and Tariq were sitting under a tree talking when Tariq slid closer to her, held her hand and leaned into kiss her, and she let him. When he pulled away, she leaned in and kissed him. The fighting got worse and more shops and homes were destroyed. Babi tried to convince Mammy to leave Kabul but she just said they will work it out and everything will be okay. She tells Babi to take Laila and run away, and to send her a post card. Babi forced Laila to drop out of school, and he taught her himself. When he taught her he was different, he seemed calmer and relaxed. One day that June, Giti was walking home from school with some friends when a stray rocket struck the girls, and Laila later found out that Giti’s mother had run up and down the streets collecting her daughters body parts. At her funeral, Laila realized that her best friend was gone, dead. Laila began to cry for her friend, and all the tears that did not come down at her brothers funeral came down now.
Analysis: The bombs were Laila’s biggest fear, not knowing where they would hit or when they would hit. It bugged her how every time a bomb hit, that bomb could have hit Tariq. She was constantly scared and always careful of where she went and what she did. The men that killed everyone would just sit there and watch the people walk by like it was no big deal that more and more people were being killed. When Tariq bought the gun, Laila was so scared and did not believe that he would actually use it to hurt someone, but he says that he would use it for her. Laila and Tariq kiss and that is when Laila realizes that they are meant for each other. Babi wanted to leave Kabul but Mammy would not let them. She believed that the fighting would stop and everything would go back to normal. Babi wanted to leave for the good of the family, he knew that it was not safe any longer. He pulled Laila out of school, and he is lucky he did because she would have been part of the girls that were surprised with a rocket while walking home from school. When Giti gets killed it effected Laila in a huge way because Giti was Laila’s only girl friend, and she was gone now. At the funeral Laila realized this and let everything go, she cried her eyes out.
