Ironically, the most awaited day of my life became the day when me and Hassan stopped smiling forever. It would be 21 years before a true smile would appear on my face.
After a few hours, only two kites were left in the sky, one of them was mine. Using a tactic taught to me by Hassan, I cut the kite and became the winner. I asked Hassan to run the last kite for me.
He replied “For you, a thousand times over “and then disappeared down the street. He wouldn’t deny me, Hassan never denied me anything.
Many minutes passed but Hassan didn’t return. I finally found him down a deserted alleyway. Assef and his gang were confronting him. Assef was the worst misanthrope I had ever seen who had a terrible hate for Hazaras. The kite was in his hands. Assef asked Hassan to hand over the kite or else, suffer the bitter consequences. Such unflinching was Hassan’s loyalty toward me, that instead of running away, he stood his ground and instead, suffered attack as a consequence. And what do you thing I did, I absconded from the scene. I ran not so much out of fear, but because I was ready to sacrifice Hassan to gain Baba’s love. I betrayed a friend who sacrificed himself for my sake. Hassan had to suffer for me so that I could live happily. That was the day when I became a sinner, and an insomniac.
Sometime later, I found Hassan walking down the alleyway. I feigned ignorance about what had transpired and took the kite from him. I returned home and my proud Baba took me in his arms. I forgot what I had done. Every action has its consequence. To enjoy a few moments of happiness, I would have to suffer the rest of my life.
After the incident, instead of apologizing to Hassan, I acted as if nothing had happened. My guilt led me towards more wrongdoings. I began to ignore him and began torturing him with my silence, compounding his injury even more. What could I do? His face became an albatross around the neck for me, a continuous reminder of my guilt. What was worse was that Hassan wouldn’t do anything to stand up for himself; he remained devoted to his loyalty, which shattered me even more. I had only one choice left, I had to get rid of Hassan. After the day of my birthday, I hid my watch and some cash under Hassan’s pillow and later imputed the blame of the theft on Hassan and Ali. Instead of denying the profane allegations, he accepted them in the name of friendship. However, Ali was well aware what had transpired and decided to leave. It is ironical that kites, which had united me and Hassan, separated us forever.
War came soon, as if echoing the separation of two friends. Russian tanks rolled down the streets on which I had once flown kites with Hassan. I and Baba were forced to flee to USA. 21 years passed, I became a husband and an accomplished writer. My life was progressing predictably and I was just beginning to leave my memories of Hassan behind when one day, I got a call from Rahim Khan , a person who had been like a 2nd father to me in my childhood
He asked me to come to Pakistan, it was a matter of importance. He ended his conversation with the following words which changed my destiny.
“There is a way to be good again.”
My worst fears were realized. Rahim Khan knew everything about what I had done to Hassan. He had always known everything. It was possible living with this guilt when I was the only one who knew about it. But now, someone else knew what had transpired, I could no longer live with this guilt. I returned to Pakistan the same day. I met Rahim Khan in Peshawar. He told me that Hassan had lived with him during our absence. He told me how Hassan had sacrificed his life defending Baba’s house. Rahim khan told me that he had a son named Sohrab in an orphanage in Afghanistan and he wanted me to bring him back to Pakistan. I was equivocal and tried to convince him to send someone else. I had a family, a business. I was cut short by the following words
“I think we both know why it has to be you, Amir”. This was followed by my epiphany that I and Hassan were consanguineous. This redefined our relationship. I knew that to redeem myself, I had to be able to forgive myself and that could only happen by committing an act of bravery. I decided to go to Afghanistan to bring Sohrab back.
After facing many troubles and an encounter with Assef, the pain of which nearly killed me, which I rather cherished as a tribute to Hassan, I managed to bring Sohrab back to Pakistan. I decided to take him to USA with me when I realized that that was what Rahim Khan had expected me to do.
Two years passed, the kite tournament arrived. I still hadn’t been able to completely redeem myself. I realized that to truly redeem myself, I had to eradicate the class barriers which had plagued mine and Hassan’s friendship. Hence I ran the kite for Sohrab with the following words “For you a thousand times over”
