- It's pretty late by the time Parvana and Mother get home from prison, and Parvana's body is killing her—her feet are covered with broken blisters, and are "bloody and raw" (4.2). Ouch.
- Mother's feet, though, are worse since she hasn't been out for a year and a half.
- (We're just gonna pause for a second to let that sink in: Mother hasn't been out in a year and a half.)
- And it's not like Father didn't encourage her to leave the house; he wanted her to go out into the city.
- She's a writer, after all, and how would she know what to write about stuck inside the house?
- Mother thought that was pointless to write though, since the Taliban wouldn't allow her to be published; besides, if they had left Afghanistan like she wanted to when this whole mess started, they wouldn't be in this position in the first place.
- When Mother asked Father if they could leave though, he said no way. As far as he saw things, if educated Afghans didn't stick around to rebuild, then who would?
- Mother collapses on the toshak and cries; and then she cries some more.
- Nooria takes care of Mother, while Maryam carries water to Parvana for her to clean her face and soak her feet.
- Parvana tries to talk to Nooria, but falls asleep.
- She dreams about the soldiers hitting her and Mother—she can't help Mother, even if she screams "I am Malali" (4.21).
- Parvana leans on Nooria as she walks to the washroom. She notices her family leans on each other a lot.
- Nooria feels that she has no one to lean on, though, and she's snappish again, which means life is getting back to normal.
- Mother just lies on the toshak staring at the wall.
- The next day, Maryam and Ali are asking for Mother and Father—this goes on for days.
- Parvana wishes she could read Father's books for a distraction, but she doesn't dare take them out.
- Ali is starting to act weird—he's not crying, and he just sucks on his thumb rolled up in a ball—and the house has started to smell. To preserve water, they haven't been cleaning or rinsing out Ali's dirty diapers; plus the food is gone.
- Enough already—Parvana shakes her mother, telling her they have no food and they need her help, but Nooria pulls her away, explaining that Mother is depressed.
- The day after, Nooria tells Parvana she has to find help.
- Looking at Ali's sunken cheeks and Nooria's terrified face, Parvana takes the money and asks, "What should I buy?" (4.67).