Dad followed us into the Apadana and pulled his sketchbook back out.
“These arches are incredible.” Dad pointed to a huge set that looked at least four stories high.
“Yeah.”
“Stephen,” Sohrab said. “You like architecture?”
“That’s what I do back home,” Dad said. “I’m an architect.”
Sohrab’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
Dad nodded and kept sketching.
I wanted to ask him if the ruins reminded him of Vulcan, the way they reminded me.
I wanted to ask him if he wanted to come exploring with me and Sohrab.
But I didn’t know how.
Stephen Kellner stared at the arches above us and bit his lip. He rubbed his thumb against the page to make a shadow and kept sketching.
“Come on,” I said to Sohrab as we left Dad behind.
“Your dad is an architect?”
“Yeah. He’s a partner in a firm.”
“That’s what I want to do. Someday.”
“Really?”
“Yes. That or civil engineering.”
“Wow.”
To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what the difference was between the two.
I couldn’t say that out loud.
“It’s a lot of school, though.”
“Yes. Not easy for Bahá’ís.”
“Oh?”
Sohrab nodded, but he didn’t elaborate.
Instead, he said, “Come on, Darioush. There’s much more to see.”
We found Laleh and Babou standing in front of a wall.
It was not a plain wall: Like everything else in Persepolis, it was oversized, carved, and the color of cargo pants.
“Eh! Sohrab. Good. Darioush hasn’t seen this,” Babou said. “Come see, baba.”
Laleh was sagging against Babou’s leg. I put my hand on top of her headscarf and rubbed it a little. Laleh sighed and shifted her weight from Babou’s leg to mine.
Babou nodded at the wall. “Look.”
