Nowhere Boy

Once Max leaves, Ahmed packs everything up. As he leaves, he realizes that he does not have money for a bus and has no idea where he will go. He goes back inside the basement and wonders if Max kept his promise because everyone in the house is still asleep. Ahmed returns to the cellar and falls asleep.

When Max walks to school with his father, he asks about Syria. His father explains about the civil war, and Max learns about the millions of Syrians who fled the country. Max suggests that they host a refugee in their house, but his father says he cannot do that because his job would not allow it.

At recess, Oscar and Max get into a fight. Farah defends Max to the teacher so that Max does not get in trouble. Max thanks Farah and asks her why Oscar hates him. Farah tells him that Oscar’s father died when he was young and that he changed after that. After speaking to Farah, Max decides to try to help Ahmed rather than turn him in.

That night, Max brings Ahmed a new blanket, a pillow, and a bag of food. Ahmed tells Max that he does not have the proper papers to stay in Brussels. Max points at the picture of the man with the birdcage body and tells him that it is by a Belgian artist called Magritte. Ahmed asks Max if he will bring him a book so that he can practice his English. As he leaves, Max asks Ahmed if he is Muslim. Ahmed tells Max that as a Muslim, it is important “to help poor and strangers” (95). Max listens and tells him that he is glad that Ahmed believes in God and then leaves.

Max picks out books for Ahmed, including a history book about boy heroes in the American Civil War. He finds Claire sneaking out to a party and agrees not to tell their parents. He takes the bag downstairs with more food and hands it to Ahmed, but he hears something upstairs. Max rushes to find his parents awake in bed, both on their phones. His parents tell him that there was a terrorist attack in Paris. Max goes back to his room and texts Claire that their parents are awake and she needs to come home. Claire returns and wanders into their room, pretending to have been asleep.

The next night, Max tells Ahmed about the terror attack. Ahmed tells him that the history book is too difficult for him. Max offers to teach him more English and bring him a dictionary so that he can practice during the day.

Every night, Max teaches Ahmed from the history book. At school, Farah congratulates Max on the progress he has made on the spelling tests. Oscar taunts Farah, who lives in the immigrant neighborhood of Molenbeek, asking her if she knows any of the terrorists involved in the Paris attack. Madame Legrand rebukes him. After school the next day, Inspector Fontaine stops by to give Max the number of a gardener for his parents to call. Inspector Fontaine and Madame Pauline discuss what they perceive as the violence of Islam, dismissing Max’s concern for young refugees. Max hopes that Ahmed will remain safe from Inspector Fontaine.

At night, Max tells Ahmed about Inspector Fontaine. Ahmed feels nervous since he keeps coming to the house, but Max tells him that he does not think he knows Ahmed is there. Ahmed asks Max to purchase a desk lamp so that the orchids can get more light.

Brussels goes on lockdown as the authorities search for one of the Paris terrorists. At night, Max tells Ahmed about the lockdown. After a few days, Max goes with his father to the market and sees Inspector Fontaine aggressively detaining a young Arab man. That night, Max helps Ahmed read a story from the history book. In the story, the young boy hero dies from a cannonball wound. Ahmed tells Max that a cannonball must be like a bomb: “[T]he people hit straight at feel no pain” (128).

Ahmed tells Max about his life in Syria with his family. He was 11 years old when a rebel army tried to take power from Bashar al-Assad, inaugurating the war. People fled their homes. Every day, Ahmed listened to the sound of gunfire outside. One day, he left the house with his father. As they walked away from the building, a plane flew over them and dropped a bomb. Ahmed ran back, even though Baba called out to him. He screamed for his mother, grandfather, and sisters as he climbed over the rubble of their house, but a neighbor held him back, telling him not to look. Baba dug through the wreckage, weeping as he found their family. Max tells him it is okay to cry. Ahmed says that Baba told him that they felt no pain because the bomb hit them directly. However, he asks Max, “How could he know?” (138). Then Ahmed lays his head on Max’s shoulder and sobs.

The next day, the lockdown ends because the police cannot find the suspect. Max returns to school, even though his parents feel nervous about sending him back. Max thinks about Ahmed’s story and how devastated he would be if something happened to his mother and sister. Max wonders about the fairness of life and thinks that Ahmed did not deserve all the pain that has happened to him. At recess, he decides to get Ahmed outside for a day.

One afternoon, Max opens the cellar door. He tells Ahmed that Madame Pauline took the day off, which gives them the afternoon together. Max and Ahmed bike through Brussels and visit the Magritte Museum to look for the image that Ahmed likes. Ahmed feels touched that Max would do so much for him just so that he could see a painting he likes. As they enter the exhibit, Ahmed reads the plaque that explains that Magritte’s mother drowned herself when he was 14. The police found Magritte’s mother with her nightgown covering her face. Ahmed notices that several of the paintings have images of women with a cloth covering their face. He knows that Magritte missed his mother. They go through the museum and find out that the painting of the man with a birdcage torso is in a private collection. Max feels disappointed, but Ahmed tells him that he loved the exhibit.

On their way back home from the museum, Ahmed tells Max to stop in front of the School of Happiness. Ahmed looks through the windows and tells Max that he misses school. Max has an idea to enroll Ahmed in school and realizes that it could be possible. He tells Ahmed that he can forge a Belgian ID card on his computer for him and they can try to get him enrolled.