“I’m sorry for overreacting on the plane,” I said to my parents. “But I’m not sorry for who I am.”

I turned to my dad, and while I know he’ll deny it—he was born a Persian man and he will die a Persian man, a descendant of Xerxes and Cyrus the Great and other tough, impenetrable men—I swear, in that moment, tears welled up in his eyes. He bit his lip and sat quiet for a few seconds.

“Amir,” he said.

The biggest lump formed in the back of my throat.

The female officer returned to the room, accompanied by another officer.

“Mr. Azadi,” she said. My dad’s face became serious again. “Please come with my colleague.”

My dad got up and left. I heard my mom let out a deep breath, and then a minute later, they called my name, and I went.

Interrogation Room 37

Amir

MAYBE I’M EXPECTING too much, too fast. Maybe it’s a process. Soraya says they’re doing better than most parents in their position. She says, “How many Iranian gay kids do you know whose parents are okay with it?”

I get what she’s talking about. I get that they’re trying. But I also know they’re struggling, and after the summer that I had in Rome, where I got to be me—all of me—it’s hard for me to accept that it might take a while.

Interrogation Room 38

Soraya

WE CAN LEAVE now?

I think I get it. I get why my mom talks to you so seriously. You treat her differently. People like my mom have to be extra careful. You gave me that ice cream from the vending machine, and all you gave Mom were judgy looks.

Yes, I’m tired. Yes, I’m ready to leave. No, it’s not because I miss Amir that much. Not after all the trouble he caused. It’s because I have a dress rehearsal tonight, and there’s no way I’m letting my understudy steal my part.

I guess I do miss Amir a little.

I don’t care what my parents say or how long it takes them to accept Amir. I love him. We’re a package deal. Our family isn’t a family without him. I would say we’re even better with him just the way he is. We’re an even better family than we were before. This last month has been hard. The next month will probably be hard, too. But it’s going to be the good kind of hard. The kind of hard that makes us better.

Now, can we go?

Interrogation Room 38

Roya Azadi

I WOULD LIKE to assure you that everything is fine in my family. My daughter, Soraya, she is a performer. Consider this one of her performances. She has another one coming up, this weekend. She is playing the very old, dramatic cat in Cats. The one with the solo that everyone loves. I think she will do a wonderful job.

Please, you don’t have to apologize, Officer. Are you a mother? Yes? Then you understand where I am coming from when it comes to my children, my beautiful children, Soraya and Amir.