Daniel asks, “Would you rather a god who listens or a god who speaks?” (216). He compares the former to his mother who listens to his stories and the latter to his father who calls to give advice about his new life in the United States while also emphasizing his heritage. He thinks God should be both.

Daniel, his mother, and his sister fled within days. They were able to get papers from an immigration official who needed emergency dental work from Daniel’s father. They were waived through security since Daniel wandered off. The third miracle, as Daniel tells it, is that they bribed their way onto the plane.

Daniel thinks that “food and poop are the truest things about you” (231). He thinks that one can tell a lot about a person by the food they eat and can tell that they go to the bathroom just like everyone else.

During a tornado, Ray makes Daniel help nail on shingles when the storm tears some off the roof. At one point, Ray tells him to be careful with the nails, but Daniel puts them down and they slide off the roof. When Ray says, “Good thing I told you not to drop them” in Farsi, Daniel realizes that the way it is said in Farsi has a particular meaning.