Darius the Great Is Not Okay: The Ayatollah’s Turban Summary & Analysis

Nobody showers after gym class at home, so Darius is alarmed and tries to refuse when Sohrab pulls out soap and two towels for them. Embarrassed—Sohrab is in great shape—Darius wraps the towel around his waist to take off his shorts and boxers. Sohrab leads him to the showers with his own towel over his shoulder. When Darius sees that the showers don’t have stalls, his skin prickles and it feels hard to breathe. Like Sohrab, Hossein and Ali-Reza are both lean and muscular. Darius feels huge in comparison, but he hangs up his towel and steps under a showerhead. He won’t let these guys see him have a panic attack.

Darius can barely hear the other guys as he scrubs at his grass stains. Finally after a whispered argument with Ali-Reza and Hossein, Sohrab hesitantly asks what’s wrong with Darius’s penis; it looks different. Darius says he’s not circumcised. He thinks he’s never been more mortified—until Ali-Reza says Darius’s penis looks like the Ayatollah’s turban (the Ayatollah is Iran’s Supreme Cleric, and he wears a dark turban). The other boys laugh in Farsi, and then Sohrab says, “Ayatollah Darioush.” Darius thought Sohrab was different, and he’s sure now that Dad is right: Darius will always be a target. Trying to hide his tears, Darius towels off. Dad made it clear that Darius couldn’t say it, even as a joke, but Darius wants to die—or at least slip into a black hole forever. As Darius leaves the bathroom, Ali-Reza calls him “Ayatollah.”