A group of boys would always bully Hassan and Amir around, their names are Assef, Wali, and Kamal. Assef constantly threatens to hit Amir and Hassan with his brass knuckles. Of course Amir was too much of a coward to stand up for himself and Hassan. Hassan was the one that was not scared, he threatened them back. Then the came Hassan's birthday, Amir's Baba never forgot to get him a present. Hassan was very special to Baba, more special then his own son. Amir already knew that. The present that he got on his birthday was more special then any other present that was given to him. Hassan was born with a cleft lip, so no one ever got to see his real smile. Baba's present to him was a surgeon. Hassan did not understand, his face looked confused. Until the doctor told him that his job was sometimes to fix faces, then he clearly understood. After his surgery, he finally had that perfect smile. But the smile faded, for a long time.
Every winter in Kabul, there is a kite flying tournament. Amir was going to compete against a large group of kite competitors. He always wanted to win, it was a way to win his Baba's affection. A way to make his Baba proud. His Baba always bought him the best kite, and of course Hassan too. The tournament started early in the morning and did not end until there was one kite left in the sky. Which always took until nighttime. Hassan was the best kite runner, when the kite was in the air, he would run to the spot where he knew it would land. Hassan was always right.
The day of the tournament arrived, and of course did not end until late. Amir won. His kite was the last one in the sky. Then Hassan took the kite saying, "I'm going to run that blue kite for you." After he ran, Amir could not find him. He looked everywhere. And after all that running, there he was in an alley. Amir looked and saw that surrounding Hassan was Assef and the other two boys. What he saw happened made him feel guilty, forever. Hassan had gotten raped by Assef. Amir did not do anything, he just left. Even though he knew that his friend was getting hurt. Since that day, nothing was the same. They all did not talk, tension was everywhere. Until Hassan told Ali what had happened to him in the alley. Ali and Hassan left, after all those years living with Amir and Baba. They just left.
Ah, Amir made me so angry while reading this. I was mad because he just left Hassan, only caring about his own safety. Clearly, Hassan was the one in need. Amir was a coward, and always will be. Hassan was always the one to take the blame for Amir's actions. And Amir could not do that one thing for him...to protect him.
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