Chapters Fifty-Seven & Fifty-Eight

Chapter Fifty-Seven

• After a signal from the Seamaster watch, a car with flashed headlights arrives at the playground.
• Max identifies the car.
• Ahmed had been hiding in the wooden pirate ship in the playground, and jumps down to meet the car.
• Max opens the passenger side door for Ahmed, discovering a pretty young woman with streaked hair in a red coat as the driver.
• The driver asks Ahmed to get in the back.
• Max climbs in the front of the car.
• Ahmed wraps a wool blanket around him in the back seat.
• The driver introduces herself as Reka and states she knows they are going to Kiskunhalas.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

• Max, Reka, and Ahmed arrive at the Kiskunhalas detention center around 9 AM.
• The center is surrounded by a five-foot-tall metal barrier topped with barbed wire.
• The oblong, gray building has metal bars covering the windows.
• Reka notes that it's a prison for people who haven't committed a crime when Max questions if it is really for refugees.
• Ahmed stares intently at the building, seemingly seeing his father inside.
• A security camera monitors the entrance.
• Reka presses the bell, and they are buzzed into a sparsely decorated waiting area.
• Decorations include a 2015 calendar and Hungarian sports magazines.
• A skinny woman in a blue uniform and cap sits behind the desk and speaks to Reka in Hungarian.
• Reka responds politely and calmly in Hungarian before the woman disappears through a door in the back.
• Reka tells Max to sit, because the process could take a while.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

• After the guards grab Ahmed, Reka pleads with them in Hungarian, but they half walk, half drag Ahmed to a door that leads deeper into the detention center.
• Reka shouts to Ahmed that she can't come with him, but she'll try to help.
• Ahmed is placed in a chair by the guards.
• Ahmed asks to see his father, but the larger of the guards says no in English.
• Ahmed asks if anyone speaks French, in French, but the guards shake their heads.
• The guards search Ahmed's backpack, clothes, and even his half-finished cheese sandwich.
• They pat Ahmed down for weapons and take his Seamaster watch.
• One of the men takes a photo of Ahmed and uploads it to a computer.
• A third man, thin and gray-haired, joins them, sits behind a desk, and begins asking Ahmed questions in English.
• Ahmed gives his full name as Ahmed Abdullah Nasser.
• Ahmed is told that they must do his paperwork first.

In Custody

• Ahmed states that he is fourteen and Syrian.
• A man raises an eyebrow and says that a dentist will check Ahmend's teeth.
• The men do not trust Ahmed.
• Ahmed states he has a Syrian passport.
• Ahmend states he is Syrian.
• The questioning continues for a long time, until Ahmed's head hurts and his throat feels dry.
• Ahmed is not offered a drink of water.
• Suddenly, it is over.

The Forgery

• Max is bawling because Ahmed is being taken away.
• Max is thirteen years old.
• Ahmed blinks and asks Max not to cry.
• Ahmed tells Max, "I will be good here."
• Inspector Fontaine states that it is time to take Max back to Brussels.
• Ahmed tells him that the passport is a forgery.
• Max shouts that Ahmed should be allowed to go back to Belgium with his father
• Max knows that Ahmed is bawling.
• Max throws his arms around him. But Ahmed can’t hug Max back because the guards are holding his arms.
• Max asks how to say "We are outnumbered.”
• Ahmed whispers, "Max, it is okay."

Promises

• Ahmed confirms he wants to find his father.
• Max contacted the refugee rights group assisting Ahmed's father.
• Max found a hotel near the park and a business center.
• Max played the part of an American tourist while waiting for information.
• Max contacted Daniel, the emergency hotline coordinator, who promised assistance.
• Kiskunhalas is approximately two and a half hours away.
• They can stay in a friend’s flat when they get there.
• Ahmed is thankful.
• Reka mentions Hungary closed its borders to refugees and arrests anyone crossing illegally.
• Reka asks what their plan is.
• They plan to visit the center in the morning to ask about Ahmed's father.
• Ahmed notices Reka's adult smile, hiding her true knowledge of the world.
• Max needs to reassure his parents of his safety, but Max lies and promises call them after Ahmed sees his father.

"There are plenty of us who disagree with the government,"

• Reka asks if Ahmed has a Belgian ID and Ahmed confirms that he does.
• The ID is a fake but he does not mention this.
• The boys need an adult with them at the reception center at Kiskunhalas. Getting to Kiskunhalas had been hard for Ahmed.
• Ahmed asks Reka if she can help them.
• Reka agrees, stating the guards know her and she will ensure they are not locked up.
• Luck was with them after all.
• Reka promises to join them because the guards know her.
• Ahmed curls up on the seat and draws the blanket up over him.
• In a few hours, he anticipates smelling and touching his father. It's a forgery, believing the Brussels police story.
• Reka explains to Fontaine that they cannot arrest Ahmed for he has a Belgium residency card.
• Reka is looking at Ahmed and asks him when he registered in Belgium.
• Ahmed smiled softly to himself.
• Max had been right not to give up.
• There were always people who cared.

Chapters 57 & 58 summary: A car arrives to pick up Max and Ahmed, driven by a woman named Reka. They arrive at the Kiskunhalas detention center, described as a prison for refugees who haven't committed crimes.