@Mark, Some very nice writing here. And you also seem to know the word "calamity." Very impressive. It's a favorite of mine, but even some Americans might not know what it means. I agree with you that Fadi has no need to be mad at his father. I am not sure he was though, at least not as mad as his mother was. I used it in the sample paragraph just to give an example of what I meant.
You are very right, too, about Fadi's father's reason for not making the truck stop so that they could go back and get Mariam. I think by the time Fadi gets out of the trunk, he does "comprehend" (another very good word) that about his dad.