my stomach roiling with nausea

He whirled around, motioned with his hand. "This way!?he called before dashing around another corner. I looked up, saw that the direction we were running was opposite to the one the kite was drifting. "We're losing it! We're going the wrong way!?I cried out. "Trust me!?I heard him call up ahead. I reached the corner and saw Hassan bolting along, his head down, not even looking at the sky, sweat soaking through the back of his shirt. I tripped over a rock and fell--I wasn't just slower than Hassan but clumsier too; I'd always envied his natural athieticism. When I staggered to my feet, I caught a glimpse of Hassan disappearing around another street corner. I hobbled after him, spikes of pain battering my scraped knees. I saw we had ended up on a rutted dirt road near Isteqial Middle School. There was a field on one side where lettuce grew in the summer, and a row of sour cherry trees on the other. I found Hassan sitting cross-legged at the foot of one of the trees, eating from a fistful of dried mulberries. "What are we doing here??I panted, my stomach roiling with nausea. He smiled. "Sit with me, Amir agha.? I dropped next to him, lay on a thin patch of snow, wheezing. "You're wasting our time. It was going the other way, didn't you see?? Hassan popped a mulberry in his mouth. "It's coming,?he said. I could hardly breathe and he didn't even sound tired. "How do you know??I said. "I know.? "How can you know?? He turned to me. A few sweat beads rolled from his bald scalp. "Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?? Suddenly I decided to toy with him a little. "I don't know. Would you?? "I'd sooner eat dirt,?he said with a look of indignation. "Really? You'd do that?? He threw me a puzzled look. "Do what?? "Eat dirt if I told you to,?I said. I knew I was being cruel, like when I'd taunt him if he didn't know some big word.