Lesson 1 – Character Development

“So you’re not going to join the family. You’re going to go off and do your own thing again.” Her mother said it as a statement, not a question, her voice tight and hard. Kawthar looked up in surprise.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Oh, nothing. What could be the matter with you just going away to further your career. We will manage the family without you.”
The room hushed as her siblings exchanged uneasy glances, then looked back at her and their mother with bated breath. The air in the room stilled, silence stretching like thinning thread, ready to snap. Kawthar set her jaw. It was going to be like this again? Seriously?
“It’s just a one-off event,” she said, striving to keep her tone respectful despite her mounting irritation. Whenever she needed to get something done, there was always a hurdle in the way. “This fundraiser is going to help me meet the competitors and give me a running chance. It’s not even that long an event.”
Their mother shrugged and started folding laundry. “It’s fine. You didn’t ask me for permission anyways so you won’t listen if I say no. Go, do what you like.”
Kawthar hated when her mother got like this. She hated the faux noncommittal responses and the passive aggressive words. Why make things more difficult than it needed to be? She wasn’t even asking for much. It was just a few hours at a company event. Why the big fuss? She felt her temper rising.
“What’s the big deal? We go to Nani’s house almost every weekend. I’ll probably even be back before you guys leave-“
Her mum slammed the laundry basket onto the desk, sending Kawthar’s perfect array of pens and paper skittering to the floor. Her sister jumped.
“You think the world revolves around you,” her mum’s eyes blazed at her, her lips tight with anger. “Do you ever stop to think who is left behind while you’re galivanting off after your career? Who’s going to have to manage everything while you’re away, your brother is a mess, and your sister is ill? Do you ever think who has to pick up the pieces? Building your empire off your family’s back! You’re selfish!”
Kawthar’s heart stuttered. The whole room was pulsing with the raw the lights were burning her eyeballs, the air hot and dry. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her brother flinch. Kawthar realised she had been holding her breath. Her mother had never said this to her before.
Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to speak. “I-I didn’t think-”
“That’s right. You don’t think.”