In a quiet village near one of the mountains, my father plowed the rough, hard land to farm it. We were living a hard life for a story. We did not have a lot of money. One day, I wanted to buy a comb like the rest of the girls in the village. I took 50 cents from my father’s savings. My mother discovered that the amount had been stolen and asked me and my sister who had taken it from the savings and where it had gone.
I was in the confusion of fear, and no one from the family understood me. So my father said, “Enough with you two, stop this, and each of you confess.” My small brother Adham took my mother’s hand and said to her, “I did that, and I deserve the punishment.” Indeed, my mother hit him with a violent slap. He remained in the confusion of fear about what would happen to my brother because I deserved that punishment, not he.
When we went to sleep, I intended to confess and speak with a loud voice. But my brother put his hand over his mouth and said to me, “Do not cry anymore now; everything has happened and the matter ended. I never saw you supporting my brother on that day when you tried to harm me. So I remained in my self’s self blaming myself for what I had done.”
My brother Adham was nine years old and I was seven years old. We carried our studies together until we reached the third grade and obtained excellent grades. Then my brother Adham was accepted to one of the universities, and I was also accepted to one of the distinguished universities.
That night, my father was sitting in the courtyard of the house talking with my mother and saying, “The two children have great achievements and have been accepted to the universities. So how will we provide them expenses and how will we teach them?” My mother cried and her tears flowed. At this time, my brother Adham was hearing their speech again, so he went out and stood before my father and said to him, “O father, I do not want to continue my studies after now, for I see that you do not have the ability and are suffering for the story.” My father looked at him a lot and said to him, “You do not have the right to hold the burden and the hardship. You will study, O my son, you and your sister, even if I have to work at night.”
And indeed, my father struggled more than everyone to complete the studies. I went to my brother and said to him, “You must, O my brother, complete your studies so that we get out of poverty, for I see your suffering, and you are suffering. But your education will change your matter and you will be able to give charity to others.” I told him I would not complete my university studies, but I was surprised the next day that my brother would leave the house early to go to work, saying about my sister, “The oldest sister, going to the university is not a necessary matter. I will search for a job and send you the money so that you complete your teaching.”
At that time, I cried intense crying until I lost my voice, and went to days without my brother returning. My father suffered some matters from our neighbors to help me with the university. After a period, my brother returned and gave me some monies he had earned from his work in the construction field, and I completed my going to the university. But my brother continued to work and help my father and take care of himself to support my needs.
And now I am at the age of thirty-five. I have completed my studies in the third year of medicine. My brother is 17 years old and works in the morning while I was sitting in the medical field. A child passed by me. He stopped, and when I looked from afar, I saw my brother. He was sitting with his face covered with dust and scars from the effects of his work at the construction site. I asked him why he had not told my sister in the house that he is your brother.
He answered me with a quiet smile, wiping the dust from his face and saying, “Look at my face. What will they say when they know that you are my brother and they will ridicule you and talk from your manners?” So I cried and my tears made my eyes flow, and I said to him, “Do not fear, O my brother. What people will say about you? For you are my brother, and they look away from your face.”
Then my brother Adham came out with a gentle smile covering his face with a beautiful expression. He said, “You have seen, all girls of the city wear them, so I became convinced that you must have one like them.” So I smiled with joy and hugged my small brother. When I reached the age of 23, I worked and stayed in the city, and my wife loved me a lot and invited him to live with us in the city, but they refused.
After a period, my wife became satisfied with what he did in the construction, and offered my brother to work with him in the plumbing field and become the section chief. But my brother refused and insisted on the hard work. One day, my brother was at the top of one of the buildings fixing a leakage well when a plumber with a negligence fell on him and sent him to the hospital.
I stayed for a long time in his recovery. I suffered a lot and said to him, “Why did you not accept my wife’s offer to work with him in the plumbing field for the construction? You would have obtained abundant money and would no one have an accident like you?” My brother ignored his decision and said, “What would happen if I had accepted this offer and I do not carry the required responsibility? The excuses were coming from the voice of your wife and I never accepted that at all.”
I rejoiced at that and looked at my wife and found her crying. So I became the other and said to her, “If you read the medical field excuse you for my sake.” My brother recovered after a period, and when he went at the age of 29, he got married and left the village. In his family life, he asked him, “O my son, you are at the age of thirty-five. Who is the person in the village that you love and honor the most?”
He did not take a very long time in thinking until my sister Sally said, “Then, O my brother. When we were at the elementary school, we were a long distance from the school in the morning, going to school in the intense cold. One day, one of the special students fell and my sister Sally broke her arm, and we remained a long distance, and my sister’s hand was hurting from the intensity of the cold. After returning to the house, she was not able to move her hand except after a long period.
So I decided that I would burden her with the burdens of my life like my mother had done on that day, and I would never support her with anything. I looked at everyone in understanding, and I saw that I was not able to complete my day on my own and my tears flowed, and I was cut off from the speech when I heard my brother who had become happy with everything about me saying that.