For 10 years, my family worshipped my cousin, the GOLDEN BOY who MOVED OVERSEAS to build skyscrapers and a fortune.
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When he relocated to Qatar to join an elite construction company, my cousin earned much more than the rest of the family.
But then after months of silence, he showed up at my DAD'S FUNERAL UNINVITED…
I turned and looked at him and realised it wasn’t the cousin from the photos we’d seen for ten years.
The figure waiting by the gate was no thriving expat.
The man in the pictures WAS NOT a strong, successful construction worker in Qatar.
The man at our gate was thin, silent and it looked like life physically drained him.
"WHY DID YOU COME?" Auntie screamed.
She grabbed his arm, and her hold resembled a frantic warning rather than a maternal greeting.
He arrived without the guaranteed vehicle or overseas presents from his supposed riches.
He couldn't even look anyone in the eye.
I wandered towards the outside kitchen.
I froze when I overheard two aunts arguing in the shadows.
"HOW DO YOU HIDE PRISON FOR TEN YEARS?" ⬇️⬇️⬇️
English
