[Client’s Name]
[Client’s Professor]
[Client’s Subject]
[Date Passed]
Dear Baba,
You know that I had always looked up to you and that I respect and love you as my father. That will never change. You have taught me so much and you have given me valuable insights about life that I will never forget.
However, you have greatly disappointed me by hiding the truth from me about Hassan’s identity. Why have you hidden the truth from me, Baba? You were always talking about me being a coward but by not telling me that Hassan is actually my brother, aren’t you a coward yourself? Were you afraid that I would hate you? I wouldn’t have. I would have been angry and hurt and I would have lashed out at everyone but it would have passed and then maybe things would have changed. Maybe I would have treated Hassan better. Maybe I would have understood you better.
I always felt as if I was not enough for you Baba and that is because you always compared me to Hassan and every time you would do that, Hassan always seemed to be better in your eyes than me. That upset me because I only knew Hassan as a servant. Yes, he was the closest thing to a friend that I got but I still only knew him as a servant. Do you know the feeling of being compared to a servant and turn out to be the lesser man? It hurt, Baba, especially if the one doing the comparing is your very own father and the master of that said servant.
If I had known that Hassan was my brother then I wouldn’t feel so low. I wouldn’t feel as though my father was deliberately putting me down. I would have still gotten jealous but then I would have known that there was a reason behind it. I would have known that it was only sibling rivalry. I would have known that you were only trying to make up for not being a father to him.
You know what’s the worst thing, Baba? You and I are not the only ones who have been hurt by this. Hassan, that boy you claimed to want to protect so much, got the rotten end of this deal. He had been so loyal to us. He had endured so much. He respected you as a master. Do you know he gives excuses for your behavior? He was the one who always told me that you loved me even if you didn’t show it. He was the one who made me believed that maybe you could be proud of me too. That was the kind of boy you and I corrupted, Baba. Yes, you and I. You watched him grow and yet your concern was only that of a master. And II let him suffer. I detested him, Baba. For something that wasn’t even his fault. You have no idea on the burden I carry for being such a monster to him. I know it was my own fault. I’m man enough to admit that I did wrong. But maybe if you had told me earlier about the important fact of me and Hassan being brothers, before things got out of hand, before things like expectations and prejudices set in, I wouldn’t have made the same mistakes I made. Truth be told, I don’t understand why you had to hide it from me. I’m your son, Baba and I deserved better than be kept in the dark.
It’s too early yet for me to say whether I forgive you or not. Everything is still too fresh for me. The lies, the burdens, those are still weighing on my mind so I cannot forgive you that easily. Not now. For now, just let me grieve for the life my brother never had and for the boy I wouldn’t have the right to call ‘brother’.
Sincerely,
Amir
