14I was stunned to hear the name. For a moment I was oblivious of everything around me. So that was why Khawla was so happy that time when I went ‘colololooosh’ down the phone. It had never occurred to me that this might be why my sister was so pleased. Mahdi was hoping that Hind would win the elections and said this would be good for Kuwait. But Khawla had said, ‘It would be good for the family in general.’ If it was good for Kuwait, it would be good for me as a Kuwaiti. If it was good for the family I doubted it would matter to me.
When I heard Mahdi mention my aunt, he noticed how surprised I looked. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked me.
I was reluctant to tell him, but he was so enthusiastic about her winning and I was so proud to be related to her that I had to reveal it. ‘Hind al-Tarouf is
