Character: Heather Webb
Age: Late teens/ early twenties
Heather is a socialite. Her family own a fishing corporation. Both of her parents are deceased, so her trust is in the hands of her elder brother, Hugo. She has a younger brother, Fergie, whom she is close to. She feels trapped in her life as Hugo can be demanding and controlling.
[As though speaking to a friend.]
HEATHER
I swear it’s getting worse. It’s like being in a prison in that house. Every time I step inside the door he quizzes me on where I’ve been. Whenever I go anywhere he asks me who I’ll be with. He demands that I text him on the hour whenever I’m away from him. He checks my phone. He chooses how I am to dress. It’s disgusting. He says it’s because he’s my brother and he needs to look after me but it’s smothering. There’s nothing I can do about it. He controls our money, he controls what we eat and he is the one who tells us where to be and when. If he doesn’t like my friends he calls them and tells them to stay away from me. I’ve started gathering a bit of a reputation because of it. Noone wants to know. I can deal with that. That doesn’t bother me so much. What really frustrates me is the way he treats our little brother, Fergie. He should be enjoying his life right now and instead it’s all mapped out in front of him. I know Fergie is scared of him. I suppose I can be a bit too. Hugo can be a real monster sometimes. It can be difficult to tell what mood you’ll find him in. Just the other day he lashed out at Fergie. He beat him terribly. Even if he could fight back he wouldn’t. Hugo says he’s just trying to protect us and keep us together. Fergie and I already have a plan. As soon as we can gather enough money we’re going to get out of there. We’re going get as far away from him as possible. It’s not easy though. He’s still our brother. Hugo can be nasty. There are times when he can be so kind too. When he says he’s just doing what is necessary to keep us together I believe him. After our parents died he didn’t have to stick around. He could have gone anywhere. He chose to take care of us and we should be grateful for that I suppose. We should be thanking him every day he didn’t abandon us.
He’s not always possessive. There are times when he is so charming and loving. When we were younger Hugo was the best big brother. He hated to see either of us upset. He would always go out of his way to make us laugh. He doesn’t seem much like it these days but he does have a really great sense of humour. Whenever we were down he would say, ‘cheer up little ones,’ in such a kindly way it would always make us smile. Maybe I’ve just made it that way in my head. Reality can be quite different when you look at it from the outside. We’re grown ups now and he still calls us ‘little’. We thought it was sweet before. Now it just sounds patronising. We’re grown ups. We’re not little. Fergie’s seventeen now. Hugo will always see him as a baby. It’s how he sees both of us.
He makes me doubt myself. He makes me wonder if I am even capable of looking after myself. I’ve never held a real job. I’ve lived off my trust my whole life, at least what Hugo allows from it. I don’t know where I would even start. I could do it though. I know I could do it because Fergie would be relying on me. I could do it for my little brother. I’m the middle child so it seems only fitting I have to be strong for one brother against the other. It’s such a long road ahead. Someone once told me you will never get any further if you never take those first steps. I can do it. I know I can do it …
©VivikaWidow2023
