outsde reading post 4

Later in the book another main character is introduced, her name is Laila and she is Mariam and Rasheed's neighbor. she is a young, positive and smart girl whos life isn't an easy one either. The story slowly moves from Mariam's to Laila's. Although Laila's harships are not a sever as Mariam's, she still sufferes from the impacts of war and a broken family.
Laila's brothers left for war when she was just a small girl, so all she knows of them is their pictures on the walls. Their departures creats a tension between her mother and her father, to a point where Laila didn't enjoy being at home, "the truth was Laila loves eating meals at Tariq's house as much as she disliked eating them at hers" (116). Tariq is Laila's best friend, and he is the key to Laila's happiness. They have been friends since they were little and have grown inseperable. So when Tariq has to leave for a little while, Laila is crushed, and there is one point when she doesn't believe he is coming back.
Ever since her brothers have left, her family hasn't been the same. Her mother is easily angered, and her father is usally the one she takes it out on weither it his fault or not. Their usual quarrels were something Laila got used to, but one day the news came of her brothers' death. This killed a part of Laila's mother that Laila herself would never be able to replace. All Laila's mother would do is lay in her bed, weap and pray. "Laila had to sholder more and more chores" (127). After finishing the chores Laila would lay in bed with her mother, and her mom would tell her stories about her brothers. And with more and more of these stories Laila began to realize that she would never mean as much to her mother as her brothers did.