Altair

Born in Cairo, Egypt to an Arabic father and an English mother. His father was the the CEO of a global trading company, and his mother a teacher. Moved between Cairo and Alexandria a lot as a child. Had a very normal up-bringing early in life. Enjoyed school, had plenty of friends, was loved by his parents. His father was distant at times as he worked a lot, and was bad at expressing himself.

Around age 10, Altair caught a very bad case of measles from an unvaccinated child at school, and ended up in hospital. The measles caused severe scarring of his corneas, and doctors were concerned he would permanently lose his sight. He was referred to a specialist out of country who had had success with this sort of case before. The family packed up and moved to Russia temporarily to get Altair medical care. He underwent several risky surgeries to try and repair his corneas. The surgeries were unsuccessful and resulted in further complications that caused the loss of his sight. Devastated by this, Altair's father insisted the family remain in Moscow so Altair could continue to receive care from the doctor in hopes that there would be something else they could try.

While his father was blinded with false hope, Altair struggled with his new reality. His mother tried her best to support him and use the resources the clinic gave them for dealing with the loss of sight. Altair could only see shadows or changes in light. He was on a lot of medications to manage pain and his vitamin A deficiency. He couldn't go to school, and his mother took a leave from her job to take care of him. Altair became a very different boy after losing his vision, retreating into himself, often moody and depressed.

Eventually, Altair's father came to accept that his son was not going to get better. With this acceptance came rage. Altair was his heir, the future of his company. And now he was disabled, broken. This rage built and built inside of him for years. The family remained in Russia, and after a few years, Altair began to attend a private school in Moscow. There he struggled with making friends, being made fun of for his disability, for the cloudy, "creepy" look of his eyes, for his accent when he spoke Russian. Altair kept to himself, found happiness in hobbies like music and dance. He took up smoking by the time he was 14.

Around 15 years old is when Altair really began to change. Relatively comfortable with his new lifestyle, but still learning every day how to navigate a world not meant for him, he made friends with the misfits at school, and began to hang around the rave scene. He experimented, both with drugs, and sexually. By 16, he was sure he was gay, and hesitantly expressed this to his mother. She was less surprised than he had expected, and made him promise not to tell his father. Things at home had gotten worse over time. As Altair grew, he became less and less like the man his father expected him to be. He became, in his father's eyes, a delinquent, a disgrace. The last straw was when Altair was out at a party downtown one night. His father had been trying to reach him on his phone, but Altair didn't answer. Angrily, his father went out looking for him, only to find his son making out outside a bar with a young man. Altair was dragged home, and that was the first time his father beat him, but certainly not the last.

Altair kept away from his father for weeks, stewing in his shock, anger, and sadness. He was kept home from school by his mother, who quietly took care of his cuts and bruises. No broken bones, somehow. Though they never had a conversation about it, Altair knew his mother wished she could help. There were times after that that she'd scream and get in between them, but Altair would always draw the attention back to him. He would rather take the hits than have her get hurt for him. The abuse got very bad. Altair's father was unleashing his built up anger upon his son almost before his previous wounds had time to heal, and Altair couldn't fight back. He did try, though, but it only made it worse. The beatings did horrible things to his mental health, and he spiraled into a deep depression. He developed an eating disorder, disinterested in food, and using that and self-harm as his punishments towards himself. He wished he could be the son his father wanted, so desperately.

By the time Altair turned 18, he had a plan. His mother helped him, secretly putting aside money for a plain ticket, and making sure that his trust fund was taken care of. On his birthday, there was no party. In the early morning, he said his teary goodbyes to his mother, promising to keep in contact with her, and made his way to the airport. He was well on his way to America by the time his father got off work and learned what had happened. Altair was finally safe from his abuse, and on his way to start a new life for himself.

FC: Cameron Boyce
Voice: Shervin Alenabi
Birthday: March 6
Astrological Sign: pisces sun, leo moon, aries rising
Scent: Marijuana, spices, cigarettes