Mike's Saudi Three

“Kaleefa would be classed as a rogue by the Saudi establishment, I prefer to think of him as a man who went his own way, although a Muslim he was not always guided by the Koran which led him into some scrapes. Of which I was involved in one.

Even though it was Ramadan we had an inspection by a high ranking official who would be visiting the establishment where Kaleefa and I worked. On the morning of the inspection he had not shown up he was usually late but this time it was particularly bad. As the inspection team drew nearer to our building Kaleefa showed up drunk and smoking, it was only minutes before they would walk through our door. He was in no way connected to me as we worked on different projects and I could have left him to his fate but I like him he was an individual among many who were the same. I got rid of his cigarette told him to shut up and locked him in a large steel cupboard. The rest of us stood by as our inspection took place fortunately he was not missed even though the inspecting group talked to us for what seemed ages. Eventually they left and I could let Kaleefa out, as I opened the doors I found him slumped rather awkwardly in the bottom of the cupboard asleep and I had worried about him giving himself away by making a noise. He went home immediately afterwards but the following day he thanked me for hiding him and I realised what might have happened to me if they’d found him.

In Saudi like many places marriages are arranged and this is often seen from the women’s side but it can also be difficult for the men too, not meeting your future partner can be hazardous. So it was for Kaleefa, at a late stage in the arrangements for his wedding he found his intended brides phone number. Naturally he phoned her and said something like “Why don’t we meet and check each other out, I might be ugly and spotty?” Well she obviously agreed as she was the only Saudi bride I knew of who was pregnant at her wedding. This may sound funny to us but the punishments for this sort of behaviour in Saudi are quite dire.

The last time I met Kaleefa was at Jidda airport, Syb and I were flying out for a spell of leave when suddenly from out of the crowd he appeared. Change your plans he said come and spend your leave with me at Taif, it was tempting but our families were expecting us back home. Though Kaleefa and I sailed pretty close to the wind we seem to escape the consequences. Perhaps we should have gone to Taif after all.”