A Visit at 3:00 a.m.
Sitting in any of the cheap Dubai hotels, when I ask for a cup of tea (or whatever), people tend to notice my accent. Some, hearing the accent of a fellow Westerner, straggle over and sit down, hoping for a chance of conversation with someone who has a similar background and experiences. Others, hearing the accent of a Westerner, straggle over and sit down, hoping to separate someone who is obviously rich and stupid from his money. (The stupid part is fair enough, but I'm afraid they are mistaken if they think every single Westerner in Dubai is rich. This one certainly isn't.)
A., one of the former (he's from Philadelphia, PA, US, but looks like he's from Lucknow), introduced himself to me a few months ago. Since I tend to frequent the same cheap hotels, I kept running into A. When he discovered I don't drive, he offered to give me a lift home, and I foolishly accepted. I also told him my name, another mistake.
***
Most Dubai hotel outlets for food and beverages close by 3:00 a.m. Those who have made a felicitous acquaintence have departed together long before then. Those who have failed to find a companion, or who have reluctantly settled for whatever was available as the best of a bad lot, leave at closing time, in Dubai just like everywhere else in the world.
And so, at 3:15 a.m., I was awakened by the ringing of my doorbell. When I opened the door, there was my acquaintence, accompanied by a young woman from Senegal. Normally, the security personnel at my building do not admit anyone after midnight, unless instructed to do so by a tenant. In fact, a year ago M., another chance acquaintence, living on the other side of Dubai, but clubbing at a hotel next to my flat, had tried to come up and had been refused. However, A. had more of a presence than M., and, since he knew my name, they let him in and gave him my apartment number.
Sleepily and in pajamas, I let them in and asked if they'd like anything. A. wanted beer, but his young lady declined anything. She just wanted to leave. A. then said he needed to use the bathroom, and his young lady followed him. Then there was crashing. The door opened, and A. was bashing the young lady's head against the floor. 'I'm going to kill you,' he said. 'Make him stop, he's killing me,' she screamed. 'Stop, or I'm going for the security guard,' I said (A. is a lot younger, larger, and stronger than I am). When A. didn't stop, I opened the door and started to call for security. Suddenly, the young lady managed to get free and ran out without her blouse or shoes. Then A. ran out.
The the young lady returned with the security guard, collected her blouse and shoes, and said, 'He stole my purse. I'm not an ordinary prostitute, I'm a student, and I'm only doing this for the tuition.' I hadn't seen A. holding a purse as he left, and said so.
It was a small purse, and A. had taken it for spite and tossed it in the first dumpster he'd seen as he ran out of my apartment building. 'He took my purse. How am I going to get home?' I gave the young lady cab fare. 'When I get home, I'm calling the police and bringing them back here. He tried to kill me and took my purse.' 'If you're going to call the police and bring them here, give me back my cab fare, you won't need it, since the police will take you home.' 'I'm not giving it back, but I'm gonna call the police and bring them here. He tried to kill me and took my purse.' Then she stormed out. I apologized to the security guard, and asked him, in future, not to let people come up after midnight, as I am always sleeping then. 'But he knew your name. That's why I let him up.' 'Lots of people know my name. In future, please don't let anyone up after midnight.' 'OK, sir.'
So now I'm living in dread of another 3:00 a.m. visit, this time an official one.
A., one of the former (he's from Philadelphia, PA, US, but looks like he's from Lucknow), introduced himself to me a few months ago. Since I tend to frequent the same cheap hotels, I kept running into A. When he discovered I don't drive, he offered to give me a lift home, and I foolishly accepted. I also told him my name, another mistake.
***
Most Dubai hotel outlets for food and beverages close by 3:00 a.m. Those who have made a felicitous acquaintence have departed together long before then. Those who have failed to find a companion, or who have reluctantly settled for whatever was available as the best of a bad lot, leave at closing time, in Dubai just like everywhere else in the world.
And so, at 3:15 a.m., I was awakened by the ringing of my doorbell. When I opened the door, there was my acquaintence, accompanied by a young woman from Senegal. Normally, the security personnel at my building do not admit anyone after midnight, unless instructed to do so by a tenant. In fact, a year ago M., another chance acquaintence, living on the other side of Dubai, but clubbing at a hotel next to my flat, had tried to come up and had been refused. However, A. had more of a presence than M., and, since he knew my name, they let him in and gave him my apartment number.
Sleepily and in pajamas, I let them in and asked if they'd like anything. A. wanted beer, but his young lady declined anything. She just wanted to leave. A. then said he needed to use the bathroom, and his young lady followed him. Then there was crashing. The door opened, and A. was bashing the young lady's head against the floor. 'I'm going to kill you,' he said. 'Make him stop, he's killing me,' she screamed. 'Stop, or I'm going for the security guard,' I said (A. is a lot younger, larger, and stronger than I am). When A. didn't stop, I opened the door and started to call for security. Suddenly, the young lady managed to get free and ran out without her blouse or shoes. Then A. ran out.
The the young lady returned with the security guard, collected her blouse and shoes, and said, 'He stole my purse. I'm not an ordinary prostitute, I'm a student, and I'm only doing this for the tuition.' I hadn't seen A. holding a purse as he left, and said so.
It was a small purse, and A. had taken it for spite and tossed it in the first dumpster he'd seen as he ran out of my apartment building. 'He took my purse. How am I going to get home?' I gave the young lady cab fare. 'When I get home, I'm calling the police and bringing them back here. He tried to kill me and took my purse.' 'If you're going to call the police and bring them here, give me back my cab fare, you won't need it, since the police will take you home.' 'I'm not giving it back, but I'm gonna call the police and bring them here. He tried to kill me and took my purse.' Then she stormed out. I apologized to the security guard, and asked him, in future, not to let people come up after midnight, as I am always sleeping then. 'But he knew your name. That's why I let him up.' 'Lots of people know my name. In future, please don't let anyone up after midnight.' 'OK, sir.'
So now I'm living in dread of another 3:00 a.m. visit, this time an official one.
posted by Dubai@Random at 3:12 pm
5 Comments:
Hectic man! It's so sad that people have to do such things to get by. I'm reluctant to judge the young lady, but I wonder whether there was nothing more 'decent' she could do to earn her tuition.
Hectic man! It's so sad that people have to do such things to get by. I'm reluctant to judge the young lady, but I wonder whether there was nothing more 'decent' she could do to earn her tuition.
Actually, more shocking and noteworthy than the young lady's prostitution for tuition is A's urge to kill her. WTF? and in your house, DAR?
1. A. had been drinking. A lot.
2. He'd given the young lady more than €200. For that price, he expected 100% cooperation with any activity he demanded. When he didn't get it (she insisted on her own bedroom, not my bathroom), he decided to kill her.
3. He took her purse hoping to get his €200 back. He said the purse was empty.
4. When I ran into him again (the problem with frequenting the same cheap hotels) he apologized for bringing her to my place, but said that, after about 20 double whiskeys, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
5. I would be very careful about believing anything either the young lady or A. said about what happened before they arrived, or, for that matter, about what really happened in my bathroom until they opened the door and I saw A. trying to kill the young lady.
Umm Al Quwain, Ruler Order No. 1 2010
Umm Al Quwain, Local Order No. (1/2007) of 2007
Umm Al Quwain, Administrative Order No. (3/2007) of 2007
Umm Al Quwain, Resolution No. (8) of 2010
Umm Al Quwain, Resolution No. 25 of 2010
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