by Jos Henry
to reach the curb.
At the same moment a boy of about twelve or thirteen years on a joyride with his friends in his father's pickup truck sped past from behind on the right. Rajeev's manoeuvre unintentionally encroached on his space. The pickup swiped the right front fender of the car and damaged car and truck as it sped past. Thomas was about to experience Saudi culture at its most frustrating.
A small agitated crowd quickly gathered. The boy's father and two policemen arrived on the scene within a minute or so of each other. Thomas wondered how they found out about the accident so quickly.
Half-a-dozen people gathered around one of the policemen while the other managed traffic. They shouted a cacophony of continually adjusted versions of what happened as the policeman tried to sort out the situation. The boy's father sent him away; he remained chewing khat in complete silence.
A Sergeant arrived and took over the situation. He tried to listen to the policeman's observations while several boys claiming to be witnesses continued to shout a jumble of clarifications. When he'd heard enough he made sure both vehicles were still mobile and ordered those involved to meet him at the station; he drove off to await their arrival. The boy's father went along as did the owner of the car rental company who had been summoned.
'You're not needing to come Mister Tom; I'm going with them and coming back later.'
'No, I'll go with you.'
Rajeev insisted he could deal with the matter on his own. Thomas didn't dare let him try. He'd heard wild divergent mostly unconfirmed stories of what could happen to expatriate workers young engineers included, while in Saudi police stations even if not in custody.
Besides, it was late and almost dark. He didn't want to wait in his room wondering what was happening or whether Rajeev would ever return. Better to be with him at the police station. Gunther would later tell him Rajeev was lucky he stayed.
Once everyone concerned and some who weren't had arrived at the station the calm imperturbable Sergeant refereed a chaotic waving-arms account of the it-was-all-his-fault kind from a half-dozen boys.
Everyone seemed to be related somehow except for the Sergeant, Rajeev and the car rental company owner. The boy's father still chewing khat silently looked-on. Thomas began to think he might be a policeman himself or at least some species of town official. He speculated the father chewed khat to sooth his nerves. A calm well-connected-father would decidedly be better for Rajeev. Thomas got the impression Saudis with pre-teen and teen boys must chew a lot of khat.
Now and then the policemen threw furtive glances at Thomas's crossed Canadian and Saudi flags lapel pin. They wondered just who he was. They suspected the pin might indicate he was somehow connected with a diplomatic delegation. Maybe he knew a minister or even someone in the King's entourage. The pin surely indicated some sort of hands-across-the-borders connection but they didn't know who Thomas might be holding hands with; taking chances often didn't pay. For the moment they were cautious how they treated his driver.
Rajeev argued against what must have been the boy's entire neighbourhood except for the quiet father. He did better than Thomas would have thought possible. He kept everyone in check. The car owner too stayed his ground on some point. He interjected a grunt or a single word or two here and there at strategic moments.
Thomas perceived a subtle change in dynamics. Voices were lowered to a normal level and the pace of the argument slowed. A different duty sergeant started his watch.
Thomas became a bit apprehensive. A different man in charge introduces uncertainty. He might consider what preceded his arrival to be irrelevant. Thomas wondered what would come next if that happened.
While the first, imperturbable sergeant briefed his replacement Rajeev came and sat next to Thomas.
'Where do things stand?'
'The police are wanting the car rental man and me to pay each half but I don't want to pay anything because I'll be in trouble with my sponsor and the car rental man too doesn't want to pay.'
Once briefed the new duty sergeant took charge of the case; Rajeev returned to the huddle. Thomas tried to size-up this new character. Things didn't look particularly promising. He was short wiry with piercing fiery eyes; he already showed signs of excitability. He wore no shoes. Not a sign of great sophistication. He looked like someone who wouldn't let difficulties interfere with problem solving.
The squabble resumed unabated. Thomas feared things might become even more difficult. From his chair five paces away he called out in a normal tone,
'Rajeev.'
The group reacted as if they'd heard a delicate crystal vase shatter on the cement floor. They stopped to look in silence towards Thomas. He tapped the arm of the fiberglass chair next to his. Rajeev came and sat on the edge.
'Do they still want you to pay half?'
'Yes but my sponsor will give me trouble' etc. Rajeev went on for several seconds.
'Rajeev … take the deal. You won't do better, I can tell.'
'But my sponsor ---'
'If you continue to resist the sergeant's suggestion at some point he'll want you to pay all damages. He might invite you to join him in a more suitably furnished private room where he can explain things more thoroughly in the hope you might develop a better grasp of his point of view. Do you understand what I'm telling you?'
Dejected, Rajeev went back and reluctantly accepted. Everyone showed relief including the fiery eyed sergeant. That is everyone except Rajeev and the car owner whose acceptance didn't matter very much anyway. The sergeant had secured agreement from the potentially more troublesome of the parties. He was happy to see the matter off his desk. He could finish the incident report so the two parties could sign; ... tomorrow; ... when the first sergeant came back on duty.
'By golly! He wanted to move this thing off his desk any way he could and as far forward as possible.'
The car owner showed renewed signs of struggle. The sergeant spoke to him loud and long, with an occasional glance at Thomas.
Thomas asked Rajeev what the sergeant said.
'He told the man about making sure he's coming back tomorrow for signing the report. If he doesn't the sergeant will be changing the report making sure that he will pay all the damages by himself.'
The sergeant had made-up his mind the car owner would stop his nonsense of continued insistence he should pay nothing because he had no responsibility in the accident. Thomas thought it strange that the sergeant would support Rajeev an expat over a local businessman. But to the sergeant, those involved had finally arrived at a mutually acceptable level of discontent. The case was closed except for tomorrow's signatures.
Thomas and Rajeev arrived at the police station early the next morning. They met the placid sergeant of the previous day. Rajeev signed the incident report but the car rental company owner hadn't arrived. The sergeant didn't seem confident he would show. He logged something in his book, described the man's location to Rajeev and told him to see if he could convince him to come and sign the incident report.
'Good luck.'
The car rental company's gates were locked. Thomas and Rajeev saw no one in the yard but they discovered the company operated an auto body shop in addition to renting cars. Thomas said,
'Convenient. This might explain why the police want the car rental man to pay the boy's portion of repairs. They probably think owning a body shop means car repairs are free.'
Thomas and Rajeev returned to the police station. After Rajeev with difficulty convinced a surly machine-pistol toting policeman to let them by, they made their way through the yard towards the office.
They met the sergeant with two policemen on their way out at a leisurely pace. Rajeev informed him of the situation and asked what he was to do. Without checking his pace the sergeant calmly waived him away saying he could go. More urgent matters awaited his attention.
Rajeev and Thomas drove the damaged car to the airport and left it there. They took the afternoon
flight back to Riyadh. No one would hear of the accident again.
Apart from Eng. Kumar who might be a good source of opportunities if his current concern wasn’t limited to finding a host country more agreeable to him and, Sultan who could direct Areltrade to focus on Montech to a greater extent but was preoccupied with matters at a more lofty level, Thomas had met no one he thought could be of much practical use to him. If Gunther meant to keep him away from decision makers he succeeded admirably so far.
Engineer Domingo another young Areltrade engineer looked forward to Thomas's company on sales calls. He'd been waiting for the opportunity since Thomas arrived in the country.
The Pilipino man in his mid-thirties had more sales experience than Rajeev. He almost always learned of projects before anyone else when people outside Sultan's and Gunther's circles were involved.
He stalked and pestered major and minor players in the Engineering and Contracting community to unearth jobs in their early stages. When he found one he applied persistent pressure until he either arm-wrestled a contract from someone or all chances dissipated. His tactics didn't exclude embarrassing Herr Gunther into pressuring his own contacts for help when needed.
No one taught him his modus operandi. His talent and intuition were innate. He loved his job and excelled at it. Those who mattered on the Riyadh Region electrical contracting scene admired