Chapter 28 – Little Egypt
Approximate Reading Time – 7 minutes
The Yemeni exodus presented an intriguing opportunity, one the Colonel needed to appreciate at first fully. The possibilities began unfolding when he thought about a picture of a beautiful Egyptian belly dancer. A few weeks before, someone left a tourist magazine from Egypt in his office. He had put it in one of the desk drawers and was about to throw it away but decided to first look through it. In the pages, he found a simple advertisement for a belly dancer in one of Cairo's many clubs catering to tourists. Something in his psyche pulled in the image; the two-dimensional picture remained stationary, but in his mind, her hips and belly began moving seductively, drawing him in. Her jet-black hair caught him like an insect in a spiderweb. She danced wildly in his head, undulating, her eyes enticing him with her sorcery.
His phone then rang, jolting him from the trance of the belly dancer. He knocked over his coffee cup, reaching for the annoying device. When he finished the call, he returned the magazine to the desk drawer. It was then that the brilliant idea emerged. He retrieved the magazine and read the name – Aisha, 'Queen of the Night.' He put it away, closed the drawer, and left for the evening, telling Bobby to clean up the spilled coffee.
Still, the memory did not leave him. Her image haunted him through the night, whirling through his dreams, which were so erotic that he felt like a young man again, virile and robust. She was there teasing him, enticing him, hiding from him, calling to him, and then running just in front of him.
He had made up his mind to bring her to Al Wadi. The departure of the Yemenis allowed more Egyptians to work in the Kingdom. So, the opportunity was there. But if he were to find her, it would have to be through subtle and possibly expensive means. During his drive to the office, the image from the day before reemerged with an appealing plan. With all the workforce invoices he signed for the Chairman and how people were 'slotted' into positions billed at a higher rate than their actual pay, couldn't he use this to his advantage? After all, he had done so much for the Chairman; shouldn't he expect a few minor benefits? Didn't he deserve some perks for his cooperation? He recalled that the contract had a position for a secretary for his office, which Bobby was currently filling. Yes, Bobby: he would also have to find another place for Bobby. He seemed to remember that the contract had a monthly salary of about $1,600. The pay and a cash incentive upfront should be enough to lure this dancer out of the clubs of Cairo. His mind began swimming with the thought and became intoxicated with its possibilities. But wait, he had to be careful. He couldn't go to Cairo himself and make the offer. No, that wouldn't be appropriate; it is too obvious and dangerous. He would need a middleman, someone discrete, someone he could trust to do the job properly and who wouldn't turn around and use it to blackmail him. Maybe two go-betweens, one to talk her into applying for the job, falsifying her credentials and work history so that she could get a visa, and one to accept her application, no questions asked.
He began a mental lineup of the potential contenders in his head but dismissed them all. He had finished this exercise when he reached the office and parked his car. Saluting the few soldiers hanging around the entrance to the office, he walked in and looked to see who was waiting for him. He saw Abdullatif, Julian's nominal boss, waiting. He was the last person the Colonel wanted to deal with this morning. The Colonel was sure he was there to ask for some favor, which he had no intention of granting.
Abdullatif rose as soon as he saw the Colonel and greeted him.
"Salaam Allekum," Abdullatif greeted the Colonel.
"Allekum, Salam," replied the Colonel, sitting behind his desk and lighting a cigarette. A wary smile crossed his face, the one he saved for these hopeless encounters. His small, dark eyes twinkled as he addressed Abdullatif.
"Well, Abdullatif, what do you want from me this morning? Don't lie; I know you want something or wouldn't have come in this early. Of course, you never come to see me in the morning."
"Tayib (Okay), Colonel, I have something to ask you. You know how I told you we need to recruit some interpreters. We usually get them from Jordan, from Hakim's agency, but Yanni, with all of this trouble with Jordan, the ministry in Riyadh won't give us any Jordanian visas. They canceled the block visa altogether, khallas (finished)! So now I want to try to get some Egyptians. We could get them cheaper than the Jordanians. These savings would please the Chairman."
"Walla!" The Colonel exclaimed under his breath. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. This request, straight from the mouth of this fool, must be a sign from heaven, the answer to his dream! But he wanted to be sure it wasn't a trick and that he had heard correctly.
"Egyptians? Egyptians are trouble. We already have too many of them for the school, the teachers. We don't need any more of them. So, Abdullatif, why should I let you go to Cairo? You'll only get in trouble, spend too much money, and hate me for letting you go. And how are you going to get visas?"
This last question was genuine because he needed to determine whether the hospital had Egyptian visas.
"Mafi muskala, (no problem) Colonel, we put in an application for Egyptians with the new contract. It would be a better way to recruit and cheaper, too."
The puzzle pieces began to fall into place. The Colonel suddenly realized that Abdullatif hadn't devised this visa plan alone. The Colonel guessed that Julian mentioned it to Abdulatif, but its origin must have been the Chairman. But this was all the better for him because now he could threaten not to approve the billings if the Chairman didn't like the idea of his new "secretary."
"I'll think about this for a while, but if I do this, you have to do me a favor."
"Anything, Colonel; Yanni, I do anything for you."
The Colonel's mouth began to form a sly smile, and his eyes twinkled briefly.
"Anything, Abdulatif? We'll see. Anyway, come to see me tomorrow afternoon."
When Abdullatif had gone, the Colonel pulled out the magazine to look once again at the beautiful sight of Aisha. He then put the magazine away, opened another drawer, and pulled out his copy of the hospital contract. He leafed through the first appendix to find the workforce schedule. In black and white, it was under Hospital Administration, "Executive Secretary-Hospital Director - $1,650/month". He was astonished; this plan unfolded before him effortlessly, rolling out better than he could have imagined.
Now he had an urgent phone call to make. He looked through one of his desk drawers and found the number he was looking for: Samir, his Lebanese fixer. Samir was the "go-to" guy for confidential arrangements and illicit activities. The phone rang a few times, and Samir answered. The Colonel exchanged pleasantries for a moment before getting to the point. On the other end of the line, Samir listened attentively, asking a few discrete questions. He told the Colonel that it would be an honor for him to 'facilitate' this arrangement for him and that he would call Cairo immediately; one of his agents would make sure that the woman was, in fact, at the club mentioned in the magazine. Then, for a nominal fee, Samir would verify the income a dancer might expect. Samir thought he could make all the arrangements within the month and could plan his trip to Cairo that afternoon.
For the Colonel, there was the complicated question of money. Samir would need cash in advance to pay for this mission, money for visas, payments to the labor ministry, and perhaps others. The Colonel expected Samir would ask for an over-inflated amount and was not disappointed. They haggled over the number before the Colonel gave in to a slightly higher amount than he had wanted but with the comfort of knowing that Samir would get the job done. Abdullatif would never see the setup.
When they finished their conversation, the Colonel placed another call to Omar, asking him to withdraw some of his 'recreation' funds. Still, he only revealed half of the plan, the part about the secretary, as Omar would have to prepare the paperwork.
The next afternoon, Abdulatif returned to find out if his request had been approved. The Colonel kept him waiting even longer than usual on the pretext that he had a "meeting" with one of the doctors who never showed up. The Colonel enjoyed playing this game with Abdullatif, like a cat with a mouse trapped under its paw. Finally, Abdullatif entered and sat. The Colonel stood up and walked over, closing the door to his office himself. This action signaled that whatever followed was truly important, as the Colonel usually yelled at Bobby to shut the door. In his best conspiratorial manner, he told Abdulatif that he had approved the recruiting trip.
Leaning closer to Abdullatif, the Colonel explained that he had received a call from the Chairman. There would be some applicants for a few positions that Abdulatif should hire without interviews or checks. Abdullatif smiled; he knew the Chairman would ensure no visa problems. The Colonel took out an envelope from his desk and handed it to Abdullatif, containing $5,000 in one-hundred-dollar bills.
"This should take care of your 'extraordinary' expenses. Stay at the Nile Hilton, and ensure you take care of things at the embassy before you leave."
The Colonel wanted to ensure that Abdullatif would stay at a good hotel and be ready to go to the bars and clubs and have a good time. The cash would allow him to do this and not report anything on his expense report when he returned. The money would tempt Abdulatif beyond his limit. One of Samir's men in Cairo would keep an eye on Abdullatif and report back, providing the Colonel with the information he needed to keep Abdulatif in check should he later need to convince him of the importance of confidentiality.
Abdulatif, for his part, couldn't believe his luck. Fortune was surely smiling at him. All he had set out to do was get himself a free trip to Cairo and have a week's vacation minus one or two days to interview a few interpreters. Instead, now he would have $5,000 in his pocket, two weeks of business leave, and reservations at a five-star hotel. The only drawback he could see was that he would have to wait a few weeks to take care of Riyadh's visas and give the recruiter enough time to organize suitable candidates. All in all, it was a good result.