Magical Dubai. Liya Shadat

      It was the time of the Hajj. One day Leila brought a man home, they were talking in Russian. Nazakat was wary. The Russian-speaking «clientele» was usually rude and ridiculed Leylin’s tricks. This one was calm. As it turned out, neither massage nor sex were necessary for him. He shared a room with his aunt. They had come for shopping, that’s how he explained to Leila. The constant fuss of his aunt with junk, did not allow him to sleep normally. In 2 days they were going to Saudi Arabia to make a pilgrimage. Therefore, he needs to gain strength. Hajj is not an easy matter.

      He paid for the night and as soon as he touched the pillow, he began to snore carelessly. Nazakat realized that nothing like this was expected, so she slowly crawled out of her hole and seeing that Leila was not in the room, also cautiously went outside. The night was stuffy, as usual in Dubai. There were no stars in the sky at all. She slowly wandered towards the store where she and Layla were trading. Opening the door with her key, she went into a small nook, unfolded the mattress that stood in the corner, lay down on it, groaned and fell asleep in a serene sleep. She was awakened by the voice of unfamiliar men speaking Arabic. They turned out to be police officers brought by the owner of the store. It turned out that Leila had not paid rent for him for several months. And now the guards were sorting out what was going on.

      However, the procedure did not take much time. Leila, who was standing with sleepy eyes and sluggishly reacting to the arguments of the owner, calmly signed some papers, and began to get ready for the police station. Nazakyat, shaking with fear, did not move. At that time, Leila loudly in Azerbaijani, told her not to go out. But one of the policemen was alerted when he heard someone else’s speech and began to walk around the shop, where he naturally discovered that when he saw an elderly woman sitting in the fetal position on a mattress in the corner, he ordered her in English to get up and follow him. She obeyed. That’s how they ended up at the police station together with Leila. Another shock awaited Nazakat here. Packed to bursting with women of different nationalities and skin color, it resembled an anthill. Multilingual speech was heard, it stank disgusting.

      The polystation was windowless, the air seemed stale with sweat and the devil knows what else. All the recumbent seats were occupied. Dirty mattresses were lying on the floor, on them, who slept, who sat and combed out lice (mostly they were immigrants from Bangladesh and India). African women were heavily smeared with some bleaching agents, specifically stinking. From all this, Nazakat felt dizzy and he sank to the floor, squatting down. Leila went to look for empty seats. After a while, she called out to Nazakat and began waving her hand. She barely got up and slowly began to move, holding on to the wall with her hands. The room Leila found was next to the toilet. There were 6 women sleeping on bunks and one lying on a mattress on the floor. She invited Leila and Nazakyat. Her name was Rumiya. She was originally from Kyrgyzstan.

      Calm, taciturn, spent most of the night in prayer, I slept during the day, covering my eyes with a blindfold and plugging my ears. Leila and Nazakyat shared the same mattress. I rested in turn. When asked what awaits them, Leila just shrugged her shoulders and said:

      – Allah alone knows what they will come up with. I think they won’t give you more than 3—4 months.

      – oh, it’s bad! – Nazakyat wailed, – I can’t stand this hell!

      – You can handle it. She was lying under the bed. And here it’s even better, the ceiling is visible. Chat with Rumia. You know the Koran as well as she does. It’s time to atone for sins,» Leila joked.

      So they sat for about 2 months. They weren’t called anywhere. The police shrugged their shoulders at their questions, saying we don’t know.. hygiene items were not issued here. Everything had to be bought by ourselves.

      The toilet, located half a meter from their room, stank unbearably and loud noises from the outgoing gases, the effects of drinking Pepsi-Cola and dry food consumed by the prisoners were heard every now and then.

      The neighbors in the cell turned out to be 2 African women. When asked why they were imprisoned, they flashed the whites of their eyes menacingly and answered threateningly: «Not your fucking business». Although Nazakat did not understand English well, she understood this one. She was sent far away. With the rest, they were natives of India. They were constantly sitting on their bunks and cleaning each other’s heads like Indian banderlogs. And they also say that humans did not descend from monkeys.

      Rumia complained.

      «These Arabs are heartless. Almost without understanding, they grab and go to prison. For example, I didn’t steal any money. I just wanted to take 40 dirhams from the urn placed at the mosque for alms. To buy food and water. And they attacked me with shouts: «Harami! (the thief)». Without understanding, they dragged me here. And I’m not a thief at all. I’m a victim. I was robbed of $3,000.

      – What are you? – Nazakyat was surprised.

      – yes. My nephew and I were going to go to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. We flew from Bishkek here to Dubai to buy something and then fly to Saudi Arabia. I had $3,000 with me. For round-trip tickets and hotel accommodation. I went to see the goods at the bazaar, and left the money to my nephew. I came back, he was gone, I went to bed. I woke up in the morning, waiting for him. I had to fly out in the evening. He came back late. He ’s kind of nervous. I ask what ’s the matter. He says he lost money. And he doesn ’t raise his eyes.

      I was speechless from shock, it was our last money. Hajj disappeared and we couldn ’t fly home either. There was no money for tickets. I ask where? He says he doesn ’t remember contacting the police. They told us there that they could not help us in any way. 2 bottoms wandered around Dubai hungry. There are mosques at every step here. There are urns everywhere, people come up and put sadaqa (alms). A lot of money. After the prayer, I saw some men coming up and taking money from them. I thought that every Muslim in need can come up and take a little bit.

      But as soon as I took out 2 bills, Arabs in white clothes jumped out of nowhere, grabbed me and started yelling «Harami, harami!». I was scared. I wanted to escape. They wouldn’t let me and dragged me here. Well, I sang to call my nephew, tell him where I am. He is poor, also without money. I got a job with the Pakistanis in a supermarket, as a loader. But they don’t pay him any money. They just feed you and give you a place to sleep. I came once and brought food. But he was told that you can only bring things and money. He promised that he would collect something and come back next time. And he came. Nazakyat will remember that day for the rest of his life. She was still asleep when a terrified Layla jumped up to her place and began to slow her down.

      «It’s him, it’s him,» she babbled. «Who would have thought it,» she persisted.

      – Who? Nazakyat asked, half asleep.

      – the guy we stole 3 pieces from. Tourist.

      – what tourist? – Nazakyat did not understand.

      – Yes, who did not want to spend the night with his aunt in the same room.

      Nazakyat gradually began to remember. Indeed, there was one. He spoke Russian. Stayed the night. Was it really Leila who pulled out the money from him, as it turned out, the last one was not his? Nazakyat blushed to the tips of her gray hair. If earlier their «fishing» with Leila caused her genuine laughter and interest, now she was ready to sink through the ground.