SHIFTING SANDS

A CLASH OF CULTURES

A Novel

WILL KESTER

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

SHIFTING SANDS

A CLASH OF CULTURES

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any

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critical articles and reviews.

Copyright © 2007 by Will Kester

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations,

and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination

or are used fictitiously.

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-41103-0 (pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-85461-5 (ebk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-41103-7 (pbk)

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-10: 0-595-85461-3 (ebk)

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FOREWORD

My name is Bill. I worked and lived in the Middle East during the 1970’s, both

in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, U.A.E. The first men I met upon my arrival were

Salim, a Bedouin truck driver and a very devout Muslim. The other was a nineteen-

year-old Saudi Arab helper, named Saleh (pronounced SAH-lee). He was

doing a two-year internship when I met him. He taught me to speak Arabic and

served me well as an interpreter for two years. I kept in contact with him over the

years and watched his career, sometimes in the news, and on television. He led an

interesting and often tumultuous life.

This is his story.

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CHAPTER ONE

April, 1965; Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

“You will be married to Rana, the daughter of my business partner,” Saleh’s father

informed him.

“But I am only twelve and Rana is only nine years old,” Saleh said.

“Speak of important matters in Arabic,” Saleh’s father said.

“You will be fifteen years old when Rana turns twelve and becomes a woman. You

will be married then.”

This was important news to Saleh.

Allah had chosen parents for Saleh well. He lived in one of the nicer houses in

Al Khobar, near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. His father had moved the family to this

area when Saleh was too young to remember. They were from the southwestern

part of Saudi Arabia but there was little commerce in that area. The development

of the oil reserves by King Faisal had resulted in increased wealth for the people

along the Arabian Gulf border of the country but very little wealth for the inhabitants

of the Western and Southern deserts.

Saleh was glad that they had come to this prosperous area of Saudi Arabia.

The people where they had lived were poor, his mother had told him. His mother

told him many things as he grew and learned. “You are the most handsome boy

in all Saudi Arabia,” she said frequently as she admired how he had grown. “You

are getting tall for your age, taller than the other boys at school, yes?”

By the age of twelve, Saleh was getting noticeably taller and better at soccer

than the other boys. He had felt awkward as he neared manhood at the age of

twelve, when he noticed a girl looking at him occasionally when he was in their

company, which wasn’t often. The girls were not required to cover themselves

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until they became women at the age of twelve. Some of the girls looked at him

like they were interested in knowing him. He didn’t know much about girls,

except what he learned from the boys at school. He had no sisters to teach him

about girls.

Saleh attended one of the best schools for learning English since his father had

been insistent that to make money, one needed to be able to speak the language

of the infidels who, for now, owned the world’s wealth.

Talks of his future were serious business to Saleh’s father, which always made

Saleh a little anxious, and were always in Arabic. English was the most common

language in Saleh’s home, at his father’s insistence, for his sons to learn the language

in which they would make their fortunes in the future. Important matters

were always in Arabic, especially the discussion of his marriage to his bride, when

he was twelve years old. It was serious business—the custom of marrying your

first-born son to a well-chosen bride to guarantee the family’s continued success.

That day, his father had said, “You will be married to Rana, the daughter of my

partner in our business. Allah be pleased.”

“Thank you Father. I am sure that you have made an excellent choice for my

wife but I am only twelve years old and Rana is only nine years old. How can we

be married at our age?”

“Speak our language, the language of Allah when you discuss such important matters,

Saleh.”

“Yes Father.”

“You will not be married until Rana comes of age. You will be fifteen by then. The

arrangements are made in the way of our ancestors to honor Allah’s will. It is done.

You will become a great man in the eyes of Allah with a good wife to care for your

needs and produce quality sons that will honor you and Allah. Allah be praised.”

“Will we live with you?” Saleh asked.

“You will both stay at home until you have established your financial success in the

world. Until then, she will live with her parents and you will live at home and continue

your education. It is the proper way of things.”

“Yes, Father.”

Saleh had great respect for his father’s knowledge of business and family traditions,

and he could not have chosen a better wife. She was the daughter of the

man who had taken his father in as a partner and made Saleh’s family very

wealthy. Rana’s father had also increased his wealth considerably, with Saleh’s

father’s hard work. This wedding would unite their family fortunes for the

future. His father was a wise man.

WILL KESTER 3

Becoming married at the age of twelve was normal, for girls, in Saleh’s world.

Young men often waited until they were more financially established. If their

fathers were very wealthy and made the arrangements for them at a younger age,

it spoke well of the family and the father. Saleh knew that marrying and starting a

family at such a young age was a great privilege that he should appreciate.

Saleh had known Rana all his life. They had played together as children and as

she started to school he saw her occasionally on the school playground. She was

pretty, he knew. He was certain that it was a good arrangement, but Saleh had

secret fears that he would not perform the duties of a husband well and Rana

would be disappointed that her father hadn’t chosen a better husband for her.

June, 1969; Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

The night of their union was very awkward. Saleh and Rana were married in a

traditional three-day wedding ceremony shortly after he turned fifteen years old,

and she turned twelve. The feast and the ceremony lasted all day. As the sun set,

the newly weds were escorted to the bridal room, separately, into the hotel, which

overlooked the open courtyard where the services had been performed.

Rana had only recently taken the veil, or nigab, as was proper for a woman at

the age of twelve. Saleh could see her eyes through the thin cloth of the nigab. In

other Muslim countries, the women were required to cover their head but not

their face. In Saudi, the women covered their entire face—with only a rectangular

hole in the nigab, where there is a thinner cloth insert so the women can see. Up

close, Saleh could see Rana’s eyes, through the cloth, during the ceremony. He

wasn’t sure but Saleh suspected that Rana was as scared as he was. She didn’t let it

show, though, through the ceremonies. “May Allah bless this union and their offspring

for generations. Allah be praised,” The cleric had said at last.

The women had escorted Rana to the hotel room and the men had made

crude remarks to Saleh as he ascended the stairs a few moments later to his first

join his bride.

“I do not wish to disappoint you,” Rana said.

“Allah willing, I do not wish to disappoint you, my wife,” Saleh answered, nervously.

“My mother has explained what it is we are to do but I am with fear that I do not

quite understand it.” Rana admitted, her lips trembling.

“I will teach you. It is a natural thing.” Saleh’s mouth became quite dry as he

helped Rana remove her clothing. He looked deeply into her eyes and studied her

face, now revealed. She was very pretty and her eyes sparkled with drops of moisture

on her lashes. His lust was overcoming his fear just as Rana ran to the toilet

4 SHIFTING SANDS

and stayed there for what seemed like hours. She eventually returned to the bedroom,

wearing a towel to cover her nakedness. She turned back the covering on

the bed and let the towel drop as she jumped into the bed and pulled the sheet up

to her chin.

“I am ready to accept you,” she said.

Saleh removed his thobe and climbed into the bed with much determination

to be considerate as his mother had instructed and instructive as his father had

insisted. “You must teach her how to please you,” his father had said.

Saleh didn’t know what pleased him but he was determined to teach her so the

union would be fruitful and fulfilling for many years to come. He let his hand

run over her naked body and he became very large, so big it was painful. He

shoved into her with such force she cried out. Saleh immediately stopped in fear

that he had hurt her but he remembered what his father had said and shoved it in

again. The fear that he had hurt her caused his stiffness to disappear but Saleh

was determined not to let her know. He pounded his groin against her roughly

and her cries of pain made him thrust harder against her pubic bone. “Allah, I

implore your intervention in my time of need,” he prayed inside, silently. He

became strong again and Saleh thanked Allah for coming to his rescue in his

moment of weakness. When they were finished, Saleh gave his new bride a little

kiss of tenderness and said, “Allah has blessed us.”

“I pray to Allah that I have pleased you,” Rana said through her tears.

Saleh dropped into sleep, quite pleased that he had become a man in the eyes

of Allah and his father. Early the next morning, while he slept, his bride slipped

out of the conjugal bed and donned her clothing before allowing the women to

enter the room. Saleh awoke to the women pulling the sheet from under him.

Saleh understood, but not immediately. It was customary to wave the blood

stained sheet from the window to confirm the bride’s virginity to the crowds

waiting below. In the early morning light, the crowd that had feasted through the

night in anticipation of this moment cheered loudly and the women made the

shrill “lahlahlahlah,” as was their custom.

Saleh looked forward to many nights of pleasure with Rana but it wasn’t to be.