The window cleaner

    Chapter one. The incessant civil wars had left the streets of Sharja with a gloomy aura. Commuters could feel the weakening ambience that eloped the town and it's Hamlet's. What had once been an envy of the Persian gulf, ladened with skyscrapers that basked in Crystal lusters was now reduced to a rickety metropolis, filled with debris , torn clothing and lots of dust, which were once peoples  beautiful houses,  blown into millions of fregments by the rivals missiles . The dusty nature of the environment was on it's own a cause of great discomfort for many people, but what had generally made Sharja to cement it's status as a ghost town was the mass Exodus which had been stimulated mainly from the fear of re occuring attacks by the rivals. Sharja was believed to be an archiles hill of the Great Gulf. Another reason for the Exodus was the decay of law and other in the state , as the government was down on resources to rebuild it's infrastructure and also pay it's civil servants. It was no sooner than later that country men began to turn against one another in a struggle to own highly scarce resources which , mainly were food and medical supplies. The Persian Dinar was at it's all time low and it didn't matter how much one had in the bank or pockets, what counted, was the value which ones strength and brute prowess could get him or her . A Jungle, was just the perfect term to coin the new state of Sharja. Yet some miles away from Sharja was the City of Salda_kalif. Which bore a total contrast to the looks of Sharja. Unlike Sharja which had come under attacks from missiles of scary proportion , Salda-Kalif was surprisingly at peace for a sole reason that General Zaylan, the leader of the rival country , had schooled there and made his money on the streets doing one dirty job to the other . He had fond memories of the city and had sworn no harm would come to it. "Of what good was a hand that bit the finger that fed it ", he will always say, when his allies had asked _ to what the small City owed his mercy. It was the peace and calm of Salda_kalif that had attracted many migrants majorly from across the gulf to come and settle down in the city , thus business was booming and happiness was at its peak . However the influx of migrants and wayfarers into the Safe Haven , had drastically brought down the wage rate and the rich capitalist took advantage of workers, sparing them only peanuts as wages . Even at that , there was still a high number of unemployed people as enjoyment was much for the rich and wealthy ,so was sadness for the poor and miserly. Among the migrants was who had fled their countries in search of greener pastures was a young young man named Siin Sebanyi. his mother was a Belgian who had travelled to Congo as an aid worker ,where she met and fell in love with Siins father's who was a local African chief. Ultimately Siin was the fruit of their union which was cut short at child birth as his mom died giving birth to him. This single act had made him a figure of hate, not only from his father but from all the villagers who had cherished and loved his mother so much . One would have expected that the love and fellowship his mother had enjoyed from the villagers would have trickled down to him, but nay . A child whose mother died while giving birth to it was seen as bad luck in the communities and heavily stigmatised. His skin color made him a Target to racism as he was of two racial mix which was African and European. However he had grown to be a fine tall man with a towering physique that made him hated by all the villagers except the young girls who had attained puberty and the house wives who had obviously lost their home training. When the civil war broke out in Congo the whole town was deserted and Siin was lucky enough to sneak into an Arab missionary ship that had brought aid to sufferers. At twenty four, he could bearly afford new shoes, cause his risky job as a window cleaner had a meager pay. Yet far from the need to afford his daily bread. It was the Luminous smile of the young lady on the 7th floor of the building that stood adjacent to his workstation, that motivated him to resume at work every single day. His course of duty was to clean the crystal glasses of the skyskrapers starting from the first floor up to the 21nd floor with the help of a conveying belt strapped firmly to his body. Working his way to the top was no child's play as the scorching gulf sun was quick to rise and it made the crystal glasses very hot to touch. Yet the absence of jobs would have made Siin, bath in burning coal as long as it provided him with a means of affording food and shelter even with an addition of nothing. While approaching the 7th floor , his heart would always bask in euphoria ,as he anticipated the presence of the pretty stranger who stood standing behind the translucent glass of the building that stood adjacent to his . She bore a constant smile and would slowly wave at Siin in return to his energetic waves that was always accompanied with his wide grin and tired smile. The distance between the two building was quite lengthy but enough for both parties to clearly make out the faces of each other . Rounding the course of cleaning was not an easy day job, as most times it took a whole day to do so. While Working down from the last floors windows towards the ground floor, not for once had Siin ever been lucky to see his stranger friend as it was always evening by then and he concluded she had closed for the day and gone home . Chapter two The progression of days had seen many months pass by, and the feeling of friendship had grew into something deeper. The smile on her face had been Siins motivation to arrive at work each day, his motivation to eat and his motivation to sleep. It had been his dosage of daily energy and the thoughts of having her as a companion was what brought spice to his otherwise , tasteless life. Yet all this for a lady he had never met in person . The desire to meet her, grew deeper by the dawn of each day and one day he decided it was time to take a days off from his tiring work, as not for once had he been given an option to rest in his six month of work . The job agreement was clearly stated as seven days a week. " Please sir, I want take a rest tomorrow . There is something very urgent, i would like to attend to " Siin said with little confidence as the ordeal of his childhood had greatly diminished his self-confidence till it made him stutter out of shear fear of getting rejected anytime he wanted something. " A new job offer huh ? " The Sheikh had said as he puffed a minted shisha that flavoured the highly furnished office. "No sir , just feeling sick in the stomach. I will like to see a doctor. " Siin sturtered as he gently rubbed his belly , enshrined under his worn out shirt that would have ripped open if he had rubbed it for a second more. " You know the contract rule. No off days " said the Sheikh as he threw a juicy datefruit into his mouth ,exposing his tobacco stained teeth. "Please sir, I'm really sick and have been working for for more than six months without a days off. " Said Siin. Feigning a sick face. " You look as strong as my pet lion. But go anyway , just know that a days off is a twenty five percent cut of your weekly wage . " Said the Kaliph as he returned his attention to the magazine he was reading. At that point it had dawned On Siin that his actions had not been well calculated and his tight wages were now further put to a constraint, yet he knew that sacrifices were inevitable in the quest for happiness and thanked the Kaliph in acceptance for his supposed generous offer. That night , Siin got hold of his best clothing which was a traditional white garment called a kaftan, that extended a little below his knee by defunct. It was given to him by one of the Arabian engineers who who he had met on the rooftop . The lower left side of the kaftan had a signatory stitching by it's side which was the reason why he got the kaftan in the first place. The engineer had been expecting the progress of a building site when a sharp object had yanked off the side of his kaftan . Siin, who had been working as a labourer on the site, had ran towards him to help discontinue his garment from the grip of the entangled metal object. As a sign of gratitude the engineer took off the kaftan and gave it to Siin but not until another one was brought from his house by one of his servants. The musk flavoured perfumed was still very much active as it went further to boost the confidence of Siin for the uninvited date at hand , even though the kaftan was smaller than him ,he took great delight in wearing it as it was costly to purchase and it hid the various stitches on the rear of his overly worn out black_ turned grey trousers .indeed times were hard but Siin was bent on making a great first time impression so he felt buying a rose flower would be a great idea as he had seen the Europeans do in movies or perhaps it was just the European gene in him setting out_ he thought aloud, as he carefully ironed his kaftan and trouser with a coal pressing iron. He could not afford to pay for the cost electricity bill. It was a luxury he couldn't think to afford at this stage of his earnings. As soon as he was done . He headed straight for the night shop and bought a single bulb of flower to commumerate the big day at hand . For Siin, the morning was slow to come as he could hardly sleep, all in anticipation of how the stranger behind the glasses would welcome him . Even the translucent nature of the glasses had totally fallen short in hiding her beauty as her whole being radiated clearly enough for him to be charmed by the beauty of her smile and the glitter of her youthfulness. Her fair Arabian skin was unlike any other skin which Siin had ever Siin in his life. His whole being had longed to transform this visual gesture into physical proximity and after holding in for six months, it was time to make it happen. Chapter 3. The morning rooster had bearly crowed when Siin sprang out of bed . He didn't want to be late, then he fathomed that it was way to early and the moments of 10am would be a perfect timing to lay seige towards the castle that held his queen charming. A few hours wait felt to him like a lifetime till eventually , it was time to put on his neatly ironed kaftan , and wore his trouser which brandished its razor sharp Gators earned from overly deligent ironing. He headed for the sky scrapper holding the bulb of the crimson red rose by the side of his kaftan to avoid unnecessary attentions from female admirers which was already getting him tensed as it never occurred once to him that anyone could find him attractive. He had always hinged on the aspect that people hated him for killing his mother at childbirth, thus his heart was quick to fall when this fair lady was always at hand to smile and wave at him. Upon reaching the Seventh floor of the tower. Exactly the floor where the lady had always stood to wave at him. He took a deep breath , spat on his Palm and used the moisture to further soften his curly afro, which he had already combed for more than an hour , while waiting at home. He hurried into the building and it was then it had dawned on him that he knew not her name. His gaze quickly browsed across the edges of the hall but not until he had looked to the exact spot where she had always stood without finding her. Then all of a sudden he realized that all the staffs in the hall were males as not a single lady was in sight. "I couldn't be mistaken , this is the seventh floor . I have spent months counting the floors" he sturtered lightly to himself. He quickly hurried to the secretary a frail looking man in his late forties, and began to make inquiries. " Good morning sir, I'm I on the seventh floor please?" He asked with an absence of confidence. "Yes sir , this is indeed the seventh store of the great Al Mambra towers. How can I be of help to you sir" the secretary had said in a respect laden tone that made Siin turn back to confirm if someone of high excellence was at his back or it was really him who the secretary was addressing. " Yes sir, I am looking for a young lady who works here. I don't really know her name sir , but I'm sure she works on this floor" said Siin after affirming the words of respect had been directed at him. " Well sir, there won't be any need for her name as not a single female staff works here, and no female customers have been here for a month or so. The tobacco industry is no place for an Arabian lady . " Said the Secretary with a smile on his face. " But I saw her yesterday standing just beside that maroon vase over there. I have seen her every single day for the past six months and we wave at each other all day " said Siin in a confused tone, as he tryied to decipher the facial reaction of the secretary, to see if he was cracking jokes at him , but soon he found out that the secretary was as serious as an avalanche and it was time to describe her to him. " Sir she always wears a white garment with a black scaff. Oval face and crimson lips . She wears... " "Spectacles ? " Said the secretary as his rose almost in a bedazzling slow motion. His eyes were widened in shock. " Siir...Sir , your description perfectly meets the specs of Lady kaltumi " said the secretary as beads of sweats began to form on his Head. " Exactly sir. Please where can I find her?" Said Siin in a rush of calming adrenaline not minding what her name was. " Please Come with me sir" Said the Secretary as he walked quickly towards a staircase that led to another office. " How dumb can I get. I couldn't even pin point the exact floor" said Siin in a tone only audible to himself. He quickly followed the secretary who quickly led the way. Upon entering where looked like a*****e to Siin, as it was filled with different junks of various sizes. The secretary drew a open a drawer and brought out a colored picture. Handing it over to Siin, rather slowly than skeptical. He then quickly asked . " Is this the person you claim to have been seeing ?" " Yes sir, she's the one " Said Siin who didn't need more than a second to recognize the picture as the lady who behind the glass.. " Where is she sir? " Said Siin in an air of relief. Owing to the fact that the secretary now knew the lady he was looking for. The secretary stood, eyes wide open , looking shocked as the sweaty beads on his forehead had formed streams that freely flowed across his face. " Sir, is there a problem. Is she absent from work today " Siin asked , as he began to feel disturbed by the palpitations of the secretary. " Young sir , the lady in the picture is Lady Kaltumi, the only child and heir of late General Tani Huzain the owner of this tower and a few more across the metropolis , his family members have since taken over his properties." Said the Secretary in a sober tone " You mean Kaltumi is now across the metropolis, where exactly sir ?" Siin asked , now getting frustrated with his luck . "No , young sir , i mean to say Lady Kaltumi is now across the realm of the living. Her lifeless body was found seven years ago on the seventh floor of this building just beside the maroon vase you had pointed to." Said the Secretary as his eyes moistened in tears. One could tell he had known and cherished Kaltumi when she was alive. " What! " Siin exclaimed in shock as his body began to shiver in fear . A new fever that had sprouted from the trio of heartbreak , shock and fear had suddenly besieged him and he soon found himself trying to get back to his feet again. " Oh no sir, are you okay ,?" Said the secretary as he rushed to help Siin up to his feet. " It's not possible sir, ghost aren't real" Siin said as he burst into an emotional sob emanating not from fear, but from self pity. Once again life had played an expensive joke on him. Of all the impossibilities_ he had ended up falling in love with a ghost. "Many people believe she had committed suicide because her dad was upon concluding arrangements to marry her off to General Zaylan of the Kuwait Emirates. The Same man famous for bringing Sharjah to ruins. However a few of us believed that she may have been killed for backing out of the conclusion of a secret meeting which hosted the top figures of the Arab gulf . Her father was said to be the chief host of a fraternity meeting. Many people believe Kaltumi had opposed the incessant spree of bloodshed across the oil rich Arab gulf, engineered by the fraternity to enrich it's members, who were mostly the top army chiefs , wealthy billonaires and greedy leaders. It was rumoured that she stormed out of the meeting threatening to expose them should they not back out from their evil conclusions. Sadly not even her father's plea was enough for her life to be spared. It was a case of grooming gone wrong . He soon died of heartbreak having to live with the pain of knowing his only daughter was killed by his socalled brother hood just to stop anyone from knowing their dirty secrets" Said the Secretary , breaking down to sob lightly as he narrated the occurrences to Siin " Oh poor Kaltumi, what a sweethearted child she was. She was bearly 19 when they killed her . They killed her , the monsters " said the secretary in a stern tone , as he wiped his eyes with the side of his wrist. Siin look dumbfounded, amidst his disquitude, it was crystal clear that he had been seeing a ghost all this while "but why me?" He kept on asking himself as he slowly stood up and dragged his pace out of the towe but not after having a detailed talk with the Secretaryr. There was more that met the eye and he was bent to find out .