To the ballet at the weekend; Jonathan has sourced tickets for ‘The Red Shoes’ by the Birmingham Repertory company at Sadler’s Wells, where they are allocated a box.

‘The ballet includes a pastiche of Frederick Ashton’s Dante Sonata, as well as a beach ballet.  The character of Vicky has reflections of Margot Fonteyn,’ according to the theatre programme.  Firoze is spellbound by the colourful costumes, the red ballet shoes and the sumptuous chorus line of the show.  ‘I love music, movement and elegance, but I can’t understand how female dancers can show every detail of their anatomy in that way, because in my country it would be outrageous.’

‘It’s a Russian, Western culture’ says Jonathan.  ‘And a woman’s body is not something to be hidden under folds and folds of material, for how could she dance expressively in that case?’ he asks.  ‘And anyway, the Royal Ballet has a Muslim dancer who performs in an abaya – a black gown -with no obvious problems.’

To the Lyceum to see ‘The Lion King’.  ‘The colourful musical is set against the Serengeti Plains and to the rooted rhythms of Africa.  At its heart is the powerful and moving story of Simba, the thrilling adventure of his journey from innocent cub to his fated role as king of the pride lands,’ Jonathan tells Firoze, rather repeating the programme notes.

‘But why should black people dressed up as lions be a subject for entertainment?’ she asks, sitting in ‘the gods’, the Upper Circle that is, because those were the only seats available. 

‘The story line is a bit vague but the action and music are astounding,’ Firoze comments.

‘I don’t see it like that.  It’s a normal, western convention known as anthropomorphism to use animals as a vehicle to express deep, human emotions.  It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.’

‘Well, I’ve a lot to learn about European culture.’

And so to bed...

‘Jonathan, Wake up!  Wake up!’

‘Whaaor...?’ 

‘It’s five o’clock.  Time to get ready for Heathrow,’

‘Oh. Do I really have to go?’ he pleads.

‘Yes, we need the final bonus payment for the deposit on the house.’

Jonathan stirs and grunts ‘Yes. Okay.’

Six

More shopping in Portobello Road, as Jonathan has returned to the Gulf for two more months, and Firoze needs to concentrate on making the flat a home from home for when he returns.

She only looks for odds and ends and finds a hair dryer, two kitchen chopping boards, some table napkins and pillow cases, a new internet router, some more cotton towels, and a Pakistani antique, hand carved, patterned coffee table.

Firze carries on with her studies reading Hemingway ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ in which an American allied with the Republicans in Spain finds romance during a mission to blow up an important bridge and Steinbeck’s ‘Cannery Row’ that is inter alia a kind of discursion on the future marine and biological environment of that part of Monterey, California.  After some dogged hours of reading, and incidentally missing Jonathan, she phones Gila.

‘Hi Gila, Khonum, how’re you?’

‘Bad nistam, thanks; and you sweetheart?’

‘Well, my boyfriend has gone back to the Gulf for two months and after that we’ll be living in this flat permanently.’

‘That’s nice.  My hubby is due to go to Dubai in the summer, so I’ll be joining him soon after that.’

‘Let’s meet at my flat here in Portobello and do some shopping together in the markets’, suggests Firoze.

They chat and exchange gossip about the Iranian community and console each other about the terrible earthquake in Iraq and Iran near the Iran / Iraq border.

‘Firoze, Did you hear about how Mr Jerobchi made his fortune?‘ asks Gila.  

‘No, how was that?’

‘Well, he bought a consignment of shoes in the UK and sent them in containers to Dubai.’

‘So what?’

‘Well, what he did was, he divided up the pairs of shoes into left foot shoes and right foot shoes and sent them in two different containers to the Gulf port.’

‘What happened next?’

‘He sent his workers to Dubai where they told the authorities that they were all wrong.  Only lefts or rights, no pairs.  So the head of the customs told them to gather them all up and take them away, without having to pay any import duty.  They then sent the consignment to Iran where they paired up all the shoes and sold all of them at a good profit.’

‘That’s an amusing story’ says Firoze chuckling and thinking if she could pull off something similar.

‘So, let’s go out shopping and forget our worries,’ says Firoze hiding the emotions she is feeling missing Jonathan’s company.

Gila selects a Spanish, handcrafted, terracotta, tapas serving dish on legs, with intricate oriental lily and orchid patterning, and chooses another supply of her favourite Chanel perfume, number nine.

Firoze is more cautious, choosing a calendar to mark out Jonathan’s return, some kitchen knives and forks, and a set of coffee cups.  She also bought some offal to cook for herself not feeling very adventurous about her cooking.

A message from Jonathan comes on Firoze’s smart phone that we can share:

           To: Firozesasif@hotmail.com

           From::JonathanEver@hotmail.co.uk

           Date: 05 May 2019.

           Subject:  Bahrain

Hi Firoze,

The work is going well in Bahrain.  It’s exam time now and I spend most of the days invigilating examinations in the main hall of the university.  By the time I get home on the bus I’m pretty tired, so it’s early to bed.

So sorry to hear about the earthquake in Iraq and hope none of your people are affected.

I’m still saving hard for our future and don’t go out much at all, except a bit of sightseeing.  The sand kites on the beach and the Jet Ski riders are amusing to watch in the waters at Al Dar Islands.  It’s not really a water sports venue, but it actually has some of the best beaches in Bahrain.

I miss you so much, sweetheart, and am counting the days (55) until my return.

All my love

Jonathan

On 5 May 2019, Firoze replies that she’s glad all is going well.

She asks Jonathan: ‘Please could you comment on my ideas around authors that I’m studying?’

‘I have discovered an overarching theme of a kind of search in all my three authors.  There is a continuous, yet fragile, sense of a search for hyper masculinity in Hemingway; a search for biological and marine situations in Steinbeck’s environment in Monterey, California and real sense of search for his lost youth by J D Salinger.’

‘There is a strange dichotomy in Hemingway between overt efforts at masculinity and biographically recorded tendency to gender uncertainty evidenced by his wearing of dresses until age of four.  Such striving for masculinist certainty throws doubt upon definition of his real gender.’

‘I’ve been reading Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s ‘Epistemology of the Closet.’  She claims there is set of social relations between men, which, because they are hierarchical, culminate in domination of women.’

‘Steinbeck turned his world into fascinating study of the hobos, the people, and workers in the canneries as real believable characters.’

‘Holden Caulfield is an egocentric, narcissistic nerd who might appeal to a generation of school kids, but who leaves me feeling more grown up than I thought I was.’

***

Jonathan soon replies, telling Firoze to revise her writing where necessary and claims that her understanding of English definite and indefinite articles is poor.

‘You need to tease out the differences in meaning between ‘homosocial’ and ‘homosexual’, Jonathan says.  ‘Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick suggests that ‘homosocial’ is a neologism, or a coining of new words, sometimes employed in history and the social sciences.  It is obviously an analogy with ‘homosexual’ and just as obviously meant to be distinguished in meaning, therefore, from ‘homosexual’ and, you can quote Kosofsky Sedgwick here where she claims it  – ‘’prejudges the question of the cause of homophobia.’’ 

‘The term ‘homosociality’ can be used as an analogy between the groups of men who adhere through association together and through a community of congruent ideas and between writers like Stevenson, Haggard, Kipling and Lloyd Osbourne who bonded together in a shared relationship exclusive of others.  The term ‘homosocial’ can be usefully applied to extend to writers who paired together in relationships to produce fiction in the late-Victorian period.’

‘Hope this helps’ he concluded and stressed to Firoze the need in her exams to keep strictly to the timing of each question on the exam paper and not to be deluded into thinking that because questions had been spotted before that they would necessarily come up again in her exam.  I always remember, he recounted how Stella, my fellow student in college, did all her spotting for the exams and, when the ones that she had prepared didn’t come up, she fainted on looking at the paper.

​

‘I’ve been trying sub aqua diving since I’m here with the B S A C club’ he says.  ‘I tried the inshore diving in Bahrain but it is poor, due to the extensive marine engineering that is now happening. The dredgers are very active and a result of this is the movement and currents in the water which make the visibility poor.’ ‘Oh isn’t that a bit dangerous’, asks Firoze suddenly alarmed. ‘Not really, I was trained to turn my air bottle to full and then turn it off a quarter of a turn.  Well, I go down for the first time without a buddy and at 15 metres I run almost completely out of air. I approach one of the other divers and execute the slashing arm across throat movement that indicates that the diver is out of air, but he panics and doesn’t do buddy breathing – which is sharing the air tube in turns.  So, looking up seeing the mountain of water above me I start to swim for the surface.’ ‘Oh my God!’ screams Firoze. ‘At 10 metres I pause, as I was trained, and wait a few moments to prevent the build up of oxygen bubbles in the blood which can ultimately give you a condition called ‘the bends’ which can be fatal.  You have to be careful not to rise to the surface too suddenly or there may be serious consequences.’ ‘What happened next?’ ‘At five metres depth, I pause again and take another rest for fear of the bends.’ ‘So I get to the surface and take an almighty breath of fresh air – so – aaaaah.’ ‘But, Jonathan...’ ‘Don’t worry, I immediately returned down to join the others to compensate for the possible fear of doing it again in the future.’ ‘Oh Jonathan, you shouldn’t have’ she says.- He replies, ‘Oh no, I was fine.’ ‘The instructors told me after that, instead of turning it off a quarter of a turn, I nearly turned it off completely and there was hardly enough oxygen to breathe. Silly me.’ ‘Oh Jonathan. I do hope you are safe and well.’ ‘Sure, and I’ll be home on 27 June for my birthday and I’ll tell you all about it then. ‘Take care, sweetheart.’ ‘Love you.’ ‘Bye’ ‘Bye darling.’

                                                                                             ***

Nervously and with trepidation, Firoze enters the exam hall in South Bank university, but she feels well prepared for the modern literature paper. Turning over her question paper on the invigilator’s command, she reads: ‘Discuss two or more scenes in ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ which show the importance of the individual. Discuss two or more scenes which show the importance of the goals for which the Loyalists are striving to reach.’ In ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ narrative chapters are interspersed with intercalary chapters of general comment or informative content.  Analyse why John Steinbeck uses this approach to novel writing.’ In ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, the major themes reflect the values and motivations of the characters. Do you agree with this assessment?’ Firoze spend five minutes planning her answers and starts with Question Three: ‘As the title indicates, the dominating theme of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is the protection of innocence, especially of children.  For most of the novel, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, regards this as a primary virtue.  It is closely related to his struggle against maturation’, she writes. 

‘Holden's pet hate is the adult world and the hypocrisy and cruelty that it contains. The people he admires all represent or protect innocence, reflecting, I believe, the values and motivations of his character’, she explains.  She continues boldly: ‘Holden wishes to protect children where he acts as a safeguard against any children who are hidden by the field of rye and might wander over the cliff into danger; and so he is there as a ‘Catcher’ to save them from falling.’ ‘He sees much of life as a conflict between the real and the inauthentic, which is directly related to his attitude toward children.’ ‘When Holden witnesses a six year old child walking down the street singing, "If a body catch a body coming through the rye," he is energised because of the originality of the scene.’ She carries on in full flow: ‘Again, I believe that this scene reflects the values and motivations of the characters particularly about the protection of the sense of the wonder and excitement of childhood.’ Firoze continues confidently with the other questions and assures her that she has done well in this paper. Firoze is happy with the prospect of a good result. 

She phones Gila. ‘Salaam, Gila Khonum’, she greets her. ‘How’re you, Firoze?’ ‘Well my exams have finished and I think I have done well.’ ‘Let’s go out for a meal then.  We could meet at Peter Jones, Chelsea, in the restaurant on the top floor.’ Firoze tidies up and potters a little in the flat, arranging some flowers, anticipating Jonathan’s return on the twenty-seventh, and looks forward to meeting Gila in town. ‘Did I tell you about my translation of a domestic abuse case?’ asks Gila at the King’s Road store.  The defendant, the Iranian husband, was beating the Iranian wife unmercifully.  Eventually, she escaped the violence, taking her two children back to Iran.  The husband attempted to find the kids but was unable to do so because the in-laws had hidden them away in Shiraz, in the centre of Iran. ‘Wow.’ ‘On her return to Britain, she avoided him at all costs and brought a case of domestic violence against him.  At the court the judge sided with the Iranian woman, as is usual in such cases, for the sake of the children and her family.’

‘That’s good.’ ‘Then there was the issue of custody and visitation rights.’ ‘Of course, the children were terrified of him and didn’t want to go with him, and the mum refused and wouldn’t give him parental access.’ ‘However, it went back to court again where I translated and the judge awarded fortnightly visits to the dad.  However, I was not sure whether she was really going to let him see the kids, still.’ ’Quite a difficult case to have to translate, Gila.’ ‘Yes, you get harrowing and difficult jobs like that sometimes’ she adds. ‘Usually I do asylum seekers for the Home Office.  They can be quite emotional affairs as well, because the threat of being returned to countries likes Afghanistan to face torture is potent and dangerous.’ ‘Is that so?’ ‘I mean a lot of asylum seekers are detained almost indefinitely for as much as 180 days.  In some cases they are detained in Brook House, Yarl’s Wood and other detention centres that seem like high security prisons.’ ‘I know’ says Firoze’.  ‘I was at Brook House for nearly three months. ‘Yes, Britain is the only country in the EU that holds detainees for limitless periods and I think it should be restricted to a maximum of 28 days,’ proposes Gila. ‘But what can be done to reduce the amount of time that people are held in these semi-prisons?’ asks Firoze.

‘If I had my way, thousands of people being held would have their cases reviewed summarily this year, before being released or sent back to their original country within 28 days.’ ‘Yes, but what about the cases where it would be dangerous to return them to their country of origin in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo where, women especially, are exposed to rape and sexual violence?’ Firoze asks. ‘Yes, the need would be to improve conditions in the home country and this is where the Department for Overseas Development can help with issues in those countries including poverty and disease, insecurity, conflict and mass migration’ she argues. ‘The refugees are taking dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean to reach countries of the European Union. Migrants and asylum seekers have been crossing the Mediterranean for ages’ she adds ‘and the numbers have varied over the years.’ Jonathan joins the argument on Whatsapp: ‘Some countries have already asked the UN Security Council to help them draft a resolution allowing the navies of EU states to intercept illegal rubber dinghies and inflatables in the Mediterranean carrying migrants who are transported to Europe illegally.’

​

Jonathan is very passionate about it, adding that ‘immigrants to this country - the haven of security for those fleeing persecution, torture and abuse in their own countries - is desperate.’ ‘What form of cruelty can it be when an immigrant has to wait more than eleven years to have their status recognised and to be able to be reunited with their family?’ he asks over the phone. ‘What type of cruelty is it when an immigrant being forced to board a plane to face torture in their own country has his head pushed down on to his thighs and is suffocated to death?’ ‘What kind of heartless anti-social behaviour does it appear when a stateless cockle picker in Morecombe Bay, Lancashire loses her life at the hands of bully boy gang leaders?’ Jonathan cries on his smart phone. Gila says she agrees with this and says ‘the situation for migrants in the UK is not accounted for properly.  Immigrants’, she says, ‘add to the gross domestic output of the UK to the extent of GBP 3 billion per year. The Health Service benefits enormously from immigrants and couldn’t function without its staff of nurses, doctors, administrators and cleaners.’ Jonathan says he will send his written thoughts by email.  He quickly mails that: ‘Now that the prime minister has set up a ‘hostile environment working group’ to make it extremely difficult for asylum seekers and others to obtain their rightful benefits and services, the position of migrants to this country has become intolerable. 

​

 ‘Medical Justice, a charity set up to combat the abuses against pregnant asylum seekers, has revealed the dreadful treatment of asylum seekers, which has caused stillbirths, miscarriages and acute mental health problems.’

 ‘The treatment of gay activists from a number of repressive Middle-East countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, is worrying, especially from a post-modern, secularist, pro-gay fringe in parliament’ the email continues.

 ‘Some seekers of asylum here - where they believed they would be given refuge for their religious, mainly Christian, convictions - have been turned back to face an uncertain future at home’ he adds.

 ‘Others, who have experienced political oppression for the flimsiest of democratic protest in the first country, have been rejected by the second and subsequent countries they have tried to find help from.’

 ‘I agree with Sarah Teather, the ex - minister for families who has said that she would like to hear ‘’alternative voices’’ on immigration. We need to hear,’ writes Jonathan, ‘the voices of leftists, democrats, liberals and truth seekers who will oppose the rhetoric around ‘floods’ of immigrants and ‘torrents’ of asylum seekers to follow the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard.’  Firanges joins the party as arranged, looking smart and coiffured, as usual, and grabs a coffee and an apple strudel.  She quickly adds to the discussion on migrants contending that: ‘Foreign students bring much needed financial input into the economy and collaborate with fellow students, neighbours and co-workers adding to the social strength of the UK.’

​

While Firanges supported tough immigration controls, she adds that ‘members of the public did not look at students as immigrants and having foreign students in the UK brings considerable benefits.’

‘In the last year, most international students have been leaving the UK once their visas have expired, but the figures have been highly contested.’  Firanges reports that ‘many people do not simply immigrate for study and leave afterwards; their lives are more complicated – some people arrive on a work visa and quite properly change to study visas and vice versa.  There exists,’ she says ‘no evidence of an issue around non-EU students overstaying their entitlement to stay’.

​

‘International students,’ she claims ‘ bring more than £10.7bn to the UK economy, so why cut that income in half by bringing 50% less students to Britain, as proposed.’

Gila says ‘Carers contribute a great deal to the social structures of Britain without whom many families would be bereft of hands-on help, support and terminal care.

‘Educators’, Jonathan continues, ‘provide worthwhile careers for learners up and down the land, and hundreds of black, ethnic and immigrant police officers, community officers and other workers in the force ease social tensions and local disputes through their knowledge and empathy.’

‘Some of our finest surgeons, ophthalmologists, anaesthetists, politicians like Michael Howard, Michael Portillo, and big business tycoons like Mohammad al Fayad and Sheikh Makhtoum are not native British but arrived here with their immigrant parents and grandparents.  Now it will cost spouses and their families, disproportionately, an average of six months' salary to attempt to join their loved ones.’

‘The situation may not be as despicable as that in the US faced by Spanish Heritage ‘illegals’ [I refuse to use the pejorative term Hispanics, he writes], or as that of Moroccan migrants to Spain.’

‘But to seek to deprive those who come here in the hope of finding a charitable, human response to their needs is antipathetic to every British standard of Justice.’

​

‘The alternative voice that we need to hear is the one calling for humane, caring and equitable treatment of those who need our help, and not the grating, discordant sounds of those, often from immigrant families themselves, calling for repressive checks on entry to the richest country in the world’

Regards

Jonathan Ever.

The party breaks up and they drift back to their lives as migrants themselves, attempting an integration into society despite the conflict of values, ideology, outlook and upbringing that they have each experienced and that may subtly change and ameliorate over the coming years.  This is especially so for Firoze as she attempts to settle down with someone from a different culture and set of ideas he was brought up with.  There are already tensions beginning to show over Jonathan’s cavalier attitude to relationships and how he views a partnership should work, and over Firoze’s expectations based on her background and ethnicity.

​

​

​

​

                                                                             Seven

                                                             ‘Happy birthday to you

                                                              Happy birthday to you

                                                              Happy birthday, dear Jonathan

                                                              Happy birthday to you.’

​

Firoze sings her birthday wishes to Jonathan who has returned to the flat In Basing street from Bahrain on Gulf air flight GF2 arriving at 09.00 hours.  She’s baked a chocolate birthday cake with a cream and strawberry filling and topping, placing it on the new coffee table.  There are three candles, one for every ten years.  He eats his slice with relish and calls for more. 

‘While I was away, I missed you a lot sweetheart, but we need to concentrate on finding a house now.  I’ve secured online an appointment at East Sussex university for September doing English as a foreign language, which is what I was doing when I met you, darling.‘

‘That’s good news, Jonathan.’

‘Yes.  The Bahrainis were alright.  They gave me my full severance pay with maximum bonus and a ten percent additional payment for holiday and pension entitlements.’

‘That’s good darling.  Let’s go in the bedroom, then’, Firoze suggests, having prepared herself with a bath, perfume, coconut oil and body freshener.  She was fragrant and lovely for Jonathan, who didn’t need any second telling.

They make passionate love; even though Jonathan is jet lagged form his journey sleeping deeply, yet contentedly, until noon the next day.

‘I’ve been thinking’ Jonathan says that afternoon ‘about house hunting and a mortgage.  Some lenders offer up to 90% of the value of the property and many are offering mortgages with competitive rates of interest.  I’d like to get a mortgage plus rent on a bigger property than this flat, but it needs to be in south London to be near access for my work at the university.  I could go to South Shields in the North East for a much cheaper property, but the climate, schools and social amenities are a consideration.’

‘We could find a place with a thirty-five thousand deposit, plus a bank loan of ten thousand, later this year.  My target property price is £450,000, yet I’d still have to part pay a rental to complete the purchase.  It would have to have a 90% loan at about 2.5 percent rising to 3.4%.  There’s a one bedroom semi-detached house, good for first time buyers who want to get on the property ladder at Copper Close, London SE19.’ Jonathan suggests.  This house has a private rear garden, a fully fitted kitchen, a rather small double bedroom, fitted double glazing, and very efficient gas central heating.’

‘I’ve viewed online a neat two bedroom family house within walking distance from Eastfields and Streatham Common station. The blurb says it’s ‘A neat two bedroom family home situated in a reasonable area within walking distance from Eastfields and Streatham Common station. The benefits are off street parking, a fitted kitchen, a modern upstairs bathroom, a downstairs cloakroom and more ‘Jonathan repeats.

‘I could go for a terraced house which might be a bit cheaper, but the access is the problem.  You’d have to cart the rubbish and anything from the back garden through the house, as well as have very close neighbours, so I think it’s a non-starter.’

‘There’s one in Wandsworth.  The terrace houses have one bedroom and they’re freehold.  It might be better to go for an end of terrace, because then you’d have access.  They offer open plan kitchens and so called reception rooms on the ground floor, and on the first floor they have two double bedrooms and a bathroom with loft access.

‘That sounds quite good,’ offers Firoze but Jonathan argues that ‘a terraced house would not set you on the right property ladder as a normal semi detached house would.  The terraced houses do offer up to five bedrooms, but I think we only need one at the moment.’

 ‘Okay then, let’s look for those then.’ 

‘But what about children, Jonathan for you know we expect to start a family.’

‘Sure, but we’d better find a place for them first,’ insists Jonathan.’

A few days later they start off their house search in Wandsworth and then head for Crystal Palace.

They view a one bedroom house in Copper Close SE19 that is new, brick built with pleasant outside decoration with red painted cornices, imitation Doric arches and has a good front area fenced off by a substantial wickerwork structure that would provide good protection for children playing and afford a deal of privacy for the house itself.  There’s also an ample rear garden with a superb lawn where the children could play.

‘I quite like it really, but could we afford to buy it?’ pleads Firoze.

’Don’t worry and with your soon-to-be teaching money we could both manage I’m sure.’

In Crystal Palace they see a three bedroom semi-detached house.  The advantages included PVC double glazing on the windows and nest controlled gas central heating.  It had a modern kitchen with appliances like waste dispensers and fan extractors.  It included a bathroom that boasted all the latest features, round bath and Victorian style hand basin. 

There was a driveway with enough parking for two cars, but Jonathan hadn’t taken his car out of storage yet, and wasn’t sure if he would need space for two.  And, anyway, the price was above his maximum, and it would have put a terrible strain on their finances if they went ahead with it.  Alright, it was a traditional almost Gothic looking, imposing property but the problem would be maintenance on the structure and probably even the roof, Jonathan insisted.
The alternative in Crystal palace was a Victorian conversion two bedroom split-level flat that would offer nice accommodation, attractive interiors, a large reception room and huge living spaces, interior fittings and ample bedroom accommodation, with the added attraction that it was part furnished. However, with such old properties you were on ‘a hiding to nothing’ Jonathan remarked.

They next went to see a traditionally built flat in East Putney with a good sized kitchen and elegant bathroom.  It had easy access to Putney underground station and very good local amenities.  For the money, it had everything, but Jonathan said that they would be just exchanging one flat for another if they did that.

Firoze and Jonathan left the question open for a while and continued to settle into their life together as teachers and business people.  One day Gila rang and said ‘I want you both to meet Gitee who’s an air hostess with Iran Air.  She’s in town and is coming to see us.  Could you and Jonathan pop over to Wimbledon and see us on Saturday evening when we can all get together?

‘Well, Jonathan says he’s too busy trying to obtain a mortgage on the new house in Copper Close, South London, but I’d be glad to join you.’ Gila continues ‘Gitee is married to a businessman who opened a dry cleaner’s.  She met him on a flight from Tehran to London.  Her job gives her plenty of chances to visit her family in Tehran and offers lots of time to relax between flights when she can meet and socialise with friends and members of her community.

‘Nice to meet you, Firoze and what are you doing in London?’ enthuses Gitee.

‘Well, I’m an asylum seeker and I’ve just passed my exams in English and Business Studies with a 2.1 at the university.  I have an English boyfriend named Jonathan who’s back from Bahrain.  We’re house hunting for a semi detached in South London, at the moment, but the prices are madness.’

‘I know,’ replies Gitee.

‘We bought our first house in London at 250 and now it’s worth five hundred thousand.  We doubled it in ten short years.’

‘So what does your husband do, if I may enquire?’

He’s into dry cleaning and has a number of shops around West London.  But he has had to close most of them due to the economic downturn in 08 which affected his credit and due to the fact that most people these days have kitchens with full electrical appliances like microwaves, waste disposer and washing machines either already supplied or installed by the tenants.  I only know a few of them, like Jim Clarke, who would rather spend his money on exotic foreign holidays than buy a washing machine and dryer for his family wash.  He’s one of Seppear, my husband’s oldest customers.

‘A funny thing happened last time we were coming into Heathrow’ says Gitee.

‘The flight attendants were checking through border control and the new hostesses from Iran were travelling only on employment cards, and were not in possession of Iranian passports with UK visas.  When they were stopped at the non- EU passport queue, they were asked what they were carrying and told the officer that they were bringing leather dog collars from Iran for sale in the UK.  The border guards told them that they couldn’t enter the country because they didn’t allow dog collars to be imported and they were sent back to join the same flight on which they had arrived.’

‘That’s a good one!’

‘Have I told you about Dr Esquiee?’ enquires Gitee. ‘He was working as an interpreter in the courts and solicitors’ offices for Iranians who were involved with court cases, financial problems and so on.’ 

‘He’s married to a lady from Northern Ireland.  They’ve been together for a long time.  They have two children, a boy who’s an estate agent and the younger, a girl, a police officer.  It seems that Iranians always seem to marry people from Ireland as if they’re more adaptable and collaborative than the others.’

‘No, it’s probably the blarney, isn’t it?’ interjects Gila.

​

‘Yes, and she’s very happy and contented with life here.’

​

‘And did you know there’s a Mr Chennai who’s visually impaired and has been working in the courts for ages.  He’s the one who, during the King’s Cross tube terrorist attack, led hundreds of people to safety with only his white stick to help him.  Imagine what it would be like in a smelly, smoke filled tunnel in complete darkness with no one to help you’ implores Gitee.  ‘There was a lot of panic and there were fatalities at the bottom of the escalator, but he knew the passages and stairs of the underground like the back of his hand and was called a hero of the disaster. 

‘Oh, I didn’t know that, comments Firanges who has popped in.’

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‘Do you know Khashemi? continues Gitee.  He’s the one who gave up work to invest in the stock market and he makes thousands from investments in Bitcoin and derivatives.  He lives not far from you in South Kensington where a lot o f the Iranian expats are and of course all the Iranian eateries.’ ‘Lucky man’, comments Firanges.  ‘ He must be really wealthy now.’ Firoze smiles, puts on a layer of mascara, a hint of scent, tidies her hair and smoothes her ensemble before returning to the flat and Jonathan. ‘I’ve fixed a mortgage and rent top up on the house in Copper Close, Upper Norwood, so the house resolution stakes are getting better’ Jonathan exclaims from the bathroom where he is shaving his beard. ‘Jonathan.  Don’t put those towels on the edge of the bath like that.  You know the bath is a dirty place and you should always hang them neatly on the towel rail,’ Firoze scolds, as small tensions begin to erupt between them. Jonathan replies that ‘my Mum always told me to do it that way, so it must be right.’

Suddenly, coming through on TV is news of an act of terrorism on Waterloo Bridge.  Someone has jumped out of a truck and launched an attack with AK45 repeat automatics apparently killing lots of people and wounding many more.  The fear, panic and loathing of foreigners is now palpable. Immediately the news channels are blaming Muslims, pointing to previous attacks of a similar nature on Westminster Bridge, last year. ‘Oh my God!’ exclaims Firoze. ‘Yes, now ISIS are being blamed and apparently they have already claimed responsibility’ adds Jonathan. Later that evening news reports are confirming that it was carried out by a British convert to Islam who was radicalised by groups on the periphery of Islamic centres.  He has been emotionally disturbed by some aspects of his treatment as a new Muslim and told people he was going to carry out an attack.

 He had even been involved in a plan to fire a rocket into the back garden of No 10 Downing Street in an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn, that MI5 the intelligence agency had thwarted. ‘In my view, it has a lot to do with British foreign policy in the Middle East where drone attacks and western funded bombing raids in Sudan, Yemen and elsewhere are turning people and even regimes against the Anglo- American hegemony’ declares Jonathan. ‘It’s also down to British militarism throughout the world’ claims Jonathan.  ‘The provision of multi billion pounds aircraft carriers with no F35 fighters to land on them, the obscene spending on hardware to bolster comfortable troops while thousands of people are homeless, two million children living in poverty, the starving on the streets of London and food banks proliferate exponentially.

The constant desire to follow US foreign policy when it was never in our interest, like the Iraq war of Bush and Blair.  Even when Clinton was in power he bombed what turned out to be an aspirin factory in Sudan, killing hundreds of innocents. Just recently, when the US attacked North Korea’s rocket base putting them out of action, thousands of innocents were killed in what the Americans call ‘collateral damage’ Jonathan sighed, exclaiming his exasperation with US foreign adventures. Jonathan adds ‘The rise of anti-war feeling in Britain is growing due to the huge investments in armaments and the ridiculous outdated and obsolete warship policy such as the Queen Elizabeth II and Prince of Wales aircraft carriers and the brand new Trident replacement just announced which are no longer required in the modern terrorism centred field of operations.’

A statement is read on the media by the Muslim Institute claiming that ‘the community often feels it is being punished for the actions of a minority in a faith group’.  They add that ‘only a spirit of community togetherness and resolve can deal with such a threat from within our ranks.’ The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, adds his comment saying, ‘This is an attempt to stop us from fighting terrorism and to destroy our resolution over this, but we are steadfast, and I say to all Londoners, the battle you are fighting is the most important one until we defeat these deviants.

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Mr Ever, I believe that you wish us to complete the conveyancing on the property at 19 Copper Close, SE19, is that right?’ ‘Yes,’ replies Jonathan at the firm of solicitors, Francis Freeborn in Holborn W1, he has engaged to complete the house purchase. Firoze asks, whilst they are there, about her immigration status. ‘Yes, Madam.  You will be regarded by the Home Office as in a durable and meaningful relationship with your partner, Mr. Ever, which will grant you the eventual right to citizenship through the asylum route. 

It may take us a number of years to complete the process, but we are satisfied that we can obtain the permanent ‘Leave to Remain’ status and citizenship that you seek.  Provided your relationship with Jonathan doesn’t change in any substantive way, and that you never commit any offences, you will then be able to take the UKVI B1 English language test for citizenship with English Test UK, which, of course, with your university degree, you will sail through.’

Firoze smiles contentedly at Jonathan moving away a wisp of her hair as she speaks and, with a sparkle in her olive green eyes, resolves that whatever happens, she and Jonathan will make the future a splendid and fruitful life with God’s grace.

Clarke, Geoffrey. Firoze: a novel by Geoffrey Clarke (Kindle Locations 1248-1302). Kindle Edition.

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