I was a student undergoing a summer program in computer science at Riyadh’s Information and Telecom College. The officials in the college had discovered my talent in literature and my skills in writing poetry and asked me to write a poem and present it at the program’s concluding ceremony. Among the people who attended the ceremony were officials from the King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation for the Gifted and more importantly Dr. Abdullah Al-Jeghaiman, director of the organizing committee for the Regional Scientific Conference for Giftedness in Jeddah and his secretary, Abdullah Al-Amry.
At the end of the ceremony, Abdullah Al-Amry asked me — having been ordered by Al-Jeghaiman — to write a poem and to present it in the opening night of the Regional Scientific Conference for Giftedness in Jeddah. He took my cell number and e-mail address. After returning to Jizan, he phoned and asked me to quickly finish my poem and e-mail it to his address. I did, but did not hear from him until three days before the conference. He asked me then to fly to Jeddah and apologized for not being able to send a ticket due to a shortage of time.
I packed my stuff and made reservations then bought a ticket with my own money. When I arrived at Jeddah airport, I called Al-Amry to find his phone switched off. I continued calling him from 10.30 p.m. until midnight but couldn’t reach him. I hired a taxicab and drove to the nearest hotel paying from my own pocket while the rest of the students from Riyadh were reveling in the Hilton’s lobby at the foundation’s expense.
The next morning, I called Al-Amry and again his phone was switched off. At midday, he finally answered my call and asked me to go to the Hilton where he would be waiting for me. I arrived at the hotel at1 p.m. and it was 4 p.m. when Al-Amry finally showed up. He asked me to wait until the accommodation supervisor arrives. I waited until 6 p.m. and then we ended up going to the Jeddah Westin Hotel because there were no more rooms available at the Hilton.
In the Westin, I had to wait in the lobby until 8 p.m. I watched many students coming in later and immediately checking in. With no more rooms left at Westin, we went to Al-Bilad Hotel where at 11.30 p.m. they managed to find me a vacant room.
The next day, Saturday, I called Al-Amry who asked me to remain at the hotel until I hear from him. After waiting for a considerably long time I telephoned him again. He informed me that the person responsible for my part in the ceremony was Abdulrahman Al-Fehaid and that he would pass him my number to Al-Fehaid who would inform me about the schedule of Sunday’s event.
But no one bothered to call me till it was the conference’s opening day, Sunday. I called Al-Amry and asked him for Al-Fehaid’s number and having called him did not receive a response. I sent him a text message including my name and participation details in the ceremony. However, I didn’t hear from him and after calling many times, he finally picked up.
He answered me in a very cold manner saying, “Oh sorry! You’ve missed your part. It was a pleasure talking to you. Please convey my regards to your parents.” In other words, he was telling me to leave the place as quickly as possible. And that was the last contact we made.
