The cardamom does most of the talking.

The man behind the counter spoke a Malayalam I couldn't follow and a kindness I could. He poured the karak into a small paper cup and waved me off when I tried to give him a five-dirham note. 'Tomorrow,' he said.

Karak is the Gulf's adopted national drink — black tea, condensed milk, green cardamom, boiled long enough that the milk caramelises slightly at the edges. It is sold from roadside stalls, drive-throughs, and back doors of restaurants in styrofoam, ceramic, and tin. It costs about a dollar. [^1]

The Corniche at this hour is families walking off dinner and teenagers practicing the kind of cool that requires a sports car. The sea is doing nothing. The skyline is doing everything.

I came back the next night. He waved me off again. By the third night, I won the negotiation. Three dirhams.

[^1]: The recipe came with the South Asian workers who built the cities. The cities can't run without either anymore.