A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul [82]
‘Paper. The man has sent me a paper,’ Mungroo muttered, while he allowed himself, without loss of prestige, to be pushed slowly back to the road by his followers.
‘Well,’ Mr Biswas said. ‘One man get his paper. He had it coming to him a long time. Let me tell you, eh. Don’t let Tom, Dick or Harry think he can play with me, you hear. One man get his paper. A lot more going to get their paper before I finish. And don’t come to talk to me. Go and talk to Seebaran.’
When he came to the shop, a week later, Moti was businesslike. As soon as he greeted Mr Biswas he took out a sheet of paper from his shirt pocket, spread it on the counter and began ticking off names with his fountain pen. ‘Well, Ratni pay up,’ he said. ‘Dookhni pay. Sohun pay. Godberdhan pay. Rattan pay.’
‘We frighten them, eh? So, no legal proceedings against them, then?’
‘Jankie ask for time. Pritam too. But they going to pay, especially as they see the others paying up.’
‘Good, good,’ Mr Biswas said. ‘I could do with their money right now.’
Moti folded the sheet of paper.
‘So?’ Mr Biswas said.
Moti put the paper in his pocket.
Mr Biswas pretended he hadn’t been waiting for anything. ‘And Mungroo?’
‘I glad you ask about him. As a matter of fact, he giving us a little trouble.’ Moti took out a long envelope from his trouser pocket and handed it to Mr Biswas. ‘This is for you.’
It was a communication, on stiff paper, from the Attorney-General.
Mr Biswas read with disbelief, annoyance and distress.
‘Who is this damn Muslim Mahmoud who stamp his dirty name down here? He is a solicitor and conveyancer too, eh? I thought Seebaran was handling all the work in the Petty Civil’
‘No, no,’ Moti said soothingly. ‘This is Assize Court business.’
‘Assize. Assize! So this is what Seebaran land me up in!’
‘Seebaran ain’t land you up in nothing. You land yourself. Read the schedule.’
‘O God! Look, look. Mungroo bringing me up for damaging his credit!’
‘And he have a good case too. You shouldn’t go around telling people he owe you money. Over and over I hear Seebaran telling clients, “Leave everything to me and keep your mouth shut. Keep your mouth shut. Keep your mouth shut and leave everything to me.” Over and over. But clients don’t listen. I know clients who talk their way straight to the gallows.’
‘Seebaran didn’t tell me a damn thing. I ain’t even see the blasted man yet.’
‘He want to see you now.’
‘Just let me get this straight. Mungroo owe me money. I say so and I damage his credit. So now he can’t go around taking goods on trust and not paying. So he bring me up. Exactly what the hell this is? And what about those slips?’
‘They wasn’t signed. I did warn you about that, remember. But you didn’t listen. Clients don’t listen. Is a serious business, man. It got Seebaran worried like anything. I could tell you.’
‘Hear you. It got Seebaran worried. What about me?’
‘Seebaran don’t think you would have a chance in court. He say it would be better to settle outside.’
‘You mean shell out. All right. Pounds, shillings and pence, dollars and cents. Let me hear who have to get how much. This is the way Seebaran handling all the work in the Petty Civil, eh?’
‘Seebaran only want to help you out, you know. You could take your case to some K C or the other and pay him a hundred guineas before he ask you to sit down. Nobody stopping you.’
Mr Biswas listened. He learned with surprise that there had already been friendly discussions between Mungroo’s lawyer, Mahmoud, and Seebaran; so that the case had been raised and virtually settled without his knowing anything about it at all. It appeared that Mungroo was willing, for one hundred dollars, to call off the action. The fees of both lawyers came to a hundred dollars as well, though Seebaran, appreciating Mr Biswas’s position, had said he would accept only such money as he could recover from Mr Biswas’