The Bell-Boy Read Online Free PDF Page A

night. Had either been caught it would have been all up with them. The police could be relied on to hand out a good beating even before they threw the book at you for evading the state toddy monopoly. After that they would have to settle with the Fathers, and both Laki and Raju had lived in Malomba long enough to know that the last place to expect charity and forgiveness was in a city of divines. Priests and gurus, imams and rabbis, fakirs, mullahs, bishops, brahmins, healers, satanists and all the rest of them: a shifty, gluttonous bunch. That, at least, was their opinion. But then they were animists.
    Raju was at this moment drinking deeply of the soul of the palm.
    â€˜That’s good stuff,’ he said and belched softly. ‘Just like home. Don’t you see, boy? It really makes sense for you to stay in this town because you already know it so well. But there’s a better reason still. Money. People go where the money is, that’s natural. So they head for the cities. Well, there’s money enough in Malomba; there’s no need to take a step outside. What’s more, it’s getting richer. I remember when I first arrived ten years ago this was just another provincial capital – a town which was perfectly ordinary in every way except for having a glut of priests and temples. Nowadays it’s got them fit to fart. They say it’s always been a great religious centre, but once they started calling it a holy city and drumming up the tourist trade it suddenly became a lot holier. We never used to have all these faith healers and psychic surgeons and what-not. The tourists have brought them in.’
    â€˜And they’re not doing badly, uncle, are they?’
    â€˜They’re pissing gold, boy. I’m not saying it works or it doesn’t work. I can’t say they’re all rascals because I don’t know. You can’t judge a cow by its moo. But I am saying it’s a nice little industry they’ve got going for themselves.’
    â€˜Ought I to become a healer then, uncle?’
    â€˜No,’ admitted Raju, ‘I wasn’t going that far. Although I suppose we could claim that you’re a poor ignorant village boy whose miraculous powers were discovered when he was eight, say. But in practice it wouldn’t be as simple as that. First we’d have to find you an agent or protector. I’d guess that the healer market is about saturated at the moment. Tourism’s already levelled off and if this guerrilla problem gets any worse it’ll drop still further. So that means you’d be competing with all the other healers in town and you know what they’re like. They’d smash your elbows with mallets. No, what I was thinking of is more of a way of getting you to make the most of the advantages you have without needing to fake others. Here you are with good health, good English and a good knowledge of town. Now who in Malomba –apart from the Indians and the Chinese, of course – have the real money? Why, the tourists themselves.’
    â€˜Ah,’ said Laki, comprehending at last. ‘You mean I should become a guide?’
    â€˜That’s a possibility too. Oh, I know what you’re thinking, boy – it’s only old Raju gassing on, but when’s he going to tell me what to do? I shan’t, though. I want to give you a kick, that’s all.’
    â€˜A kick, uncle?’
    â€˜Certainly. I know how when a man works he gets into a rut. Day after day he does the same old thing. We go on duty and we go off duty, we go to bed and we eat our meals. But all the time, like as not, the way to something better is staring us in the face. Why does the grouper stay in his hole and grow fat? He doesn’t waste his energy swimming about looking for food. He simply waits for food to come blundering in and then he grabs it. He seizes the opportunity, doesn’t he?
    â€˜The same with you. Look at the guests who come to