Three Bargains: A Novel Read Online Free PDF

his chair again. “Mistry, Mistry, what were you thinking?” he addressed the man, whose mouth was a smear of liquid red. There were gashes and cuts all over his exposed arms, and his shirt hung raggedly. “You were here for a short while but we thought you were one of us, Pandit-ji and I.”
    Realizing that Pandit Bansi Lal was sitting on the sofa, Mistry launched himself out of Madan’s father’s grip and prostrated himself in front of the priest. Unable to see clearly through his puffy, swollen eyes, he lay on the cold floor a little off-center to Pandit Bansi Lal’s feet, and when he spoke it looked like he was pleading with the sofa.
    “Have mercy, Pandit-ji. You are a man of God, have mercy.”
    Pandit Bansi Lal grunted with distaste and looked away. “It’s not in my hands,” he said, his eyes sliding from Avtaar Singh to Madan. “It’s Avtaar Singh-ji’s decision.”
    “Mistry, let us not waste any more time and any more of your blood,” Avtaar Singh said. “You’ve wasted enough time by trying to disappear. Now, Pandit Bansi Lal gave you the money, and not a small amount. You promised to get him that land in Jind. Land that you said belonged to your family.” Avtaar Singh paused. His eyes skimmed over to Madan, giving him a tight smile in acknowledgment of Madan’s intense gaze.
    Then, as though amazed by a sudden turn of events, Avtaar Singh continued, “Pandit-ji went there a few days ago to find no such land exists. What is there is already owned by some other people! How can that be? Can you tell me?”
    Avtaar Singh closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he looked at Mistry with the fondness he had bestowed on Madan a moment ago.
    “How I wish Pandit-ji had consulted me on this land deal before he went off on his own.” His voice became firmer, and Madan drank in the love, disappointment and surprise flitting across Avtaar Singh’s face. “But he did it without consulting me. He wanted to strike out on his own. He used his own money. He forgot that to benefit us all we need to support one another.”
    Everyone turned to look at Pandit-ji, and even Mistry, now awkwardly up on his elbows, looked at the priest with reproach.
    “Now what I wish to know is where did Pandit-ji get all that money?” The silence lengthened till a bubble of blood popped near Mistry’s mouth.
    “But wait . . . no. Pandit-ji is like my father and I will not question my father about the depth of his pockets, even though they’ve been filled mostly by me. No—” Avtaar Singh exhaled, shrugging his shoulders as though apologizing for his words. “The bond between Pandit-ji and me will outlast all of you and all your children. To cheat Pandit Bansi Lal is to cheat me. So, we need that money back, Mistry. Fifty thousand is no small amount.”
    Avtaar Singh gave a discreet nod. Madan watched his father pull Mistry around and slap him hard. Flecks of blood flew into the air. Madan recoiled, though he was too far for it to reach him.
    “Prabhu, Prabhu,” Avtaar Singh chastised gently, “all this blood, let him talk at least.”
    Removing the piece of cloth hanging around his neck, Madan’s father wiped Mistry’s mouth.
    “Speak freely,” Avtaar Singh said.
    Madan could feel the expectation in the room and knew that Mistry would speak, for there was no other way for him to leave this room.
    “My . . . my brother lives near Budha Khera Village—”
    Before he could complete his sentence, Avtaar Singh said to Prabhu, “Take him out and get all the details.”
    Madan watched his father tow the man out, his slack legs dragging behind him.
    In the remnant silence Madan squirmed in his chair, and the movement seemed to bring Avtaar Singh back to the present, and to Pandit Bansi Lal, who stood up and rearranged his white dhoti around his legs.
    “That is a lot of money, Pandit-ji,” said Avtaar Singh.
    “Oh, Avtaar Singh, there will be much good done with this money. Yes, of course, I was