"What is it?" Anne asked, as I opened the hand delivered envelope.

            "I think it's a summons." I replied confused. "Why would anyone hand deliver something way out here." As I read on, it became apparent that Adair was suing me for fifteen thousand dollars to rebuild a dry-stone wall on his property.

" **** him..."

"Who..?"

"The prick, I knew he'd surface again, he just wants show me." 

"Wants to show you what?"

"He wants to show me that it's not finished until he says it's finished. He wants to see me squirm like all the other poor pricks he's bled dry. Well... I haven't come all this way to grovel at his feet."

It was a day I knew was coming. I had built hundreds of meters of dry stone walls on his property. It became apparent that there was a problem with a fifty-meter stretch of wall across a hillside. After fixing a couple of areas, I realized that there were geotech problems with the hillside. Looking along what had been a straight section of wall only months earlier it was obvious that there had been land slippage. I had informed him that it was pointless to repair the wall as it would only happen again. Christ! He had an architect and an engineer on his pay-role and he wanted to extract blood from me?'

After three years of running up cost, including my solicitor and geotech reports, the big day in court had almost arrived.

The Bowral courthouse had been booked for three day's. Wally my solicitor was already smiling a victory smile as he announced his good news.

"I have the geotech report Mick and it states as you suspected that the hillside was unstable. It was known by their engineer that this was the case and the buck stops with him."

"If this is as cut and dried as you suggest Wally, then why don't we engage a barrister to drive it home?"

"It's a bit short notice for a barrister," he replied, not to mention the cost."

I could read the disappointment in his chubby face. Wally was hoping to take the glory for himself.

"But I guess" he said, realizing I meant business. "Adair is certain to have a QC".

Three day's before proceeding I got a phone call from Wally.

"I've a spoken to local barrister called Gummers and he's prepared to take it on. He wants two grand a day plus two grand for preparation work and he wants the whole eight grand up front." Eight grand cash, on top of the eight grand I'd paid in fees over the last three years. The money side of things was getting seriously stretched.

I met Gummers for the first time in Wally's office on the day before the proceedings. Lanky in build and wearing a slept in light grey suit, he looked every bit the tardy academic.

He took charge from the second I entered the room.

"Barry Gummers" he said, reaching his long arm over the desk to shake my hand. "Do we have the money with us?" He asked, forcing something of a grin on his thin lipped face. There was a brief silence where I expected Walter to play some small role in the proceedings, but the only part Walter was playing, was that of a wallflower.

Gummers spoke again.

"It would be preferable to take care of the cash thing first" The nerve. The cash idea was his and now here I was expected to wipe it off the soul of his shoe. I took the white envelope from my inside pocket.

"Eight grand" I said, placing it on the table in front of him.

His whole demeanour was that of arrogance, but I guessed that if one knows ones business, then one could carry a little arrogance.

As he flicked through the mountain of paper work on Walters desk, I asked him if he knew anything about dry-stone walling.

"You would be much better served Mr. Beville if you let the professionals ask the questions." I left the meeting with mixed feelings about my decision to involve him.  

The thick stonewalls of the Bowral courtroom gave me a feeling of incarceration. I imagined Ned Kelly shackled in such a room. I could see him standing proud and strong knowing full well that the Queen was going to prematurely end his young life.

Outside, decelerating on its approach to the supermarket, the exhaust brakes of a large truck snapped me back to a place where corn flakes, tampons and frozen chickens appeared to be someone else's reality.

A long plain rectangular wooden table stretched across the centre of courtroom. Adair's team were seated to the left followed by a gap then my team to the right. The court was called to rise and the judge, a wigless bald man of about sixty five, took his place on the bench. We were then told to be seated to wait in silence for what must have been ten long minutes as the judge looked through his paperwork.

The hard wooden seats were a stark reminder of my school days.

The Judge went through the opening formalities, and rounded off by making a very sobering, and I felt, sincere statement.

"Gentlemen" he said, "It is with some amazement, that I view this action. It would appear that between the two parties, the costs to date would be several times the amount that is being sought by Mr. Adair. Considering another two days of this courts time plus the possibility of action going to a higher court in Sydney; the whole affair appears ridiculous to say the least. I can only hope that today, with the benefit of the fresh country air, sanity will prevail."

As he spoke the vibrations of the truck could be felt manoeuvring into the loading dock.

"Will someone please close the door?" the judge asked with an irritation in his voice. And as if to win brownie points the sniffling Snodgrass was up in an instant and began dragging his pathetic form across the room to where he shut the large heavy door before returning to his master with a stupid grin on his face.

After about thirty minutes of report reading and legal argument, Adair, bifocals on his nose and the holy bible in his hand, was sworn in. It was strange to see him for the first time without his hat on. His thinning long grey strands sat humbly in a comb over style on the top of his head.

The lanky form of Barry Gummers stood up from the table and walked to the open space in front of the judge. Looking in no particular direction, and without addressing Adair by name, Gummers began his cross-examination.

"Tell me about the tree,' he said, "the one that you had removed from the middle of your paddock?" What on earth was he talking about? The tree was behind the wall.

"I really don't know what you're referring to," replied Adair.

Gummers turned to the one-foot high stack of paper work on the table behind him and fumbled unsuccessfully through the hundreds of pages. Finally after abandoning any hopes of finding salvation in the notes, he walked back into the centre of the room and threw his long arms around in a kind of windmill gesture.

"Come Mr. Beville," He said, loudly, "you know exactly what tree I'm talking about."

Mr. Beville...? He's got our ******* names mixed up.  Why doesn't Wally tell him he's got our names mixed up? Wally's and eyes were looking down onto the table as if stunned. I rose out of my seat and went forward to show my presence.

While I was moving forward, Gummers called him ‘Beville' a second time and then referred to me as ‘Adair.'  I took a piece of paper from the table and reached for a pen. As I was about to pick up the pen Gummers turned and slammed his hand down on the pen.

I sat back in my seat in disbelieve. He was out on a wing and flying straight towards oblivion and Wally it seems was to prove completely useless. It eventually be Adair's QC that stopped Gummers.

"Excuse me my ‘learned' friend," he said, "the gentleman on the stand is Mr. Adair and your client is Mr. Beville" I looked to Adair for his reaction, but if he was bemused or bewildered he didn't show it.

To save Gummers and the rest of our team any further embarrassment, the judge called a recess for lunch, and reiterated his remarks about sanity.

His remarks received an instant response from Adair's team, who immediately offered a settlement. The settlement was that I pay eight grand to Adair, and we each pay our own costs.

"Don't even think about it..." said Gummers "I'll have them for breakfast."

Maybe he was on medication, maybe he was from another planet; maybe the stress was making me think irrationally. Wally broke my line of thought by offering to buy lunch.

"Would you like to order?" The young waitress said engagingly as we sat in the Grand Cafe.       

"I'll have a salad role and a flat white coffee thank you." I replied.

"The same for me" added Wally 

"I'm in a meat eating mood," said Gummers. "I'll have the rare roast beef on multi-grained bread."

When the waitress returned with our order, Gummers created a major scene. Apparently some of the multi-grains were not specified in his order.

"I'm very sorry," replied the waitress, "I'll change it straight away sir."

She was away and back inside a minute and Gummers started off again.

"This is white bread you stupid woman. I can't eat white bread. Is there no one in this establishment capable of making a simple sandwich?"

I'd had enough and I unloaded on Gummers:

"You are the rudest most arrogant person I have ever met."

He tried to speak but I barked at him. "Shut up... I want you to take whatever offer is on the table and get me out of this mess now."

"Settle down old chap. I was just getting started over there" I ignored him; instead I turned my attention to Wally.

"I'm finished over there... Wally. Finished, finitio, just take whatever they want to offer and get me out of there.

"At least I've saved four grand by settling today" I said hopefully. Wally shook his head.

"Unfortunately it doesn't work that way; you hired him for the three days regardless."

"Never mind" said Anne on my return home, "you can have a good nights sleep now that it's over."

How wrong she was. I had more sleepless nights after that day than I'd had in the three years leading up to it. It was eating at me. Life just wasn't fair. It wasn't just the money; it was also my time that had been stolen; endless days and nights plotting revenge, kicking myself for my lack of judgment as well as hating myself for taking the **** that they had dished out. They were scum. I had never felt about anybody the way I was feeling about them. I would try to rationalize telling myself to move on, but that made me feel worse. They had and still were violating my life. Maybe if I just knocked over Adair's gateposts I would feel better about myself. But each time I thought about revenge, their presence would grow like some insidious virus inside of me.

"Lighten up sweetheart," Anne said. "Move on. It's over. Don't let the likes of them ruin our life." She didn't know the extent of the damage. How could she? And how could I tell her how I felt. How could I tell her that they'd violated my mind and my body? The whole idea sounded insane and yet I knew it was the truth. Fun had been replaced by their vile presence.

I would fantasize about seeing them on a quiet road late at night. The bulbar on the old Bedford with wouldn't even dent as it obliterated them. How sweet would that be?

The chances that they would be on a country road late at night, presenting themselves to my bull-bar, was indeed fantasy, but maybe with a bit of effort it could be arranged?

I had to find a way of dealing with them, a way to get my mind back:

Something tripped in my brain the day I found the solution. It was as if a major burden had been lifted. I could pass them in the town and say g'day. I had never felt this experience before. It wasn't like I'd regained my old experiences; this was a new and glorious feeling. Gummers and Adair I had decided,  were going to die.

Keyword: Under my skin

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Comments (2)

Posted by Dr Lucifer 2008-08-23 06:22:41 Loved it. I like this story beginning to end but I was suddenly lost at the very end. Exactly, what was the solution that made him so happy? Very well written story. + Report this comment
Posted by sebcoco 2008-08-24 06:00:10 .... I enjoyed it. A well-thought plotline and well-written. Good piece of work + Report this comment

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