The Nugatory Fetish 1 - Dionysian Magnet

The primordial sense of harmony is not something unbeknownst to humans, modern and ancient alike. However, it is not something to look up to, for some people at least. He stood there dumbfounded amidst this dancing plague of a gathering; which was, in fact, less about dancing and more about stimulus. His plain blue shirt and black trousers combined with the monotone shaded glasses that screamed “nerd’, were something out of the place for an environment like this; his furrowed brows and glabellar lines betrayed his age as well. The lights danced all around the hall, reinventing flamenco by going back and forth between heaven and nether, and the music — 80 decibels of pure NuPop blasting through the premium grade speakers installed all over this posh establishment. This, combined with his lack of sleep made the twenty-five-year-old Mimi Lyngdoh annoyed, which was unusual for a man as composed and professional as him. Well, as they say; everything has a limit, including thee, for divinity is not thy forte.

He took a piece of paper out of his breast pocket and examined it for a few seconds before putting it back where it belonged. “This is indeed the correct place, what kind of asshole calls an attorney anonymously to a place like this?” He asked himself; annoyed and frustrated with traveling out so far. His last bout of annoyance was ten minutes ago when he was asked to stand outside this incredible, rich establishment despite him having shown his bar council identity card. This was no place for people who were anything below filthy rich, he understood that; he was not rich but he was not exactly poor either, at least not anymore. This place was a clear opposite of the West Uldic states, and that is because this was no West Uldic state, this was the Uldic capital, Bhikan; that too, the eastern border of it. This place was as far away from those peasants as it could be, but this was not the source of the surplus annoyance.

Everything has a subjective value, and Lyngdoh, he valued his time more than anything; always striving to maximize its potential use, no matter the circumstance. Today he had traveled all the way from West Bhikan to the eastern border, a trip of no less than fifty kilometers, it cost him his entire afternoon. He started looking around in the club for this anonymous client of his; the next hour was spent scouring the entire place, he asked every guy who seemed rich, nouveau or vieux. The result was that the only thing he felt now was guilt and regret, feelings staple to him, feelings he hated and embraced simultaneously. He felt like he had already wasted too much time getting there and an hour more looking for this guy, there would not be anything to justify that wasted time and he could not stand the thought of that, besides he had not acquired the thing that lured him out here in the first place. So, he spent the next hour scouring the rest of the people and finally found his caller, Bala Dutt.

There he lay, intoxicated, or at least that was the judgment Lyngdoh made based on the fact that there were a few bottles of the “Kissan Twenty-Five Year Old”, all empty, on the table in front of him. Like all the other people in the establishment, which by the way, were all guys, he had two girls, not natives, in each of his arms as he giggled in presence of the man who risked his precious time for him. Almost none of his current state was surprising, except his clothes; his clothes were not much different from Lyngdoh’s. In fact, they might even have the same trousers, the shirts were different but they were similar in the way that they both reeked of a commoner. They even looked the same age but Lyngdoh’s professional demeanor made him look way older.

Although Lyngdoh was taken aback, this was not the most surprising thing he had seen in his life. He was enraged, but he could not figure out why a man would relax like this after committing a crime, omit the details on a call for an attorney, or be rich and still dress up like this. It is weird how copper can stand out among gold when allowed to. The only reason he was even here was that this was his first job as an attorney and not just a lawyer, that he took up. Yet, he was an almost perfect man, a model Apollonian figure; how could he be angry, he must learn to control his emotions as a man, and so he did. Now that he was in presence of another person, a client, no less, he could not afford to display such barbaric emotions and thus, he relaxed his brows and almost put on what seemed like a smile.

“Now that I am here, shouldn’t you start describing what kind of trouble you are in? I might be your new attorney, so no need to hide the details. Besides, it has already been two hours and a half since the time we agreed upon. I am surprised that you are still here, with some company even.” Lyngdoh reassured Dutt while eyeing the two beauties with visible discomfort on his face.

Dutt looked at his wrist, only to realize he did not have a watch, and burst into laughter which his company followed. “Yes, I called up that Barnaclaw firm, but I am fairly certain, I talked to a woman on the phone. She even had this cute name.” Dutt makes a comical face, pretending to think.

“Mimi. I am Lyngdoh Mimi and I am very certain I do not sound feminine at all.” Lyngdoh meant that and there were no hidden lies or embarrassment. He really did not sound feminine at all, it was Dutt’s booze talking.

“I apologize, I did not mean to offend you in any way, I just wanted a fairly competent lawyer, that is it, really.” Dutt started rubbing his hands like the cunning Ilai merchants, but there was no hidden malice, and as weird as it sounds, he was a terrible truth-teller. He gestured the ladies to go away and so they did, and in a swift motion offered Lyngdoh the seat, no words spoken. Lyngdoh gestured back by holding his right hand up, to which Dutt responded by shrugging it off, literally.

Lyngdoh put his hand behind his back, in an authoritative manner and so, the twins were united. “It is alright, I do not mind such petty things. A lot of time has already been wasted, so let us get down to the details. I believe you are intoxicated, since the call at least, you really sounded sober then; but let us discuss things anyway since the radioman was so kind to not put you on when I called later.” He spoke quickly to showcase his dominance by being more sober, but it had little effect as Dutt was still catching up.

“I am sorry, look, I was busy with the ladies then, and asked the radioman to not pick up any calls for me, since I would not have answered them anyway. But damn, I certainly did not expect you to be an Ahwait.” Dutt tried to change the topic, but Lyngdoh decided to play along anyway.

“As your potential future legal counselor, I feel like I should tell you that referring to the West Uldic minorities as Ahwaits is racist and illegal; and I personally do not tolerate this either.” Lyngdoh slammed his fist hard on the table causing the only two bottles standing upright to fall over, while his face was still stuck with the calm expression from earlier, making him scarier. “This is common knowledge, what the hell is wrong with these people”, he added under his breath.

“I am once again, very sorry for my indecent behavior. This in no way an argument in my favor but it is not just me, everyone calls West Uldic people Ahwaits when they are, in fact, Uldic, just like me and you!” Dutt made this weak statement definitely to strengthen his side of the argument, and failed miserably as it did not provoke Lyngdoh at all.

“You have apologized for three times in a row, and while I, in no way want to believe this, are you trying to omit the details on purpose? Can you even remember them?” Lyngdoh grew a little skeptical now and narrowed his already narrow eyes even further.

“No, that’s not it, I can tell you about the incident but I will need some time to remember every detail.” Dutt said in a very deep tone, trying to sound sober, and since he was not even mocking Lyngdoh and was completely serious, he sounded like a complete moron with that face.

Lyngdoh was now growing very weary, but as long as the story is not too extreme for him, he can take up the case and most importantly justify his time here. “Alright, I am listening.” He finally sat down and leaned in on Dutt; he felt as if the booze in his breath condensed and was now perforating his skin, but it was not his first time in such company.

“So I and my friends were drunk as skunks a few days ago, and I beat up a few kids, probably juveniles,” Dutt started speaking as Lyngdoh let loose his true angry and fierce expression for the first time since the beginning of this conversation. Dutt noticed it and continued, “but hey, it was for a good reason, found those punks pissing on and jerking off to my precious Crudson 400; and for what it’s worth, we went very easy on them.” Lyngdoh eased his expression and Dutt followed.

“Okay, vandalism of your private property can be used in our favor, good. When and did this exactly happen? When was the Immediate Crime Report filed?” Lyngdoh pressed on for questions, very motivated by his scrupulous use of time.

“As I said, a few days ago, I will need time to remember the exact date and time and as for where, a few alleys away from this place.” Dutt answered like a child with no hint of deception or pride.

“And what about the ICR?” Lyngdoh reminded Dutt about his latter question.

“What is that?” Dutt asked, even more childlike this time.

“The Immediate Crime Report, the kids filed one, did they not?” Lyngdoh asked, confused, as clear signs of fatigue emerged on his face from his long day.

“Did they? How am I supposed to know?” Dutt enquired like a kid lost at a railway station.

“So there might be a chance I would not even be needed as an attorney? From what I understand, chances are, those kids are piss poor and are not going to bother with filing a report against the big rich guy here. You, sir, have wasted my entire day.” Lyngdoh was angry but his face showed no such signs, not because he was hiding it this time, but because he was simply very exhausted.

“Hey listen, I am the big rich guy, right? I am going to hire you as my attorney and law consultant, I have all the money.” Dutt spoke, puffing out his chest. Lyngdoh felt a sharp tingle in the back of his neck but could not explain why.

“Okay then, let us discuss the terms and details for that once you are sober enough, here is my home radio address. Call me tomorrow between seven and noon.” Lyngdoh took out the same piece of paper from before, flipped it and wrote down some twelve letters-long address, and shoved it down Dutt’s pocket without his consent. He got up and went out without looking back even once or gesturing the parting. Little did he know, he made a huge mistake, right at the end there.