Dougal's Luck-excerpt from a short story by Austin Mitchell

Dougal’s Luck

a short story by

Austin Mitchell

          Dougal staggered out of the bar and slapped his right trousers pocket, the money was still there. Simmo called to him.

            “You are finished drinking already, Dougal?”

            “I’m going to take a leak and then go over to Hobbsie’s bar.”

            This was what they normally did on Friday and Saturday evenings. They would spend time at both bars as both bar owners were popular in the little village of Renford.

            Dougal made his way over to Hobbsie’s bar after he finished at the urinal and slapped his pocket again.

            Soon he was joined by Simmo, Duncan, Charles, Swaby and two women, Jessica and Melda.

            On both sides of the road were jerk chicken and soup vendors. A man was selling sugar cane and water coconuts. Yet another man was selling peanuts while gamblers abounded.

            This was a district where women drank as hard as men and were not afraid to outdo their partners in that department.      Jessica’s husband, Raymond, was known as a hard drinker but it was rumored that she could hold her liquor better than him.  Melda’s boyfriend, Ska, never touched hard liquor. Melda therefore did her best to stay sober.

            Soon Simmo, Duncan, Charles and Swaby got into a game of dominoes. Dougal and the two women watched the game.

            “Darlene isn’t coming out tonight, Dougal?” Melda asked.

          Jessica laughed.

            “Dougal, you must let her out of the house, sometimes.”

            “I don’t stop her, she used to drink as hard as any one of you.”

            Dougal tried to defend himself.

            He knew that Darlene had felt that it didn’t look decent for  both of them to be in a bar drinking liquor and behaving riotously.  She had therefore turned over a new leaf and started going to church more regularly.

            Jessica was in her late twenties with two children while Melda was in her middle thirties and had three children.

            Renford was a very fruitful district in the yam belt of Trelawney. The men did small farming as well as masonry and carpentry.  Dougal owned an acre of land and was a stone mason.

            Soon Dougal as well as the woman were playing dominoes. He and Melda as his partner managed to drop six love on two different pairs of players including Jessica. Dougal took a taxi home that night. After the domino game he had done some more drinking before staggering into Byron’s taxi. He didn’t even notice the other men and the woman in the taxi. He staggered into his yard. Miss Greta, Darlene’s mother, opened the door for him and he staggered inside. Darlene came into the living room.

            “Imagine you went to collect so much money and you couldn’t stay sober until you reach home, Dougal? You know that the money isn’t even yours. Where is it?”

            Dougal slapped his pocket again. He pushed his hand into his pocket. It was empty! The whole fifty thousand dollars was gone! He became sober immediately! Miss Greta threw some hot water out of a thermos and made some coffee for him.

            “I have to find Byron’s taxi and find out from him who were in the car with me. I’m sure it was one of those guys who took my money.”

              He finished drinking the coffee and made for the door.

            “Where are you going at this time of the night?” his mother-in-law asked him.

            “I have to find that money or else I’m in big trouble.”

            “It’s only duppies and gunmen who are on the road this time of the night. But it will serve you right. I didn’t know why you didn’t come straight home after collecting the money and go on the road later,” his wife scolded him before closing her front door on a departing Dougal.

            Dougal returned home that morning looking very disheveled. Byron, the taxi driver only knew one of his passengers and that was the man who had been in the front seat. He didn’t know either of the two men or the girl who had been at the back of the car with Dougal.

            Dougal took a bath and put on clean clothes. He went and had his breakfast. There was a certain amount of tension between himself and Darlene. It didn’t help by her mother being there if only for two weeks. He knew that Darlene wanted to go to the market and he had no money to give her.

            He was sitting on a bamboo bench in the yard when she came out and took a seat. She was of medium height and built and was in her mid-thirties. Dougal was also of medium height. He was bulkier than she and was five years her senior. They had three children, two boys and one girl.

            “You talk to Mass Harold yet?”

            Darlene brought up a subject that had been weighing heavily on Dougal’s mind. That was how to break the news to Harold Daniels that he had lost his money. He had raised the hog for Harold. A man had bought it and he had gone to collect the money from him, only to lose it.

            “I don’t how he’ll react. All I know is that I’ll have to repay it.”

            “Mamma said she’ll lend me some money to go to the market.”

             Dougal felt ashamed. His two sons had helped in feeding the hog and he had promised them something now that it was sold. Now that the money was lost what would he tell them?

            Dougal made his way up to Harold Daniel’s house. He wasn’t sure that the man would believe him as he fancied himself as some sort of a village lawyer. He could very well say that he had collected the money but didn’t want to turn it over to him and had converted it to his own use. The best thing to do was to report it at the police station.

            The young Constable who took the statement from Dougal that morning didn’t seem at all concerned. People were losing money every day. He admonished Dougal for not being more careful. He, however, asked him to try and remember the persons who had been in the taxi with him. Could he remember anything about them? Maybe a mark on them, their voices or the clothes they wore and that set Dougal thinking.

            When he reached Harold Daniel’s house, he saw the man on his verandah.

            “You want a drink, Dougal, a beer or white rum?” 

Read the full story in 'Going to the bushes to cut Firewood' or 'The Fire by the Wayside'.