Page 82 - Just Deserts

Swami Adavasi

cocktail, he was mumbling the word ‘consortium’ to himself. Not his
usual babble late at night, most of which even I would be
embarrassed to relate to you.”
“You mean—” The guru’s jaw hung agape for a frozen instant.
“—you mean he’s going to borrow the money to build his pyramid?
And put Help Yourself in debt? How can he do that?”
“I guess his success has convinced enough powerful people that
this is a going concern, a real money-maker, with no end in sight and
no chance of interference by the government. So maybe they’d like a
helping or two themselves.” She shrugged and stood up.
“I don’t believe it!” The guru found his calculator, stabbed at the
buttons. “Five billion—even if we double our revenue, that would
be—how many years?—no, that can’t be right! We’ll be paying this
off for the next twenty years!”
“What do you mean, ‘we?’ I’m still going to keep fifty percent of
my helpings.” Her voice cut through his fretting like a knife through
a purse string. “He can’t put up my receipts as collateral. All he
controls is the church’s and his own assets.”
“But he’ll be dead in a couple of years,” wailed Vanaspati, “and
I—that is, whoever succeeds him—will have no cash flow for the life
of the loan! And every day that damned pyramid will be staring us in
the face!”
Phyllis Stein headed for the door.
“God, I hate to hear you moaning, Guru-ji. Seems to me it’s a
question for the lawyers and accountants whether the swami can tie
this place up in a promissory note for the foreseeable future. Just be
sure you don’t forget your promise to me, okay? Now I’d better get
back below stairs to the harem. Glad I could help you out.”
She left the room. Guru Vanaspati continued to stare at the
diagram. He’s done it, he groaned inwardly. He’s found a way to keep
on helping himself beyond the grave. What the hell am I going to do
now? Maybe it’s time for Baba Ganesh and me to bury the hatchet
and put our heads together. I can’t take on the responsibility for
stopping the old man alone. I need a helper. Badly.

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