Satiricus knew he was about to be grilled now that the budget was out and he was cornered at the Back Street Bar. The fellas still considered him a supporter of the Government no matter how many times he kept telling them he just had a soft spot for Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat.
“How could I not?” he thought to himself . “Just one look at them and you know they were ‘sons of the soil’.”
“What’s that about soil?” inquired Hari, who was looking at Satiricus with raised eyebrows.
“I didn’t realise I was speaking aloud,” admitted Satiricus sheepishly. “I was just thinking Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat are real sons of the soil.”
“They are “soiled” all right,” said Hari with a grin and much to the delight of Bungi, who seemed preoccupied with downing his beer in the shortest possible time. “And I’m not even mentioning they have more dirt under their fingernails than Bungi, who’s a canecutter!”
“Sile? Dem two harkati mo’ nasty dan de Finance Ministah,” blurted out Bungi. “How dem can sit dong an’ ‘llow de Ministah fuh seh ‘e na guh spen’ mo’ money fuh sugar? Dat da wan waste?” Bungi sounded really upset.
“But you want to tell me…in the whole Budget, nothing was right?” asked Satiricus with an air of desperation. He signalled for another round of beer.
“Most of what Jar Dan said was just empty words,” said Hari. “Didn’t he say his last two budgets would turn around the economy?”
“Well, me na know about dem fancy t’ing and suh,” said Bungi with an innocent air. “But Jar Dan tu’n round de graph dat bin a guh up wide de PPP…and now ya guh dong!”
Hari grinned and gave Bungi a high five. “But I’ll tell you how Jar Dan don’t know a damn thing.”
“How can you possibly know that?” asked Satiricus doubtfully.
“When Cappo left for America, he paid $4000 departure tax,” said Hari firmly. “I know because I paid it for him.”
“And?” Satiricus wanted to know.
“And…Jar Dan just said he was raising the travel tax from $2500 to $3500,” said Hari triumphantly.
And rubbing it in, Bung chirped in, “An’ even tho Nagga Man a travel every week, ‘e na correc’ Jar Dan.”
“Nagga Man don’t pay departure tax, Bungi!” grinned Hari at Satiricus. “Perks, you know, bai!!”
“To a people’s budget!” They clinked bottles with a reluctant Satiricus.
