The Art of the Hustle (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Mr. Channing is no longer my business partner and I haven't spoken with him in over a year." 

"Very well then, let's proceed without him." 

Proceed without him? This can't be good. It never occurred to me that he wouldn't be there. In retrospect, it seemed so obvious to me. Of course he wasn't going to show up. How could I be so naïve?  

"Mr. Mekhail. Your client seeks damages of $3,653.16 plus interest against Power Crew Services, you may proceed." 

"My client, West Coast Press, met with Mr. Trevor Morrison and Mr. Darrell Channing early last year to run a number of advertisements for their business. I have a copy of those ads your honour," Mr. Mekhail said as he flipped open an inch thick folder. He pulled out the necessary documents and set them aside. "I also have a contract Mr. Morrison and Mr. Channing signed with my client stating they would agree to pay for the services my client provided. The first couple of payments were made, but then there were a total of thirteen additional renewals over a period of two months that were left unpaid." 

"May I see those?" I interrupted. 

"What would you like to see, Mr. Morrison?" Mr. Mekhail said, in a condescending tone. 

"I would like to see the contract you claimed I signed, and also the renewal requests that were made." 

Mr. Mekhail slid over the documents. My heart skipped a beat when I looked down and saw my signature next to the title 'El Presidente'. This was clearly something a young eighteen year old who was trying to be cool would write. I even remembered signing it. I looked at the other set of documents that were stapled together, five pages of orders for advertisements, the date, time, and authorized signee... 'Darrell Channing'. 

"Okay, I admit that this is my signature on the contract, but I signed as an authorized signee for Power Crew Services. I was no longer with the company at the time any of these orders were placed. As you can see, Darrell Channing made all of these orders. Therefore, he should be solely liable for the accrued debt."  

"Be that as it may Mr. Morrison, you still signed the contract and are jointly liable for the debt." 

"Why did you allow Darrell to continue to renew the ads thirteen times without payment?" I asked to the Advertising manager. 

"Mr. Morrison, that is completely irrelevant. My client's business practices are of no concern here. Let's just stick to the issue at hand, shall we?" 

I stared down at the desk and felt the presence of everyone's eyes looking at me. This added to my anxiety as I was obviously being outmatched. I tried to block out those thoughts as I searched for my next words. I kept remembering what Mr. Taylor had said, 'Did you sign a contract? You're liable for the damages unless you publicly terminated the business relationship with Power Crew Services'. 

I took a deep breath and looked up. The bright florescent lights made my eyes squint and made the tiny little room very hot. My new wool suit was causing me to sweat profusely so I undid the buttons on my jacket to air out a bit. It was at that moment when I saw my Record of Employment sitting neatly in my inside jacket pocket, shining like a ray of hope. A wave of confident came over me. I grabbed it immediately and prepared for one final effort to exonerate myself.  

I raised the document high in the air and announced, "I have here a Record of Employment that states I was employed full time by Athletic Surplus. This document proves unequivocally that I was no longer in business with Power Crew Services, and therefore proves I'm not liable for any of the damages." I set the document down on the table, leaned back in my chair with a smug look on my face, and folded my arms.  

"Mr. Morrison," Judge Winston interjected, "we believe you that this is not your debt. Nevertheless, you still signed the contract. You can take this to trial, but honestly you don't have a case."  

"Fine, I don't want to waste any more time with this. I'll pay you half of the debt, and you can track down Darrell for the other half." 

"I have a problem with that," Mr. Mekhail announced. "Either one of you is fully liable for the debt. If you want to track down Darrell, then you can do so." 

"I can do that?" I asked, showing my interest in getting revenge on Darrell.  

"Yes, you can seek indemnity," Mr. Mekhail replied. "If you agree to pay this debt, then I can help you track down Mr. Channing." 

I looked over at the Judge to confirm this. The Judge nodded.  

That would be great, I thought, I would love to sue Darrell. Besides, at that moment it seemed like my only option. "Okay then, I don't want any trouble. I'll agree to pay the entire debt. However, I can't afford to pay you all at once. I'll get a second job if I have to." 

"Why don't we agree on you paying me one hundred dollars a month, due on the fifteenth of every month?" 

"Why the fifteenth?" I asked, as my curious nature took over. 

"Because I assume you, like most people, get paid twice a month, once in the middle of the month and once at the end of the month. The end of the month is usually when most people pay their rent and other bills, so the fifteenth is the best time to collect." 

"Makes sense," I said. I liked the way he thought, very calculated and very logical. 

"So, the first payment will be due next week. You can deliver it to my office. Here's my card with my address in case you don't have it already." 

I took the card and briefly looked it over. I made my exit and proceeded up the escalator.  

What just happened? I asked myself. I came here to defend my innocence and I ended up absorbing the entire debt. How am I going to pay this debt? There's no way I can afford to pay a hundred dollars a month.