Translation of gehässig

In the beginning it looked brutal but it worked. He brought my wallet back to me and asked me to count the bills in it. I was stunned and could not believe what just happened. He repeated his order.
I interpret this as follows: It reflects the calm life without any hectic atmosphere. The life that these two are looking for (like they did before) is far away: Far away, beyond the river.
We had coffee, played cards and waited for our guide. We had booked the tour with Handspan, so that we were confident that he would show up. In the end the guide was a 'she' and not a 'he'.