Mango time in Innswood

 It's early on a weekday morning, and Chippie the plumber from Old Harbour, St Catherine, is preparing his lunch for the long day ahead. He's standing at the side of the road at a place called Innswood, not far from his Old Harbour home, looking up at a large mango tree.

"Mi full two bag already. Mi just ah meck sure put on likkle brawta cause dem bwoy too beggy beggy," said Chippie. He was wearing a plaid, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of baggy jeans pants. I was standing next to him, looking up at the tree that was full of green and yellow mangoes.

"Ah common mango dem," said Chippie.

"Mi like East Indian, but yuh nah go find East Indian ah grow wild ah dem place yah," he said.

There were a lot of mango trees around. They lined the side of the main road for at least a mile. Nearly all the trees were full of ripe mangoes. Every few seconds, we would hear the thud of another mango falling to the ground.

Chippie told me that he was on his way to work at a construction site in Kingston and he had stopped at Innswood to load up on mangoes. They would be his lunch for the day.

"Noting nuh sweeter dan mango mi bredda," he said with enthusiasm.

"When mi have dem mango yah now, dat ah all mi need," he said.

On the ground were the two black plastic bags full of the mangoes Chippie had collected that morning.

I asked him if he was happy with his loot.

"It alright." he replied.

"Sometime mi get all five bag, but dem tiefing bwoy wake up before cock crow and come clean off nuff ah di tree dem."

It seemed a little odd to me that Chippie was bad-mouthing his fellow mango scavengers. There didn't seem to be much difference between what they were doing. I thought it best not to bring this up though, and instead asked Chippie who owned the trees.

"Nobody nuh own dem tree yah," he said.

"Dem tree yah deh bout from longer time. Di mango dem deh yah fi everybody."

Chippie looked up the road and quickly grabbed the bags of mangoes. Soon, a white Coaster bus pulled up, and in one swift motion Chippie hopped on to the bus and waved goodbye. The bus pulled away and sped down the road.

Plunk! Another mango hit the ground.

There was a shop across the road with red tiles all over the walls. I walked over there.

tired fi eat mango

Inside, I met Lerlene, a plump, fair-skinned woman with several clips in her hair. She had a friendly smile. I introduced myself and made a joke about how she was wasting time while there were good mangoes going to waste just outside. She chuckled heartily.

"Mi tired fi eat mango!" she laughed.

"Mi born and grow right here yuh know, so mi eat mango till mi fool."

I asked if she knew who the trees belonged to.

"Well is really di sugar factory people dem, yuh know. Dem plant it round di cane field but dem nuh really pick di mango dem fi use. Di mango dem deh deh fi everybody who want it," said Lerlene.

A man walked into the shop just then.

"Wah gwaan, Red Man?" Lerlene said to him.

The man nodded.

"Sell mi two Craven A deh," he said.

Lerlene retrieved the items from the counter of the shop and handed them to the man. Red Man fiddled around in his pockets for a moment then took out some bills, handed them to Lerlene and walked out of the shop.

I told Lerlene that I thought it was strange that even though the mangoes were free to be reaped by anyone with a fancy for the fruit, there were still so many going to waste.

"Ah true ah common mango, man. Jamaican people nuh too love di common mango, cause dem seh it nuh really sweet. Meck ah did Julie and yuh woulda see crowd," she said.

I asked her if, even though they were of the common variety, the mango trees were a popular draw for the community.

"Yeah man! People who definitely want common mango come from all bout fi pick dem. Innswood known fi sugar cane and mango. Di mango dem meck di place popular bad," she said.

Where should Robert go next? Let him know at robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com

The following are some feedback letters to last week's edition of Roving with Lalah.

Dear Robert,

Bah, hoo! Mi waan go home. I remember my escapades on the waterfront. My husband and I did most of our courtship there. The sea air is really great. So hearing this woman saying that she wants to let her children know how pretty Jamaica has got me remembering those days and crying for those who do not appreciate Jamaica, no matter what.

- Judy

Dear Robert,

I remember the Sundays that I used to go down to the Craft Market and look at the boys diving and catching the money the tourists threw from the ships.

- Lewis

Dear Robert,

This one was very soothing. Especially, the last portion of it.

- CLM

Dear Robert,

That's right! Jamaica is beautiful and we need to just take time and look at what we have. No where better than yard. Thanks Robert for another little slice of Jamaica for us to taste here in 'farin'.

- Jay N