Back to basics in Happy Grove

That one was close. The last taxi to go by threatened only to relieve me of my right foot. This one though, but for a quick, last-minute dash on my part, would have rendered me half the man I am today. Whew!

Tee hee! I could hear someone snicker even as I watched, with disdain, the taxi disappear around a bend. I turned to see what manner of man or woman could find humour in such near-tragic circumstances. I was ready to let them have it.

It was however, a bit of an anti-climax when I noticed who the giggler was. Tee hee! She was sitting next to a giant rock at the side of the road. We were in a place called Happy Grove in Portland, near a church built on a hill. She was perhaps more than 70 years old and wore a long, colourful dress. Her head was wrapped with a blue and yellow scarf and she wore glasses. The woman waved when she saw me looking at her. I walked over to her.

"Nuh mind mi child, is so dem drive like dem deh ah race course," she said. Disarmed by her charm, I smiled and asked her what she was doing sitting by the road.

"Is some tings mi selling," she said, reaching for a black, plastic bag at her feet. She opened it and pulled out a handful of sweets. "You buying anyting from me?" I found it hard to say no, so I obliged. I asked her if she thought that was a good place to be sitting, what with out-of-control vehicles passing so close.

"Mi alright, man!" said the woman. "Memba seh mi used to it, yuh know. So mi sit where di cyar dem cyaan reach mi."

A man riding by on a black and white bicycle called out. "Mawning, Miss Jackie!"

The woman waved. "Mawning, Linval!"

The man rode off.

The church

I looked up at the church. It was the reason I had stopped in the area in the first place. It was some distance from the road but easy to spot because of its size. The word 'Quakers' was written on a sign in the church yard. Miss Jackie saw me looking.

"Yuh like di church?" she asked. I told her I did in fact like the look of the place.

"Yes man, yuh can tek yuh picture. People always teck dem picture. Just nuh teck no picture ah mi. Next ting pastor go read mi out ah church," she said. I asked her why the pastor would do that.

"Is not my church, yuh know. My church deh up inna di hill. Pastor seh we mustn't do dem tings, like tek picture, for it is of the world," she said. I thought I saw her roll her eyes after she spoke, but I decided not to press the matter. Instead, I snapped a photo of the church.

Miss Jackie yawned. I asked her what she thought of Happy Grove. "Cho, it deh deh," she said, then went silent.

Just then, a young boy, perhaps no more than five years old ran up to her. "Miss Jackie, please give mi two sweetie!" he shouted.

Miss Jackie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"Pickney yuh don't see big people talking?" she yelled. The boy went quiet and looked up at me. I shrugged. "Hab mannas!" Miss Jackie squealed. The boy sat on the ground and put his hand on his jaw. He looked dejected. Miss Jackie seemed really agitated. She looked at me.

"Beg pardon yuh hear, Sar," she said. Feeling sorry for the boy, I told her that it was no bother.

"Him must listen!" she said, cutting me off. Now I, too, went quiet, feeling like the boy sitting at her feet with his hand on his jaw.

Another taxi sped by. When a few minutes had passed, Miss Jackie summoned the boy. "What is it yuh want?" she asked. The boy sprung to his feet. "Two sweetie," he said. The woman collected some coins from him and handed him the sweets. The boy gratefully took them and ran off.

"Rude," said Miss Jackie, mostly to herself. She turned to me.

"No badda have no bad feelings bout around here, yuh hear mi child. Di pickney dem rude when dem ready, but most of di people dem nice. No mek dis spoil yuh feelings. Round here is a nice place," she said.

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